Matt Gore was a BCG consultant and startup founder with the Saturn Five Venture Studio. Along the way, he got hooked on crafting stories that help founders raise money. Now he manages OPTIO, a firm that specializes in crafting pitch decks. OPTIO pitch decks have helped founders raise over $2 Billion dollars in capital from top firms like A16Z. He is a partner in several service businesses, an angel investor, and leads the Aggie Venture Fund, a student VC fund at Texas A&M.
During our conversation, he talks about:
The story of his transition from consulting to founding a pitch deck firm
Why pitch decks are a proxy for startup quality
What many investors miss about “technical” founders
The importance of founder-startup fit
Why most angels should stick to index funds
Winning the winners by becoming a true value-add investor
Building a network for unique deal flow
Listen now on YouTube.
What We Cover:
01:34 Matt Gore's Journey to Founding Optio
08:46 Investment Philosophy and Portfolio
13:13 Evaluating Pitch Decks and Founders
18:48 Good vs. Bad Pitches - All About the Followup
22:30 Key Traits of Successful Founders
26:00 Evaluating Founder-Startup Fit
32:21 Advice for Aspiring Angel Investors
Connect with Matt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwgore/
Website: https://www.optio.io/
Connect with Andrew
Newsletter: https://thediligentobserver.substack.com
Website: https://pitchfact.com/
Stuff We Reference
Aggie Venture Fund: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aggie-venture-fund/
Evan Loomis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanloomis/
Quickbooks: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/
Nike: https://www.nike.com/
Andreessen Horowitz: https://a16z.com/
Acquired Podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/
All opinions expressed are personal and may not reflect the views of the individual’s organization or of The Diligent Observer. Not investment advice.
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