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The VC Playbook: How to Spot a Purple Cow in Crowded Pastures

By Barbara Tague, Financial Research Leader

The venture capital landscape is pivoting to a stage of accelerated capital deployment as investment periods narrow and macroeconomic conditions burgeon. With a crowded marketplace and a sense of underlying urgency, how do investors spot coveted startups in this environment?

In this playbook, we leverage insights from Harry Stebbings of 20VC to answer this question among others, including: What are the characteristics of successful early stage companies? Which unconventional criteria play an important role in securing deals?

About the Author
  • Barbara Tague, Financial Research Leader

    Barb is a Financial Research Leader covering the financial services segment at AlphaSense. Previously, she spent more than a decade at institutional investment managers and at a SaaS startup leading business development, content, and product initiatives.

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