What Founders Get Wrong About Raising Capital - Steve Walsh | 157

After building two billion-dollar business units, Steve Walsh walked away from the corporate world in 2018. Burned out but driven by a new mission, he turned his focus to helping early-stage founders raise capital, scale revenue, and accelerate growth.

Now, as a Contrarian Investor and Techstars mentor, he's invested in 66 startups, with 35 reaching Series A, and his portfolio raising over $1.2 billion collectively. But what’s his secret?

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why founders—not products—determine startup success
• How honest feedback and contrarian investing help startups grow
• The biggest fundraising mistakes and how to avoid them

Save hours with top business hacks every Friday – The Searchlight: https://thesearchlight.com/subscribe

Connect with Steve Walsh:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/handsonangel/
Twitter (X): https://x.com/HandsOnAngel1

The Funding Accelerator: https://handsonangel.com

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups – Jason Calacanis
Get it here: https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Invest-Technology-Startups-Timeless-Investor/dp/0062560700

Day Trading Attention – Gary Vaynerchuk
Get it here: https://www.amazon.com/Day-Trading-Attention-Actually-Social/dp/0063317591

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:12 Corporate Scaling vs Startup Growth
5:08 Taking the First Step in Entrepreneurship
7:56 Helping Startups Through Network and Experience
12:17 The Venture Capital Industry’s Dirty Secret
15:10 Investing in Overlooked Founders
19:03 The Founder and Team
23:33 The Power of a Concise Pitch
23:39 Emerging Business Models
24:53 Investor Sentiment
28:56 The Value of Accelerators and Mentorship
31:23 Corporate Life and Startups
32:28 How to Avoid Burnout
37:30 The Most Profound Business Advice Ever Received
39:48 Outro

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