#11 Are Pitch Meetings Minefields? Heidi Messer and Susan Lyne give advice about Investor Meetings, Pitch Deck Tips, and Thought Leadership

Broadmic Startup Shortcuts

Does unconscious bias affect the language we use when talking about startups and founders? This week on BroadMic Bonus Cuts, listen to Heidi Messer & Susan Lyne about…

• Their fascinating (and different!) takes on Reid Hoffman’s quote about what he looks for in an entrepreneur: “I look to see if someone has a marine strategy, for taking the beach; an army strategy, for taking the country; and a police strategy, for governing the country afterward.”
• Their practical tips and inside info on what they look for in an entrepreneur’s pitch deck
• Susan Lyne’s view on the critical difference between thought leaders and influencers.

Notes

Tomorrow’s Advance Man by Tad Friend, The New Yorker

LinkedIn’s Series B Pitch to Greylock: Pitch Advice for Entrepreneurs, Reidhoffman.org

Quantifying Silicon Valley’s Diversity Issue by Jessi Hempel, Wired

These 10 Male Executives Are Committing to Reach Gender Parity in 5 Years by Valentina Zarya, Fortune

Additional Reading

Startups Serving The 99 Percent Will Be the Next Billion-Dollar Companies by Hans Tung, TechCrunch

Lessons From The Early Pitch Decks Of Airbnb, BuzzFeed, And YouTube by Linda Dishman, Fast Company

Marc Andreessen: How to address diversity in tech, Fortune video

The Network Man: Reid Hoffman’s big idea by Nicholas Leman, The New Yorker

Lessons From A Study of Perfect Pitch Decks: VCs Spend An Average of 3 Minutes, 44 Seconds On Them by Kim-Mai Cutler, TechCrunch

8 things you should never, ever include in a pitch deck by Scott Gerber, TNW

Positioning Your Startup is Vital — Here’s How to Nail It by Arielle Jackson, First Round Review

How to Write a Great Business Plan: Competitive Analysis by Jeff Haden, Inc.

The Official Definitions of Seed, Series A, and Series B Rounds by Jason Calacanis

Guest bios & transcripts are available on www.broadmic.com.