Tremendous

An angel investor's take on life and business

  • Meet My Latest Investment: Melengo

    “I need to be in that.” That’s the first thing I thought when I saw Melengo present at a demo day last October.

    Well, I just made it happen!

    Melengo makes it easy to develop an apparel line, get financing, and get the products made. You can go from a basic sketch to a beautiful piece of clothing in just a few weeks!

    Today, people wade through random factories on Alibaba and hope for the best. The process often takes 6+ months.

    In my research for this investment, I went on Alibaba myself and looked at hoodies. One called “cotton” in the description turned out to really be a “cotton/polyester” blend. Ahh, the old bait and switch.

    Who wouldn’t prefer Melengo to this?

    Founder Justin Kwong is approaching a giant market in a really innovative way. His intense focus on the problem and the strength of Melengo’s traction really stood out to me.

    Justin’s long term plan is to make the Uber of manufacturing. Making a product should be as easy as getting a ride – and not just for clothing.

    An ambitious vision with real traction today – that’s the kind of company I want to back. Check out Melengo and make some awesome products!

    Have a great weekend everybody!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Meet My Latest Investment: Zest

    Why You Need a Technical Co-Founder

    Why I Passed: “DoorTrack”

    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. 

  • Why You Need a Technical Co-Founder

    Lately, I’m seeing a ton of startups with no CTO. Instead, they have a team of engineers with minimal equity. This is a mistake. Here’s why…

    Incentives Matter

    Startups have to ship new features fast. That’s how they make customers happy and beat competitors.

    Who do you think will do that better?

    A) A great engineer who owns a large slice of the company and stands to make millions if it succeeds.
    B) A great engineer working for a salary who makes pretty much the same no matter what happens.

    Humans respond to incentives. A big slug of stock that can make you millions or even billions is a powerful incentive.

    You want that key engineer working overtime for you. Stock is how you make that happen.

    The Limits of Hired Help

    “Francis, you don’t get it! My engineering team is amazing!”

    I’m sure they are. But what happens if you run out of money?

    Those people are gone, and you’re dead in the water. You can’t ship new features or even fix bugs.

    A CTO could help you here. You guys could both reduce salaries or cut them to zero temporarily and try to get the business on even footing.

    I’ve seen founders keep working even when their bank account is in the hundreds. But the only way someone will do that is for major equity.

    Having a CTO makes your startup resilient. Give yourself every advantage you can!

    How Much Should a CTO Own?

    By now, I’m sure I’ve convinced you that you need a CTO. 🙂 So, how much should he own?

    At the early stage, any co-founder should own at least 10% of the company. Anything less than that, and they’re a co-founder more in name than in reality.

    Usually, any founder or employee will vest their stock over 4 years. So if your CTO doesn’t work out or doesn’t stick around, you won’t have given away too much.

    Giving a CTO lots of equity means less ownership for you. But owning a smaller slice of a bigger pie is the way to go.

    Wrap-Up

    Building a startup is next to impossible. You need every single advantage you can get.

    A great CTO is one of the strongest advantages there is. Don’t be shortsighted — get someone awesome and give them a big chunk of the company.

    When you look back on it at the IPO, you’ll realize it was an incredible bargain.

    Do you have a CTO? Do you look for a CTO in companies you invest in?

    Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Meet My Latest Investment: Zest

    Why I Passed: “DoorTrack”

    The Startup Conveyor Belt

    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. 

  • Why I Passed: “DoorTrack”

    They were raising $1.5 million on an $8 million post SAFE. They had a cool product and a dedicated founder, but I passed. Here’s why…

    “DoorTrack” is a platform for real estate investors. ***”DoorTrack” is a composite, not a real startup, and the name is made up.*** But it shows why solo founders struggle to raise money.

    The Good

    “DoorTrack” lets investors see all their properties in one place, view the rent rolls, and model scenarios.

    If vacancies go from 5% to 10%, what happens to my cashflow? If I refinance Building A, can I afford to buy Building B?

    The tool seemed really useful. Sophisticated scenario planning isn’t a part of a lot of property management systems.

    When I met with the founder, “Jim,” I could see that he fit the market perfectly.

    He was a small landlord himself, with 8 units. He created the tool to help him manage his own business.

    I could tell how excited “Jim” was about this problem. That’s awesome, because without that excitement, it’s hard to stick it out for 10 years and make this a unicorn!

    The Bad

    “DoorTrack” had a great product and a devoted founder. But unfortunately, “Jim” was all alone!

    “DoorTrack” was a single person company, something I rarely see. “Jim” had built the entire platform himself, which was super impressive!

    But he clearly needed help. “DoorTrack” made you manually input data from your properties, which users won’t want to do.

    “Jim” planned to add an import feature. But had he had a co-founder, this could’ve been done long ago.

    In this case and a thousand others, being a solo founder put “Jim” at a disadvantage.

    “DoorTrack” would need to ship countless updates rapidly in order to make customers happy. They also needed help with marketing and more.

    This was definitely not a one-man job.

    “DoorTrack” was also an extremely early stage company. Revenue was just beginning to roll in, sitting at a couple hundred bucks a month.

    Decision Time

    I loved “DoorTrack’s” product and I could tell “Jim” was smart and dedicated.

    But there were some significant negatives here. “DoorTrack” was a one man company with just a trickle of revenue.

    Looking back on my 30 investments so far, one trend stands out.

    When I invested very early with just a trickle of revenue, the results weren’t great. When I waited until they were over $200k ARR, I had much better luck.

    The combination of a solo founder and minimal traction were dealbreakers for me. I passed.

    Wrap-Up

    “DoorTrack” was a pretty good company in a lot of ways! But with every deal I see, I ask myself the same question:

    “Is this the best deal I’m going to see in the next month or so?”

    If not, it’s a pass.

    “DoorTrack” ultimately didn’t make it. I’m not sure what led the company to shut down, but it’s a shame — the product was really cool!

    Try to ignore the fact the company didn’t make it. Would you have invested in “DoorTrack” at the time?

    Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Why I Passed: “FallDetector”

    Reply to the Updates!

    The Startup Conveyor Belt

    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. 

    ·

  • Reply to the Updates!

    Most investors don’t reply to updates. I think that’s ridiculous. Here’s why I reply to every single one…

    It’s the Least You Can Do

    Founders are working 80, 90, 100 hours a week. And they’re doing it on our behalf, at least in part.

    The least I can do is take 30 seconds to reply to an e-mail! It’s nothing compared to what they and their teams have to do every day.

    Here’s what such a message might look like:

    “Amazing growth this month Jim! I know you worked hard for this.

    Best,

    Francis”

    It’s that simple. A brief, positive reply is all you need.

    So it burns my butt that according to Dan Siroker of Limitless, 90% of investors don’t do it.

    Letting Founders Know You Care

    Replying to updates also lets the founder know that someone cares! If you’re just sending updates out into the ether, you must wonder, “Has everyone written this company off already? Does anyone give a hoot?”

    I do care, and I want them to succeed. A simple reply to a message is one way to show that.

    People want to work with people who care about them and appreciate them. I try to be that person.

    Being the Hype Man

    Some founders use investor update replies to hype up their team.

    One amazing founder I invested in last year puts all the replies into the team Slack. This gets everyone amped up!

    I bet those cheering crowds of Bulls fans made Michael Jordan jump a little higher. Startups aren’t so different.

    There’s nothing wrong with being a cheerleader sometimes. And if it improves a company’s performance even marginally, I benefit too!

    Keeping the Lines of Communication Open

    When you reply to updates, you are building a relationship with a founder.

    That’s valuable in itself. But there’s also a self-interested reason to do it…

    You might want to invest again! And if that opportunity arises, who do you think will get the first shot at it: an engaged investor, or an investor the founder never hears from?

    I don’t know where the next Uber is coming from. So whether a startup is doing well or struggling, it behooves me to stay in close contact with the founder.

    Wrap-Up

    Dan Siroker doesn’t get many replies to his updates. Neither do most other founders I speak to.

    There’s no excuse for this.

    Luckily for me, this is an easy way to differentiate. I may not know everything, but I can reply to a darn e-mail!

    If you’re a founder and you’re not getting replies, don’t worry! This is normal, even if it shouldn’t be.

    And if you’re an investor, reply to the dang updates! It’s really not that hard. Keep in mind everything the founder is doing for you!

    Do you get replies to your updates? Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Why I Passed: “FallDetector”

    The Power of Small Checks

    The Startup Conveyor Belt

    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. 

  • Why I Passed: “FallDetector”

    They were raising $400,000 on a $4 million post-money SAFE. The product was awesome, but I passed. Here’s why…

    “FallDetector” is a device to prevent falls in the elderly. ***”FallDetector” is a composite, not a real startup, and the name is made up.*** But it shows why even growing companies with awesome products don’t get funded.

    The Good

    “FallDetector” was incredibly innovative. A tiny device attaches to an elderly person’s clothing and if they fall or encounter any other large shock, it alerts staff on their phones in the “FallDetector” app.

    The patient doesn’t have to use a computer and the device isn’t obtrusive. This made it easy to get them to use “FallDetector.”

    “FallDetector” was beginning to catch on. Revenue was closing in on a $500,000 a year run rate — impressive for this valuation.

    When I met with the founder, I could tell how important this problem was to him. His grandmother had struggled with falls and he wanted to help her.

    The Bad

    “FallDetector” had a lot of revenue for a $4 million company. But it wasn’t growing as fast as some other early stage startups.

    MRR was doubling year over year. Sounds amazing, right?

    In a way, it is. But the best early stage companies are at least tripling. Some are even growing 10x year over year.

    “FallDetector” was doing well, but not best in class.

    What’s more, the founder wasn’t very forthcoming with information. When I asked what the sensors cost to make, he wouldn’t tell me.

    The best founders I’ve worked with are very transparent. I wasn’t getting that feeling here.

    As a minority investor, I don’t need to know every single detail about a company. But basics like COGS are important.

    I just wasn’t getting the impression the founder wanted a collaborative relationship. So, I probably wasn’t the right investor for him.

    Wrap-Up

    “FallDetector” was a really awesome product. I hope it helps a lot of elderly people to live better lives!

    But as an investment, it didn’t work for me. The combination of moderate growth and a founder I wasn’t sure I could work with were problems I couldn’t get past.

    Would you have invested in “FallDetector”? Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:
    Why I Passed: “PaintBetter”
    The Startup Conveyor Belt

    The Power of Small Checks

    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. 

  • Why I Passed: “PaintBetter”

    They were raising $1.7 million at a $20 million cap SAFE. I passed. Here’s why…

    “PaintBetter” is an app that teaches you how to paint. ***”PaintBetter” is a composite, not a real startup, and the name is made up.*** But it illustrates why even some startups with really cool products don’t get funded.

    The Good

    “PaintBetter” had a great app and the founders were very experienced painters themselves. They showed us some of the pictures users had made, and they were really pretty!

    “PaintBetter” charged $40/mo for their product and had thousands of users. I love the consumer SaaS business model — it’s produced some amazing outcomes like Duolingo, with an $8 billion market cap.

    But as cool as their product was, “PaintBetter” had some real issues…

    The Bad

    Of their nine full time employees, only two were technical. They were heavily staffed with expert painters, but light on people who could build software.

    The lack of tech talent led to a lack of product velocity. It took them years to move from web only to a mobile app, despite the popularity of mobile.

    That lack of product velocity showed in their revenue, which was flatlining. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) had grown just 2% a month over the last year.

    At this rate, they’d never get to the $100 million they need to become a unicorn.

    The founders didn’t have a good strategy to increase growth either. They were focused on adding more classes, but didn’t seem to know how to find users.

    Decision Time

    “PaintBetter” had a really cool app and some very talented people behind it. But the slow growth, thin technical team, and lack of a growth strategy were dealbreakers for me.

    I passed.

    To have any hope of making money on this angel investing thing, I need to find companies that are growing like crazy. I’m talking growth that’s ridiculous and unnatural: 3x, 5x, or even 10x a year.

    That’s what a best in class startup looks like. And even in those, we’ll lose our money most of the time!

    That’s how hard investing in startups really is.

    Wrap-Up

    I really liked the “PaintBetter” guys, but the deal just didn’t work for me. I hope they prove me wrong and grow like crazy!

    And if they do, I’ll show up hat in hand, begging to invest.

    Would you have invested in “PaintBetter”? Why or why not?

    Leave a comment and let us know! Have a great weekend everybody!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Why I Passed: ReadMate

    The Startup Conveyor Belt

    The Power of Small Checks

    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. 

  • The Startup Conveyor Belt

    I invest in companies with $200k to $500k ARR. So why am I meeting startups that just launched?

    I think of investing as a conveyor belt.

    Each day, I put a few more startups on it. In time, they’ll be ready for checkout!

    Shopping at the Startup Store

    I try to meet as many software companies as I can that meet these criteria:

    1) Launched product.
    2) A couple paying customers.
    3) Incorporated as a DE C Corp

    There are more pre-launch, pre-revenue companies than I have time to meet. But when I narrow it down just a bit, the number becomes pretty manageable!

    The third criterion might seem wonky, but it’s really important. DE C Corps can do the things a startup needs to do: issue different share classes, options, etc.

    Companies that meet all three criteria are real businesses. That’s who I want to meet.

    If I like them, they’ll go on the conveyor belt.

    The Meeting

    When I meet a company, the first thing I want to know is the founder’s vision. I need to understand that 100%.

    I also want to get an idea of where the company is today.

    How much revenue do they have? Do they have a lead investor yet?

    I gather the basics in about 30 minutes. If it looks promising, I make a note to follow up with them later.

    Now, they’re on the conveyor belt…

    Watching Startups Grow

    Depending on how close the company is to my sweet spot, I will follow up with them in one, three, or six months.

    I make a note and when that day rolls around, I shoot the founder a quick message.

    As I watch companies grow, I learn a lot about the founder.

    How does he handle setbacks? Does he seize opportunities?

    After a few months, I know a lot more than I did from that first meeting alone.

    Time for Checkout

    I met an awesome startup last October at a demo day. I knew right away that I had to invest in it.

    I messaged the founder several times in the following months. Rounds take a little longer to come together these days, but I kept hanging around.

    Come the spring, it was time to check out! They’d found a lead and grown revenue rapidly in the mean time.

    I got my wire in and thanked my lucky stars that I was able to invest! I’ll announce the company soon.

    Wrap-Up

    I used to try to meet great companies at the perfect time. Now, I just try to meet great companies.

    Finding great startups is hard enough. Finding them at the perfect time takes a hard problem and makes it darn near impossible!

    With the startup conveyor belt approach, my cart is always stocked with great deals.

    Right now, I have a good idea what my next 3 deals will be. And I’ve got some bangers coming.

    If you’re investing, try following startups over time. And if you’re a founder, keep in touch with investors you meet, even if you haven’t hit their sweet spot yet!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Talking Follow-On Strategy with JCal

    The Power of Small Checks

    What Investors Ask Founders

    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. 

  • What Investors Ask Founders

    You’re about to meet an investor. What will he ask you? How do you prepare? Here’s what I ask…

    1) Vision. The first thing I want to know is the founder’s vision for the company.

    My #1 goal in a meeting is to understand the vision. If I don’t understand the scale of the opportunity before me, how can I make a good decision?

    You want to be able to state the vision for your company in one clear sentence. Use this as a template: “The vision for Uber is to get anyone a ride anywhere, any time.”

    I recently wrote a detailed post on how to nail the vision for your company, which you can find here.

    2) What made you start this company? I want to see how much the founder cares about the problem.

    To stick it out for 10 years and build this into a unicorn, they have to be obsessed with it.

    3) Team. I want to know who they have working on this problem, and how they know them.

    I love founders who have known each other a long time. They’ve proven they can get along!

    I also want to know why this team is the right one for this job. What about their skills or experience makes them perfect?

    4) Who writes code for this startup? Sometimes, a startup has technical folks that no longer code themselves. This question is designed to figure out who’s building and who’s managing.

    I like to see half the team or more writing code for the startup.

    Engineering-heavy teams tend to win. They can rapidly ship new features that customers want.

    What I’m trying to avoid is startups that outsource their engineering to a dev shop. It’s expensive and risky.

    4) Demo. Nothing beats seeing a product in action.

    I’m looking for products that solve real problems. And I want them to be pretty and easy to use.

    Aesthetics matter. Customers want to use pretty products, even in B2B!

    5) How do you make money? I need to know what their revenue model is. Common revenue models are a SaaS fee or marketplace take rate.

    Then, I do a little back of the envelope math….

    How many potential customers exist? What are you charging? If I multiply those, I can estimate a market size.

    I usually like to see markets well into the billions, preferably $10 billion plus.

    6) Do you have a lead? I usually look for a lead investor. Party rounds can work too if there’s enough cash committed and wired.

    I ask about this because I don’t want to be the only one investing in a company. I want to be part of a much larger round that can really get the startup to the next level.

    Wrap-Up

    These questions will vary from investor to investor. But you’ll see variations of them with many angels and VC’s you meet.

    Think about each one and how you’ll answer it.

    You don’t need a perfect answer. You just need one that’s clear, concise, and honest to where you are now.

    What are investors asking you? What do you ask founders?

    Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:
    Why I Passed: ReadMate
    The Power of Small Checks

    Nail the Vision

    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. 

  • Why I Passed: ReadMate

    They were raising $1 million at a $10 million valuation. I passed. Here’s why.

    ReadMate helps kids learn how to read. ReadMate is a composite, not a real startup. But it shows why some consumer startups get funded, and others don’t.

    A Wonderful Mission

    ReadMate has guided stories that get children reading on their own. They include animated characters and progress in difficulty over time.

    When I met the founder, he seemed to really care about children. He struck me as deeply committed and in this business for the right reasons.

    ReadMate has a wonderful mission. But unfortunately, this company also had some real problems.

    Looking Under the Hood

    Growth was stalling, hitting just 2% a month. A great seed stage company is usually growing at least 10% a month.

    ReadMate was also struggling to get customers in a cost-effective way.

    Its Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) was $35. This means it took $35 worth of ads to find a paying customer.

    ReadMate wasn’t making much money from those customers. An annual subscription was only $50, and fewer than half of customers renewed.

    The founder estimated a Lifetime Value (LTV) of a customer at around $90. With CAC at $35, ReadMate was below a 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio.

    This is not good, especially for an early stage company. 3:1 is a bare minimum. I like to see 12:1 or better, because I know that ratio will probably get worse over time as the company grows and they saturate ad channels.

    Making a Decision

    I love investing in companies that are making a better world. That’s one of the reasons I get up in the morning!

    But although ReadMate has a wonderful mission, I had doubts about whether they could pull it off.

    ReadMate wasn’t catching on. The company was barely growing.

    ReadMate needed more customers, but couldn’t get them in a cost-effective way. The rock-bottom price of the product made paid ads hard to afford.

    The company was stuck.

    Wrap-Up

    As much as I loved the product and the founder, I had to pass on ReadMate.

    I almost wish I’d invested in it. I really loved the idea!

    But we have to be disciplined.

    I can’t invest in companies that aren’t performing well, even if I like them. If I do that, I’ll lose all the money I’ve allocated for investing in startups, and I won’t be able to invest in anyone!

    I hope ReadMate turns around in the future and I have another shot at it. I’d love to see them succeed.

    How do you look at consumer startups? Leave a comment and let us know!

    If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for more like this!

    More on tech:

    Why I Passed on a High Growth Startup

    The Power of Small Checks

    Nail the Vision

    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. 

  • Nail the Vision

    “What’s your vision for this company?” That’s usually the first question I ask founders. Some are incredible at answering it — but others struggle.

    Let me show you how to do this like a pro…

    One Clear Sentence

    You should be able to get the vision for your company down to a single sentence that is very clear. Don’t use jargon or buzzwords.

    You may not “democratize” or “supercharge” anything. You may not make anyone “bionic” or even “AI enabled.” And your vision cannot involve anything “in a box.”

    I sometimes use this technospeak myself! And I have to watch it.

    These terms are vague and meaningless. They don’t say what your vision for the company actually is.

    Tell us what you do and where you’re going. Be as concrete and specific as possible.

    Taking Uber as an Example

    Let’s try an example. Uber is the most successful company of the last vintage, so we’ll go with that.

    Travis could tell investors: “The vision for Uber is to get anyone a ride anywhere, any time.”

    That’s darned compelling! Immediately, I see the value in Uber.

    Everyone needs a ride sometimes!

    As an investor, I am imagining the massive market for transportation transformed. I can almost see the dollar signs.

    An Example of What to Avoid

    What you don’t want to do is give investors a whole paragraph. A vision must be tight and punchy.

    You also shouldn’t dig into every single thing you do. We’re going for the overall vision for the business, not a feature list.

    Let’s imagine another way Travis could’ve pitched this:

    “Well, we got here because I noticed I could never get a taxi in the rain. And did you know they actually have shared rides in Zimbabwe? It’s so cool! I actually did it once. You should really try it. So I had an idea and I talked to my buddy Garrett, and he started working on an MVP. Right now we have black cars, we actually have 12 of them. And later we’re going to add more black cars and even people’s regular cars, but only if they’re nicer and newer. The regulators won’t like it but I think we can win.”

    This is not a tight statement of the founder’s vision. This is a brain dump.

    There’s some valuable info in there, but it’s too deep into details. Keep it punchy.

    Wrap-Up

    Once you nail your vision, you’ll do way better pitching investors. You can also use this vision to inspire employees and attract customers.

    People want to be a part of something big. Give that to them!

    What’s your vision for your startup? Leave a comment and let us know!

    There will be no blog on Monday for Memorial Day. Have a great holiday weekend everyone!🇺🇸🍔

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    More on tech:

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    What a Great Startup Looks Like: Fathom.video

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