Cultivating Good Relationships With Investors

An investment is like marriage. Without trust and commitment, the alliance between the investor and the company will fail entirely or may never reach its full potential.

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Throughout my career, I have witnessed many instances of friction and conflict between investors and business owners. And sadly, a little misunderstanding can actually have a large impact on the business.

To guide you, here are some strategies to help you manage your relationship with your investors:

Interact and communicate. Take the opportunity to know them. Treat them like friends and recognize their value beyond finances. Never select an investor just based on funding. Acknowledge your relationship and like a true friend, always listen.

Set clear expectations. To avoid disappointments and frustrations, do not promise over what you can deliver. Instead, have a shared vision, scale of growth, and potential exit strategies.

Show authenticity and respect. Though you may not feel like it sometimes, interact with your investor on a personal level. Grow together and be real in all aspects of the relationship. Help and support each other as challenges arise.

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Good relationships add value to any kind of venture. In investments, the best results arise when there is trust and commitment—for better and for worse.

Hi! Taihwa Terry Ho here. I am a capital investor by trade and I frequently invest in app development, a field where I see plenty of promise. Follow me onGoogle+ for more of my insights on business and finance.

More than the Money: Two Important Elements of an Investment Pitch

One of my close friends, Mac, called me the other day to help him review his business plan for a tech startup. Although I could easily help with a referral, I thought it would be easier and more practical to provide him advice when pitching to investors.

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As a venture capitalist who has heard many pitches, I have discovered two important elements that entrepreneurs need to take into account when seeking funding. And trust me, most of the time, it is not really about the money and how you can grow my investment through your “grand” idea.

Remember, investors get hundreds of pitches every year, and the reality is, they can’t spend all their time sifting through all the proposals to find that needle in the haystack. So as an investor, here are two important elements to incorporate in your investment pitch:

A good story. Most investors base their judgment on your ambition and your story. Craft your pitch as if you are creating a storyboard for a movie. If you think your business is the next Facebook or Twitter, be confident, bold, and go for it. Inspire them in any way you can.

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A strategy. A good story must be backed by a solid strategy. Never forget, business is business. As investors, we always try to envision the end of a story and what the future will look like for us as investors. You should show investors that your best interest is their success. If you want your pitch to stand out, make sure that you have a good story and strategy to win not only the approval but also the heart of your investors.

Hi! I am Taihwa Terry Ho, a capital investor by trade. Follow me on Facebook to learn more ideas on venture capital investing.

Mobile trading: Best mobile apps for investors

Like driving, investing is best done with your eyes open. Luckily today, there are mobile apps designed to help investors make sound and reasonable decisions.

If you are planning to invest, here some of the best mobile apps that will surely boost your profits:

Acorns. One of the top choices for first-time investors, Acorns offers a simple and intelligent automatic investment system. Jeff Cruttenden, co-founder and COO of Acorns, describes the app as a unique application for both new and experienced investors who want a quick, easy, and automatic way to invest their money.

SigFig Investing. Listed as one of best personal investment apps for iPhone by iMore.com, SigFig Investing is an easy-to-use personal investment app that collates all your existing investment accounts. The app also shows the user’s current standing in the market and delivers breaking industry news that pertains to your investments. It supports over 100 different brokerages across the country.

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Stock Market Simulator. Compared to other apps, the Stock Market Simulator isn’t used as a decision-making tool for actual trading. Rather, it serves as a tool for first-time investors to learn how the stock market works without losing any actual money.

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Today, there are many mobile applications that can help you get a comprehensive view of the market. Using these apps, you can get personalized news and updates on companies in your portfolio for more effective and efficient investments decision.

Hi! I am Taihwa Terry Ho, a Silicon Valley-based a capital investor with deep interest in app development. Like my Facebook page for more news and features on tech, apps, and social media.

Vine: How Six-Second Videos Create Lasting Impact

Social media is a fickle beast in which no one can predict what would go viral from time to time. Though there’s no distinct measure to determine social media’s next big thing, the new generation of Vine auteurs is stretching six seconds to infinity as a way to make lasting impact and increase content virality amid the Internet’s unpredictable state.

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Skeptics may view Vine as another bastion of mundanity, but the social media app has the backing of most advertisers and users who see the potential in pushing the boundaries of creativity in the presence of constraints. Six seconds may not seem long enough to lay everything out on the table, but for brands and marketers that’s all they need to create something that the attention-deficient audience would loop multiple times and interact with.

Brands like General Electric and GAP are quick to seize the potential of the social media app to build awareness and push the brand at the top of the marketing funnel. Some of the campaigns are essentially animated GIFs and epic compilations of elements that dominate every platform of the Internet. Videos of cats and dogs tend to be among the most shareable items while sensational ones remain flexible enough to take on any new service. This viral component coupled with effective hashtag, aggregators, and easy-to-digest well-written message help make the video highly shareable.

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Filmmaker Orson Welles captured the very essence of stop-motion videos when he said that “the enemy of art is the absence of limitation.” If anything, the six-second limit of the video-sharing service compounds users to add new depth to every content, condensing what seemed to be an outcome of long-term marketing planning into few seconds of viewing pleasure that creates a chain reaction that grows exponentially across the social media landscape.

Taihwa Terry Ho, here, a capital investor looking for tech startups and app developers which show promise for the future of mobile devices. Follow me on Twitter for more news and features on tech, apps, and social media.