Sam Heshmati of Citizens Private Bank (https://www.citizensbank.com/homepage.aspx) discusses their tailored banking solutions and high-touch service.Find out why Kruze Consulting is one of the leading accounting firms in San Francisco and the US, serving funded, early-stage companies. Kruze clients have raised over $15 billion in venture capital an…

Sam Bhaumick, EVP of Venture Lending at Avidbank (https://www.avidbank.com), explains how Avidbank offers venture debt and cash management services to startups.Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page. Or, visit the Kruze website to fi…

Sunita Patel of HSBC (https://www.us.hsbc.com) explains how the bank has expanded its startup banking services following its acquisition of SVB UK.Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of over 10 years of experience, our controllers, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers understand the challenges of high-growth startups. …

Kelly Caviglia at Bridge Bank (https://bridgebank.com) talks about the services Bridge provides for startups, including venture lending, credit card solutions, treasury management, and more.Kruze Consulting offers solid financials to help de-risk your startup's next venture capital round. Work with a startup expert (https://kruzeconsulting.com/#con…

How do startups get to Series A? Eric Ver Ploeg, founding partner of Tunitas Ventures (https://tunitas.vc), discusses Series A investing, including timing, choosing VCs, shutting down a startup, startup valuations, and more..Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of over 10 years of experience, our controllers, CPAs, a…

Abe Othman of AngelList (https://www.angellist.com) discusses the current status of the startup ecosystem and talks about how the venture market is trending, based on extensive analysis of data from startups, venture firms, private equity firms, investors, and fund managers.Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of ove…

Bryan Harper of IntraFi (https://www.intrafi.com) discusses banking deposit networks, and how IntraFi's network of over 3,000 banks provides expanded FDIC insurance to businesses with large deposits.Kruze Consulting offers solid financials to help de-risk your startup's next venture capital round. Work with a startup expert! Kruze bookkeepers (http…

Jose Ancer of Optimal Counsel (https://www.optimalcounsel.com) discusses legal services for startups, and how important it is for founders to seek legal advice before signing term sheets, contracts, and other commitments.Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of over 10 years of experience, our controllers, CPAs, accou…

David Pezeshki talks about 409A valuations and how Initio (https://www.initio.software) makes the process easier by offering customized valuations with optimized, defensible outcomes.Kruze offers experienced M&A Accounting expertise for Startups. Founders building world-class startups trust Kruze Consulting to help them be prepared for financial an…

With interest rates increasing, founders need ways to safely improve yields on cash. Ben Verschuere, Co-Founder and CIO of Treasure FI (https://treasure.tech), talks about how startups can use this cash management platform to reduce risk and increase yields.Kruze Cares More - We take our clients' success (https://kruzeconsulting.com/reviews) - and …

Benjamin Döpfner of Vesto (https://www.getvesto.com) talks about cash management strategies and explains how Vesto can help startups get a better yield on their cash while maintaining liquidity and preserving their capital.Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the K…

Manik Suri, founder and CEO, explains how Therma (https://www.hellotherma.com) helps prevent refrigeration issues by providing 24/7 equipment monitoring for companies that use refrigeration, like restaurants, schools, groceries, hospitals, and more.Kruze Consulting is a leader in Startup Tax (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-taxes) Filings, Payr…

This week we’re having tea with Nick Tommarello, founder and CEO at Wefunder, a crowdfunding platform that allows anyone—customers, users, fans—to invest as little as $100 in companies they love. Nick is an alumni of Y Combinator (W13) and Techstars (Boston '10). In this episode, Nick and Immad discuss: How the law changed on crowdfunding options W…

Join Immad Akhund with Pilot CEO and Co-founder, Waseem Daher, and Ramp's Chief Business Officer, Colin Kennedy, as they discuss the acquisition process for startups.By Mercury

This week we’re having tea with Mike Miller and Michael Ma, Partners at Liquid 2 Ventures. Before joining Liquid 2, Mike founded Cloudant (now IBM’s Cloud Data Services) and raised $18M before getting acquired by IBM. Michael Ma was the COO & Founder of TalkBin, acquired by Google, and then served as a Product Manager for Google.In this episode, Mi…

This week we’re having tea with Leo Polovets, co-founder and General Partner at Susa Ventures. Before joining Susa Ventures, Leo was the second engineering hire at LinkedIn and built the first versions of products like LinkedIn Jobs and LinkedIn Groups. In this episode, Leo shares:06:50: Tips for sending a cold intro 18:44: How founders can think a…

This week we’re having tea with Scott Orn, COO at Kruze Consulting, a startup CFO consulting firm. Prior to joining Kruze, where he runs the Venture Debt consulting practice, Scott was a Partner at Lighthouse Capital and has been part of deals like Upwork, Impossible Foods, and Freshbooks.By Mercury

This week we’re having tea with Alex Bouaziz, Founder of Deel. Prior to founding Deel, Alex Bouaziz was Founding Partner at Sarona Ventures and Co-founder at Lifeslice, a mobile app for creating collaborative videos.In this episode, Alex shares:03:50: How to create serendipity between remote employees 14:20: Choosing between independent contractors…

This conversation was recorded live on Clubhouse. In this episode, Kanyi and Steve share: - How many companies Kindred invests in per year - What makes a cold email stand out - If Kindred invests in companies from other countries Want to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at [email protected].…

This conversation was recorded live on Zoom. In this episode, Sahil shares: - Should CEOs be running funds on the side? - Is there a base level qualification you need before you’re ready to start a rolling fund? - What is a syndicate? Do they work alongside rolling funds? - How Sahil thinks about warm intros vs cold outreach Want to hear more? Like…

This conversation was recorded live on Zoom. In this episode, Jamie shares: - Mistakes founders make when thinking about growth - The best process for experimenting with a new channel - How to approach growth for products with a high learning curve - Attributes to look for in a good growth hire Want to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at…

This conversation was recorded live on Clubhouse. In this episode, Hunter and Satya share: 20:14: Should entrepreneurs favor more involved lead investors? 29:01: How to pitch Homebrew: cold emails vs lukewarm intros 49:33: Is equity crowdfunding a turnoff to future investors? Want to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at seriestea@mercury.…

This conversation was filmed live on Zoom with questions from the audience. In this episode, John shares: - Founders Preferred - what is it and when to set it up - Is there a correct ratio for converting stock into Founders Preferred? - Ideal pre-Series A board composition - Avoiding dilution and pushing for equity refreshers Want to hear more? Lik…

This conversation was filmed live on Zoom with questions from the audience. In this episode, Elizabeth shares: - How Hustle Fund defines pre-seed - Check sizes and valuations at Hustle Fund - Assessing for scrappiness in founders - How to pitch Hustle Fund Want to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at [email protected].…

This week we’re having tea with Kevin Hartz, co-founder and chairman of Eventbrite. He's an early investor in startups like PayPal, Airbnb, and Pinterest. Most recently, he founded A-*, a new special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) which raised $200 million to acquire A-One and take it public. In this episode, Kevin shares:0:55: What a SPAC is a…

This week we’re having tea with Andrew Ofstad, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Airtable. Andrew previously led the redesign of Google Maps and worked as a PM on Android.In this episode, Andrew shares:0:39: The timeline of getting Airtable to market9:10: Tradeoffs between going after a narrow use case and building a horizontal product17:05: …

This week we’re having tea with Chris Lyons who leads the Cultural Leadership Fund at Andreessen Horowitz. The goal of the CLF is to connect great cultural leaders to the best new technology companies and enable more African Americans to get into tech. Chris previously served as Chief of Staff at Andreessen Horowitz and worked with Jermaine Dupri a…

This week we’re having tea with Allison Barr Allen. Allison is the COO and co-founder of Fast, a one-click login and check out startup. They recently raised a $20m Series A from Stripe and Index Ventures.Previously, she was Head of Product Operations for the Money team at Uber. She is also an angel investor with Trail Run Capital. In this episode, …

This week we’re having tea with Semil Shah. Through his seed fund, Haystack, he's invested in 70+ startups including Instacart, DoorDash, and Opendoor. He's also a venture partner at Lightspeed.In this episode, Semil shares:- 2:48: What entrepreneurs need to know about portfolio construction- 10:08: Why public markets aren't matching the private in…

This week we’re having tea with Brianne Kimmel, founder and managing partner of Work Life Ventures. She’s an investor in Webflow, Voiceflow, Tandem, and 20+ startups focused on the future of work. Business Insider recently named Brianne a top angel investor that every startup should know.In this episode, Brianne shares:3:25: Why productivity tools …

This week we're having tea with Brad Flora, a Visiting Partner at Y Combinator. Prior to YC, Brad founded and sold Perfect Audience, an online advertising startup. He's an active angel investor and has invested in 150 startups around the globe.In this episode, Brad shares:4:08: How he broke into investing 5:26: Why he bets big on international mark…

This week, we're having tea with serial entrepreneur and investor, Elad Gil. In a past life, Elad started the Mobile team at Google and co-founded Color Genomics. Now, he's an investor and advisor to companies including Airbnb, Pinterest, and Stripe. He's also the author of the High Growth Handbook. In this episode, Elad shares:1:27: How both early…

This week we're having tea with Seth Bannon, a founding partner at Fifty Years. Fifty Years, a seed fund backing socially impactful startups, has invested in companies including Memphis Meats, Solugen, and Astranis. Previously, Seth was founder/CEO of Amicus, a Y Combinator-backed fundraising tool for non-profits.In this episode, Seth shares:2:00: …

This week, we’re having tea with James Beshara, an angel investor in companies like Gusto, ThirdLove and Halo Top. James was also the CEO/Founder of Tilt, a crowdfunding platform that was acquired by Airbnb. In this episode, James shares:0:35: How a very early bet on Gusto got James into investing6:30: A 5-step framework for evaluating D2C brands15…

Michael Chapp of Utomic (https://www.utomic.com/) talks about the entrepreneurial journey and his Company's iphone protection hardware. Utomic has a community focus in addition to being a successful startup and Michael shares their programs in the podcast. It's an inspirational story about how a startup can help build the community and great produc…

Devon Tivona of Pana (https://pana.com) discusses how Pana combines mobile app technology and virtual travel assistants to make travel easy. Although Pana is for business travel, I used it on a recent vacation and loved it. Recently Pana added features for corporate recruiters to make coordinating candidate travel simple.…

Vincent Turner of Uno Home Loans (https://unohomeloans.com.au) is a Fintech pioneer in Australia & the US. Vincent's latest company, Uno Home Loans, is dramatically simplifying the Australian mortgage process by making it completely digital. The company is growing rapidly and is backed by some of the largest institutions in Australian Finance.In th…

John Pettus is the Founder & CEO of Fiskkit, which is developing a better way to discuss the news. Fiskkit is a social enterprise that has created a commentary and fact checking system for the Internet. John came by to discuss the election and how Fiskkit will help people on the Internet have more productive and respectful discussions in the future…