Tremendous

An angel investor's take on life and business

  • Spying on Viral X Posts with Grok Tasks

    Staying on top of the latest viral posts is a full-time job. But now, I automate it with Grok Tasks. 

    Grok Tasks can find the most viral posts in your field and spot the hidden themes behind them. 

    Say you’re running a SaaS company that sells to contractors. You could have Tasks search the web for the biggest topics among contractors that week.

    Then, you can cover those on your company blog and reach tons of potential customers.

    Here’s how I used Tasks to spot the biggest trends in tech and business…

    Using Grok Tasks to Take the Blog to the Next Level

    I had Grok find all the biggest X articles on tech and business for the last week. Then, I told it to find the commonalities between them.

    These themes could be great jumping off points for blog posts. I can also learn from these viral posts to help make my own writing more engaging.

    Here’s how setting up this Grok Task works…

    Setting Up My First Grok Task

    The tasks menu is a bit hidden in the Grok interface. The easiest way to access is to go to grok.com/tasks.

    Then, define how often you want the task to run. I had mine run weekly. 

    Next, you tell Grok what you want to do. Here’s the prompt I used:

    “Look at the best performing articles on X in tech and business in the last week and see what they have in common. Give me links to them.”

    Let’s run this thing!

    Learning from The Top Articles on X

    Grok pulled some really cool articles, including pieces on Cluely and the ChatGPT-Department of War controversy. 

    Many top articles dug into geopolitical issues. I’m curious to see if that pattern persists after the Iran war ends. 

    Since folks on X seem very interested in geopolitics, I’ll try to cover that more. 

    Grok also found that controversy and scandal perform well. 

    I don’t doubt it, but I don’t want to manufacture controversy just for engagement. There’s enough of that junk out there! 

    Wrap-Up

    Grok Tasks is a great way to automate pesky recurring work.

    I find it really useful for keeping on top of online discussions and helping me write useful content. You could also create a weekly briefing on your competitors or a daily schedule for yourself. 

    Give Tasks a try and lighten your workload! 

    More on tech: 

    I Used Grok to Analyze My X Account and Get More Followers

    Automating My Investing with Lovable

    A SOTA Model On Your Phone? — Testing Qwen 3.5

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Making an Investor Demo That Raises Millions

    “Can you demo the product for me?” the investor asks. This is where you close the round…or watch the deal die. 

    Founders agonize over every word in their deck. But a great demo is worth more than any PowerPoint. 

    Here’s how to deliver a demo that raises millions…

    Focus on Workflows, Not Screens

    Don’t just show screen after screen. Focus on the core workflow and the benefit to the customer.

    Doing a feature death march is the biggest mistake founders make.

    No one cares how many screens you have. We care what you can do with them!

    Say you’re making an AI CRM. Show us how the customer updates the CRM after a sales call and why it’s easier than your competitor. 

    Don’t Show Real Customer Data

    Don’t show real customer data to an investor. Instead, use a test environment.

    Be sure it has enough data to resemble a real customer environment. You want your demo to be realistic as possible.

    Keep It Under Five Minutes

    Don’t put investors to sleep with a long demo. Keep it to five minutes tops.

    This should be enough time to show your core workflow. 

    Some founders give extremely long demos, 10-20 minutes. It’s just too hard to keep somebody’s attention for that long. 

    Practice Makes Perfect

    When you do a demo, you don’t want any hitches. Practice over and over until it’s perfect.

    Have one of your co-founders play the investor. Tell them to point out problems and ask questions. 

    They know more about the product than any VC. If you can deliver a demo that satisfies them, you should crush it in your investor meetings. 

    The Demo That Keeps on Giving

    Be prepared to deliver the demo live. You should also record a video of the demo to share.

    There’s a lot of great tools to record demos, such as Loom. Share the demo link along with your deck when you message an investor. 

    This shows your product isn’t vaporware. It also gives them a chance to get excited about what you’re building. 

    That raises your chance of getting a meeting! 

    Wrap-Up

    The same deck can describe a hundred startups. The demo gives you a chance to stand out. 

    Practice until you have every step down pat. Keep it short and focus on the value to the customer. 

    Show investors why customers love your product. If you can do that, you’ll have them reaching for their wallets.

    More on tech:

    Your Deck Probably Sucks. Here’s How to Fix It.

    Which Accelerators Are Worth Your Time? Here’s How to Find Out.

    Three Easy Ways for Frazzled Founders to Save Time

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • I Used Grok to Analyze My X Account and Get More Followers

    For many founders, X is a critical acquisition channel. How can we reach more people? This morning, I set Grok on the case…

    We use Grok to analyze other people’s posts all the time. Why not analyze our own?

    I gave Grok 4.20 Beta, the most powerful model, a simple prompt: analyze my X account, find the characteristics of my most popular posts, and tell me how I can reach more founders. It came up with some pretty interesting ideas. 

    1. The People Want Images. Grok found that my most successful posts almost all include an image or video. I never realized that!

    It makes sense: X is a visual medium. If we have more to engage our eyes, we pay attention.

    I’m going to include an image or video on more of my posts. You might even see me taking a few short videos around the New York area. 

    2. Behind the Scenes. People like seeing how the sausage is made. Grok told me to focus on posts describing what I’m doing right now, like getting intros for a founder. This lets people follow along in real time.

    We all love to go behind the scenes of interesting jobs. Last night, I was riveted to The Pitt, fascinated by these ER docs.

    I can’t promise my posts will be quite as good as The Pitt. But maybe I can bring some of that same behind the scenes energy!

    3. Practical Posts Win. Founders need money. Posts that teach them how to get it perform.

    Grok noticed that my top posts tend to be funding how-to’s. If someone can tell you how to get millions of dollars, you’re going to listen, right? 

    I’m going to give you more actionable advice on how to raise money. I look at a couple thousand startups every year, so I see what works and what doesn’t. 

    Wrap-Up

    Grok did a solid job analyzing my X account and pointing out where I can improve.

    It made a few mistakes, pulling an incorrect follower count and saying that I’d been on X a lot longer than I have. But once I re-prompted it to correct those errors, it gave me some useful insights. 

    What the people want is simple: engaging visual content about angel investing. I’m going to try to give you more of it!

    If X is an important channel for you, ask Grok to analyze your account. Have it point out the common traits of your most successful posts and tell you how to improve. 

    You’ll find yourself meeting more customers and investors than ever!

    Have a great weekend, everybody!

    More on tech:

    My $698,000 Miss on Figure and Anthropic

    Three Tips for a Smooth Fundraise That Brings in Millions

    Automating My Investing with Lovable

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • My $698,000 Miss on Figure and Anthropic

    I almost made $698,000 — almost. This is how I missed two of the biggest opportunities of my career…

    Three years ago, I had the opportunity to be an early investor in two incredible startups: Figure and Anthropic. 

    I wound up passing on both. 

    How to Lose $698,000

    Today, Figure is valued at $39 billion. Anthropic is valued at a whopping $380 billion. 

    Both are about 100x higher than when I passed.

    At the time, I was writing $5,000 checks (I’ve since doubled that).

    Both these opportunities came via syndicates, so I would have lost 20% of any gains. I also would’ve been diluted as they raised more money.

    Still, I’d be sitting on paper profits of approximately $698,000 if I’d invested in both. Had I done follow-on, I’d have made even more. 

    Why I Passed 

    How did I miss these amazing investments?

    Both had valuations far beyond my normal range. My usual entry price is between $10 million and $15 million. Figure was raising at several hundred million. Anthropic was raising at about $4 billion.

    Also, both shared very few financials. That’s not uncommon when you’re a small check in a huge round. 

    Between high entry prices and lack of financials, I decided to pass.

    The Importance of Exceptional Founders

    What I got wrong was not placing enough weight on the founders’ backgrounds.

    Figure founder Brett Adcock previously founded Archer Aviation. Archer is an eVTOL company worth $5 billion on the public markets.

    Some people criticize Brett because Archer hasn’t shipped a product yet. But the company is worth billions, completely liquid. Financially, it’s a success. 

    Dario from Anthropic also had an incredible background. He was Vice President of Research at OpenAI — one of the top executives. 

    Brett and Dario’s backgrounds alone should have been reason enough to write the checks. 

    Startups Can Get a Lot Bigger Than You Think

    For an investment to make sense for me, it must be able to return at least 300x. I was concerned there wasn’t enough upside with Figure and Anthropic.

    But if humanoid robotics works, creating a hundred billion dollar company shouldn’t be a problem. And if you build a highly successful new base model, a trillion dollar company isn’t out of reach.

    I underestimated how big these startups could get. Today, they’re well on their way to those lofty valuations. 

    What I’ll Do Differently Next Time

    The next time I see a truly exceptional founder, I’m going to be more flexible on valuation and traction.

    Late last year, I paid a higher-than-average price to invest in Cortex AI, which feeds factory data to AI models. The founder, Lucas Ngoo, previously co-founded Carousell, a billion dollar startup backed by Sequoia.

    I’ll continue to bend the rules occasionally for the best entrepreneurs. This could help me nail the next Figure or Anthropic. 

    Wrap-Up

    Nobody is in every good deal. Not Sequoia, not Benchmark, nobody. 

    When we miss great investments, we don’t need to feel bad. But we should take the opportunity to learn.

    In the end, everything worked out. 

    Just a couple of months after I passed on Figure and Anthropic, I invested in a little startup called Micro1. In the last year, they went from $4 million to $200 million ARR. 

    That’s the beauty of venture capital. You don’t have to be right all the time. 

    Just once will do.

    More on tech: 

    Three Tips for a Smooth Fundraise That Brings in Millions

    Which Accelerators Are Worth Your Time? Here’s How to Find Out.

    Trading at 0.2 Times Sales — The Most Hated Companies in SaaS

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Automating My Investing with Lovable

    Investing involves a ton of repetitive tasks. What if I could vibecode a tool to automate them? This morning, I built an app on Lovable to research founders. 

    Here’s how it works… 

    Building Founder Intel

    I started with a simple prompt…

    In minutes, Lovable created a nice-looking UX. Founder Intel is born!

    This makes you wonder about the future of Figma. What’s the point of a mock-up when you can pop up a real product so quickly?

    Lovable asked me if I wanted to connect the application to an LLM so it can find real data.

    Weird question, right? Why wouldn’t I want real information?

    Vibecoding still struggles to understand user intent. 

    I told Lovable to hook me up. Lovable connected to Gemini, and I was ready to test my tool for the first time. 

    Taking My New App for a Test Drive

    I used Founder Intel to look up Christina Cacioppo, the founder of the awesome SOC 2 platform, Vanta. 

    It came up with good, accurate information about Christina, providing a clear explanation of what Vanta does. It also included the Series C she raised from Sequoia. 

    But the info is a little dated. It didn’t mention the Series D, raised last July.

    All in all, although Founder Intel is a cool little product, a good LLM would have done a better job. If I put Christina’s name into Grok 4.20 Beta, I get up-to-the-minute info with elaborate sourcing.

    Wrap-Up

    Even if the output wasn’t perfect, making Founder Intel was fun! If you have folks on your team that are struggling with AI, a vibe-coded tool could be a great way for them to interact with it. 

    This little app is as basic as it gets. I’m looking forward to creating more complex automations that can make my work easier.

    What are you guys vibecoding these days? 

    More on tech: 

    A SOTA Model On Your Phone? — Testing Qwen 3.5

    Gemini 3.1 Pro Disappoints with Slow Outputs, Weak Sourcing

    SaaS Isn’t Dead — Time to Buy the Dip?

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • A SOTA Model On Your Phone? — Testing Qwen 3.5

    What if you could run a SOTA model on your phone for free? Alibaba claims Qwen 3.5 is it. 

    Qwen 3.5 is a new, small model that can run on device. This means you don’t have to pay for inference. 

    Qwen isn’t the most powerful model out there. But for an LLM of its size, it’s darned impressive!

    Let me show you what this thing can do… 

    Round #1: When Will the Iran War End?

    I’ve been glued to my phone the last few days following the war in Iran. When will it all end?

    Let’s see what Qwen thinks…

    For this round, I used the Thinking feature. Qwen didn’t give a firm prediction, but it did outline scenarios for shorter and longer conflicts. It explained that the duration of the war will depend on how many countries and armed groups get involved. 

    Qwen analyzed about two dozen sources, but the quality of the sources was spotty. It relied heavily on Wikipedia rather than primary material.

    I’m giving this round a B. 

    Round #2: Finding New Restaurants

    I always thought you couldn’t get good dim sum in Jersey. But on Saturday, I had some of the best dim sum of my life at Chengdu 1 in Jersey City.

    This made me wonder: what other restaurants in the area am I overlooking? Let’s ask Qwen… 

    I enabled Deep Research and picked the Advanced setting. Qwen asked me if I was interested in any particular town or cuisine. I told it I was open to anything, and Qwen got to work…

    Deep Research took a long time to run — about 10 minutes. But it produced an incredible report!

    Qwen gave me a 14 page memo on great, overlooked restaurants in the area. Mawo’s Kitchen, a Senegalese place in Jersey City, sounds intriguing!

    However, some information was inaccurate. Ubani, a Georgian restaurant, is in NYC not Jersey City. Darn it Qwen, you got my hopes up! 

    I’m giving this round a B. 

    Round #3: Creating Anime Francis

    Qwen doesn’t just produce text responses. It can create images as well.

    I told Qwen to take my X profile picture and turn me into an anime character. Let’s see how it does… 

    I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Qwen’s anime Francis. But Qwen is way behind Nano Banana — the background didn’t change at all. 

    I’ll give this round a B-. 

    Wrap-Up

    Overall, I’m giving Qwen 3.5 a B.

    Qwen isn’t the most powerful model around. For my personal use, I’m sticking with Grok. 

    But Qwen can be a great choice for developers. If you integrate Qwen into your app and run inference on device, it takes your inference costs to zero. 

    You don’t always need the perfect response. You just need one that’s good enough. For a lot of applications, Qwen can get you there. 

    I’m really excited to see smaller, cheaper to run models. That means more cool AI tools for us to use!

    More on tech: 

    Gemini 3.1 Pro Disappoints with Slow Outputs, Weak Sourcing

    Elon Drops Grok 4.20 Beta, The Best Model Yet

    Can DeepSeek Beat the Best American Models?

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Gemini 3.1 Pro Disappoints with Slow Outputs, Weak Sourcing

    Google recently dropped Gemini 3.1 Pro. Google says it’s the most powerful model ever, but it flopped in my testing. 

    This morning I ran 3.1 Pro through a three-round test. I asked it real questions I need the answer to.

    Let me show you where this model falls short… 

    Round #1: Finding the Next Mass Layoff

    Massive layoffs at Block are the talk of the tech world right now. Who’s next?

    I asked Gemini to find the five public tech companies that make the least revenue per employee.

    I got repeated errors on the main Gemini app on both Brave and Safari. Google really needs to straighten this out.

    I booted up Google AI Studio, and the prompt finally ran. It took several minutes to produce a response — much slower than prior versions. 

    Gemini found that tech outsourcing companies like Wipro and Tata make the least money per employee. This simple white-collar work will be the first target for automation.

    The middle class in India and the Philippines is about to be hit hard. 

    Gemini gave me a lot of trouble in this round. 

    Once the prompt ran, the output was useful. But when I checked the sources, none of them supported Google’s response.

    Who knows if this answer is accurate?

    I’m giving this round a C. 

    Round #2: Help Me Brush Up on my Japanese

    I’ve studied Japanese for almost 14 years. Right now, I’m trying to brush up before my trip to Tokyo next month.

    I’m on Duolingo every day and I’m watching Tokyo Vice. What else can I do to prepare?

    Gemini has some excellent ideas, like talking with native speakers on iTalki. It even reminded me of an awesome YouTube channel I used to watch, That Japanese Man Yuta.

    But Gemini didn’t include any links to the content it mentioned. This means I have to Google it myself.

    I’m giving this round a B. 

    Round #3: Creating Openclaw Agents

    I recently stood up a hosted version of Openclaw. What sort of agent would be useful to me as an angel investor?

    Gemini has some great ideas to make my work easier. Getting company info before my meetings would be a big help.

    But Gemini’s sources don’t back up its response. None of them show that Openclaw actually has the skills Gemini mentions.

    I’m giving this round a B. 

    Wrap-Up

    Overall, I’m giving Gemini 3.1 Pro a C+. 

    Gemini’s new model really disappointed me. It feels like a step back from 3.0 — slower and dumber. 

    Results lack sources, making it hard to rely on them. What’s more, the Gemini app has gotten buggy.

    Just a couple of months ago, Gemini beat Grok in my testing. Now, Gemini feels light years behind the new Grok 4.20 Beta. 

    Gemini needs to make the UX smoother and improve sourcing. It also needs to run much faster.

    Until then, I’ll be sticking with Grok.

    More on tech: 

    Six Reasons Why the Citrini Report Is Wrong

    Elon Drops Grok 4.20 Beta, The Best Model Yet

    Grok Companions — Elon’s AI Girlfriend?

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Trading at 0.2 Times Sales — The Most Hated Companies in SaaS

    RackSpace trades at 0.2 times sales right now. Yes, you read that right. 

    The markets hate SaaS today. This morning, I found three of the most beaten-down SaaS companies out there. 

    Everyone is convinced that AI will kill SaaS. This means that you can pick up these stocks for next to nothing. 

    The markets aren’t entirely wrong. A lot of these companies are bloated and poorly run.

    But when sentiment is at its lowest, that’s usually the time to buy. Let’s take a tour of three of the most hated companies in SaaS. 

    OpenText: The Forgotten Cybersecurity Giant

    OpenText is a Canadian cybersecurity company that the markets have left for dead. It trades at just 1.2x revenues. 

    Unlike a lot of beaten-down SaaS companies, OpenText is profitable. 

    It pulled in $436M in profit in the last year, putting the stock at a PE of 15. Revenue declined, but remains up substantially from 2023. 

    OpenText is an extremely bloated company. It employs over 21,000 people to produce $5.2 billion a year in revenue.

    That’s just $244,000 in revenue per employee. Compare that to Robinhood, which produces almost as much revenue with just 2,900 people.

    Mass layoffs could do wonders for OpenText. But until then, OpenText trades for about what it deserves. 

    RingCentral: More Bloated Payrolls

    RingCentral lets you call and text customers across all your devices. Sounds useful, right?

    But investors have abandoned RingCentral. It trades at about 1 times revenue.

    The company is growing modestly at about 4% year over year. It made a small profit of $13M last year on $2.5 billion of revenue. 

    RingCentral is not as bloated as OpenText. Still, they need to do layoffs. They’re employing 4,300 people right now to produce around half the revenue of Robinhood.

    Minimal growth, minimal profit, bloated payroll…no wonder RingCentral is in the dumps!

    RackSpace: The Most Hated Company in SaaS?

    As miserable as OpenText and RingCentral have performed, they’re nothing compared to the ugliest duckling of SaaS: RackSpace. 

    RackSpace trades at 0.2 times revenue. I’ve never seen a multiple this low in my life.

    RackSpace helps companies deploy cloud services. Revenue has declined for three straight years and losses hit nearly $250 million last year.

    RackSpace employs 5,100 people to produce these miserable results. What the hell do they do? 

    If RackSpace had the same revenue to employee ratio as Robinhood, they’d employee 2/3rds fewer people. 

    Shareholders are left with declining revenue, massive losses, and an obese payroll. Maybe this stock deserves to trade even lower?

    Wrap-Up

    There’s one way these terrible companies could not just recover, but become extremely valuable: mass layoffs. 

    Most CEO’s don’t have the courage to axe half the company like Jack or Elon. But what if they didn’t have to?

    These companies are perfect targets for private equity. And believe me, the private equity guys are not afraid to fire people. 

    I’d have more sympathy if these were blue-collar factory workers. But these are well-off, white collar employees getting a free ride.

    How much do you want to bet they work an hour a day? That was the standard when I was in Big Tech! 

    Corporate raiders coming through with chainsaws is ugly. But it’s a necessary part of capitalism.

    Expect to see buyouts hit the tape soon. 

    Have a great weekend, everybody! 

    More on tech:

    Six Reasons Why the Citrini Report Is Wrong

    SaaS Isn’t Dead — Time to Buy the Dip?

    My 2026 Predictions

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Which Accelerators Are Worth Your Time? Here’s How to Find Out.

    There are a thousand accelerators out there. Most aren’t worth your time. Here’s how to find the best…

    They MUST Give You Money

    A real accelerator gives you money. Never waste your time with one that doesn’t.

    Don’t accept “sweat equity,” where you give away equity for “advice” or “product help”. Those services will be worth what you paid for them – nothing. 

    And certainly don’t pay to be in an accelerator! I can’t believe I have to say this, but some founders are actually paying so-called “venture firms” to be in their program. 

    These programs are a scam. 

    The Check Must be $100,000 Plus

    Say you found a decent accelerator that’s willing to write you a check. Don’t bother with some little check of $25K or $50K. 

    That check needs to be a minimum of $100K. You’re probably giving up 3 months or more of your time. You need to see some real cash. 

    There are a few pre-accelerator programs, like Founder University, that write $25,000 checks. That’s totally fine – you’re only committing a few hours.

    But for a true accelerator, make sure the check is six figures. 

    The Top Accelerators

    Now that we’ve ruled out the worst programs, let’s run through some of the best. Here are my favorites:

    • YC
    • Launch
    • Techstars
    • ERA
    • PearX
    • HF0
    • a16z Speed Run
    • Sequoia Arc

    All these programs are run by real VCs. They give you a substantial check, ranging from $125,000 to a whopping $1 million for Arc and HF0.

    They’re all very hard to get into. And you get a ton of valuable advice and intros along with that juicy check. 

    For almost every pre-seed founder, these programs are worth doing. But if you’re a highly seasoned founder who’s had a large exit, you may not need an accelerator.

    Wrap-Up

    After you finish these programs, you’re likely to raise a substantial seed round. You should be able to raise $2M-$5M without much trouble. 

    Having that fancy logo stamped on your butt really does make a difference!

    Are you planning to go to an accelerator? 

    More on tech: 

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    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

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  • At Trump’s State of the Union, a Total Lack of Civility

    When I was growing up, nobody interrupted the President. At last night’s State of the Union, Democrats displayed a total lack of decorum.

    Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib shouted, jeered, and pointed. Rep. Al Green disrupted the speech by holding up a sign.

    The first time I saw someone disrupt a major presidential address, it was actually a Republican, Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina. He yelled out “You lie!” during President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress in 2009.

    I was shocked, as were many Americans. I’d never seen anything like it. 

    Now, it’s common. 

    Lack of respect is a bipartisan problem. It just happened to be a Republican speaking this year.

    A lot of people hate Trump. I respect their opinion.

    But let’s conduct ourselves with dignity. Let people speak without pointing and jeering.

    When it’s our turn to speak, we can offer a great rebuttal!

    I actually thought that the Democrat rebuttal, by Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger, was pretty good. She hit hard on affordability.

    That’s the way to fight back: with reasoned argument.

    In time, it’ll be a Democrat standing at that podium. On that day, Republicans should sit quietly and listen with respect.

    When it’s over, they should feel free to argue their side.

    We’re about to celebrate our 250th birthday as a country this summer. Let’s remember that whatever our politics, we’re all Americans. 

    More from the blog: 

    Six Reasons Why the Citrini Report Is Wrong

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    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.