Tag: Startups
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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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While I was doing some Googling last week, a little box popped up. “Use generative AI?” I was skeptical…could it really compare to GPT-4? But I had to give it a shot! For the last few days, I’ve been running one query after another through the new Google Search Generative…
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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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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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Imagine the perfect teacher. She’s an expert on every subject, but can explain it like your five. She’s patient, answering as many questions as you want. And forget $50,000 a year tuition. What would you say to…$0? Well, we’re here! ChatGPT just might be the best teacher in the world.…
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“What if you could make a drone botnet? You just give it a task and it operates autonomously and does it.” “That would be so cool!” Last month, I was having lunch with an awesome founder I invested in. His company had recently been acquired, and we were kicking around…