Tag: Finance
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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…
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From AI chatbots to venture funding to rockets, the US isn’t just ahead of competitors. Increasingly, it has no competition at all. I met with a great entrepreneur from Japan this week who recently moved to New York. I told him how much I loved Japan when I visited. His…
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+ Aerpspace, Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Space, Startups, Tech, United States, US, Venture Capital+
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We are in the worst venture market in ten years, according to a new report from AngelList and Brex. Despite a strong NASDAQ, it’s harder to raise a round, get a markup, or reach an exit than at any point since 2013. From the report: Dating back to 2013, 2Q23…
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I read the deal memo and ran the numbers. Everything looked great. But was this company really legit? There was only one way to find out. The Mystery Shopper Method This afternoon, I dug into a promising telehealth startup. I liked it from the investor perspective — now I wanted…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Health, Investing, Medicine, Money, Silicon Valley, Small Business, Startups, Tech, Venture Capital+
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Tremendous 