After sales software startup TigerEye completed its Series A and established a board of directors, its co-founders drew attention:
One thing we never want to do is the three-hour, overly sensitive, and non-strategic board meeting.
“Every board deck I’ve made and seen is 80+ pages long,” said Tracy Young, co-founder and CEO of TigerEye. “I’m not exaggerating.”
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In this TC+ article, she explains how to structure a one-hour board meeting in a way that creates real value for founders and investors. Step One: Replace your huge deck with a three-page memo.
We’re taking Monday, May 29th off to celebrate Memorial Day, so I’ll be back with another TC+ recap a week from today.
I wish you a fantastic weekend!
Walter Thompson
Editor-in-Chief, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist
Why aren’t venture capitalists flocking to fund cybersecurity startups?
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The accelerated shift to digital has been great for mature cybersecurity companies: Palo Alto Networks, Scaler and CrowdStrike all have strong revenue multiples, reports Alex Wilhelm.
For venture-backed cybersecurity startups, however, there doesn’t seem to be a halo effect. According to Crunchbase, funding for companies in this sector fell by 58% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022.
“As valuations have fallen across the board, cybersecurity stock prices have fallen dramatically today, although they remain more expensive than other tech subcategories,” writes Alex.
Profitability before growth: 5 investors explain their mantra for South Korean startups
Photo credit: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch
South Korea has experienced a unicorn boom in recent years but, like the rest of the world, is feeling the effects of a global market correction.
“Venture funding in Asia declined 33% in Q1 2023 versus Q4 2023 and 57% versus Q1 2022,” reports Kate Park, who surveyed five investors to get their forecasts for 2023 and find out how they advise their portfolio companies :
- Han Kim, General Partner, Altos Ventures
- Tim Chae, Managing Partner, 500 Global
- JP Lee, CEO and Managing Partner, SoftBank Ventures Asia
- Yeemin Chung, Managing Director, BRV Capital Management
- Eunse Lee, Founder and Managing Partner, 541 Ventures
Ask Sophie: What are my options if a company withdraws my OPT job offer?
Photo credit: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
Dear Sophie,
I’m an international student graduating this month, but the company I was supposed to work for at OPT withdrew my job offer.
What options do I have?
– Grappling Graduate
3 things companies need to do to protect their applications in the AI ​​age
Photo credit: Henrik Sorensen (opens in a new window) /Getty Images
Businesses with AI-powered applications offer malicious actors a greater attack surface when it comes to phishing, bots, and other attempts to access customer accounts.
“We’re already seeing examples of reverse engineering AI-powered websites to get free AI computing,” said Reed McGinley-Stempel, co-founder and CEO of Stych, a customer identification and access management (CIAM) platform.
Venture Leasing: The unsung hero for hardware startups struggling to raise capital
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Hardware startups have always faced the challenge of high initial investments and open-ended research and development deadlines.
Fortunately, venture leasing creates “a middle ground between costly debt loans and VC funding that works particularly well,” says Felipe Chávez Cortés, CEO and co-founder of robotic food delivery company Kiwibot.
To get products to market faster while avoiding dilution, his company entered into a $10 million venture lease.
“Hardware companies shouldn’t feel limited to VC funds to fund their high-risk, high-growth businesses,” Cortés said.
Pitch Deck Teardown: Faye’s $10M Series A Deck
Photo credit: faye
Insurtech startup Faye shared an edited version of the 19-slide deck that landed its founders a $10 million Series A round.
“Let’s get that straight from the start,” says Haje Jan Kamps. “This is a really excellent pitch deck.”
- cover film
- summary slide
- team slide
- problem slide
- Market size slide
- Insurance market overview slide
- Product overview slide
- Product features slide 1
- Product features slide 2
- Product features slide 3
- Product features slide 4
- Go-to-market slide
- Financial growth indicators are falling
- Customer growth metrics are slipping
- Customer validation slide 1
- Competitive landscape slide
- The Ask slide
- Customer validation slide 2
- Closing slide with mission statement
