What separates a first-time fund manager who closes institutional capital from one who never gets a second meeting? Often, it’s not the strategy. It’s the data room. Most emerging managers obsess over their pitch. The deck. The narrative. The 45-minute meeting. And then they win the meeting — and lose the process. Because when the […]
Startup founder, looking to raise investor capital? Working on your pitch deck? Building out your data room? Currently in one of our Investor Readiness programs? This one is for you. In recent weeks, we have worked with 400+ founders from pre-seed to Series B. A question that everyone asks; “What do we need for fundraising […]
Hi there, So, you are getting ready to embark on the Scale Up! Train-the-Trainer? Exciting! This can be truly life-changing for your professional career! Before you begin, here’s a couple of points you might like to know. Part I: Ten fast facts 1. What is Scale Up? Scale Up! is a methodology to develop entrepreneurs, founders, […]
This year we expect to train and certify 50-60 Scale Up! expert facilitators. If you are one of them, here are nine ways you can run Scale Up! Accelerating entreprenurship with Scale Up! Globally, 1000’s of founders, investors and ecosystem developers have built their ‘scale up skills’ with Scale Up! From introduction to cap table […]
When startup VC exits does not happen by themselves, what’s a VC to do? Exploring the topic of discussing liquidity and exit strategy at term sheet level. First article leading up to the upcoming Dune Venture Days in Dubai. The Exit Gap in Most VC Markets Across MENA, Africa, and Europe, venture capital ecosystems share […]
Having run 100’s of Strategy Sims Masterclasses we’ve learned how to best plan and structure a program for maximum value to the participants. One way of increasing the value, is to ensure that you, the facilitator and your team are sufficiently prepared . here are 14 questions you can ask yourself, if you are preparing […]
In our work with emerging managers and Fund-of-fund programs around the world, the ‘journey from emerging to institutional-ready’ is a common challenge for many first time fund managers to grasp. We wrote up the story of Nexus VC to show how to start small, start fast and scale a VC Firm into multiple VC funds […]
In 2025, 1.981 people across 87 sessions got to experience Strategy Sims in action. From Impact investing in the Pacific, corporate transformation in Europe, VC fund management in North America, strategic leadership in South East Asia or high-growth scale up leadership across MENA; Strategy Sims keep expanding. This year’s top 10 ranking takes us to […]
From Fund I ($10M) to Fund III ($50M) in Six Years. A Three-Part Series on Building a South-East Asian Venture Capital Firm from Scratch Written by Christian Rangen, advisor to VC funds, Fund-of-funds, faculty, Written through the lens of Aisha Rahman, Founding Partner, Meridian Ventures With insights from: Rizal Tan, Co-Founder & General Partner, Meridian Ventures- […]
Continued from Part I (years T-2 -1). Read part I here, and Part III here. Through the lens of Aisha Rahman, Founding Partner, Meridian Ventures With insights from: Rizal Tan, Co-Founder & General Partner And: Priya Nair, CEO, DataSync (Portfolio Company) The investment period is where fund strategy meets market reality. For Meridian Ventures, Years 2-5 would test every […]