It's officially July, which means Maria and Emily are gearing up for an All-American month! 🌭🎆⚾

Bring on the hot dogs, fireworks, and boats, and being unashamed about enjoying a little country music! 

Here's the rundown on what happened last month: 

Nvidia has joined the trillion-dollar club, joining the ranks of Apple and Microsoft becoming the world's most valuable company in mid-June. It could have something to do with their GPUs or could it be CEO Jensen Huang's rockstar moment when he signed a woman's chest? Experts are divided on what's really driving company value. Sorry if you missed the boat on investing:(

Adobe updated its terms of service to clarify it won't train AI systems using customer data, responding to recent backlash over misunderstood changes. The initial terms included language that caused concern among some customers, who feared it granted Adobe extensive rights to their content. YIKES. 

The Nicki Minaj tour drama continues. 😳 Where she was fined for allegedly having "dozens of joints in her luggage." Her latest concert in Amsterdam was canceled "due to the events of last week.” The incident occurred as she kicked off her European tour in Amsterdam, causing a ripple effect that led to the postponement of her Manchester show.

Forget "hot girl summer," it's "value meal summer"! Several major fast-food chains have introduced or expanded their value menus as fast and convenient food costs rise. McDonald's offers a value meal with options like McChicken or McDoubble with nuggets, small fries, and a drink. Even Starbucks has joined in by introducing new pairings like any tall coffee or tea with a butter croissant for $5, or a breakfast sandwich for $6-7. Here’s what we’re looking forward to this month:

Here’s what we’re looking forward to in July:

• 4th of July

• Paris Olympics - catch Maria there! 🤸‍♀️

• Tech Chicago Week July 22-26 - let us know if you’ll be there!

Can’t get enough of Soapbox? Follow us for more content, updates, and announcements on LinkedIn! ⤵

Soapbox of the Month

The Art of the 1st Call

Written by Maria

Read and share the FULL VERSION of this Soapbox moment on Medium.

One of the largest misconceptions I notice from founders when speaking to them about their companies is the belief that talking to a junior VC can’t do anything for them OR that it’s the main point of decision in the deal flow process. Neither of these are wholly true. It’s critical for founders to understand that what a junior VC needs to move forward with a deal varies by firm, but going into that conversation knowing you have 30 minutes to make someone your biggest internal champion is incredibly important.

The Importance of the First Call

Every week, I take between 10 to 20 pitch calls. These conversations span from entrepreneurs who are just considering starting a company and don’t yet have a fully developed business idea to founders who are raising $3M in pre-seed rounds with lead investors secured. With such a diverse range of founders, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of companies and details.

That’s why it’s crucial for founders to be memorable. Being memorable doesn’t mean having the most energy or constantly wearing a big smile. To me, it means being incredibly candid and honest about your company and its potential and being as well-prepared and disciplined as possible going into that first call. I understand that fundraising is a significant time commitment for founders, taking time away from building their company or talking to customers. Therefore, I make it my job to match that level of preparedness, coming into the conversation ready to share insights about the firm I work for and the value we can provide to them.

Starting the Conversation

After the small talk and niceties at the start of a pitch call, I always provide the founder with a clear structure for how the next 30 minutes will go. I’ll share a bit about our fund and the value we offer. Then, I’d like to hear about them and why they started their company. Afterward, we’ll transition into a Q&A session. By giving an overview of the call, I am setting expectations. Each VC leads calls differently, and I want the founder to know what to expect once we get on the call. Right away, they knew they will have time to ask me questions about the firm. It also clarifies that I prefer conducting the meeting in a Q&A format rather than a formal presentation.

The first question I ask on every pitch call is, “Tell me a bit about your background and why you started your company.” This gives me a general overview and introduction to the founder and divulges insights that aren’t in a pitch deck. The best founders give a quick, high-level overview of their background, highlighting key moments that were crucial when they decided to leave a corporation to start a company. They talk in-depth about the pain points they personally experienced, maybe sprinkling in some customer discovery, but overall, they clearly articulate why they are building their company. This overview lasts no longer than 5 minutes.

Building Conviction Quickly

I’m constantly thinking about what I need to believe in order to gain conviction as quickly as possible, the areas where I need to do supplementary due diligence, and the priority list for what my partners may want to see.

To cover as much ground as possible in the shortest amount of time, I run my first calls in a pretty disciplined fashion while still remaining casual. Here is the structure of my calls and some things I prefer to do when chatting with founders:

1. Have a Deck Before the Call

I always try to have a pitch deck before the call to minimize the time spent asking questions already answered in the deck. Sometimes, I ask the same questions about key KPIs like sales cycle or pricing to confirm what’s in the deck or see if anything has changed. For early-stage founders, factors like sales cycle and pricing are often influenced by new learnings and change until key customer contracts are set in place. I want to ensure I have accurate numbers on these key details.

2. Keep It Conversational

I try to keep the first pitch call in a conversational format as much as possible. I prefer to ask questions and have the founder answer them without running through a formal presentation. This helps build rapport, softens the power dynamic between a VC and a founder, and provides insight into how clearly the founder can articulate their vision and how deliberate they are in answering questions.

3. Dig Deeper with Follow-Up Questions

I believe you get the best answers after the second or third question when digging into a topic. I let the founder’s answers to my previous questions guide the formation of my subsequent questions. This allows me to dive deeper into key risks and highlights of their business. It also helps get founders off script; many are on multiple pitch calls a day answering the same questions. I aim to cover as much ground as possible in that first call.

Ending the call

I end every call by thanking the founder for their time. If I didn’t have the pitch deck before the call, I make sure to request it, along with any supplementary materials I might need for early diligence. I also provide an overview of the timeline. I explain what the rest of our investment process looks like, the average timeline for each stage, and when they can expect to hear from me if we’re moving forward.

Post-Call Follow-Up

There are a couple of things I do after a first call. First, I ensure I have all my notes in order. I need to make sure that I have answers to the following categories: founder’s background, problem, solution, sales cycle, pricing, traction, and round terms. If I know I am missing something after that initial first call, I send an email within 24 hours.

The hope is that after the first call, I’m excited about the founder, excited about the company they’re building, and curious to learn more. After a particularly excellent first call, I start to pull together a first-page diligence shee (more on that in a future post) to ensure that when I present the company to my partners for a second call, I am as prepared as possible and have the best understanding of the business they are building.