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Derek Norton
Founder & Managing General Partner at Watertower Ventures
Derek Norton, Founder & Managing General Partner at Watertower Ventures
Derek Norton is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist based in the Greater Los Angeles area. He currently serves as the Founder & Managing General Partner of Watertower Ventures, a position he has held since February 2017.2
Prior to founding Watertower Ventures, Norton was the Managing Partner at Watertower Group from February 2002 to May 2017.2 He has also held the role of Partner at Entertainment Media Ventures from May 1999 to February 2002.2
Norton received his BA in Communications - Business from the University of Southern California, graduating in 1987.2
In addition to his venture capital work, Norton has experience as a Partner/Consultant at Hynson and Associates in the Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida area since March 2014.1 He has also worked as an Inside Sales Representative at BioSpectrumHemp in Madison, Wisconsin from August 2021 to December 2021.1
Highlights
Quick update after my first few weeks on Intro: I’ve already had several amazing calls! Today, I helped a first-time founder in music tech with customer acquisition strategies. Last week, I guided a founder on relocating her team to LA by crafting her story, and advised another on preserving truth in the digital age. My 3 takeaways from the calls so far:
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Story First, Numbers Second: Investors are drawn to compelling narratives. Craft a powerful story about your vision and mission before diving into the metrics. Founders often assume investors only care about numbers when in reality they care more about and invest in founders with passion and vision.
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Entrepreneurship is Dynamic: It’s all about the hustle and staying flexible. The best founders are constantly adapting and finding new ways to tackle problems. The path to building and scaling a world class business is never a straight line, how you adapt and stay nimble is what defines a true entrepreneur.
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Impact Over Valuation: Focus on creating a meaningful impact. High valuations follow naturally when you're effectively solving significant problems. I’m always impressed by how much we can accomplish in just 15 minutes. Let’s chat ⤵️ intro.co/dereknorton Comment “interested” and I’ll pick 1 person for a free 15min call.
Most founders don't think about how to get acquired at the beginning, but they should.
As the Founder and Managing General Partner at Watertower Ventures, I've helped over 250 companies navigate M&A and create differentiated approaches to capital formation and fundraising.
I'm getting a lot of DMs from talented founders seeking guidance on how to successfully fundraise from VCs and navigate M&A.
So, I've opened up 5 exclusive 1:1 mentorship slots on Intro.
What can we cover together? ✔️How to successfully fundraise from VCs ✔️Mergers & Acquisitions ✔️Which VC firms make sense for you ✔️How to SELL your company
Honored to be on Intro alongside world-class experts like Alana C. Matthews (former EVP of Business Ops for the Dallas Stars), Kathryn Minshew (founder of The Muse, raised $50M+, 70M annual users, LinkedIn Top Voice), Debbie Millin (founding COO at G-P ($4.2B valuation)), & Dianna Cohen (founder @ Crown Affair, backed by Gwyneth Paltrow).
Comment “interested” and secure your spot now:
