Broadening the On-ramp for Women-run Companies

I have learned the important lesson that being mediocre at anything is not a “safe” path to success. I now realize that the “safe” path for others may not be the best route for me.

I’ve spent most of my life learning how to turn off my passion for just long enough to eat and sleep. I’ve never had to learn how to turn it on. After a recent long stretch without that passion, here's my hypothesis as to why I think it is coming back.

New Builders are essential to a more dynamic and diverse economy, but they are also driving revitalization in the neighborhoods where others have given up hope.

Here are five things I think every startup and VC can learn by paying attention to what the Hustle Fund is up to.

I invited Evan Walden of Getro to share his thoughts on recruiting top talent in the current environment and the role VCs can play to help their portfolio companies address this ongoing issue.

Over the past few months, I've seen an increasing number of pitches from startups tackling the world’s biggest environmental and social problems like climate change, gun violence, and the mental health crisis. I'm also finding that I’m becoming more determined to invest in world-changing startups.

I invited Dick Rothkopf, co-founder of Learning Curve International, the manufacturer of the Thomas the Tank Engine toys, to share his thoughts on how to spot big thinkers and big ideas with the propensity to scale, and how to help entrepreneurs think bigger.

Without that physical barrier between work and home, many entrepreneurs (including me) have a hard time shutting off. In this podcast episode, I share what I've learned through my experience working from home for the past 15 years.

I invited Seth Levine to join the show because we’ve had some nice conversations about the challenge we each have in managing our personal bandwidth. Since having these conversations, we’ve both managed to carve out more time through some creative outsourcing and delegating.

Dave Balter, CEO of MergeLane-backed Flipside Crypto, has built three previous startups in the midst of economic downturns. He believes recessions are the greatest time to launch into successful models. In this Fund81 podcast episode, Dave shares his thoughts on why these eras drive opportunity.

I’ve been working from home for the past 15 years. I have learned a lot about maximizing productivity, finding work/life harmony, managing home life, staying fit and maintaining a healthy marriage while working from home. I’ve shared some of these lessons learned in this Fund81 podcast episode.

As part of our survey to determine whether COVID-19 will slow VC investment, we asked venture capitalists to share their advice for entrepreneurs who are currently raising or plan to raise capital in the next six months. Here's advice from 21 of those VCs.

Since we are all wondering how COVID-19 will affect venture capital investment, I surveyed some of my Fund81 VC forum members to take quick pulse on their investment plans. Below is the data from the first 34 respondents.

I have battled anxiety for many years. In that journey, I've learned a lot about how to manage it and support others who battle anxiety as well. I thought it might be helpful to share my thoughts.

So often I speak with entrepreneurs who have not spoken to anyone outside of their personal circles before spending countless hours on their business. This always catches my attention, because I was once this entrepreneur.

Rapid-fire explanations without curiosity or engagement often feel like dressed-up defensiveness. I’m not terribly game to build a relationship with someone who feels defensive from the start.

I’ve seen thousands of startup investor pitches. Since I find myself offering the same feedback over and over, I thought it might be helpful to share my nine most common points of investor pitch feedback.

As a venture capitalist, I am frequently surrounded by exceptionally high-performing and inspiring people. Until recently, I had never stopped to think about the impact of that.

If you're relying on rationalizations for why you're not raising, you're missing excellent insights

It has been a great few weeks for the MergeLane fund. When people ask us what our criteria are for investments, we always talk about team as the distant number one priority. I wanted to share this recent, wonderful interchange with TomboyX after a great week for them:

After years of running women's Conscious Leadership Camps, all programming is now for everyone

Want to take a day and bookmark a big win? Here are a few ideas and groundrules

I cannot think of a commitment my mother has ever broken. The importance she places on her commitments is one of her best qualities. I am proud that I inherited this quality. However, my goal for 2018 is to actually allow myself to break a few commitments.

Our co-founder Sue Heilbronner shared her thoughts on the best mentor/advisor question she’s ever been asked

I finished my first Half Ironman when I was 22 years old and it was a huge feat for me. I have zero natural athletic talent, so I had to train twice as hard, be twice as disciplined and stay twice as focused as my training buddies. But crossing the finish line made it all…

As I’m sure many of you have seen, David Cohen’s “Mentor Manisfesto” is a great set of guidelines for mentors. It’s been very helpful to me in my journey as a mentor and it’s certainly helped us recruit mentors for MergeLane. However, I had an experience the other day that inspired me to...

Every week during our accelerator program, the teams have to choose a “Big Rock” goal for the week. If they don’t meet that goal, they have to do something like sing karaoke during our team meeting or tell an embarrassing childhood story. The MergeLane team plays too. Since we’re trying to help...

It’s hard to believe, but we are in Week 8 of the 12-week inaugural MergeLane program. We could not be more delighted with how things are going, and we could not be more appreciative of all of your support. Here are the highlights numerically:

I, like many active angel investors, receive several meeting requests a day from companies looking for angel funding. As I was going through my inbox today, I started thinking about what separates the best meeting requests from the rest of the pack. When deciding to answer an email from an...

I am asked to make an introduction to people in my network several times per day, but unfortunately, I can’t say yes to most of these requests. I thought it might be helpful to share why. Here it goes: My intros are a reflection on me. Because of this, I typically only make intros when…

I woke up in the middle of the night last night – a night that falls toward the end of the inaugural class in the MergeLane accelerator for companies with at least one female leader. Things have gone well. Eight diverse and talented companies that cut across tech, consumer web, and consumer...

We hear it all the time from Silicon Valley VC firms, corporate boards, and the C-suite. It goes something like this: “We WANT to have more women in our ranks, but we just can’t find enough great candidates.” The perception on diversity in pipelines is entrenched, and so long as the seekers...

Most startup investors look for entrepreneurs who know their business inside and out. Historical financials are rarely a good predictor of future startup success, but entrepreneurs’ understanding of their financials and key metrics can be. In helping our MergeLane teams prepare for Demo Day last...

The shortage of tech talent is a challenge for perhaps every company with which I’ve worked. Since this is a constant topic of conversation not only among startups, but companies at every stage, MergeLane has invited experts from three innovative companies at totally different growth stages to...

With our first program complete, we are excited to put our attention on next year and our second startup cohort. We are hearing from startups all over the world about their interest in our next program. We meet them at our QuickPitch events, and we will be meeting more at MergeLane event...

I’ve seen thousands of entrepreneurs pitch in dozens of different pitch formats, but the following is the format I’d recommend. I’ve compiled this through my own experience as an investor, the best of the existing resources I found, and input from several angel investors.

MergeLane is launching Onramp Live to share fantastic insight from startup mentors, angel investors, VCs and exceptional leaders. We’re kicking this off with an interactive online discussion with the founders of Dating Ring (as featured on Gimlet’s StartUp Podcast, Y Combinator Grad), Kindara...

As a mentor for several accelerators, an investor in accelerator participants, and the co-founder of MergeLane, an accelerator for high-growth startups with at least one woman in leadership, I often find myself explaining the ins and outs of startup accelerators. I recently invited...

Today we opened the application for the second class of the MergeLane accelerator. Our 2016 class — starting on February 1, 2016 – will comprise 10 fantastic startups with least one female in leadership. We could not be more excited about meeting these entrepreneurs.

There are a number of unique things about MergeLane – the venture fund we launched in 2014. We increasingly think that one of our key unfair advantages is that MergeLane runs on principles of Conscious Leadership.

In preparation for our next MergeLane accelerator class, we’ve been searching high and low to find the most promising startups with at least one woman in leadership. As of today, I have reviewed over 1100 AngelList profiles. By the 527th profile, this admittedly became a bit tedious, but it was...

The only thing I know for certain about early-stage companies is that there will be uncertainty. Even the best opportunities often twist, turn and pivot thousands of times before they produce a return for their investors. As an angel and the Chief Investment Officer at MergeLane, I focus most of...

As an active angel investor and co-founder of the MergeLane accelerator, I am asked to recommend startup lawyers almost once a week. Many of these requests come from companies that have been working with a friend or family friend, or a reduced cost attorney. Those lawyers may not have...

The valuations set for each round of financing can have significant consequences for startup investors and entrepreneurs. Thanks to new and improved startup resources, it’s now much easier to understand how high startups can value their company. However, the question of how high a startup should...

I frequently find that entrepreneurs fail to provide all of the information I need to execute a wire to invest in their company. To save time and hassle for entrepreneurs and startup investors everywhere, I’ve created a simple template. See below or download this word doc. You’re welcome.

As an active angel investor and the co-founder of MergeLane, an accelerator and fund focused on companies with at least one woman in leadership, I’ve made 24 investments over the past year. All 24 of those entrepreneurs followed different investment-closing processes, many of which created...

I was recently asked to speak at two Boulder Startup Week sessions on startup diversity to provide my perspective as a female investor with experience investing in women-led companies. Admittedly, when I was asked to speak on these topics, I was a little miffed. Two more invitations to speak...

As an active angel investor, former angel group leader, and the co-founder of MergeLane, an accelerator and fund for high-growth startups with at least one woman in leadership, I’ve heard thousands of investors ask tens of thousands of questions. I’ve also learned that startups’ answers to these...

Most transformative ideas over the past 15 years have come from startups. The freedom to experiment creatively and to fail quickly produces true disruption. Leveraging combined decades of experience by the MergeLane founders in working with leaders on innovation, MergeLane is launching a new...

MergeLane was established on a simple principle: investing in women is not only the right thing to do – it is the smart thing to do. In the time I’ve been working with MergeLane, I’ve researched over 1,600 companies with at least one woman in leadership. I have watched our startup...

2016 Demo Day was kicked off by the formidable, brilliant, and inspiring poet Azure Antoinette. We hope this poem helps to keep you going when your entrepreneurial journey gets tough.

MergeLane, the accelerator and fund for high-growth startups with at least one woman in leadership, is now accepting applicants for its 2017 accelerator. This program will pair a select cohort of startups with industry-leading mentors and CEO coaches to dramatically increase the startups’ growth...

The amount of money a company raises to finance its operation is an important metric, but I’ve learned that entrepreneurs and investors often calculate this differently. We recently sent out our quarterly survey to the 25 investments we’ve made through the MergeLane accelerator and fund...

This post, written by MergeLane co-founder Sue Heilbronner, first appeared at her site. This policy also applies to all MergeLane activities, including our November Women’s Leadership Camp. We wanted to be sure to share her thinking (our thinking) here as well. As of today, I’m formally enacting...

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is perhaps the most-referenced startup metric, but MRR is only applicable to companies that provide services to their customers through an ongoing contractual relationship, e.g., SaaS businesses (For more on MRR, read my previous post: MRR – The Definition...

This post is the fifth in a series summarizing guidance for how to calculate key metrics for startups. This series focuses on the metrics that are the most critical for entrepreneurs, angel investors and venture capitalists. These critical Key Performance Indicators for startups...

This episode of the Real Leaders podcast features Elizabeth Kraus and Sue Heilbronner, co-founders of MergeLane, the investment fund and accelerator targeting companies with at least one female in leadership. Here Elizabeth turns the tables on Real Leaders Host Sue by asking her about her goals...

Dear Mr. Trump, Thanks to the hard work of many before me, I, an entrepreneur born in the same year as your daughter Ivanka, have grown up believing I could do everything my brother could do. I’ve never really felt the weight of the glass ceiling. I co-founded MergeLane, an accelerator...

This is a guest post by Ann Stewart Zachwieja, COO of Globig. a MergeLane 2016 Accelerator participant. Those of you leading a startup will recognize the driving pace. There is no such thing as a 40-hour schedule or free weekends. You solve problems in your dreams, Slack ideas to your teammates...

This is a guest blog post by Allie Janoch, CEO of Mapistry, MergeLane Alumni 2015. Mapistry, a 2015 MergeLane alumni, is in the business of industrial stormwater. We’ve created an easy to use and affordable software to combat the challenges of stormwater regulations.

Wendy Lea has had a lifetime of high-profile successes in building successful businesses. Leaving Get Satisfaction after years as CEO, Wendy was lured to Cincinnati to develop and grow an enduring business ecosystem that brings together startups, bigcos, government nonprofits, neighborhoods...

It is that time again. The moment when we have the privilege of sharing our upcoming accelerator cohort with the world. We are happy to announce the third MergeLane Accelerator class that will begin on February 12th. We are thrilled to add these exemplary nine companies with at least one female...

At MergeLane, we (and most of the startup investors I know) subscribe to the philosophy that startup success is determined by team, team, team, market and idea, in that order. We look for incredibly tenacious founders with a track record of making the seemingly impossible possible, a deep passion...

Paying legal fees and organizing paperwork are not typically entrepreneurs’ favorite things to do. However, getting things in order now will help you avoid headaches in the future like tracking down a signature from an investor hiking in Peru with a 24-hour deadline for an acquisition offer...