Former corporate venture capital executive and angel investor.
Tolga Erkmen led the venture capital unit of a bank for seven years and invested in 22 startups during that time. He now invests as an individual angel in three or four startups a year and mentors at Çimlen on valuation, investment round planning and investor presentations.
He explains clearly the questions an investor looks for in the first 90 seconds of a pitch deck: is the problem real, can the team do this, is the market big enough? He explains the critical clauses of an investment agreement (liquidation preference, anti-dilution protection, vesting) in plain language.
This mentoring does not constitute investment advice; Tolga does not invest in startups he mentors at the same time.
Before Demo Day he holds three-hour investor rehearsals with startups and simulates the panel's questions in advance. Before sessions a one-page agenda is requested and afterwards the actions are shared in writing; to meet, use the mentor meeting request form.
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