Square Peg Capital co-founder Paul Bassat shares the four things startups should know when pitching to investors

For startups hoping to secure investment from SEEK co-founder and Square Peg Capital investor and co-founder Paul Bassat, there are four things they need to know: how to be genuine; how to tell a good story; how to avoid false valuations; and how to tell their advisors to take a back seat.

Speaking at LaunchVic’s Yeah Nah conference in Melbourne last week, Bassat shared his journey from growing job-recruitment giant SEEK with his brother Andrew Bassat and Matt Rockman in 1997, to co-founding venture capital firm Square Peg Capital, which has invested in the likes of cyber security startup UpGuard, and email-marketing platform Vero.

While Bassat claims he and the Square Peg team have “still got our L plates on”, he shared with the audience some key dos and don’ts for startups seeking investment from the fund, which this year secured $233.7 million in venture capital to invest in tech startups.

“We see about 1500 startups a year and say yes to 10-12 — it’s an awful part of the job,” Bassat told the conference, before going on to explain the four things startups need to execute a successful pitch. Read more

Angela Castles - Smart Company - 31 Aug 2017