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During the 2016 Results Junkies Tech Tour stop in Wilmington, venture investors Paul Singh and Anthony Pompliano offered local founders a crash course in fundraising. During their chat at Ironclad Brewery, they focused on defining venture investment vs. other funding sources, while giving advice on the most investor-friendly ways to pitch a business. These two know what they’re talking about. 

Singh, a former partner at 500 Startups, founder of Disruption Corporation, and now publisher of Results Junkies, has been in the game for a while. Pompliano, former Sergeant in the U.S. Army who recently announced his new Raleigh-based fund, Full Tilt Capital, worked as a project manager at Facebook as part of its growth and engagement team, then led Snapchat’s growth team for a short time. 

Together, Pompliano and Singh stressed to founders just how important it is to think big, to connect with investors as early as possible, and to “lead with the traction.” 

Top 10 Takeaways:


1. Understand who is a venture capitalist. 
Anthony Pompliano and Paul Singh school the crowd at Ironclad Brewery in what VC is.

2. Always talk money before you talk ideas. 
Pompliano and Singh talk about the importance of order in your conversations.

3. In Silicon Valley, you’re rewarded for taking big swings, even if you miss.
These VC's remind the crowd that big swings in business reap rewards.

4. VCs want to invest in companies that get bought, not sold. 
Singh and Pompiano ask the age-old question.

5. You won’t believe how fast a company can take off. 
Singh and Pompiano ask the age-old question.

6. Most founders can’t envision how big their company can get. 
Pompliano and Singh ask the other important scale question that companies should consider.

7. Sell your business, not your widget. 
Investors, say Pompliano and Singh, want to buy into a business, not a product.

8. Three red flags that scare off investors. 
Singh and Pompliano identify some of the red flags investors see.
Investors see other kinds of warning signs, say Pompliano and Singh.
Pompliano and Singh don't want entrepreneurs to get tripped up on this final red flag.

9. Get on Angel List. 
Pompliano and Singh explain why every startup should be on AngelList.

10. It’s never to early to start a conversation with investors.
Pompliano and Singh remind the audience why it's never too early to talk to investors.

Zach Cioffi

Contributor

Zach Cioffi is a business writer and copywriter who has worked as a book editor, ESL educator, and creative writing teacher. He holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts

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