NetSuite headquarters was buzzing with activity earlier this month as startup founders and venture capital firms flooded in for NetSuite Deal Day.
Deal Day is designed to connect NetSuite’s community of talented potential clients and current customers with its vast network of investors.
Fireside Chats Feature Advice for Founders
Deal Day kicked off with a welcome, followed by fireside chats that set the tone for the event.
The first fireside chat featured advice from Katie Bullard, managing director at private equity and VC firm Insight Partners, on how to approach startup operations in the current economy. For those looking to raise funding, Bullard recommended staying focused on a clearly defined customer base and showing progress toward activating that base.
“It’s no longer just about showing the upside of the business you’re building,” she said of pitching investors. “It’s now a balance between showing the upside of the business and how safe the business, and eventual investment, is.”
The second fireside chat offered a glimpse into current relationships between investors and startups. Speakers included George Ploss, director of the NetSuite Accelerator; Nick Spiller, a venture principal of startup incubator Capital Factory; and Tony Aguilar, CEO and founder of personal finance startup Chipper.
Aguilar credited Capital Factory with giving him access to mentors, investors, other founders, and capital when he didn’t know where to begin scaling his startup. Chipper is also a member of the NetSuite Accelerator, which is celebrating its one-year anniversary of helping founders from diverse communities build successful and sustainable businesses through access to resources, processes, best practices, guidance, and technology.
When asked to deliver advice for founders who would later pitch investors at Deal Day, the speakers cited communication best practices. “Get your passion across,” said Aguilar, who has received backing from Capital Factory for two separate companies. Spiller recommended an open dialogue when pitching, not a one-sided conversation where only the founding team is speaking.
Startups and Investors Make Meaningful Connections
Deal Day attendees then broke off into 1-on-1 investor meetings. The NetSuite Venture Practice Services Team and the NetSuite Accelerator used their strong connections in the venture capital community to bring in investors from firms including 8VC, Trust Ventures, The Artemis Fund, ATX Venture Partners, Moonshots Capital, and more.
In line with the mission of the NetSuite Accelerator, many of the founders and investors at Deal Day come from diverse communities that are historically underrepresented in the funding ecosystem. NetSuite is proud to have helped facilitate introductions and productive conversations for all attendees.
See how YOUR startup can scale with support from the NetSuite Accelerator(opens in new tab) and the NetSuite Venture Practice Services Team(opens in new tab).