The video provides advice and insights for startups on sales, fundraising, and investor relations, emphasizing the importance of networking, scalability, and team commitment, and highlighting the need for unique insights and rapid growth to attract investors.

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  00:00

  Sales is a key responsibility for founders, and prospecting through personal networks, conferences, and concise, customized cold emails can lead to success.

  • Tyler, CEO of Clever, shares his experience of figuring out sales on the fly and how it has been a key piece in making Clever grow quickly as a software platform for schools.
  • As a founder, it's important to realize that sales is your responsibility and that your passion for the product and industry knowledge can make up for lack of sales experience.
  • Sales is a funnel with different stages, and prospecting is the process of figuring out who will even take your call, which is a numbers game.
  • There are three successful ways to prospect: personal network, conferences, and cold email, with the key to cold email being conciseness and customization.
  • When making sales calls, remember to listen more than you talk and focus on understanding the customer's needs.
  • To close a deal in sales, it is important to listen to the customer's problem, have an unhuman willingness to follow up, and focus on getting a yes or no quickly.
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  11:48

  YC will open-source their standard template agreements, making it easier for non-YC startups to access them and focus on signing deals for revenue.

  • YC will open-source their standard template agreements, making it easier for non-YC startups to access them.
  • Get access to deal documents that YC founders used to sign, remember your goal is to sign deals and get revenue, don't waste time quibbling over minor points in agreements.
  • When a potential customer says they want to use your product but it's missing one feature, it's often a pass in disguise because even if you build that feature, there will always be another reason why they're not using your product.
  • Avoid the trap of building a product based on customer demand without validation and don't fall into the free trial trap as it doesn't provide revenue, validation, users, or commitment.
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  15:35

  Opt-out option within 30/60 days gains customer trust; consider scalability and pricing strategy early on; use concise pitches when talking about your company or fundraising.

  • Annual agreement allows customers to opt out within the first 30 or 60 days, making a significant difference in gaining their trust and trying unscalable methods to acquire early customers.
  • Consider scalability and pricing strategy early on in your startup, as different business models require different approaches to achieve success.
  • The speaker shares insights on building sales from 0 to 1 million and offers help to those starting their own company.
  • Michael Seibel, a YC partner, breaks down the process of creating a pitch into four parts, starting with the importance of having a concise 30-second pitch.
  • When talking about your company, use a concise go-to pitch and a two-minute pitch for those who are more interested, and remember to talk less to avoid saying something people don't like; when fundraising, know when to do it and use a simple three-sentence pitch to explain what your company does.
  • Simplify your explanation to the point where even your parents can understand it in one sentence.
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  22:31

  Startups need to show rapid growth and a unique insight to attract investors.

  • Use simple language and research the size of your market to show potential for growth and attract investors.
  • To convince investors, startups need to show rapid growth and progress, such as launching a beta and product within a few months of starting.
  • When pitching, include a unique insight that sets you apart from competitors and offers something new.
  • Crystallize your unique insight into two sentences for your two-minute pitch, making sure it's not complicated.
  • Don't run away from explaining your business model, be clear and concise about how you plan to monetize, and only mention impressive team accomplishments if they have made investors money.
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  27:44

  Have a committed team, avoid overinflating accomplishments, and schedule fundraising meetings in the same week to gain an advantage with investors.

  • Founders should ideally be between two and four, with a 50/50 split between technical and business people, have known each other for at least six months, and be working full time on the business.
  • When fundraising, it's important to know the details of your investment plan and avoid overinflating your accomplishments, and to let investors talk after presenting your pitch.
  • To be strong in fundraising, start by creating buzz about your startup and having a plan to launch and grow without needing a lot of money.
  • To gain an advantage with investors, have a fully committed team working fast and aim to need less money, and always seek a warm introduction from another entrepreneur or previous investor.
  • Schedule all fundraising meetings in the same week by hinting to investors that you're busy building for the next two weeks and can only meet in the third week, which also shows you're not desperate for the money.
  • To avoid distraction, designate one team member to focus on fundraising full-time while building the company.
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  34:08

  A speaker with $85M raised will demonstrate a mock pitch for a messaging platform that charges businesses $10-15k/month for consumer communication.

  • The speaker, who has raised $85 million over several companies, will demonstrate a mock pitch as a learning session.
  • We're creating a messaging platform for businesses and consumers to communicate and collaborate in one place, similar to WhatsApp or Snapchat, with a large market opportunity.
  • The company has thousands of users in the Bay Area.
  • The company charges businesses a monthly rate of $10-15k for a messaging service that allows consumers to send messages to businesses and receive responses.
  • The speaker has five founders, one of whom is a bio PhD who has picked up coding, and they need to make sure the person they are talking to knows what their app actually is.
  • Know your numbers, provide plausible bottom-up analysis, have insights, explain why you are suited for the project, and drive the conversation during a pitch to impress investors.
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  39:48

  The messaging product allows anonymous messages to businesses about location, founders are figuring out how to monetize it by targeting large customers or partnering with consumer-facing companies.

  • The company offers a messaging product that allows consumers to send anonymous messages to businesses about their location.
  • The product initially aimed to provide location feedback, but it turned out that over half of the messages were just simple inquiries about the business.
  • The founders have sold 350 businesses and built a messaging product for SMBs that receives a high volume of private messages, but they are still figuring out how to monetize it.
  • The company is considering two paths to make money, either targeting large customers or partnering with consumer-facing companies like Yelp and Google for broad distribution, with their vision being to become the messaging infrastructure between consumers and businesses.
  • A technical team with previous startup experience is raising $8.5 million, with $500,000 already committed by investors including Mike Maples and is seeking retail expertise from the firm.
  • The speaker is available to meet before Friday for a close around and would love to see the other person in person.
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  45:45

  Do due diligence on investors before accepting their investment to ensure they are a good fit for your company and focus on building a successful company rather than just fundraising.

  • The speaker provided valuable insights about the market and its real-world applications.
  • The meeting was collaborative and informative, with the speaker discussing fundraising and providing context, and it is important to follow up and create deal heat to put pressure on potential partners.
  • Do due diligence on investors before accepting their investment to ensure they are a good fit for your company and if necessary, find other investors to fill the rest of the round.
  • Fundraising does not equal success and building a company should be the goal.