Tag: Entrepreneur
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
Investors are obsessed with pedigree. Today, I made a list of where every founder I’ve invested in went to college. So, do the top schools produce better founders? Let’s find out… To be consistent, I looked at where the Founder & CEO of each of my investments got their bachelor’s…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Business, College, Education, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Founder, Founders, Investing, Money, Startup, Startups, Tech, University, Venture Capital+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
Founders often tell you they’re going to send monthly updates, but how often do they really do it? Today, I did a review of my entire portfolio to answer that question. Here’s what I found… A Peak Inside My Portfolio That leaves 24 active investments that should be sending updates.…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Founders, Investing, Investment, Money, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
How do you think the Air Force inspects nuclear missile silos? A cool green laser, or maybe some infrared goggles? Well, until recently, they did it like this: “…Joe on a rope with a hammer, he was listening to the sound that the silos made when he hit it.” That’s…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ AI, Artificial Intelligence, Defens, Defense, Entrepreneur, Finance, Founders, Investing, Money, Robotics, Robots, Startups, Tech, Technology, Venture Capital, YC+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
I once met a founder who went into $700,000 of debt for his startup. On the Mr. Bray Labs podcast, I dug into that and other crazy stories I’ve seen in my 3.5 years investing in startups. Here are some of my favorite moments from the Part 2 with Jesse:…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Angel Invesing, Business, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Founders, Investing, Money, Silicon Valley, Startup, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
“Let me tell you how we got here…” This is the most useless part of a startup’s pitch. But you’d be amazed how many founders spend a ton of time on it! “Well, we started with furniture sales, then we pivoted to eVTOL sandwich delivery. But the FAA shut us…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Founders, Investing, Money, Small Business, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
“A lot of VC’s just want to give us money because we’re in YC. They don’t care about what we’re building.” That was a great founder I spoke with yesterday who’s currently in YC. It seems insane to me, but a lot of investors operate like this. Team, product, traction,…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
You’re not charging enough for your product. Charging too little, or nothing at all, is the most common mistake I see founders make. Why do founders do this? And how much should you charge? Let me break it down… A Common Problem I cannot tell you how many founders I…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
A while back, I met a really interesting fintech startup. Revenue was growing like crazy, 30% MoM. So why did I pass? Because I stick with what I know. The company was in Nigeria, and the market is just too unfamiliar. Like a lot of US investors, I only invest…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
I’m a $5,000 first check. But this week, I introduced a founder to a VC who offered him $800,000. This is why you should meet with small investors. Let’s say you’re raising a $2 million seed round. At first glance, talking to a guy who writes $5,000 checks seems like…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Fundraising, Investing, Money, Silicon Valley, Startups, VC, Venture Capital+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
A company you invested in got acquired. Time to buy that mansion, right? Not so fast. Most acquisitions in startupland are nothing like Salesforce’s $28 billion purchase of Slack. The more common scenario is what’s called an “acquihire.” I’ve had this happen a few times in my portfolio. Let me…
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Tremendous 