Author: Jeff Thermond

Mastering the Hardest Slide in the Pitch Deck

December 6, 2017

This article was written by XSeed Capital Partner, Jeff Thermond.

Almost half of the initial pitches we view at XSeed do not contain a Five Year Projected Financials slide. Another quarter have a forecast, but it only goes out two years. So, three quarters of the entrepreneurs we meet start out with a pitch deck missing an

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Avoid The Bridge To Nowhere In Your Startup’s Funding Plan

October 7, 2015

This XSeed blog was written by Venture Partner, Jeff Thermond, and originally appeared on Forbes.

I have seen several recent startup pitches covering different markets, having different technologies, and built with teams of differing calibers, all of which shared one unfortunate trait: The founders’ funding plans looked a lot like a Bridge to Nowhere.

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Founders: Steer Clear Of This Dangerous Mindset

September 7, 2015

This XSeed blog was written by Venture Partner, Jeff Thermond, and originally appeared on VentureBeat.

When I ask friends with pilot’s licenses what the hardest thing was about learning to fly, they always say, “learning how to get out of a midair stall.” The hard thing about it, they tell me, is how counterintuitive the

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Setting Sales Quotas Is Like Running A 10K Race

August 28, 2015

This XSeed blog was written by Venture Partner, Jeff Thermond, and originally appeared on TechCrunch.

If you’ve ever run a 10K road race, you know that race organizers spend a lot of effort to have volunteers at every milepost telling runners what their time is. If you’re like me, you’ve probably sped up at each

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