rick desai CEO @ Dashfire/Startup Investor www.dashfire.com

You need to talk to me if you are currently: writing a business plan, raising money, trying to launch or grow your startup, hitting a wall getting traction or funding, feeling overwhelmed and need help focusing your energy. I have deep experience in entrepreneurship, startups, writing business plans, raising money, venture capital and private equity, marketing and brand management, and general business strategy. As Venture Partner at Texas Venture Labs, I've worked with over 50 startups across all industries that have raised over $50M in the last 3 years. I have evaluated hundreds of business plans and judged in multiple investment competitions. I know what investors look for and how to show it to them. I have experience on both sides of the table. I started and sold a company and I just closed a seven figure round for my next startup. I have an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas.

I built a billion dollar publicly-traded retail company in Asia in 7 years. I was also the CFO of One Laptop per Child, one of the largest social entrepreneurship ventures in the world. Author: Billion Dollar Company: An entrepreneur's guide to business models for high growth companies. I have done 15+ joint ventures, licenses and partnerships in both Asia and Latin America. I teach at Florida International University and have taught at MIT Sloan School. Speak Spanish.

Over $2B in capital raised for seed stage startups over the last 15 years. I've made 13 seed investments this year alone. I've spent the last 15 years in Venture Capital. 20,000 elevator pitchers heard. 5 seasons with Dragons' Den / 3 seasons with The Naked Entrepreneur. 2014 Mentor of the Year, Startup Canada