Insights
Our perspectives, learnings, and insights on traction, venture capital, and product management.
Author: Harlan Milkove
Just Start Raising
Founders are often hesitant to speak with investors until they feel 100% ready to raise. That’s a mistake. With the right intention and time allocation, a founder can start making valuable connections and adjust to market conditions without being distracted from mission-critical priorities. In the end, this will make their fundraising process more efficient and…
Are You Managing Your International Currency Risk?
Nowadays, most technology ventures are international in some shape or form, whether it be by supporting international customers, leveraging overseas developers, managing supply chains, or foreign investments (just to name a few). This means that most businesses are exposed to currency risk, often in multiple areas, and how that risk is managed could be the…
COVID-19’s Impact on Early Stage Venture Capital
Like many in the venture capital ecosystem, we’ve been closely observing the VC market response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Common knowledge at this point is that deal volume is down considerably from pre-crisis times, but less clear is how early-stage startups have been impacted since most coverage we’ve seen is focused on large later-stage funding…
Pitching the Tailwinds of the Coronavirus Outbreak
With half of Americans now ordered to “shelter in place,” we’re definitively in the throes of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. In the startup world, venture capitalists have put the breaks on new deals as they assess the cash positions of their portfolio companies, potential systemic risks, and what the new normal may be. Meanwhile, scrappy…
Raising Venture Capital in the Time of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Baron Rothschild famously said “buy when there’s blood in the streets,” but when the metaphor is playing out in real-time it’s hard for any investor to imagine backing a venture deal. Though venture capitalists know there are plenty of great opportunities when markets are distressed, everyone puts on their breaks following a 7-day run of…
How Venture Capital Will be Impacted by the Next Recession
Many within the startup community believe we’re staring the next recession in the face. Founders I’ve been working with are trying to figure out what that means for go-to-market strategies reliant on venture capital. While I won’t attempt to predict when the next recession will strike, I will make some predictions about how the VC…
EdTech Platform Osmosis Raises a $4M Series A To Train Caregivers
Felicis Ventures backs a venture addressing the “impending global crisis” in caregiving. On June 11th, Osmosis announced a $4M Series A led by Felicis Ventures. Billing itself as the Khan Academy of healthcare, the Baltimore-based startup offers educational videos, flashcards, and supplementary materials about healthcare to medical school students. Co-founder Shiv Gaglani says Osmosis is…
Pillar Raises $5.5M to Attack the Student Loan Repayment Problem
Kleiner Perkins craves access to the financial data of highly educated consumers entering the workforce. Last Thursday, Pillar announced a $5.5M seed round led by Kleiner Perkins. The NYC-based startup aims to help students better manage their loans by connecting them with offering them tailored recommendations based on their personal financial conditions and offering to…
Revenue Analytics Raises $11M To Determine How Much You’re Willing to Pay
Noro-Moseley Adds AI-Driven Predictive Pricing To Its Portfolio of Marketing Automation Holdings Last week, Revenue Analytics announced an $11M Series A round led by Noro-Moseley Partners. The Atlanta-based firm combines AI and human expertise to provide pricing recommendations. According to its CEO Dax Dross, Revenue Analytics is planning to use the newly raised fund to…
What Intellimize’s $8M Series A Says About the Future of Split Testing
Why Amplify Partners Believes Personalized Content Authored by AI Will Be The Next Wave of Digital Marketing Innovation On April 23rd, Intellimize announced an $8M Series A round led by Amplify Partners. The San Mateo-based startup aims to use machine learning to optimize websites, thereby increasing revenue and customer acquisition for ecommerce businesses. Intellimize is…