Nick Telson @ Exited Founder of Design My Night, Co-Founder of Horseplay Ventures and Trumpet | Moving Beyond Static Legacy Tools Whilst Still Retaining The Human Side Of Venture Capital

In this episode we talk to Nick Telson to share his experience and insight from both sides of the table - as a new startup founder in 2010 to life as an exited founder and early stage investor in 2022. We talk about how whilst the traits, values and robustness needed by a founder on a character level essentially remain the same, that FounderTech tools and platforms are increasingly changing the agility around framing and also accessing early stage venture capital.

We discuss how it must be remembered that whilst the core act of raising money by an early stage founder is still essentially a very human driven process, it is also underpinned and informed by the metrics and dynamics of an investors deal funnel. 

We explore how the limitations of the pitch deck as a largely static tool designed around product market fit, doesn’t consistently behave very well when trying to amplify and assess those human driven traits. Could we learn from other industries like recruitment, as to how they reimagined static key legacy tools like the CV, into much more dynamic human driven platforms, that better convey the candidates story in a much more compelling way?

Finally, we explore his recent return to being a startup co-founder with his sales cycle platform Trumpet, his own investment in FounderTech platform Landscape and how platforms like AngelList and Odin that enable startups to create their own SPV’s, alongside the rise of founder driven capital and Solo Capitalists might represent key FounderTech market developments that further point to an adapting and iterating new future for early stage venture.

 

Explore further and connect with Nick: 

• https://horseplay.ventures/ 
• https://www.sendtrumpet.com/ 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicktelson/
• https://anchor.fm/pitch-deck