Tremendous

You already shop on Amazon. Why not save $100?

Best of all: No fee!

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 and returns have been good so far. More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get your management fees waived for 90 days. With their 1% management fee, this could save you $250 on a $100,000 account.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $10 on your first order.

Business, Technology

The Top 3 Startup Pitch Mistakes

December 13, 2021 tremendousblog 1 Comment

You’ve run through your deck a hundred times. You’ve practiced pitching to your cat.

He declined to invest.

Startup founders work incredibly hard to pitch their dream to investors and get funded.

As an angel investor, I see a lot of presentations. So, I thought I’d share the 3 biggest mistakes I see founders making:

1) Not clearly explaining what the startup does. If I don’t understand what your startup does and why within the first minute, you lost me.

Investors are people too, and struggle with attention, especially given the number of presentations they see. A demo day I attended last week had 17 companies presenting.

Don’t lose your audience! Clearly state exactly what you do and what problem you’re solving, ideally within the first 30 seconds.

Being able to clearly and concisely say what you do also helps you attract customers and key employees.

2) Not showing a growth trend.

Don’t make us guess! If you’ve got a strong growth trend in revenue or users, put that graph on the screen.

But don’t rely on our ability to read a graph that pops up for 20 seconds on a slide. Do the math for us.

If you went from $2,000 in revenue in August to $5,000 in November, use a tool like this to find your compounded monthly growth rate. In this case, it would be 36%, which is outstanding.

I saw a founder do this well at a demo day this fall. 6 weeks later, she raised a $3.5 million seed round.

This stuff works!

3) Not taking questions. If at all possible, you want to take questions from your audience.

Even short presentations can allow for this. Some demo days might provide just 7 minutes per startup. But you can present for 3 minutes and take questions for 4.

Every investor has objections you have to overcome before they invest. Give them a chance to overcome those objections by taking their questions.

Answer clearly and concisely. You should be taking about the same amount of time to answer the question as they took to ask it, no more.

I hope this helps! Fundraising can be exhausting and nervewracking, but if you follow a few simple guidelines, you can succeed.

Best of luck!

What have your biggest challenges been in pitching investors? Let me know in the comments at the bottom.

More on tech:

An Investor’s Dream Cold E-mail

The Biggest Challenges for Startups Now

Why I Just Invested in Kippo, Where Gamers Find Love

Photo: “Wrong Way Signs” by Arizona Department of Transportation is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Facebook/etc. using the buttons at the bottom of the page. This helps more people find the blog!

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

You already shop on Amazon. Why not save $100?

Best of all: No fee!

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 and returns have been good so far. More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get your management fees waived for 90 days. With their 1% management fee, this could save you $250 on a $100,000 account.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $10 on your first order.

Business

Parody Site Sues Citadel to Stop Shutdown

December 10, 2021 tremendousblog 9 Comments

Last week, I told you about Citadel LLC winning an arbitration case to shut down parody site Citadel Air. Now Citadel Air is fighting back:

A critic of the financial firm Citadel and its CEO has filed a lawsuit to stop the transfer of his domain name.

The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Arizona, seeks to reverse the arbitration decision and keep the site online. From Domain Name Wire:

In the lawsuit, Britt alleges, “This is simply a case of a multi-billion dollar company trying to silence a private citizen who is critical of its operations and pokes fun at its CEO’s extravagant lifestyle.”

I had the pleasure of speaking with the creator of Citadel Air, Christopher Britt, recently. He’s an eloquent man with a deep belief in freedom of speech.

From our conversation:

I have seen far too many people and parody accounts censored, suspended, or outright banned on Twitter. I have seen Citadel LLC and their CEO Ken Griffin silence individuals and companies like a bully. Let’s think about this… the 45’th wealthiest individual in the United States is going out of his way to silence me?
This is now a First Amendment issue.
I am fighting back because Ken Griffin believes that throwing money and lawyers at individuals to silence them is the right thing to do.

I agree wholeheartedly with Chris. He should have a right to parody a powerful, famous man and his company.

Chris is clearly not trying to impersonate Citadel. He’s not offering asset management services under the Citadel name or anything like that.

He’s merely making gentle fun of a controversial billionaire.

What does America stand for if all it takes to shut someone up is money?

I, among others, encourage Chris to raise money for his fight. I’d be glad to donate.

But he has declined. For him, it’s not about money.

It’s personal.

I wish him the very best!

What do you think of Citadel and Griffin trying to shut down Chris’s site? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

P.S. Check out the “Friday” parody near the bottom of the Citadel Air page. Hilarious.

Filming a Netflix Show in NYC

December 9, 2021 tremendousblog Leave a comment

“We’re having brunch in Moscow! F—! St. Petersburg!”
Anonymous

5:25am: Phone erupts. I spring out of bed instantly, knowing that if I rest another minute, I’ll sleep for hours.

5:45am: I step out into the cold. I’m on my way to film a Netflix show in New York City.

This is a day in the life of a working actor.

6:15am: I report to “holding,” where background actors, also known as “extras,” wait before filming.

6:22am: Rapid COVID test. This is in addition to a PCR test I took 3 days prior. No one gets tested more than actors and film crews.

7:30am: Wardrobe, hair and makeup. Wardrobe lets my fashion sense pass without comment.

8:00am: Breakfast. The crew forgot about us and most of the background actors never got so much as a cup of coffee!

A few renegades and I raided the crew-only breakfast truck. Eggs, hashbrowns, and hot coffee soothe us in the cold morning.

8:30am: Go to set. This is the big moment!

We are pretending to eat brunch outside an upscale Manhattan bakery.

Although it’s mid-November and 45 degrees, the scene is supposed to be occurring in late summer. So we can’t wear jackets or hats, only shirtsleeves.

We quickly begin to freeze in the grey cold.

“This is like a Communist country! It’s freezing cold and they’re telling us what to do!”

So begins a salty older lady with a long acting resume:

“We’re having brunch in Moscow! F—! St. Petersburg!”

Everyone is cracking up, grateful for some distraction from the frigid climate. A young man joins in:

“I’ve frozen my nipples off. Nips gone.”

11:15am: At last, we get a hot coffee and a brief rest in the warmth of the holding area.

11:30am: Back to set, but inside this time! One of the other extras is searching for a word. I chime in:

“Frostbite!”
“That’s it.”

1:30pm: Lunch time! We wolf down delicious shrimp, salad and chocolate cake.

2:50pm: Outfit change.

3:00pm: More filming inside the bakery. One of the principal actresses bumps into another, dropping her books and meeting someone new.

How does this fit into the story? This show was supposed to be about a massive robbery.

I guess we’ll have to wait until it airs!

4:30pm: Final outfit change. I go through numerous shirts, belts, and undershirts until wardrobe finally signs off.

4:50pm: Back to holding.

6:57pm: Finally wrapped for the day! I wasn’t on set for a second in that last outfit.

The production just paid dozens of people overtime to do nothing for 2.5 hours. The disorganization of film sets always amazes me.

7:34pm: Finally home! I strip down and head into a hot shower.

I hope we made a show people will like!

I hope you enjoyed this little window into what actors really do.

Most of the time, it’s not glamorous. It’s early mornings, cold sets, and long days.

If you have questions or comments on acting, please leave them at the bottom!

AMC Stock #2 News Story, #7 Overall Search on Google

December 8, 2021 tremendousblog Leave a comment

I knew AMC was popular. But wow.

AMC stock is the number #2 most popular search on Google News and the #7 most popular search on all of Google for 2021, the search engine reported today. That is an incredible achievement for any stock, much less a modestly sized theater operator!

What strikes me is how many different things people search for. “Thai food near me.” “Why is my toenail brown?” You name it!

To see this formerly obscure stock top those charts is truly amazing.

New AMC projects like minting NFT’s could keep that buzz going into 2022 and beyond. I just hope AMC can convert the enthusiasm for its stock into ever more moviegoers!

What do you think about AMC topping Google search for the year? Let me know in the comments at the bottom!

An Investor’s Dream Cold E-mail

December 7, 2021 tremendousblog Leave a comment

If you’re a startup founder raising money, you’re going to be sending cold e-mails. Lots of them.

So what pitch gets angel investors and VC’s excited, and what turns them off?

Here’s the e-mail I’d like to get:

From: travis@ubercab.com
To: jim@filthyrich.vc

Subject: UberCab intro – everyone’s private driver

Hi Jim,

Do you hate taking taxis? Me too.

That’s why I started UberCab. UberCab lets anyone get a private driver in minutes, right from their smartphone.

We’re seeing some great early traction with 21% CMGR in the last 3 months.

We’re currently raising a seed round to help us take over the taxi industry.

If you’re interested in learning more, let’s set up a time to talk!

Thanks,

Travis Kalanick

Why is this such a great e-mail?

1) Clear value proposition. It’s right in the subject line. Who wouldn’t want their own driver, if they could afford it? And it’s restated beautifully in more detail in the first two paragraphs.

If you can clearly articulate your startup’s reason for existence, you will do much better finding investors, employees, and customers.

2) Hard data showing real traction. Travis gives us the plan and the big picture “why.” But he also gives us solid data we can’t argue with.

Real people are paying real money for this product. Revenue is growing an average of 21% a month (Compounded Monthly Growth Rate), an outstanding track record.

That chart alone will get a response from almost anyone. And if you don’t have great revenue growth, how about user growth, or even visits to your landing page?

3) It’s short. Investors like me get countless e-mails a day. So if a message is long, it’s not likely to be read.

4) It’s bold. Travis doesn’t talk about modest growth. He talks about completely taking over a major industry.

VC’s and angels are in the business of finding giant successes. It’s the only way to pay for all the losing bets!

You need to show them you will be huge.

4) Company is actively raising money.

Investors are in the business of making investments. While they may be interested in just meeting and talking, they’re probably going to be more interested if you’re actively raising a round.

What isn’t here:

1) Irrelevant details like winning a pitch competition, being in Forbes 30 under 30, etc. Save that for page 7 of the deal memo, if at all. Focus on product and customers.

2) Every fact on the business. You will want to write a detailed deal memo including lots of info on the product, key metrics, future plans, etc. But an e-mail intro isn’t the place for it.

3) Just an idea. No knowledgeable investor is interested in funding an idea alone.

I hope this helps! And if you have questions or thoughts on finding investors, please leave a comment at the bottom!

More on tech:

The Biggest Challenges for Startups Now

Why I Just Invested in Gauge, the Best Way to Sell Your Car

Key Metrics for Startups: Consumer vs. Enterprise SaaS

Photo: “Like A Boss mini dog tag” by ylmworkshop is licensed under CC BY 2.0

If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Facebook/etc. using the buttons at the bottom of the page. This helps more people find the blog!

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

You already shop on Amazon. Why not save $100?

Best of all: No fee!

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 and returns have been good so far. More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get your management fees waived for 90 days. With their 1% management fee, this could save you $250 on a $100,000 account.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $10 on your first order.

NYC Area

How New York Winters Helped Put Gotti in Prison

December 6, 2021 tremendousblog Leave a comment

No one could touch John Gotti. Prosecutors went after the Gambino crime family boss repeatedly, only to see him acquitted.

Rather than give up, they went after Gotti in his inner sanctum: the Ravenite Social Club.

As the Gambinos eventually learned, an FBI surveillance team, over Thanksgiving weekend 1989, had secreted bugs throughout the apartment two floors above the Ravenite Social Club at 247 Mulberry Street. The Gambinos had been using the apartment, which was owned by Nettie Cirelli, the widow of Gambino wiseguy Michael Cirelli (Nettie was away on vacation that Thanksgiving holiday), for years. In fact, Gambino underboss Aniello (Neil) Dellacroce also had used that apartment for secret meetings.
Gravano also is asked whether the Gambino bosses ever considered going outside to discuss topics like murder in order to avoid possible bugs.
“We had most of (those discussions) outdoors,” but it was “impossible to have them all outdoors.” This was because, as he said, sometimes the weather didn’t permit it and sometimes they were too tired.

I was struck by how something as simple as a cold night foiled this wily mafia boss.

It shows me how when we lose our discipline and lower our standards, we open ourselves up to catastrophe. This is a valuable lesson for those of us on the right side of the law, even if it comes from a notorious gangster.

This story comes from the excellent Cosa Nostra News blog. I’ve been speaking with the author lately, and he has some outstanding content on organized crime.

If you’re interested in the mafia, I strongly recommend checking out his site. Another great post: a fictional account of a mysterious mob hit.

It begins with a body floating in the Hackensack River.

Enjoy!

The Biggest Challenges for Startups Now

December 3, 2021 tremendousblog Leave a comment

Lately, I keep seeing startups running into the same problems.

As an angel investor, I work hand in hand with numerous startups. I also see presentations and deal memos from hundreds more.

Let’s dig into some of the biggest challenges they have in common:

Recruiting

The labor market is red hot, especially for top tech talent.

So how can you get an edge in recruiting? One tactic I’m seeing successful startups use is hiring worldwide.

The pandemic has most of us working remotely anyhow, so an engineer being in Canada or India is less a barrier than before.

Startups probably don’t have the resources in house to handle the complicated legal and tax implications. But fortunately, International Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) can help.

These companies hire your employees, wherever they are, and handle all the regulatory issues. You just cut them a check.

So you’ve got the tax and legal down pat…but how do you get that amazing engineer to accept your offer?

Amazon sends a gift to prospective employees who do well in interviews. They generally choose the “book bomb,” or a bunch of books they think the prospect will like.

I might favor some yummy food through SnackMagic or Goldbelly. 🙂

CAC Expansion with the iOS 14 Update

For consumer companies in particular, the iOS 14 update stung. iOS devices now prompt users to block ad tracking, and most do.

If you were advertising on Facebook or Instagram, that tracking data helped get your ads in front of the right people.

Let’s say you are a D2C underwear brand for women and only ship in the US. Without tracking, you could be spending your precious ad dollars advertising to men in Germany!

The upshot: Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) expansion. The cost to get a new customer increased by 3x or more at a lot of companies I’ve seen.

So what should you do?

How about YouTube ads? One successful startup I saw recently doubled their YouTube ad spend with a mere 5% increase in CAC.

Users on platforms like YouTube are often searching for something, not scrolling through a feed. There’s greater intentionality.

If they’re searching for information on women’s underwear, you know that they could be a good prospective customer, and you can show your ad.

This would be even more true for search engine ads.

Another great option is influencer marketing. Platforms like GRIN or Outfit Talent make it easy to find and pay influencers whose audiences are interested in products like yours.

Wrap-up

Being a founder can be lonely. You always want to tell everyone “how great things are going.”

Being an investor is different. You see countless companies struggling with the same issues.

So know that you’re not alone and there are good solutions! The main thing is to keep trying.

I hope this was helpful to someone. And if you have any feedback, please leave it in the comments at the bottom.

Have a great weekend everyone!

More on tech:

3D Printing a Human Ear

Why I Just Invested in Capbase, The Startup in a Box

Inside a Startup Accelerator Demo Day

Note: I am not an investor in any of the companies mentioned

Photo: “defeat” by katiew is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Facebook/etc. using the buttons at the bottom of the page. This helps more people find the blog!

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

You already shop on Amazon. Why not save $100?

Best of all: No fee!

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 and returns have been good so far. More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get your management fees waived for 90 days. With their 1% management fee, this could save you $250 on a $100,000 account.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $10 on your first order.

Business, Health, NYC Area, Science, Technology

3D Printing a Human Ear

December 2, 2021 tremendousblog 3 Comments

What would it be like to not have ears?

Unfortunately, for patients with microtia, this is no hypothetical. Microtia, or lack of a fully developed ear, is a congenital condition affecting about 1 in every 6-8,000 people.

Some patients have a malformed outer ear. Others have almost no ear tissue at all.

The only treatment is taking cartilage from the rib and fashioning a new ear. This requires multiple painful surgeries and tends to produce an unsatisfying outcome.

But now, an incredible NYC startup called 3D Bio can use the patient’s own ear tissue to 3D print a new ear! The patient’s sample is expanded in a cell culture and printed.

The ear can be attached in a simple outpatient procedure.

This treatment is now in early clinical trials. If it works, it could change medicine forever.

What if we could print new hearts, lungs, or livers? Imagine making a new, functional eye for a blind person.

Such technology could alleviate enormous suffering and greatly expand human life expectancy. And I’m extremely excited about it.

Best of luck to the incredible team at 3D Bio!

More on tech:

How Tech Could Stop Wildfires

Why I Just Invested in Kippo, Where Gamers Find Love

Male Contraception With an Ultrasound Device?

If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Facebook/etc. using the buttons at the bottom of the page. This helps more people find the blog!

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

You already shop on Amazon. Why not save $100?

Best of all: No fee!

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 and returns have been good so far. More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get your management fees waived for 90 days. With their 1% management fee, this could save you $250 on a $100,000 account.