Tremendous

An angel investor's take on life and business

  • How to Answer Investor Questions

    There’s tons of advice out there on how to pitch investors. But what about what comes next?

    After any pitch, investors are likely to ask numerous questions. How do you answer them in the most effective way?

    Here are some tips:

    Pacing

    One of the biggest mistakes I see founders make is taking too long to answer a question. The answer should be about the same length as the question.

    When you take too long answering one question, you run out of time to address others. You’re also more likely to start rambling and lose the investors’ attention.

    Be Direct

    Investors may have some tough questions for you.

    Tough as they may be, you should answer these questions as directly and specifically as possible. If someone asks for your churn figures, give them numbers, not a story.

    Whenever I sense a founder isn’t giving me the information I need to make a decision, I start mentally moving on to the next company.

    Don’t Get Defensive

    For early stage startups, no one is expecting you to have everything dialed in just right. If you had that, you wouldn’t be a startup.

    You’d be a Fortune 500 company!

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    So when investors ask the tough questions, don’t feel like we’re attacking you. We’re not.

    We just need certain info to make a financial decision.

    It’s Okay to Not Know

    An investor might ask you for some very specific info in a meeting.

    It’s perfectly okay to say you don’t have that information in front of you. What’s important is to promptly follow up and get the investor the information they asked for.

    Always Be Honest

    Many founders have wanted to put a company logo on a slide when that company isn’t really a customer…yet. Or maybe claim a big name investor is in the round when in reality you’re just talking with her.

    Don’t give into these temptations. When you make presentations to investors as part of a fundraise, you’re opening yourself up to serious legal liability.

    If you make a knowingly false statement, you could go to prison for securities fraud.

    Most founders would never cross this line, but for those who might be tempted, I urge you to protect yourself and just give the truth.

    Be Glad for the Grilling!

    Answering a ton of questions can be really tough! But be glad for each one.

    One of the surest signs I’m not interested in a startup is when I don’t ask any questions. I’ve already ruled the company out.

    I often ask questions when I’m wondering if there’s any reason not to invest. And I’m not alone.

    Wrap-Up

    These investor questions are often the last step before a check.

    Keep your answers brief, concise, and factual. When founders crisply answer questions with detailed information, I find it enormously impressive.

    Best of luck!

    What has it been like for you answering investor questions? What did I miss?

    Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know.

    Have a great day everyone!

    More on tech:

    The Startup Pitch Checklist

    Growing Veggies on Mars

    Startups’ Secret Marketing Weapon: Blogging

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    Photo: “interrogation-room-light.jpg” by r.nial.bradshaw is marked with CC BY 2.0.

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    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Call for Awesome Unity Engineers

    Hey everyone!

    I wanted to put the word out: if you are a great Unity engineer, I have an incredible opportunity for you.

    A metaverse startup just raised a big Series A and needs you! I’m an investor in the company and can introduce you to the founders.

    If you have the skills and you’re ready to take it to the next level, send me an e-mail.

    I’ll see you later today for a full post!

  • Growing Veggies on Mars

    NASA intends to put the first man on Mars in the 2030’s. But once he’s there, what will he have for lunch?

    Perhaps veggies grown in a BioPod.

    This incredible new device from startup Interstellar Lab could finally allow us to cultivate crops in space. It could also revolutionize agriculture here on Earth.

    The BioPod is an inflatable dome about 20 feet wide, 33 feet long, and 15 feet tall. It uses aeroponics, precision nutrient delivery, and careful climate control to produce the ideal growing environment for plants.

    This means it can grow high value crops like flowers and microgreens. It can even grow plants that can’t be grown with traditional agriculture, like vanilla.

    It’s also remarkably efficient, reducing water consumption by 98% while boosting yields up to 300-fold.

    The BioPod is designed not just to feed humans in space, but on an increasingly unpredictable Earth. From a recent interview:

    “Climate change is a real emergency for Earth, and we only have a small window to bring about positive change. We are developing a new framework for sustainable living on Earth and a testbed for future space missions,” Barbara Belvisi, Founder and CEO, Interstellar Lab said.

    The BioPod is currently in production. You can even pre-order one now!

    But at $250,000 each plus a monthly subscription fee, it’s a bit out of reach for most gardeners. Oh, and shipping’s not included.

    However, if the BioPod can reduce inputs and boost yields as radically as Interstellar claims, I could see rapid adoption in the agriculture industry.

    Already, companies like Bowery Farming are taking agriculture from farms to urban warehouses using hydroponics. They seem like a natural customer for Interstellar Lab, and I’m sure there are many more.

    Long term, perhaps the BioPod will be deployed on Mars to support astronauts brought there by a SpaceX Starship. It’s a beautiful future I look forward to.

    In the mean time, I’m itching to try a BioPod salad! 🙂

    What do you think of the BioPod? Would you try its food?

    Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know.

    Have a great day everyone! 👋

    More on tech:

    Coffeebots and the Search for the Perfect Cup

    Robot Pizzas and the Future of Fast Food

    Male Contraception With an Ultrasound Device?

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Hedge Funds Could Lose Nearly Half of Assets Under Proposed SEC Rule

    A proposed SEC rule could starve hedge funds of cash by making it nearly impossible to raise money from pension funds. From the magazine Risk:

    Pension funds in the US may be unable to invest in hedge funds if a sweeping package of financial reforms by the markets regulator is passed in its current form, warn hedge fund managers and lawyers.

    The US Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing a rule that aims to stop private fund managers evading legal liability for actions leading to investment losses. Hedge funds depend on this indemnity to obtain insurance.

    The SEC released the proposed rule in February. From the SEC’s press release:

    The proposals also would prohibit all private fund advisers from engaging in several activities, including seeking reimbursement, indemnification, exculpation, or limitation of liability for certain activity…

    Without indemnification, insurance becomes prohibitively expensive or completely unavailable. And without certain types of insurance, institutions including pensions won’t invest in a hedge fund.

    This could starve hedge funds of cash. A huge percentage of hedge fund assets come from pension funds.

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    An exact count of the percentage of hedge fund assets that come from pensions is difficult to find, given limited disclosure requirements. But investment data company Preqin estimates that 40% of hedge fund assets come from pensions.

    Public employee pensions alone invest hundreds of billions of dollars in hedge funds, with even more coming from private company pensions.

    If this SEC rule passes in its current form, hedge funds could lose nearly half their assets. It will be difficult to find another source of such huge sums.

    You can bet that hedge funds will fight this rule like hell. And with their high priced lobbyists, they may well succeed in killing it.

    But if not, hedge funds may be facing some very lean years ahead.

    Do you think the SEC will cause a mass exodus from hedge funds? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know.

    Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 👋

    More on markets:

    Archegos Used Swaps to Hide Positions; Other Funds Are Too

    Melvin Capital Faces Investor Revolt

    AMC Fails to Deliver Pass 1.3 Million in Latest Report

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    Photo: A. Golden via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND).

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Archegos Used Swaps to Hide Positions; Other Funds Are Too

    Bill Hwang, founder of Archegos Capital Management, was charged yesterday with racketeering and securities fraud. How Hwang hid his positions teaches us a lot about how markets work today.

    How Total Return Swaps Work

    Archegos Capital Management controlled a majority of the shares of several large public companies without making any of the usually required disclosures. It was able to do this because it used a derivative called a total return swap.

    A total return swap is pretty much like owning a stock. You get the gains if the stock goes up, you lose money if it goes down.

    But you don’t technically own any shares.

    Instead, you have a contract with a bank to get the gains and pay the bank for any losses. To hedge its risk, the bank will buy the shares, rather than you buying them.

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    Hedge funds like Archegos love this arrangement because it lets them hide positions from the market and exempts them from disclosure requirements. Bankers love it because the swap comes with juicy fees.

    These swaps even let you trade on huge margin. And they’re easy to get.

    What’s a Few Felonies Between Friends?

    Hwang had been convicted of fraud for actions at his prior fund, Tiger Asia. He was also banned from continuing to trade in Hong Kong, so he switched to US stocks.

    But why let a few felony convictions get in the way of a great deal? Credit Suisse booked $16 million in fees from Archegos in 2020, likely leading to fat bonuses for the bankers involved.

    How Hedge Funds Can Use Swaps to Hide Short Positions

    Hwang used total return swaps to hide bets that stocks would go up. But they could just as easily be used to hide huge short positions.

    If a hedge fund wanted to short a stock without anyone knowing how big their exposure is, a swap would be the natural choice. The fund could do numerous swaps with different banks, as Archegos did.

    With the hedge fund’s bets split between various banks, no one would know how vulnerable the fund is to a short squeeze.

    Had Melvin Capital been smart enough to do this last year, retail traders might never have known how exposed it was to GameStop Corp. shares. But they did know, and they used that knowledge to squeeze Melvin.

    You can bet that other funds have learned from Melvin’s mistake.

    What Investors Should Know

    The bottom line is that it’s extremely easy for hedge funds to hide their positions today. It’s happening every day, and we only heard about Archegos because it blew up.

    But you can be sure that other funds are out there hiding massive positions at this very moment.

    What trades do you think hedge funds may be hiding? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on markets:

    Melvin Capital Faces Investor Revolt

    Citadel Under Federal Investigation

    FBI Raids Short Sellers

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    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • The Startup Pitch Checklist

    Last Thursday, I was preparing to judge a startup pitch competition. I thought to myself, “How can I make sure every startup hits the key points?”

    Then, it came to me: a checklist!

    Every time you pitch investors, you need to give them certain key pieces of information. Without those details, they may just move on to the next company.

    Make sure that never happens to your business! Whenever you pitch, make sure you check off these 6 key elements:

    1) ☑️ Problem. What problem do you solve? For example, Uber solved the problem of expensive, hard to get taxi rides.

    2) ☑️ Solution. How do you solve that problem?

    Uber makes it easy to get a ride with a simple smartphone app. You always know exactly what you’re paying and where your driver is.

    3) ☑️ Traction. Show us a chart of your revenue, broken down monthly or quarterly. Also, compute a growth rate using a tool like this.

    Investors want to see a strong growth trend. Make absolutely sure you give them that, if at all possible.

    Don’t have revenue yet? Show us monthly active users, signups, etc.

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    4) ☑️ Market + Competitors. How big is your market? Who do you compete with?

    I don’t get too hung up on complicated market size calculations, but here is a resource on how that is typically done.

    I’m more interested in your competitors. Who do you lose deals to? Who do you beat for deals? And why?

    Hint: “we don’t have any competitors” is rarely the right answer. Maybe no company does exactly what you do, but who is close?

    5) ☑️ Team. This is especially critical for early stage startups. At this point, there usually isn’t a ton of performance to sell.

    So you have to emphasize the quality of the team. Why are these the best possible people to take on this challenge?

    6) ☑️ Ask. Here’s one of the strangest things I see: a founder telling a great story with solid traction, and then saying “thank you” and sitting down.

    Umm, don’t you want something from us? 🙂

    Never forget to tell the investors exactly what you’re asking for! Tell us how much you’re raising, at what valuation, and specify if that’s pre or post-money. (If the valuation includes the money you’re raising, that’s “$X post-money,” also referred to as “$X cap.”)

    It’s also good to specify what type of fundraise you’re doing. Is it a SAFE, a priced round, or a convertible note?

    Say something like this: “We are raising a $1 million SAFE at a $10 million cap.”

    If you hit these 6 key elements, you’ll have a solid pitch that gives investors the details they need. You’ll also have a leg-up on other founders who provide incomplete or unhelpful information.

    Best of luck on your fundraise!

    What do you think makes a great pitch? What did I miss?

    Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on tech:

    How Startups Can Dominate the Elevator Pitch

    How to Write a Deal Memo

    Startups’ Secret Marketing Weapon: Blogging

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    Photo: “Startup” by Skley is marked with CC BY-ND 2.0.

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Melvin Capital Faces Investor Revolt

    Just after announcing plans to re-institute performance fees, failing hedge fund Melvin Capital has backtracked. From the Financial Times:

    The US-based firm, which lost 53 per cent in January last year after betting against retail investor favourite GameStop, had written to investors only last week with plans to remove a so-called high-water mark, which stops a fund charging performance fees until losses have been recovered.

    But within a matter of days, after receiving “candid” feedback from some investors, founder Gabe Plotkin has admitted he was “initially tone deaf”. 

    After being shellacked last January, Melvin was down 39% for 2021. It lost another 21% in the first quarter of this year.

    That puts the fund down approximately 52%, or more than half its capital.

    Hedge funds generally charge 2% of assets a year in management fees. They also take 20% of all gains as a performance fee.

    The performance fee is the real prize. But there’s a catch: the fee is governed by something called a “high-water mark.”

    This means you can’t lose money, then charge investors a performance fee as you make it back.

    High-water marks exist for a very good reason. Without them, a fund could be incentivized to repeatedly lose money then earn it back, collecting fat fees every time while investors make nothing.

    To attempt to remove the high water mark, and charge people a fortune to make back the billions you lost, is the height of hubris.

    Plotkin’s investors seem to be as affronted by his proposal as I am. So where does that leave Melvin Capital?

    Since investors won’t let them remove the high-water mark, it could be years before Melvin can charge performance fees again, if ever. Their better traders are likely to leave for greener pastures.

    Meanwhile, the fund is also caught up in a federal investigation of improper activity by short sellers.

    With angry investors, no juicy fees in sight, and a federal investigation looming, I expect Melvin to shut down soon. This would leave Plotkin free to create a new fund and start earning fees again while distancing himself from the Melvin dumpster fire.

    For those who will be tempted to invest with Plotkin again, remember these wise words:

    What do you think is next for Melvin Capital and Gabe Plotkin? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on markets:

    Melvin Capital Under Federal Investigation

    Melvin Capital Down 21% in Q1

    Mass Firings at Citadel Right Before Federal Probe

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Behind the Scenes of WeCrashed

    We walked through the bowels of a large warehouse shrouded in darkness. I rounded a corner and shoved open a heavy door with no idea what was on the other side.

    Suddenly, we were in the world headquarters of WeWork.

    The famous startup led by Adam Neumann seemed to take over the world before it crashed just as quickly. And now, it had become a TV miniseries called WeCrashed.

    At Goldman Sachs headquarters
    Close-up

    I had the joy of being a background actor (also known as an extra) on episode 7 of this fascinating show! I played a Goldman Sachs investment banker, hard at work on winning WeWork’s business for its IPO.

    Light poured in from above on the set of WeWork’s headquarters, which nailed the company’s funky aesthetic. Concrete columns framed long sofas in bright colors.

    I even got to see the famous WeWork gong! Unfortunately, I was not allowed to ring it.

    We filmed a scene where a senior Goldman banker tried to impress Neumann by quoting Bob Marley. I had to look like the serious banker, but it was all I could do not to burst out laughing.

    Then, Jared Leto made his entrance.

    I can’t imagine what it must be like to be him; everyone staring at you, knowing who you are, without you knowing anything about them. I gushed to my fellow extras about what a great actor Leto is, and he nodded to us politely as he passed.

    What came next is the best acting I’ve ever seen in person.

    Leto was rejecting a proposal from a venerable Wall Street bank, and went through his scene again and again. He delivered the same lines with every possible combination of intonation and inflection, one right after the other, until he determined which was right.

    Far away, I quietly remarked to one of the other extras that Leto’s accent sounded a bit heavy. Just minutes later, I noticed he had corrected it.

    In between takes, he went into a small room with an assistant to prepare for his next scene. I felt a little sorry for him…we could laugh, joke, and make new friends when we weren’t busy, but he could not.

    The crew’s attention to detail amazed me.

    At one point, they gave us iPads as props. On the screen was a copy of WeWork’s actual S-1.

    In other scenes, we had to use our imagination.

    At the Goldman offices watching Neumann announce the IPO, we were actually looking at a green screen. The TV broadcast was added later in post-production.

    Filming WeCrashed was a wonderful time! I got to be a small part of a story that fascinates me and see one of my favorite actors at his best!

    If you haven’t seen the show, I encourage you to check it out! Leto plays the charismatic, out of control Neumann with uncanny accuracy.

    And if I may say so, my big bald head adds a little something too! 🙂

    More on entertainment:

    What It’s Like to Be on Law & Order: SVU

    Filming a TV Show in NYC in a Pandemic

    At the Sopranos Convention!

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Feds Charge Stock Manipulators Who Stole $194 Million

    The federal government has charged a fraud ring that manipulated numerous US stocks. The group netted $194 million in ill-gotten gains over several years.

    From Compliance Week:

    The SEC’s charges, contained in three separate complaints filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, allege that the defendants secretly held large, controlling positions in so-called “penny stocks” issued by microcap companies.

    From 2013 through at least 2018, defendants’ goal was to secretly gain control of thinly traded microcap companies, hire stock promoters to generate demand for their shares, and then profit by selling those shares illegally to unsuspecting investors,” stated one SEC complaint.

    The criminals hid behind a variety of shell companies and offshore accounts. They employed various schemes such as “painting the tape,” or trading shares between each other at inflated prices to make the stock seem more valuable then it was, according to the DOJ press release.

    This is a common strategy. Once the price has risen artificially, the shares are then dumped on an unsuspecting bag holder who thinks he’s bought a “hot stock.”

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    The defendants are charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and other charges. They could face up to 20 years in prison, per count.

    The key point to remember is that this type of manipulation happens in securities markets every day. And it’s not confined to small stocks.

    As investors, we have to be on the lookout for it.

    And just as there are conspiracy to pump stocks, there are conspiracies to crash them.

    Short selling hedge funds Melvin Capital and Citron Research are being investigated by the FBI for possibly conspiring with research firms to publish false reports on stocks. Sabrepoint Capital paid a researcher to publish false, negative information about Farmland Partners on Seeking Alpha, a recent court case uncovered.

    Here are a few guidelines to avoid being caught up in these schemes:

    1) Don’t believe everything you read.
    2) Don’t buy a stock just because it’s going up.
    3) If someone you don’t know calls you to promote an investment, hang up.

    I hope the DOJ prosecutes this fraud ring vigorously. I also hope they uncover the many more that are still in operation.

    What do you think about this massive fraud? What other frauds do you think may be lurking in financial markets?

    Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 👋

    More on markets:

    AMC Fails to Deliver Pass 1.3 Million in Latest Report

    NYSE Investigating Shopify Stock Plunge; Citadel Involved

    AMC Now #4 Most Shorted Stock

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    Photo: “Day 12 Occupy Wall Street September 28 2011 Shankbone 30” by david_shankbone is marked with CC PDM 1.0.

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 and returns have been great so far.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get your management fees waived for 90 days. 

    Misfits Market

    My wife and I have gotten organic produce shipped to our house by Misfits for over a year. It’s never once disappointed me.

    Every fruit and vegetable is super fresh and packed with flavor.

    I thought radishes were cold, tasteless little lumps at salad bars until I tried theirs! They’re peppery, colorful and crunchy!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Startups’ Secret Marketing Weapon: Blogging

    For startups, customer acquisition ain’t what it used to be.

    Apple effectively ended ad targeting last year. Google plans to do something similar in 2023.

    Without targeting, you could be advertising a US woman’s underwear brand to men in Germany. Those precious marketing dollars go…poof.

    But some startups have found a secret weapon. Hint: you’re reading one right now.

    Blogging for Customer Acquisition

    Every day, your potential customers are searching Google to find solutions to their problems. You can help solve their immediate problem, while subtly directing them toward your service.

    Let’s look at a startup with an excellent blog: Capbase. (I’m a small investor in the company.)

    Capbase makes software to incorporate, manage your cap table (list of company owners), handle employee stock options and a lot more.

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    Capbase’s potential customer may be a new founder who isn’t sure how to get started. How do I incorporate, or pitch investors?

    So the company wrote an excellent article on the do’s and don’ts of investor pitches. This helps solve a problem a new founder is likely to have.

    At the same time, Capbase subtly introduces them to its software. This platform can solve the problems they’ll have in the near future, like incorporating and issuing stock options.

    Keeping it Fresh

    Notice that Capbase doesn’t just have a bunch of text posts by a single author. It has a mix of authors with different perspectives, and even includes podcasts to keep things interesting.

    So how can you come up with topics?

    Think about problems your potential customers might be having. You can even interview current customers to find out.

    Or if your startup is solving a problem you’ve had yourself, draw inspiration from your own life!

    Evergreen topics are best. Provide content that will be useful years from now, rather than topical commentary that will be outdated in days.

    This helps you capture traffic in the long term.

    Keeping it Consistent

    You should publish articles on the same days, regularly. If every day is too much, try Tuesday and Thursday, for example.

    The key is consistent new content.

    Readers like it. So do Google search algorithms.

    Wrap Up

    Online ads are not as well targeted as they once were, and are only likely to get worse. Meanwhile, a search shows user intent.

    If I search “how to pitch investors,” I’m probably a startup founder at the early stage. So, I’m an ideal Capbase customer.

    If I search “how to meditate,” I’m already interested in meditation. Perfect time for an app like Calm to slide in and give me some tips, while also making me aware of their product.

    A company blog can deliver more customers than online ads while costing far less. Master it and stop handing your money to trillion dollar corporations that provide little in return.

    Do you have a company blog?

    If so, what have you learned from writing it? If not, why not?

    Let me know in the comments at the bottom!

    More on tech:

    How to Write a Deal Memo

    How to Ace a 3 Minute Pitch

    The Lean Startup

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    Photo: “Kendra” by c.a.s.e.y is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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    Fundrise

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    More on Fundrise in this post.

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    Misfits Market

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    I thought radishes were cold, tasteless little lumps at salad bars until I tried theirs! They’re peppery, colorful and crunchy!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

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