Tag: Finance
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“…in the bacon-and-egg breakfast of a startup, we were the chicken and the entrepreneur was the pig: We were involved, but she was committed.” Ben Horowitz, The Hard Thing About Hard Things Founders Lay It All on the Line We investors have the easy job. Write a check, shake the…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Management, Money, Reading, Silicon Valley, Small Business, Startups, Venture Capital+
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The Chinese social contract is simple: give us a good economy, and we’ll stay out of politics. The problem is, that contract is breaking down. The Chinese economy has 3 pillars. Today, all 3 are under extreme stress. The 3 Pillars Meanwhile, the US, China’s biggest trading partner by far,…
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Who do you think are the largest employers in America? General Motors, McDonald’s, maybe Starbucks? Just 14 years since the launch of Uber, gig work platforms are now 3 out of the top 5 employers in the country. Here’s Forbes’ list of America’s largest employers: Let’s add gig work. The…
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“We have $20 million worth of LOI’s with major companies in the space.” Whenever I see a phrase like that, I roll my eyes. Letters of Intent (LOI’s) are one of a series of what I call “meaningless metrics.” They’re supposed to show that a startup is doing well, but…
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Seed investors are souring on AI startups. Seed funding for AI and machine learning startups is down by over 50% year over year, according to a new report by Fortune: “I think investors are growing a little bit fatigued with the seed investments they made two to six months ago…
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+ AI, Artificial Intelligence, Finance, Investing, Money, Silicon Valley, Startups, Tech, Venture Capital+
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Why do I love down markets? What do venture capitalists and Hasidic diamond merchants have in common? I dug into that and more at a great Q&A session recently with interns at Starta VC in NYC. Here are some of my favorite moments: 10:13: How pro rata rights work. 12:16:…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Silicon Valley, Small Business, Startups, VC, Venture Capital+
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Jim* had an interesting product, but I was having trouble following his pitch. He skipped from idea to idea and feature to feature, leaving me confused. Jim: “SaaSy is a sales tool for teams. Here’s the messages screen. This is where you go to book a meeting. We’re planning on…
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In 2009, a small startup called Square was raising its Series A. Andreessen Horowitz saw the deal and passed. That mistake cost them $4.8 billion. The Pitch Square (now Block) had a big idea: make it easy for small merchants to take credit cards. It had an awesome product: a…
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Venture-backed startups have created virtually all of the net new jobs since 1977. Of the top 5 US companies by market cap, every single one raised venture capital. Venture capital has a huge impact on the US economy, but few people understand how it works. In The Secrets of Sand…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Reading, Silicon Valley, Startup, Startups, VC, Venture Capital+
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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn took a massive loss Friday as his company, Icahn Enterprises (IEP), slashed its dividend by half. From a new report in Forbes: Shares of Icahn Enterprises plunged 25% Friday morning after Carl Icahn’s firm cut its quarterly distribution in half, leading to a $1.7 billion drop…
Tremendous 