How is VC really doing these days?
This week, the Wall Street Journal investigates data on 500's real financial returns. Is it ugly? Is it time to invest? You can't not look:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/500-startups-seeks-broader-acceptance-reveals-return-data-1469014201
Alex Nucci, VP of Growth at ClutchPrep where he's helped grow MRR by 3x in the past 8 months, presents a growth marketers' framework for evaluating whether or not it's time to jump ship in A Growth Marketers’ Framework to Climbing the Startup Career Ladder:
http://500.co/growth-marketer-startup-career-ladder/
Louise Fritjofsson, Co-Founder of Vint, says that company culture is your most defensible asset in today's arms race of perks and poaching, in 4 Steps Every Startup Must Take To Build Culture, Compete for Talent, and Win:
http://500.co/startup-company-culture-steps/
Many (most) investor pitches begin with an email. Elizabeth Yin shares a cold-emailing template for founders that will open up any VC's calendar in The Ideal Email Deck:
http://blog.elizabethyin.com/post/146511123230/the-ideal-email-deck
Speaking of startup pitches, it's not about YOU -- it's about everyone else. Andrea Barrica has helped hundreds of companies close better deals (and be generally less annoying to others) by getting less egotistical. She explains how in The Best Startup Pitches Are Empathic, Not Egotistic:
http://500.co/empathic-startup-pitches-for-investors/