Tremendous

An angel investor's take on life and business

  • How to Calculate Your ARR Like a Professional

    ARR = Best Day x 365. This is NOT how you calculate your Annual Recurring Revenue. Let me show you how to do it like a professional…

    What to Include

    Pull all your customer contracts. We are calculating a live ARR number, so only include customers that you are actually billing now.

    Let’s go through an example…

    I’m running FrankSaaS. Here are all my contracts:

    • Five customers on monthly contracts at $1,000 per month
    • 3 customers on annual contracts at $10,000 per year. 

    Here’s how I calculate my ARR:

    • Monthly contracts: 5 x $1,000 x 12 = $60,000 
    • Annual contracts: 3 x $10,000 = $30,000

    My ARR is $90,000. That’s a solid start, probably enough for a pre-seed round of $750,000 to $2 million.

    What Not to Include

    Never include any revenue that isn’t recurring. If you have revenue from pilots, consulting work, or setup fees, do not include those in ARR. 

    Don’t include any revenue from customers that have churned. If they’ve canceled, they no longer count. 

    If you’re giving a discount, only include the discounted price in your ARR calculation. Never use the full list price if you’re not actually charging that. And if they’re on a free trial, the ARR from that customer is 0. 

    Never include any revenue you haven’t closed. ARR is not about projections or pipeline. 

    Never annualize a single good day, week, or even month. Stick to the calculation I showed you above to find the annual value of all your contracts. 

    A single good day does not an ARR number make. 

    Annual Recurring Revenue vs. Annual Run Rate

    Some companies that don’t have recurring revenue still use the ARR metric. But confusingly, it stands for something different: Annual Run Rate. 

    I don’t like this practice. It’s way too confusing.

    If you’re a company that doesn’t have recurring revenue, like a marketplace, I don’t recommend using the term ARR. Instead, just tell us your monthly revenue, like this:  “We had $25,000 in revenue in October.”

    This avoids any ambiguity. No investor will feel misled. 

    Don’t Mess With the Numbers

    Sometimes, a founder gives me a big juicy, ARR number. But when I dig into that number a little, I find out it’s BS.

    In today’s hot market, this is happening more and more. So I’m digging deeper into these numbers.

    When I find out the numbers are bogus, the founder loses all credibility. I would have rather seen a smaller number that was actually real! 

    Never mislead investors. Never give into the temptation to juice those numbers.

    The world of startups is a very small one. If you become known for peddling BS, the word will get around. 

    When a founder attempts to mislead investors, they also open themselves to liability. No one is trying to get you in legal trouble for an honest mistake, but actual intent to defraud is a very serious crime. 

    Wrap-Up

    Keep your numbers clean.

    Calculate your ARR the way I showed you. And when it comes time to raise money, work with a good accountant to make sure all the figures line up. 

    The tighter your books are, the easier it will be to pass a VC’s due diligence. That’s a critical step before the money hits your account. 

    Markets are hot, and there’s a lot of chicanery out there right now. 

    Ignore it. Be honest, forthright, and tell it like it is.

    If you can do that, you just might find some people who believe in your vision just as much as you do.

    There will be no blog tomorrow. I’ll see you again on Friday. Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

    More on tech:

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

    Three Simple Tweaks to Make Your Deck Better

    Meet My Latest Investment: Memelord

    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 German Industry Is Failing 

    Germany’s car industry has lost 51,000 jobs in the last year. VW cut 35,000, ThyssenKrupp 11,000, and Bosch nearly 6,000. What’s causing the collapse in German industry? 

    Crushed By Energy Prices

    German manufacturers are cutting capacity because building things in Germany has become too expensive. One of the biggest culprits is energy costs. 

    German businesses pay an average of 28.5 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity. That’s almost double the 14.8 cents that American businesses pay, and nearly triple costs in China. 

    Germany’s electricity market is heavily regulated to promote clean energy. Electricity is also taxed heavily.

    High energy costs means it makes more sense to expand in the U.S. or China, where prices are lower. 

    Falling Behind Technologically

    But it’s not just high costs that are killing German business. Many German companies have fallen behind technologically and are losing market share.

    For years, Germany’s car makers counted on ballooning sales to China. But Chinese auto makers have been faster to transition to EVs, which has reduced sales for the Germans. 

    As Germany loses market share in older industries like autos, it’s failing to gain a piece of new industries.

    Companies like Nvidia and TSMC are making a fortune building out AI infrastructure. But without many tech companies of its own, Germany is left standing on the sidelines. 

    Trade War Pain

    As Germany falls behind domestic competitors in China, it’s facing greater difficulty selling to one of its closest friends: the United States.

    Trump’s trade war has hit German industry hard. German exports to the United States have fallen to a four-year low since the imposition of new tariffs in April. 

    Imagine you run a German car maker. If you produce a car in Germany, you’ll pay high electricity rates and hefty US tariffs. If you make them in Texas, you’ll pay half as much for electricity and no tariffs.

    Which would you choose? 

    Wrap-Up

    German industry is being strangled by regulation, high energy costs, and aging technology. Unless the German government makes it easier to build energy infrastructure, job losses in Germany will only accelerate. 

    If we want to avoid the same fate, we must build energy infrastructure. 

    We need to pop up solar, natural gas, wind, and geothermal plants all over America. We should also invest in new forms of energy, like small nuclear reactors and nuclear fusion. 

    If we can win on energy, our industries will dominate. But if we fall behind, our country will begin to look more and more like Germany.

    More on tech: 

    Janesville — Or Why AI Will Be a Disaster for Jobs

    The End of Human Drivers: 7 Million Jobs at Risk

    The Iron Monster: China’s Massive Bridge Building Robot

    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. 

  • How to Build a $100 Billion Company By Making Money for Other People

    Want to build a $100 billion company? Give people a new way to earn money. From Uber and Airbnb to the AI model training companies of today, this is a powerful business model. 

    Ever have a hard time getting anyone to care about your product? What founder hasn’t, right?

    If you give people the opportunity to make a living, they will pay attention. Money is the one thing everyone wants.

    Earning with Startups: the Sharing Economy

    The first startups to give people new ways of making a living were the sharing economy startups of the 2010s.

    Uber let people make money using something they already had: their car. Airbnb let us make money from our spare rooms.

    Running a little behind on your bills this month? Do a few hours of Uber.

    People flocked to Uber and Airbnb because they gave them something everybody needs: a way to make money. And sure enough, Uber and Airbnb were the largest outcomes of that cycle.

    Earning with Startups Today: Teaching Robots

    A friend of mine lives in Thailand and teaches English online. Soon, he may be supplementing that income by training robots. 

    “Did you know that you can take videos of yourself washing dishes and make $50 an hour?” I asked him recently.

    “That’s wild! But who would want to watch such a boring video?” my friend responded. 

    “That’s just it. People aren’t watching. Robots are.”

    Robotics companies need a ton of data of people doing things like washing dishes, folding clothes, and stocking the fridge. With enough data, the robots will be able to do the tasks themselves.

    This opens up an incredible opportunity for people to make money. They’d already be folding clothes. They might as well get paid to do it!

    Several companies like Micro1 and Encord hire folks to train robots. And sure enough, Micro1 is one of my most successful investments.

    We were on welfare and food stamps for part of my childhood. If my mother could have made $50 an hour for doing chores, it would have changed our lives.

    People will flock to these robotics platforms. The promise of good-paying work is impossible to resist. 

    Earning with Startups Today: Be Funny, Make Money

    Today’s startups aren’t just helping people earn by training robots. You can also monetize your sense of humor.

    I recently did an investment in a company called Memelord. They provide tools to make memes.

    Some Memelord users have been able to quit their jobs and make memes for marketing campaigns for major companies. 

    If Memelord just gave people tools to make funny pictures, that could be a good business. But if it gives them a new way of making a living, that’s way more powerful. 

    I imagine a future where hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people are making memes from home and making bank. It’s a lot more fun than grinding on spreadsheets at the cubicle farm! 

    Wrap-Up

    If your product gives people a new way to make a living, you have a chance to become a massive company.

    Let’s say my friend joins your robotics training platform and starts making $50/hour. He’ll tell his friends about it. 

    They’ll join the platform too. Soon, you’re growing faster than you can handle. 

    Business is about giving people something that they want. A way to earn money is one of the most powerful wants.

    Satisfy it, and you just might become a billionaire. 

    More on tech: 

    Meet My Latest Investment: Memelord

    How Early Stage Founders Can Save Money and Buy Their Freedom

    Do Investors Take Forever to Get Back to You? Here’s What I’m Doing Differently

    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. 

  • Nano Banana Pro: The Best Image Model Yet

    Google’s new Nano Banana Pro is the best image model I’ve ever tested. From hilarious fake photos to serious infographics, this model excels. 

    Yesterday, Google dropped Nano Banana Pro. This new model can create infographics from data you provide, adjust camera angles, and even turn blueprints into realistic structures. 

    Let me show you what this thing can do…

    Round #1: To Have and to Hold

    Let’s start with something fun. Trump and Elon recently made up at a White House meeting. But what if they took their relationship to the next level?

    I gave Nano Banana Pro a detailed prompt to produce a picture of their wedding. It did an incredible job, right down to the black and gray sneakers I told it to put on Elon.

    When I ask other image models to make a picture of a famous person, it often doesn’t look like them. But Nano Banana Pro nails it. 

    I’m giving this round an A!

    Round #2: Make Me a Logo

    How about something more practical?

    Lately, I’ve been toying with the idea of a telehealth platform for dogs. Imagine if you could have a vet pop up on your screen any time Fido is sick.

    Let’s call the new company Wellby. Can Nano Banana Pro make a good logo for it? 

    I prompted Pro to give me a logo that’s minimalist, black and white, and makes my business seem trustworthy. Let’s see what it comes up with… 

    The logo Pro gave me isn’t bad, but it feels a little generic. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting or special about it.

    I’ll give this round a B. 

    Round #3: Making an Infographic

    A lot of founders struggle with calculating ARR correctly. Every day, I meet companies that get it wrong.

    How about an infographic explaining how to calculate ARR? As a source, I used a great post from SaaS Academy. 

    Pro gave me a wonderful, detailed graphic that explains how ARR works. It did a great job of explaining what to add and what to take out to arrive at the correct number.

    I’m giving this round an A. 

    Wrap-Up

    Overall, I’m giving Nano Banana Pro an A- in my testing.

    This is the best image model I’ve used so far. It excels across the board, from making silly images to useful infographics. 

    Pro is great at following my instructions. But the flip side is that the images feel a little generic and less creative. I’d like to see them inject a bit more creativity into the model. 

    Nonetheless, Nano Banana Pro is a fantastic way to create images. If you need pictures for your business or just want to make silly photos for fun, this is for you!

    Have you tried Nano Banana Pro?

    More on tech: 

    Grok 4.1 Thinking Beats Gemini 3.0 Pro in Real World Test

    Kimi 2 Thinking — A Real Threat to ChatGPT and Grok

    OpenAI Behind Competitors Despite GPT 5.1 Release

    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. 

  • How Early Stage Founders Can Save Money and Buy Their Freedom

    If you’re an early-stage founder, you probably don’t have much money. Here’s how to extend your personal runway so your startup has the best shot at success…

    Housing — Think Corona, Not Tribeca

    This is most people’s biggest expense, which makes it the most important place to optimize.

    Housing prices are mostly driven by location. Stay away from hot neighborhoods. 

    Look for immigrant neighborhoods a little further out. If you hear Latin music, you’re on the right track.

    These neighborhoods are generally safe and people tend to be quite friendly. Earlier in my career, I lived in some places like this myself. 

    Consider getting a studio to yourself to cut down on noise and roommate drama. A studio in an immigrant neighborhood shouldn’t run you too much.

    Some cities like SF even have special housing for founders. It’s usually pretty basic…bunk beds and the like. But if you’re a sound sleeper, it could work.

    Location — No, You Won’t Die Outside SF or NY

    You don’t have to be in a major city!

    There are great tech companies built all over. I used to work for a company called Epic in Madison, WI that’s valued at over $100 billion.

    You could buy a 5-bedroom house in rural Kentucky for a couple hundred thousand, move your co-founders in, and grind with no distractions. My grandparents were from this town. It’s nothing fancy, but it gave them a good home.

    So much networking happens online these days anyway! And you could still travel to fundraise and network from time to time.

    Once you IPO, there’ll be plenty of time for Tribeca lofts and Pac Heights mansions.

    Health Insurance — The Obamacare Escape Hatch

    Have you seen the ridiculous prices for these Obamacare plans lately? 

    If you buy one, consider whether you need the most expensive tier. A cheaper Bronze plan might still give you the coverage you need.

    Personally, I crashed out of the Obamacare market long ago.

    In 2018, I signed up for a Christian health share called Medishare. It costs about half as much as the cheapest Obamacare plan. It has a $25,000 deductible and at least in New Jersey, it satisfies the insurance mandate. 

    I’m lucky that I can afford one of these Obamacare plans. But the prices are so ridiculous, I prefer not to.

    Whatever you decide, remember you have options and you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing.

    Transportation — Bikes, Not Bentleys

    If you’re spending most of your time locked in a room coding, you probably won’t be spending much in this category.

    You may not need a car at all. If you live in a large, walkable city like SF or New York, you probably don’t.

    If you took my advice and bought the house in Kentucky, you’ll probably need a car. Go with something like a 10-year-old Honda. 

    They’re still in good shape and can be had at a reasonable price. I had one myself years ago!

    Food — Beans, Bacon and Gravy

    Embrace the Depression-era song: “Beans, Bacon and Gravy”.

    Low-cost, healthy foods like beans and rice are perfect for anyone on a budget. And no matter how much money you have, they’re still pretty darn tasty! 

    If you don’t know how to cook, start with the blog that got me into cooking: Budget Bytes.

    If you really don’t have the time or inclination to cook, frozen food is great and a lot cheaper than DoorDash. Trader Joe’s has a wonderful selection…try the Alsatian tart! 

    If you live in an immigrant neighborhood, there will probably be some great taco stands and cheap restaurants nearby when you’re ready for a treat.

    Wrap-Up

    Some people will recoil from this advice — that’s fine. You don’t have to do one single thing I said.

    But if you’re an early-stage founder and you’re really committed to building a billion dollar company, watching your personal burn is critical. 

    If you’re spending $30,000 a year and have $50,000 in savings, you’ve got 20 months to make this business work. If you’re spending $100,000, you’ve only got six months.

    Low burn could be the difference between having your own company and being forced to go back and work for someone else.

    If you’re living a spendy lifestyle right now, these changes will be uncomfortable. But they’ll be worth it.

    Ask yourself, “How bad do I want it?” 

    More on tech: 

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

    Do Investors Take Forever to Get Back to You? Here’s What I’m Doing Differently.

    How to Tell If Investors Are Really Interested

    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. 

  • Grok 4.1 Thinking Beats Gemini 3.0 Pro in Real World Test

    Gemini 3.0 Pro dominates AI benchmarks. But in my real world testing, Grok 4.1 Thinking comes out on top.

    Google’s new mode is ranked #1 in LMArena. It scores off the charts in a variety of AI benchmarks, like Humanity’s Last Exam. 

    But the best way to test a model is to ask real questions I need the answer to. This morning, I posed three challenging questions. 

    When I tested Grok 4.1 Thinking yesterday, it scored an A. Let’s see how Gemini stacks up…

    Round #1: Researching the Hedge Fund Industry

    Earlier today, I looked at a startup that sells SaaS to hedge funds. This got me wondering, how big is this market? 

    Gemini was significantly slower than Grok 4.1, but its response was thorough. 

    It made an important distinction between the number of individual funds and the number of firms. It looks like there are around 4,000 firms total.

    Gemini provided a variety of sources at the end. I would have liked to see the sources in line with the facts they cite. That would have made Gemini’s claims easier to verify.

    I’m giving this round an A-. 

    Round #2: Troubleshooting an App Problem 

    I love using my new Wispr Flow dictation app. But it’s been having an annoying problem on my iPhone.

    When I use one of my pre-loaded snippets, it cuts off a few characters. Can Gemini help troubleshoot? 

    Gemini suggests looking at the characters that get cut off to see if there’s a common theme. I noticed after each dollar sign, the next character gets cut off.

    I reworked my snippet to remove dollar signs. Now it works perfectly! For whatever reason, iPhone doesn’t like that symbol.

    Great job, Gemini! I’m giving this round an A.

    Round #3: Finding Startups by SpaceX Alums

    I recently made a small investment in a startup called Verustruct. The founder, Nick, is a former SpaceX engineer. 

    This got me thinking…can I find more early stage companies founded by SpaceX alums?

    Gemini gave me companies that are several years old. These companies have usually already raised a seed or even a Series A, making them too late-stage for me. 

    The one pre-seed stage company Gemini found, Hop Aero, does not appear to have any SpaceX alums as founders.

    This response was not very useful. I’m going to give this round a B-.

    Wrap-Up

    Gemini 3.0 Pro scores an A- in my testing.

    That’s a strong result, but still puts Gemini behind Grok 4.1 Thinking. If Gemini wants to dethrone Grok, it will need to improve reasoning and sourcing.

    Gemini 3.0 Pro is an impressive model.  But if you want the best, you go Grok.

    Have you tried Gemini 3.0 Pro?

    More on tech:

    Grok 4.1: Elon Drops the World’s Best Model

    Kimi 2 Thinking — A Real Threat to ChatGPT and Grok

    OpenAI Behind Competitors Despite GPT 5.1 Release

    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. 

  • Grok 4.1: Elon Drops the World’s Best Model

    Elon just dropped Grok 4.1. I tested it this morning. This is the best model I’ve ever used. 

    xAI’s claims 4.1 has fewer hallucinations than prior models. It ranks number one on LMArena, ahead of Gemini, Claude and ChatGPT. 

    Let’s see what this thing can do! 

    Round #1: Are Consumers In Trouble?

    Layoffs in America are surging. Consumer confidence has plummeted. Are we headed into a recession?

    I asked Grok 4.1 to help me assess how American consumers are doing.

    Grok found that credit card delinquencies are increasing. But auto loan and mortgage defaults are holding steady.

    This tells me that consumers are under some financial stress but are holding on for now.

    Grok did a great job of finding relevant information and citing sources. That made it easy to verify the stats. It was also faster than Grok 4, scraping sources with incredible speed. 

    I’m giving this round an A.

    Round #2: German Industry Falling Behind

    I keep seeing headlines about problems in German manufacturing. Can Grok 4.1 get me up to speed? 

    Energy price increases after the invasion of Ukraine made German industry less competitive. German carmakers are also behind technologically.

    Facing higher costs and stiff competition, companies like VW and Bosch have done major layoffs this year. 

    Grok searched 130 results in about two seconds. It searches faster than any other model I’ve tried.

    Some of the sources it cites are poor quality, like WSWS.org, a socialist party website. But for the most part, Grok 4.1 delivers a thorough response.

    I’m giving this round an A-. 

    Round #3: Learning About Fighter Jets 

    This morning on Bloomberg, I heard the United States is planning to sell F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia. These are the most advanced jets we have.

    I wondered, how are these different from other fighters we produce? Let’s ask Grok…

    The F-35 is stealthier than other jets. It also shares data with other aircraft and drones, which earlier jets can’t do. 

    Grok’s answer is thorough, but sourcing could be a bit better. The links sometimes go to homepages for the Air Force and other sites, as opposed to specific pages with information on the fighters.

    Overall, I’m giving this round an A.

    Wrap-Up

    In my testing, Grok 4.1 earns an A overall. 

    This makes it the best model I’ve ever tested. Grok 4 and Kimi 2 Thinking are right behind, both earning A-’s.

    This new model’s speed is astounding. It searches over a hundred sites in seconds.

    Grok 4.1 occasionally cites a weak source. But overall, the quality of its responses is very high.

    If Grok can nail sourcing in the next version, I’ll give it an A+.

    I’m excited to see what applications founders create using Grok 4.1. If you’re building in AI, your capabilities just went through the roof.

    Have you tried Grok 4.1?

    More on tech:

    OpenAI Behind Competitors Despite GPT 5.1 Release

    Kimi 2 Thinking — A Real Threat to ChatGPT and Grok

    Testing Zuck’s $70 Billion Model

    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. 

  • Do Investors Take Forever to Get Back to You? Here’s What I’m Doing Differently.

    You need to raise money today, not three weeks from Thursday. So I’m working on getting back to founders faster than ever. 

    The VC Runaround

    When you email an investor, it can take days or even weeks to get a response. Then, it can take weeks longer to get on their schedule.

    If you have to wait two weeks to even get a meeting, that’s two weeks of runway burned. It may be convenient for the VC, but it sure as heck isn’t convenient for you. 

    And that meeting you’re waiting for? It’s just the first of many.

    How I’m Trying to Serve Founders Better

    I’ve seen many founders struggle with slow turnaround from investors. So I’m trying to do things differently.

    My goal is to get back to founder messages within 24 hours. If they meet my criteria for a meeting, I try to get them a meeting within 24 hours.

    Here’s my criteria: 

    • Launched product with a couple paying customers (or prototype if deep tech)
    • Builder founders 
    • Incorporated (DE C Corp)
    • In a market I cover (US/CAD/UK/IRE/AUS/NZ)

    The Basics Are Everything

    In venture capital, the founders are our customers. 

    Just like any other business, success comes down to the basics: replying to messages and giving good customer service.

    Imagine if you called customer service and they took a week to get back to you. You probably wouldn’t do business with that company anymore, right? 

    But if they got back to you right away, you might tell your friends! 

    If we have a reputation for getting back to founders quickly, more great founders will come our way. We also won’t miss great investments that are moving fast.

    Wrap-Up

    Sometimes life gets in the way and I can’t respond to a message as quickly as I’d like. But I’m trying to move as fast as possible so you can get back to building. 

    If you’re building something special, shoot me a DM on X or a connection request on LinkedIn. Include some information about what you’re building. 

    I’m looking forward to seeing some amazing new tech! 

    More on tech: 

    My New Investment Strategy

    Why Short Decks Raise Millions

    The Perfect Pitch

    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. 

  • OpenAI Behind Competitors Despite GPT 5.1 Release

    This morning, I tested OpenAI’s new GPT-5.1. It still falls behind the best models from xAI, Google, and Kimi. 

    When I tested GPT-5 in August it performed poorly, notching a C-. It gave me outdated data and struggled to cite sources.

    OpenAI claims that GPT-5.1 is better at reasoning and easier to customize. I ran a three-round test to find out…

    Round #1: Finding Fertility Startups

    Low fertility is a huge problem across much of the world. Italy just registered a fertility rate of 1.1, an all-time low.

    Even folks who want to have a child sometimes can’t. But what if we were able to cure infertility and help people have more babies?

    I asked GPT 5.1 to find me startups working on infertility.

    ChatGPT did a great job of finding some leading startups working on infertility. It gave citations on the technologies they’re developing and the amount of capital they raised.

    I’m giving this round an A. 

    Round #2: Defending Against a Robot War

    We’ve seen some incredible new robotics demos recently, like the Neo. These androids will help us clean up around the house and build things in factories.

    But what if androids are used against us in a war? What would be the best way to stop them? 

    ChatGPT comes up with some interesting ideas, like hacking the software that drives the robots. This could allow us to neutralize a large number of robots at once more easily than if we used munitions.

    But ChatGPT does not cite any sources in its response. So, we don’t know how accurate it is. ChatGPT should’ve cited reports by scholars of war and experts on robotics.

    I’m giving this round a C.

    Round #3: The Origins of Fall Colors

    Let’s move on to happier topics! 

    Looking out my window right now, I can see the beautiful red-yellow foliage. What exactly causes these gorgeous colors? 

    GPT-5.1 gives us a great response, including some beautiful leaf pictures.

    It explains that a reduction in chlorophyll makes the leaves change color. The citations are good, linking to an article in the Smithsonian.

    I’m giving this round an A. 

    Wrap-Up

    Overall, I’m giving GPT-5.1 a B+. That’s up from a C- for GPT-5, but still well below the leading models. 

    The quality of GPT-5.1’s responses is inconsistent. Some have great sourcing and follow instructions well, while others do not. 

    Grok 4, Kimi 2 Thinking and Gemini 2.5 Pro are all better than GPT-5.1. The outputs are more consistent and the information more reliable. 

    When GPT-3.5 came out in late 2022, OpenAI was way ahead. That’s no longer the case.

    For all the billions in investment, OpenAI is falling behind its competitors. 

    But Sam still has some incredible researchers on his team. I wouldn’t count out OpenAI yet.

    Have a great weekend, everybody!

    More on tech: 

    Kimi 2 Thinking — A Real Threat to ChatGPT and Grok

    GPT-5 Fails Again

    Testing Zuck’s $70 Billion Model

    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. 

  • Three Simple Tweaks to Make Your Deck Better

    Your pitch deck has one job: to get you an investor meeting. Here are three easy ways to make your deck better… 

    1. Bigger Text. Make the text huge. I like at least a size 72 font with minimal text per slide.

    Don’t forget that many of the people who invest in startups are older. Our eyes are getting weaker by the day.

    Help us out! 

    So many times, I’ve had to squint to make out text in a deck. When the print is hard to read, your message gets lost. 

    2. Readable Color Scheme. Now you’ve got a nice, legible font size. Next, choose the right colors to make your deck easy to read. 

      You wouldn’t believe the color combinations I’ve seen! Light gray on white. Pink on white. Very difficult to read. 

      Choose a text color and background color that strongly contrast. I like white or bright yellow on black. A traditional black on white is also fine.

      The exact colors you pick aren’t that important. It just needs to be very easy to read. 

      Never let your message get lost due to bad formatting. 

      3. Add a Demo Video. A demo is worth a thousand words. There’s nothing like seeing your product to help me understand why it’s valuable.

        The best way to do this is to embed a YouTube video. YouTube works with most any browser, so investors should be able to see it easily.

        Keep the video short, about a minute. You don’t have to show every feature, just the core value that your product provides. 

        Wrap-Up

        On any day, I might have 20 decks to look through. I need to flip through them quickly and find out what this company does.

        When you make a good deck, you make my job easy. I’m grateful for it!

        Big fonts, easily readable color schemes, and a little demo make it easy for me to see how special your company is. Never let your message get lost in illegible text or bad formatting.

        Get these simple things right, and you’ll be that much closer to raising millions of dollars.

        More on tech:

        Why Short Decks Raise Millions

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

        The Perfect Pitch

        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.