Tremendous

An angel investor's take on life and business

  • How a $10,000 Angel Can Help Close Your Round

    Two of my best startups are raising right now. I’m probably their smallest investor. I earn my keep by introducing them to multibillion dollar funds.

    Let’s take a look inside these two funding rounds…

    The Hot AI Infra Startup

    One of my recent investments is growing faster than anything I’ve ever seen. Now, they’re raising a big new round.

    So far, I’ve introduced them to 11 funds. Three of those have over $1 billion under management.

    It’s been easy to get them meetings! It helps when I have something fantastic to sell. 

    Since this company is already big, I avoided investors that only do early stage. This way, the meetings are more likely to convert.

    I think one of those firms will give them a term sheet. Even if not, the company should pull in lots of big follow-on checks. 

    The Deep Tech Wizard

    I invested in an amazing deep tech company last year. The founder has an incredible engineering background.

    Now, he’s ready to raise a seed round. 

    I’ve been careful to only pick investors experienced with deep tech. If I introduce him to a bunch of SaaS guys, it’s going nowhere.

    I’ve introduced him to 9 investors for this round, including two funds with over $1 billion AUM. 

    I’ve emphasized his exceptional background to every VC I contact. That’s what will persuade investors here.

    I helped him raise $500,000 of his pre-seed last year. I expect to help bring in millions this time.

    Wrap-Up

    A guy writing $10,000 checks has to earn his way into great deals. I do that by helping founders raise money.

    I meet a new VC or two just about every week. I write down what kind of deals they like. 

    Then, I contact them when I have the perfect startup for them.

    If you need help closing your round, look for some great angels! Ask them for concrete examples of how they’ve helped other startups.

    If you bring on the right partners, your round will oversubscribe before you know it.

    More from the blog:

    Why Early Stage Startups Don’t Need Multiple Products

    My Three Early Favorites in YC F26

    I’ve Seen Thousands of Founder Pitches. These 5 Mistakes Keep Showing Up.

    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!

  • The Unsexy VC Skill That Actually Matters: Answering Your Emails

    Grok just pulled my median email response time this week: 8.3 hours. Some VC’s take 3 weeks. When I see that, I think, “Not gonna make it.”

    I can’t compete with huge VC’s on check size. So I’m developing a different edge: customer service.

    8 hours is solid, but I’d like to get that down. My email agent that drafts replies should help!

    I’m balancing responsiveness with avoiding distraction. If I check my email constantly, I can never do focused work.

    So I follow the Tim Ferriss rule: 2 passes through the inbox per day. Sometimes, I stretch that to 3 or 4…don’t tell Tim. 😉 

    I keep notifications for new messages off. I learned that trick at an all-staff meeting with Judy Faulkner, the founder of medical software giant Epic and my first employer.

    “If you want one piece of practical advice, go into your Outlook settings. Find the one that pops up email notifications and turn it off.”

    If Judy can run a $100 billion company that way, it should work for me too!

    Sometimes, one of my founders needs a faster response. So I give them all my phone number.

    I usually respond to texts within minutes.

    The most successful investors respond quickly. The laggards take their sweet time.

    I want to win in this business. And winning comes down to nailing the simple stuff, like answering messages.

    Now, I’m off to clean out my inbox…

    More from the blog:

    Meet My Latest Investment: Brick

    Why Early Stage Startups Don’t Need Multiple Products

    Why Some Founders Raise Millions with a Text — And Others Can’t Get a Single Check: Traction vs. Track Record

    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!

  • The 3 Companies Apple Should Buy Now

    Apple hasn’t released a compelling new product since the iPhone in 2007. It’s time to take radical action. 

    Here are 3 startups John Ternus should acquire today…

    Instinct

    Siri sucks. Apple Intelligence does nothing.

    It’s time for John Ternus to buy Instinct.

    Instinct is everything Siri isn’t. It’s an assistant that’s actually helpful and easy to use.

    On Sunday night, I booked a flight home for Christmas that Instinct found for me. It cost about half what I was expecting to pay!

    Instinct is valued at $10 billion today. For $20-50 billion, Apple could easily pick it up. 

    In addition to a great product, Apple gets one of the strongest teams in AI. Ternus could appoint Instinct founder Noah Shinn as the head of Apple AI, like Zuck did with Alexandr Wang. 

    At under 1% of Apple’s market cap, this deal is a no brainer. 

    Wispr Flow

    I have a sore throat today. So for the first time in forever, I’m actually typing instead of using Wispr Flow.

    It’s so painful! I resent every key stroke. 😂

    But you know what sucks? When I turn on Wispr Flow, I have to switch between the Wispr app and the app I’m writing in.

    Wispr Flow can’t control this. It’s an Apple security thing.

    Why doesn’t Apple just buy Wispr Flow?

    Apple could integrate it and replace the garbage dictation tool they have now. This would make every iPhone way more valuable. 

    Wispr Flow is valued at $2 billion. For $5 billion, Apple could swallow it whole. That’s just 0.1% of market cap.

    Figure

    My last acquisition idea for Apple is a wildcard…a humanoid robot.

    Of all the humanoids out there, Figure is the most advanced. They’ve done demos in 30 houses — something I’ve never seen from any other robot.

    Apple could buy Figure for around $100 billion, a healthy premium to its current $40 billion valuation. Figure becomes the new iPhone — the key product that makes the company.

    Imagine an Apple robot in every house. It cooks, cleans, and answers questions. 

    Apple leases us the robot for $500 a month. This could be the biggest business in the world.

    And at 2% of Apple’s $5 trillion market cap, why not?

    Wrap-Up

    Three checks. About $150 billion — just 3% of Apple’s market cap.

    Instinct becomes your assistant. Wispr Flow is the interface. Figure takes care your home. 

    Or, Apple can just keep selling iPhones and wait to be disrupted.

    Your move, John.

    P.S. Kudos to This Week in Startups for giving me the idea for this post. See the 5 companies Jason and Lon think Apple should buy here. 

    More from the blog: 

    Request for Startups: Low Cost Missiles, Easy Calcium Scans, and Pill Robots

    The Best Founders Take Time to Rest

    You Finally Closed Your Funding Round — Time to Panic?

    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!

  • How I Get Allocation in the Hottest Startups

    I’m about to write my biggest angel check ever. I’ll be investing in the fastest growing startup I’ve ever seen. 

    How do I get access? Simple: be helpful.

    Helping A Top Startup Raise Their Next Round

    We’ll call this company ABC Corp. I invested in ABC’s seed round, when they were doing $1 million ARR. 

    ABC has scaled to $100 million ARR faster than any company in history. So naturally, I want to invest more!

    And I’m in luck…they’re about to raise a huge new round.

    I’ve introduced ABC to nine different venture firms to fill out their round. After I made those intros, I sent the founder a little note. 

    “Would love to invest $50k in the new round!”

    It’s the biggest check I’ve ever written, but it’s still tiny. In terms of dollars and cents, the founder has zero reason to accept this money.

    But he’s taking it! We should be signing the papers soon.

    I got this access because I worked hard to help him. And he knows I can help more in the future. 

    Being an Early Cheerleader Pays Dividends

    Intros aren’t the only way to help a startup. Sometimes just being a cheerleader makes a real difference.

    Take XYZ Corp, another of my most successful investments. I made sure to give a very positive, specific response to every update they’ve ever sent.

    The founder put those responses into the company Slack. It hyped everyone up! 

    People see XYZ today and they only see success. But it took a ton of hard work.

    When you’re grinding away with no guarantee it’ll pay off, having someone to cheer you on helps. 

    I also helped by being one of the first testers of their new product. I was blown away by how powerful it was!

    Helping with testing and moral support was fun. It also gave me unusual access.

    Little old Francis was able to slide $45,000 into their recent funding round, which was dominated by huge venture firms.

    Wrap-Up

    If you make just a slight effort to help a founder, they’ll remember you.

    Most investors do nothing. So it’s easy to stand out!

    But helping founders goes way beyond money.

    It’s a very long road to IPO. Most companies never make it.

    We need to have some fun along the way! Helping a founder is one of the best ways to do that.

    It just makes me feel all warm and gooey inside.

    More from the blog: 

    I’ve Seen Thousands of Founder Pitches. These 5 Mistakes Keep Showing Up.

    The Best Founders Take Time to Rest

    Fundraising: The One Thing You Can’t Outsource

    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!

  • How to Build a Data Room for Your Startup

    One of my startups is about to raise a big Series A. But first, they have to build their data room. Here’s how it works…

    Your data room should include everything a VC needs for diligence. Here are some items to include: 

    • Deck
    • Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws 
    • One pager and/or deal memo 
    • Cap table
    • Prior SAFEs and term sheets
    • IP assignments 
    • Founder share agreements
    • P&L
    • Financial projections
    • Board minutes (if you have a board)
    • Bank statements
    • Copies of customer contracts
    • Patent documentation

    These documents help VCs verify that your company is legit, your customers are real, and the money in the bank actually exists. 

    Without this info, most VCs won’t write a check. So before you get a term sheet, get your data room together. 

    Organize each type of document in a folder — all the contracts go in a “Customer Contracts” folder, for example. Tools like Google Drive, Docsend, or Agree.com are great for sharing these documents. 

    You may already have some of these documents in your Gmail or Google Drive. Try using an LLM connected to those tools to gather the info you need. 

    Digging up your Certificate of Incorporation isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. But if you want to raise big money, it’s a must. 

    Once your data room is set up, you’ll be ready to close that multimillion-dollar check.

    More from the blog: 

    38 Words Got This Founder on My Calendar — Here’s the Cold Email Formula That Wins

    I’ve Seen Thousands of Founder Pitches. These 5 Mistakes Keep Showing Up.

    Fundraising: The One Thing You Can’t Outsource

    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!

  • Don’t Wire for an SPV Until You Ask These Two Questions

    Some of my best investments have come through SPVs. But SPV’s can also get you burned. Here’s how to invest in SPVs the right way…

    (Note: I am not a lawyer. If you need specific legal advice on an SPV, contact an attorney.)

    A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is a company that gathers a bunch of checks from investors to invest in a company. Typically, SPVs are a Delaware LLC. 

    SPV’s have a lead, usually a more experienced investor who is managing the investment.

    Before you invest a dime in an SPV, ask the lead these two questions:

    1. Is the SPV buying stock directly from the company? Buying stock straight from the company is critical.

      Many companies restrict transfer of shares. Right of First Refusal and other restrictions can invalidate the transfer of shares from another investor into an SPV.

      This happened recently to some Anthropic investors. Just as they were probably shopping for beach houses, they found out that their investment was ruled invalid.

      They won’t make a dime.
    2. Does the SPV sit directly on the cap table? If you’re direct on the cap table (list of company owners), your SPV definitely owns part of the company. If you’re not direct on the cap table, your SPV may just own shares in another SPV.

      Did that SPV buy the shares properly? Who knows?

      This is why I never touch layered SPVs. 

    Wrap-Up

    SPVs are a great way for smaller angels like me to get access to awesome startups.

    But if we don’t handle things correctly, the purchase can be overruled. Our gains vaporize before our eyes. 

    Don’t let that happen to you. 

    These little details seem wonky. But when a company becomes a huge success and there’s millions of dollars at stake, they make all the difference.

    More from the blog:

    How My Teeny Tiny Venture Fund Is Beating Almost Everyone

    Meet My Latest Investment: Brick

    My Three Early Favorites in YC F26

    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!

  • Who Should I Vote For? I Texted Instinct to Find Out.

    I opened my ballot this week. Half the names, I didn’t recognize. Instead of Googling them, I texted Instinct a picture of my ballot.

    Maybe you’ve used Instinct to book flights or manage your calendar. But I may be the first person to use it to help me vote.

    Here’s how it works…

    Instinct: My Political Researcher

    I took a picture of the ballot and sent it to Instinct. I told Instinct to fill me in on the positions of each candidate, focusing on AI, public safety, and immigration. Those are the issues that really matter to me. 

    With just these basic instructions, Instinct produced an incredible report. In only about two minutes, all the info was right in my Gmail. 

    Senate: Booker vs. Murphy

    Senator Booker has opposed new funding for ICE. Instinct’s info is accurate — I verified it on Booker’s website.

    That’s a dealbreaker for me. We need to get illegal criminals out of this country.

    Republican Justin Murphy, on the other hand, called for an end to sanctuary cities and sending the U.S. military to the southern border. 

    I’m going with Murphy!

    House: Menendez vs. Everyone

    Rep. Rob Menendez is running for his 3rd term here in Hudson County. 

    Menendez wants the power for data centers to be 75% renewable by 2035, which is likely impossible. I verified this on his website.

    This means no new data centers and losing the AI race to China.

    He also wants to abolish ICE. This guy is the Jersey AOC!

    No thanks.

    But there’s no Republican running. So whom should I vote for?

    Da’Shone Hughey’s campaign is all about AI. And unlike most politicians, he’s not bashing the technology right before the election in a cheap ploy for votes. 

    Hughey advocates AI education so kids can take advantage of this revolutionary new technology. That’s the energy I want to see in the House. 

    Wrap-Up

    I’m giving Instinct an A+!

    Every bit of information that Instinct gave me was accurate. I also loved the highly readable, bulleted format.

    Until recently, I had only ever used Instinct to find cheap flights. But lately, I’ve been offloading more tasks to this amazing tool. 

    It’s so nice having a genius that lives in your iMessage! If you haven’t tried Instinct, take a few minutes right now and give it a go!

    More from the blog:

    Was the Iran War a Mistake? And What Do We Do Now?

    Why German Industry Is Failing

    Request for Startups: Removable Brain-Computer Interfaces, Chatroulette for Pets, and Doggie MRI’s

    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!

  • Why Early Stage Startups Don’t Need Multiple Products 

    “I think you can scale to $1 billion ARR without adding any additional products.” That’s what a VC at a top firm told one of my companies recently.

    He’s right.

    Many early stage startups keep releasing one product after another. But if you’ve chosen your product and market well, you can scale a long way with just one. 

    Best of all, you have the advantage of focus. 

    Successful Startups Focus — Failed Startups Don’t

    I see seed-stage startups doing 2, 3, 4, or even more products all the time. Whenever I see it, I shake my head.

    “It’s hard enough to get one product right!” I say to myself.

    Take another one of my most successful investments: Rilla. Rilla makes an AI coach for outside sales.

    They’ve scaled one product to an $800 million valuation, and they’re not done yet. 

    Take Your Product to New Markets

    If you want to expand your market, find more types of customers to sell to. That’s easier than creating a whole new product. 

    Rilla started by selling their sales coach to home services companies. If you have a sales consultation for a kitchen remodel, the rep might use Rilla.

    Now they’re selling the same product to tons of new markets. 

    Home builders use Rilla to improve their meetings with prospective homebuyers. Home Depot is using it to serve their customers better. 

    All they did is take the same product and find more people who need it. If it works for a startup as big as Rilla, it’ll work for your early-stage company! 

    How Too Many Products Can Kill a Startup 

    Let’s look at the flip side: a seed-stage company with four different products.

    You have four different types of users reporting problems. Instead of fixing bugs in one product, you’re fixing bugs in four.

    What are the odds that you’re actually going to manage that effectively, especially with a tiny team?

    10 times out of 10, you will get lapped by a startup that’s tightly focused on a single problem.

    Wrap-Up

    At the early stage, resources are limited. Pour all those resources into one product.

    Make it as good as possibe. Get feedback from customers and improve it every day.

    If you can do that, you might be the next billion dollar startup.

    More from the blog:

    My Three Early Favorites in YC F26

    I’ve Seen Thousands of Founder Pitches. These 5 Mistakes Keep Showing Up.

    From Cold DM to Wire in 5 Days: Why I Move Fast on Great Startups

    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!

  • The Best Founders Take Time to Rest

    On Friday, I was chatting with the founder of the fastest-growing startup I’ve ever seen. “How are you holding up?” I asked. 

    His answer might surprise you.

    Inside the Daily Life of a Top Founder

    “I went out with friends last Friday evening. It was great! And I even managed to get to the gym the next day.”

    This would be normal life for most people. But in startupland, we’re all obsessed with working 100 hours a week and never taking a night off.

    This guy was different. He was taking time to recharge.

    And the results were showing in the numbers.

    If You Don’t Rest, You Don’t Grow

    I recently started doing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Pump Club workouts. They’re very challenging.

    But wouldn’t you know, even Arnold recommends rest!

    He has you rest at least one day after each workout. This gives your muscles the time to repair and grow larger.

    Even at the peak of his bodybuilding career, Arnold still took at least one rest day per week. 

    What’s true for our muscles is true for our minds. If we never relax them, we can’t make any progress. 

    A Practical Plan for Founders

    If you’re a founder, taking an entire day off may not be realistic. 

    But try to take a single evening off and go meet some friends. Socialize. Try not to talk about work.

    And don’t forget to move around! 

    Keep in mind the credo of the old WASP prep schools: “mens sana in corpore sano.” That’s Latin for “sound mind in a sound body”.

    Those blue bloods knew what they were talking about! If our body isn’t right, our brains won’t be either. 

    Wrap-Up

    You can idolize working 120 hours a week and never sleeping.

    But our goal isn’t to work more hours. It’s to grow our businesses!

    That means we need rest.

    Try to get out for an evening once a week and see some friends. Try to make it to the gym at least a couple of times a week.

    If you can find a little balance, I’m confident your startup will grow faster than ever.

    More from the blog: 

    You Finally Closed Your Funding Round — Time to Panic?

    Why “Don’t Meet Junior VC’s” Is Terrible Advice

    Request for Startups: Removable Brain-Computer Interfaces, Chatroulette for Pets, and Doggie MRI’s

    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!

  • Fundraising: The One Thing You Can’t Outsource

    A founder on Reddit is trying to raise money. But he’s getting nowhere. Time to outsource?

    Here’s why that’s a terrible idea…

    Investors Only Want to Hear From You

    Investors only want to hear from the founder. You set the company’s direction. You have the necessary information.

    You’re who I need to talk to.

    I don’t care whether you’re raising from angels or the biggest VCs. You need to contact them directly. 

    You Cannot Outsource or Delegate Fundraising

    If you hire an outside fundraiser to help you, that shows me that you don’t know how fundraising works. It also shows you’re not confident in sales. 

    Those are two bad signs.

    You can’t delegate fundraising either.  

    You can’t have your assistant do it. You can’t have some investor relations persons do it.

    Outsourced Fundraising Is Often a Scam

    There’s another reason not to outsource your fundraising. Outside “fundraising experts” are often a scam.

    They promise you a bunch of intros. They charge you a ton of money.

    But they don’t deliver.

    Don’t allow yourself to be scammed. Do the work on your own. 

    What To Do Instead

    “But Francis, I’m not getting anywhere fundraising on my own! No one even returns my messages.” 

    I can practically hear the founder on Reddit saying this. 

    He has a point. If he’s not succeeding on his own and he can’t outsource, what is he supposed to do?

    First, start with making sure you’re fundable. Your startup should check these boxes:

    • Builder founders
    • Launched product
    • Couple of paying customers

    Next, build a fundraising funnel. 

    Contact 200 investors who invest in your region, market, and stage. OpenVC can help you build this investor list. 

    Follow these steps and you should get plenty of meetings. 

    When Outside Help Is Okay

    There are two acceptable forms of outside help:

    • Intros from fellow founders
    • Intros from your investors

    Know other founders who have raised venture capital? Ask for intros to their investors.

    If Ali at Micro1, the most successful founder I’ve ever backed, introduced me to someone, I would meet with them immediately. I would cancel everything else on my calendar. 

    Once you’ve managed to pull in a few checks, those investors can also introduce you to more investors.

    Say you pull in a single angel check for just $1,000. Not a lot of money, right?

    But that person could introduce you to other angels and VCs. 

    Wrap-Up

    When you’re failing, it’s tempting to throw up your hands. 

    “I can’t do this. I need someone to do it for me!”

    That just won’t work with fundraising.

    Investors need to know your vision for the company. They can only get that from you!

    Get your startup into a place where you’re fundable. Then, start pitching tons of investors.

    This is a job only you can do.

    More from the blog:  

    I’ve Seen Thousands of Founder Pitches. These 5 Mistakes Keep Showing Up.

    Fundraising Friction is Killing Your Round – Here’s How to Remove It

    You Finally Closed Your Funding Round — Time to Panic?

    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!