6. The difference between seed and series A

Stuart Ellman, Co-Founder of RRE Ventures

 “It used to be pretty easy to raise a seed round if you were a good entrepreneur, but now there are so many seed companies and so many people looking to fund them that it's hard to differentiate yourself. Once you're past that, investors start pounding at the doors of the ones that are getting traction, and your performance in the marketplace becomes your differentiator. The difference between seed and Series A is where the rubber meets the road. At this point, everybody focuses on numbers, metrics and performance. If you don't have those metrics, it's very hard to raise that money. The ones that can pull that off are the ones that gain traction.”