By Mike Cronin – Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal
Jun 8, 2020, 9:00am EDT
Mike Cronin of the Austin Business Journal interviewed a number of Austin-based VCs to talk about the “precipitous drop in funding-round closings by local startups the past few weeks [which] has coincided with economic turmoil due to the ongoing pandemic and, more recently, nationwide unrest after the death of George Floyd.”
The article includes a section on ‘Getting back to normal’ and ‘Valuation mathematics’ where he writes that, “True Wealth Ventures General Partners Sara Brand and Kerry Rupp, have completed deals without in-person meetings. “Most of the investors we talk to are still investing, like us — and most have stated that they’ve done at least one deal post-Covid, many at least one where they haven’t met the team in person yet,” Rupp said. “That includes us.””
There is a section on the ‘Impact of remote workforces’ and ‘Keeping the portfolio healthy’ where he writes, “Any slowdown in investing is at least partly due to VCs “spending a bit more time than normal supporting the existing portfolio companies to make sure they weather the Covid storm,” Rupp said.”
And lastly there is advice for entrepreneurs from 11 Austin VCs’, including:
Sara Brand: “Go for it! This is a good time to get out there, as you literally have a captive audience who is not likely to be taking any summer vacations!”
Kerry Rupp: “Continue to reach out to targeted funds where you’re a potential match. Participate in online pitch events or company/investor-matching events, etcetera, where possible. They can be way more efficient than traveling around to lots of conferences.”
Link to Read More: Austin Biz Journal
