#pitch-preparation

#pitch-preparation

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been clear: 'We are convinced that for the good of European basketball, the best course of action would be a joint solution with the Euroleague, reaching an agreement on a systemic approach to growth.'

Awards may be encouraging and occasionally useful for visibility, but they are weak indicators of validation and poor predictors of long-term success. In the longevity and healthspan industry, where timelines are long and claims are easy to overstate, venture capital ultimately follows alignment and evidence, not applause received at glitzy industry events.

Raising venture capital too early can cost you control, leverage and even your company. Early capital is often highly dilutive, selling off your future before your blueprint is complete. The difference between lighting a spark and burning your equity to ash is a lesson many founders learn too late.

"You can have as much money as you want to pour into the algorithm and buy ads," Kaplan told Business Insider. "But if you don't have the right founder who's able to build a community and the attention that you need to build a real product that people want, all of that money ... is meaningless."

Start-up founders often underestimate the power of public relations, but doing so comes at a cost: at best, missed opportunities; at worst, a crisis that spirals out of control without a lifeline. PR is not a glossy "top coat" applied to a finished product or milestone. Entrepreneurs would do better to see it as a foundational tool that creates organizational wins, not just announces them.