Tag: VC
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“Cynicism is the coward’s way out.” Jason Calacanis Last week, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be awesome to be on This Week in Startups some day? Maybe many years from now.” A couple days later, it happened! Jamming with JCal Host and angel investor Jason Calacanis was doing a Q&A session…
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DoorDash is one of the most successful startups of the last decade, with a market cap of $56 billion. This morning, I watched their YC Demo Day pitch from 2013. Founder Tony Xu shows us a huge problem and gives us strong evidence that he’s solving it. Let’s dig into…
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More than anything else, I need to know these 2 things about your startup. What do you do, and what’s your traction? This morning, I was looking through a ton of decks I just got from Mercury Raise. This is an awesome program that connects founders and investors. Some of…
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+ Angel Investor, Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Silicon Valley, Startups, Stock Market, VC+
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I found myself in the kitchen last night, cracking an egg into a frying pan. This wasn’t a normal dinner — this was research. Decks and deal memos are great. But to really understand what a startup does, you have to use the product. So when I had the chance…
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“I have to be a little bit skeptical, or I’d invest in everything. But it’s also my job to ask myself ‘What if it works?’.” If you invest in startups, you have to hit a delicate balance. You can’t give everyone a check . And yet, you have to believe…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Silicon Valley, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital, Work-Life Balance+
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I look at around 2,000 startups a year. Certain ideas pop up over and over — and keep failing. Today, I thought I’d break down a few common startup ideas I see, and why they tend to go wrong. 1) Geolocation – “An app to find your friends and hang…
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+ Angel Investing, Apps, Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
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Series A may be the hardest round to raise. But new data shows that cutting burn can give you a huge advantage. Startup advisory firm Kruze Consulting released an extensive report yesterday based on data from about 100 seed stage startups. All tried to raise a Series A in 2023.…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Series A, Silicon Valley, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
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VC’s have over $300 billion of money they haven’t invested, also known as “dry powder.” But you may never get it. What Is Dry Powder? Let’s say I’m running investments for Francis University. I decide to invest in ABC Ventures. I promise to invest $100,000,000 — so that means I…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Founders, Investing, LP, Silicon Valley, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
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What does it take to raise money right now? Here’s what I’m seeing in the market for pre-seed, seed, and Series A: Pre-Seed: $100k ARR or less Pre-seed deals usually have a trickle of revenue, but not much more. I did a pre-seed deal recently at $75k ARR — on…
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“I love this team and your product is amazing! I just couldn’t get my partners there. We’ll be cheering from the sidelines!” How many times have you heard that? Well, you won’t hear it from me. “They Never Give a Reason” I recently spoke with Mike*, the founder of a…
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Tremendous 