After sales software startup TigerEye closed its Series A and formed a board of directors, its co-founders warned them:
One thing you’d never want to do is have a three-hour, too-in-the-weeds, non-strategic board meeting.
“Every board I’ve done and seen is over 80 pages long,” says Tracy Young, co-founder and CEO of TigerEye. “I’m not exaggerating.”
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In this article, TC+ explains how to structure a one-hour board meeting that creates real value for founders and investors. Step One: Replace your bulky set with a three-page note.
We’re taking Monday May 29th off to celebrate Memorial Day, so I’ll be back with another TC+ review starting today.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Walter Thompson
Editorial Director, Root Devices+
@your protagonist
Why aren’t venture capitalists flocking to fund cybersecurity startups?
Image Credits: RobertAx (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
The rapid shift to digital has been great for mature cybersecurity firms: Palo Alto Networks, Scaler and CrowdStrike show strong revenue multiples, reports Alex Wilhelm.
However, there appears to be no halo effect for corporate-backed cybersecurity startups. According to Crunchbase, funding for companies in this sector fell 58% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022.
“With valuations falling across the board, cybersecurity stock prices have fallen dramatically today, although they remain more expensive than other tech subcategories,” writes Alex.
Profitability before growth: 5 investors explain their mantra for South Korean startups
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / Root Devices
South Korea has seen a unicorn boom in recent years, but like the rest of the world is feeling the impact of a global market correction.
“Venture funding in Asia is down 33% in Q1 2023 from Q4 2023 and 57% from Q1 2022,” reports Kate Park, who polled five investors to get their predictions for 2023 and learned how they advise their portfolio companies. :
- Han Kim, General Partner, Altos Ventures
- Tim Chae, Managing Partner, 500 Global
- JP Lee, CEO and Managing Partner, SoftBank Ventures Asia
- Yeemin Chung, Managing Director, BRV Capital Management
- Eunse Lee, Founder and Managing Partner, 541 Ventures
Ask Sophie: What are my options if the company revokes my OPT job offer?
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/Root Devices
Dear Sophie,
I’m an international student graduating this month, but the company I’m supposed to start working for on OPT has canceled my job offer.
What are my options?
— Grappling Castle
3 things companies must do to secure their applications in the age of artificial intelligence
Image Credits: Henrik Sorensen (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Companies with AI-enabled apps give bad actors a wider attack surface when it comes to phishing, bots and other attempts to access customer accounts.
“We’re already seeing examples of AI-powered websites being reverse-engineered to get AI computing for free,” says Reed McGinley-Stempel, co-founder and CEO of Stych, a customer identification and access management (CIAM) platform.
Venture leasing: The unsung hero for hardware startups struggling to raise capital
Image Credits: bagi1998 (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Hardware startups have always been challenged by high initial capital expenditures and open R&D timelines.
Fortunately, venture leasing creates “a happy medium between expensive debt loans and venture capital financing that works particularly well,” says Felipe Chávez Cortés, CEO and co-founder of robotic food delivery company Kiwibot.
To get products to market faster and avoid dilution, his company entered into a $10 million venture lease deal.
“Hardware companies shouldn’t feel constrained by venture capital funds to fund their high-risk, high-growth operations,” says Cortés.
Pitch Deck Teardown: Faye’s $10M Series A Deck
Image Credits: Faye
Insurtech startup Faye has shared a redacted version of the 19-slide deck its founders used to raise a $10 million Series A round.
“Let’s get this out of the way right away,” says Haje Jan Kamps. “It’s a really great presentation.”
- Title slide
- Summary slide
- Team slide
- Problem slide
- Market size slide
- Insurance market overview slide
- Product overview slide
- Product features slide 1
- Product features slide 2
- Product features slide 3
- Product features slide 4
- Go-to-market slide
- Financial growth metrics slide
- Customer Growth Metrics Slide
- Customer Verification Slide 1
- Competitive provincial slide
- Ask slide
- Customer Verification Slide 2
- Closing slide with mission statement
rootdevices.com/2023/05/26/rootdevices-roundup-south-korea-investor-survey-1-hour-board-meetings-venture-leasing-basics/