Investor Connect Podcast

02:03

Startup Funding Espresso – How To Validate the...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/10/05

How To Validate the Startup's Potential Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors considering funding a startup should test the startup's potential. Here are some key techniques for evaluating the startup. Try to sell the startup's solution to a potential customer. Gauge their reaction to the product and its price. If accepted, then this validates the value proposition of the company. Assess the challenge in selling

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02:08

Startup Funding Espresso – Regulatory Around the Fund...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/10/02

Regulatory Around the Fund Manager Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are regulations around the fund manager. A fund manager is considered an investment advisor, which is defined as anyone who provides advice to others regarding securities in exchange for compensation. VC fund managers must register with the SEC unless they qualify as an exempt reporting advisor. They are not required to report if they do meet

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22:00

Investor Connect 897: Renewable Energy, Greenhouses,...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/10/02

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Al McGregor, COO of Perfect Energy, Inc. & AgroEnergy Farms, Co. Through Perfect Energy in Colorado with partners in Texas, Al connects solar and wind generation to practical commercial and agricultural use, arguing renewables and fossil fuels must be balanced to preserve fossil fuels for hard-to-electrify needs like big trucks and airplanes. Through Agro Energy Farms, he focuses on helping small farms by turning underused land into productive

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02:10

Startup Funding Espresso – Regulatory Around the...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/10/01

Regulatory Around the Fundraising Process Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are regulations around startup funding. These regulations provide an exemption from the securities laws. Here's a list of key regulatory terms to know: Rule 506b Founders or issuers of a stock can raise an unlimited amount of capital. They can raise from an unlimited number of accredited investors. They are allowed up to 35

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02:06

Startup Funding Espresso – Regulatory for Private Funds

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/30

Regulatory for Private Funds Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Regulatory for private funds includes venture capital funds. VC funds can find an exemption from regulatory requirements by one of the following: Having fewer than 100 owners in the fund. This excludes entities created for the purpose of investing in the fund, such as SPVs or Special Purpose Vehicles. This is known as Section 3(c)(1). A qualifying venture

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02:07

Startup Funding Espresso – Automating Your Dealflow...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/29

Automating Your Dealflow Process Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startup investors see a tremendous amount of deal flow. Finding quality deals is the challenge. Here are some key steps to automate the dealflow process: Set up tools to search for founders with a specific background. For example, one can set a search to find founders from Y Combinator or Techstars. Search for founder configurations. One can search for

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02:05

Startup Funding Espresso – Key Criteria for Venture...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/28

Key Criteria for Venture Capital Investment Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Venture capital requires a specific type of startup to meet its investment objectives. Here's a list of key criteria VCs look for: Large market size. The market is large and growing fast. This provides the startup numerous opportunities to find a position in the market. Large market population. The market population provides ample

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21:41

Investor Connect 896: Andrew Kazlow on Building...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/26

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Andrew Kazlow, entrepreneur, writer, and host of The Diligent Observer. Andrew shares how he moved from an engineering background into the business side of industrial automation, then returned to Texas A&M for an MBA where he studied what's "broken" in angel investing and found that volunteer-driven investor networks often create a slow, painful process for founders, especially around due diligence. He explains what angels commonly overlook,

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02:03

Startup Funding Espresso – How To Handle Soft...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/25

How To Handle Soft Commitments Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors provide soft commitments to hold their place in a fundraise but delay the actual investment. The soft commitment is not legally binding. Investors often provide soft commitments while they go through their own diligence process. It's often the case that the investor drops out before making the investment. Here are some steps the founder can

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01:58

Startup Funding Espresso – How To Perform Due...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/24

How To Perform Due Diligence on an Investor Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, the founder should be doing as much diligence on the investor as the investor is doing on the startup. Here are some key steps to perform due diligence on an investor: What type of investor are they? Angel, venture capitalist, family office, other? What is their track record in investing? Have they invested for a short

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02:12

Startup Funding Espresso – The Basic Due Diligence...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/23

The Basic Due Diligence Process Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors funding a startup must first complete the due diligence process. The objective is to understand all the particulars about the company and the team. Here is the list of the basic due diligence process: The investment. This includes the term sheet, other investors in the round, and dilution impact. Financials. This includes the income statement

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02:04

Startup Funding Espresso – The Importance of Vesting...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/22

The Importance of Vesting Shares Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Vesting shares means taking shares granted to an employee and having them earned over time. A typical vesting schedule is four years with a one-year cliff. This means the employee granted shares will not have ownership of the shares for the first year. At the end of the first year, the employee now owns 25% of the shares granted. After that, the

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02:07

Startup Funding Espresso – What Is Reverse Due Diligence

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/21

What Is Reverse Due Diligence Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Due diligence is the process of reviewing the condition of a company to be acquired. The purpose is to understand the company's current status, including risks, assets, liabilities, and potential opportunities. Reverse due diligence is when the company being acquired reviews the condition of the acquirer. Here are several reasons why one would execute

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18:45

Investor Connect 895: Jason Taylor of CodeLaunch on...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/18

In this episode of Investor Connect, we welcome Jason Taylor, founder and president of CodeLaunch, who shares how he created the program in 2012 to help early-stage tech founders overcome the catch-22 of needing a product to raise funding but needing funding to build the product. Jason explains how CodeLaunch runs regional competitions that narrow hundreds of applicants down to six finalists per region, then pairs each finalist with a three-person team of elite improving developers for an intense

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02:09

Startup Funding Espresso – The Importance of a Data Room

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/18

The Importance of a Data Room Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A dataroom is a collection of the key documents of a startup for a fundraise. The dataroom can be kept in software specifically designed for dataroom access or in a simple storage folder. These documents include legal entity filings, patents, financials, forecasts, cap table, contracts, and more. A well-organized data room is a must-have component of a

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02:09

Startup Funding Espresso – How To Invest Using a Fund...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/17

How To Invest Using a Fund of Funds Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investing in a series of venture capital funds is one strategy for venture investing. This is a fund of funds investment strategy. Venture funds give the Limited Partner access to the best VCs in the industry. Each of the funds used will also bring a set of management and carry fees with it. The goal is to model out a portfolio of VC funds that

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01:58

Startup Funding Espresso – Best Practices for Networking

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/16

Best Practices for Networking Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Networking is a key skill in startup fundraising. The founder must be able to navigate a community to find investors for their fundraise. Here are some best practices in networking in advance of a fundraise campaign: Always ask for referrals. In each discussion, ask for two names of other people to contact. Instead of pitching what you do, ask for advice

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02:09

Startup Funding Espresso – Dilution by Startup Stage

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/15

Dilution by Startup Stage Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Dilution is a major issue for founders. Each stage of fundraising causes another reduction in the founder's ownership. Here are the levels of dilution at each startup stage based on current data: Seed round -- 20% Series A round -- 20% Series B round -- 17% Series C round -- 13% Series D -- 11% Series E -- 10% In the early days of the startup, the founder

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02:01

Startup Funding Espresso – Problems Are Startups...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/14

Problems Are Startups Waiting To Happen Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Ideating a new startup begins with a problem. Here are the steps to ideating your next startup: Scan the market for problems. Review the news to find startup ideas. Review customer reviews of products and services. Talk with others about the problems they encounter. Make a list of problems found and categorize them as small annoyances, medium

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24:43

Investor Connect 894: Per Nordling of Partinc Capital...

Investor Connect Podcast ·

2026/09/11

In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin welcomes Per Nordling, an entrepreneur, angel investor, and SaaS operator who co-founded Medius in 2001, bootstrapped it to about $10M in revenue, raised capital to accelerate expansion, and helped scale the company internationally across Europe, North America, Australia, and parts of Asia before selling his stake. Per shares what founders need before going global, including a verified offer with real customer adoption, a clearly defined ideal

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