investment | The Vertical

Welltory team. Left to right: Alex Lyskovsky, Jane Smorodnikova, Pavel Pravdin

Bootstrappers at heart: How to reach $14 mln in revenue after VC rejection

After getting a “No” from Silicon Valley VCs, the founders of Welltory, a stress management app, gave up on investors. They relocated to distant parts of the world to focus on their product. Six years later, Welltory has nine million users and $14 million in revenue. How did they do it?

Three international startups eye U.S. expansion amid a tough market

Founders globally are coming up against a capital-raising plateau. However, some international startups have spotted an opportunity in the U.S. during the market downturn.

SAFE for VCs, not so safe for startups

In recent years, “SAFE” notes have become one of the most common ways for early-stage startups to raise capital in the U.S. Still, most international founders have never heard of them. Lifelong entrepreneur and innovation consultant Michael Burtov explains the challenges these notes present to startups and angel investors.

Lessons from WeWork: When real estate pretends to be a tech startup

The recent bankruptcy filing of WeWork, the shared office space company once valued at $47 billion, offers a sobering lesson for startup founders tempted by packaging traditional business models as earth-shattering ideas.

The Arrow Information Paradox: How to sell without giving away your secrets

To explain their technology, many startup founders have to reveal proprietary information. This puts their intellectual property at risk and sometimes leads to a loss in its value. How to manage the delicate balance of pricing your product and sharing information about it?

The voice of leadership: How can immigrant fempreneurs improve their communication style?

Since the world of Tech has been historically male-dominated, the “voice of leadership” tends to be male. Women entrepreneurs – and immigrants in particular — should look for their own unique style, writes Lisa Patti, communication coach and founder at C3Speech.

Do investors steal the ideas you pitch them? Yes, all the time, and here’s why.

Tales about devious investors conniving to take advantage of aspiring entrepreneurs have been circulating in the tech community for a while. Most founders dismiss such stories as urban legends, but in fact, some VCs do steal ideas from early stage startups in order to boost their own struggling portfolio companies. Immigrant entrepreneurs, who have limited access to capital and are often overly eager to find an investor, should approach fundraising with caution, warns Michael Burtov, a star mentor and lifelong entrepreneur.

New immigrants aren’t connected within VC networks. Where do they get funding?

Although at least one third of U.S. tech startups were launched by immigrant entrepreneurs, these founders are often

How immigrant investors are rebuilding the U.S. supply chain

Coming from non-traditional backgrounds, immigrant and minority VCs are open to investing into overlooked niches. Three newly-established funds are aiming to foster sustainability within the global supply chain, which has recently been disrupted by the pandemic.

Lessons from the ups and downs of investing in international startups

Marvin Liao, a former partner at 500 Startups, has been a pre-seed and seed stage investor for more than seven years. In this article for The Vertical, he shares some tips for international founders on how to succeed in the U.S.

Pitching in the time of corona: How to succeed on Zoom

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the traditional ways in which businesses raise investment and acquire new clients. Although tech savvy founders are likely to have adjusted quickly, online communication isn’t always easy. How can you make the most of this time?

Black Men Talk Tech: Boris Moyston wants the world to listen

Last year, serial entrepreneur Boris Moyston launched a new conference, Black Men Talk Tech, focused on the contribution of people of color in the innovation economy. He is now looking to bring the event to Europe and Africa.