About First Check, with Venture Capitalist Tim McLoughlin
Welcome to First Check, a podcast so you can learn how to be the next great venture capitalist or angel investor.
As a partner at Cofounders Capital, host of First Check Tim McLoughlin has invested over $43 million in startups, and on this podcast, Tim shares what works and what doesn’t, so you can be ready to write your first check.
Allstacks' Hersh Tapadia: The Investment We Shouldn't Have Passed On
As an investor, sometimes you make the deals you shouldn't have, and sometimes you pass on the deals that you wish you had executed on. For Tim McLoughlin and Cofounders Capital, they had the chance to invest in Hersh Tapadia's startup Allstacks, but after a thorough dilligence process, they ultimately passed. Find out why, and why Tim might be regretting that decision.
23 Jun 2021
From the largest European tech exit ever to venture capital, with Tobi Walter
As an entrepreneur, Tobi Walter was part of the largest European tech exit ever, then raised both angel and VC money with his company Shoeboxed. After that exit, instead of the 100 hour weeks and sleeping-in-the-office grind, Tobi decided to take his startup expertise to the dark side - venture capital. On the show, he gives inside information on what it’s like to be on both the founder side and the VC side.
9 Jun 2021
Questions you should be asking investors, with The Looma Project's Cole Johnson
Back in 2018, The Looma Project landed a $375K seed-round investment from Cofounders Capital, and since then, over 40 investors have seen the company's potential and invested in both its success and CEO Cole Johnson's vision for the future. Today, Cole talks all about the dynamics of investor relations.
26 May 2021
Investing in the Southeast, with Venturesouth's Charlie Banks
VentureSouth is an early-stage venture firm that operates in 16 locations across the Southeast, has over 350 members, and has invested over $50M into 80+ companies. Today, managing partner Charlile Banks talks about the value of being in a portfolio company rather than a solo investor, taking the community approach to investing in the Southeast, and the feeling he got from writing his first check.
19 May 2021
The top 3 questions to ask while reviewing a company’s financial model
How do you truly dig deep into a founder's financial projections? Tim McLoughlin has seen hundreds of pitches, and he's teaching you how to level up your due diligence in analyzing whether or not a company fits your portfolio or is a major risk. Grab this free guide by signing up for our mailing list at www.FirstCheckPodcast.com!
5 May 2021
Stat Smack, Cockroaches, and a $50K Grant, with Wrangle's Adam Smith
Adam Smith is the co-founder of Wrangle.io, which was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from NC IDEA - and is on its way to being a game changing technology. Adam has had an interesting entrepreneurial path, especially to sports and fantasy sports fans out there.
Today on the show, Adam and Tim talk about Adam’s new venture and hearing “no” from investors almost a hundred times, the responsibility of a founder to truly know when the money will run out and when they will need more money, and what entrepreneurs need to be looking for in their first hires - and what investors should want from them too.
21 Apr 2021
The gender gap in investing, and what Robbie Hardy is doing about it
Robbie Hardy is an entrepreneur and angel investor who's on a personal mission to fix the gender gap in funding - you know the one, that women-led startups get only 2% of venture capital. As the founder and chair of xElle Ventures, she's doing something about it. Today, Robbie talks about what all investors can do to help solve the problem, what she looks for in founders, and what mistakes she sees entrepreneurs making all the time.
14 Apr 2021
Techstars Mentor Madness and Hundreds of Pitch Meetings, Zoee (formally SoleLife) CEO Nichole Lowe
Nichole Lowe, CEO and founder of Zoee (formally SoleLife), has pitched to hundreds of potential investors, including Cofounders Capital. Most of the time, those meetings didn’t result in a check, and Nichole was left to look forward to the next one...and then the next one. Today Nichole talks about the value she sees as an entrepreneur from the interactions that didn’t work out, what she’s learned from refining her pitch so many times, and why she’s still interacting with Tim - even though Cofounders was one of the investors who politely declined.
31 Mar 2021
Raising Capital from Angels, VCs, and Sharks, with Rewardstock's Jon Hayes
Rewardstock founder Jon Hayes has received funding from VCs, angel investors, and even a shark (Mark Cuban). Today he gives the founder’s perspective on great questions to ask, and some of the more frustrating parts of working with investors.
24 Mar 2021
Why I'm a Venture Capitalist, with Mucker's Monique Villa
Mucker Capital's Monique Villa is pretty far from what we tend to think about when we picture a venture capitalist - the older white man who graduated from a prestigious university and went on to get his MBA. She’s none of those things, but maybe that difference in background and perspective gives her an advantage when evaluating startups to work with. On today’s show, Monique shares why she loves being a venture capitalist - and some of the parts of the job that aren't her favorite.
17 Mar 2021
Art.com founder Josh Chodniewicz on building a new platform for investors and startups
Back in 1995, only 14% of Americans had internet access, and most of that was painfully slow. But Josh Chodniewicz could see the future of ecommerce, and started up Art.com, which eventually grew to over 1,000 employees. Now as an investor, Josh has struggled with building a diverse portfolio, having access to deals, and finding experts to vet the companies in industries he doesn't know very well - and that's exactly why he's starting Fundify.
10 Mar 2021TRANSCRIPT
Investing in over 150 startups - Lessons from Angel Capital Association's Marcia Dawood
Marcia Dawood has invested in over 150 companies (!!). She's a Venture Partner at Mindshift Capital, and the future Board Chair of the Angel Capital Association. Today, Marcia shares tips for demystifying angel investing, overcoming the fear of writing your first check, how to get access to deal flow, and why angel investing can mean so much more than just a potential return on investment.
3 Mar 2021
Pitch meeting mistakes, uncomfortable questions, and fantastic failures, with angel investor Donald Thompson
As an angel investor, Donald Thompson has had some wins and some fantastic fiascos. On today's show, Don asks Tim what he looks for in a founder, what mistakes he's seen in pitch meetings, why an investor might choose venture capital over angel investing, and why he's decided to share his knowledge with other investors.
24 Feb 2021
Welcome to First Check, with Venture Capitalist Tim McLoughlin
Welcome to First Check, a podcast so you can learn how to be the next great venture capitalist or angel investor.
As a partner at Cofounders Capital, host of First Check Tim McLoughlin has invested over $43 million in startups, and on this podcast, Tim shares what works and what doesn’t, so you can be ready to write your first check.
Inside a recent episode
Investing in over 150 startups - Lessons from Angel Capital Association's Marcia Dawood
Published 10 Mar 2021 · Transcript excerpt
[…] We do also do some public policy work in Washington, DC. And I won't get into all the details because I don't want to bore our listeners here. But there is a thing called an accredited investor definition, meaning you have to have a certain amount of income or wealth in order to be an angel. […]
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