Here is some short advice for founders: I see this happening every week or so. Do not use your Gmail to communicate with investors! You lose the opportunity of advertising your startup on the URL, look professional, and mainly, you miss giving the investor a chance to dig deeper if he chooses to do so.
Before looking at a deck, if you cold email me with something interesting, the first reaction to my flow is to go take a look at your website.
I validate every email via Rapportive, so generally, I'm always able to put a face to a name if/when this happens and the person on the other side has their email connected to their LinkedIn account.
As an active early-stage investor (we typically sign one term sheet every 2 weeks) I am in talks with over 60 companies on any given week. This would make life easier and make founders look better.
Exception goes for founders that have a personal relationship with the investor, so he is familiar with the person and project/business they are working on.
ps — I am just talking about @gmail addresses, not Google Apps. Thanks for pointing that out Adolfo Builes.
pss — Gmail is still the best email host out there due to its search capability, plug-in ecosystem, and spam filter. Too bad it's so slow.
The holiday season is one of my favorites as it brings everything out. A time to reflect upon your year, do deep work, catch up on sleep, exercise more, etc.
Social Media is the nicotine of our times. 3 and a half weeks ago I deactivated my Facebook account and deleted Instagram off my iPhone.
Anthony Bourdain is what I would call a punk rock chef. Brilliant and unafraid of being authentic. What a sad ending for someone who seemed to have it all.
