Aim high
There aren't many unicorns out there but you're still killing yourself if you don't aim for them.
There aren't many unicorns out there but you're still killing yourself if you don't aim for them.
When you invest early businesses have no intrinsic value. You are buying an option. You know that most of the time you won't hit the maximum outcome, but the higher the maximum outcome the higher the option value.
To put it less mathematically, most startups won't achieve their full potential because that is hard. But the higher the maximum potential, the better the outcome for everyone even if you only hit 10% of that.
You have to start with as high a potential outcome as possible so 10% of that is a great outcome.
If you aim low, you will achieve even lower.
First ever advent calendar
Personal post: Yesterday I arrived home from London to my first ever advent calendar.
Personal post:
Yesterday I arrived home from London to my first ever advent calendar.
It lives by my bed.
I'm catching up two days at a time.
Late update - 8 December 23
Yesterday I…
#YesterdayI
Ranted about investors who care about ownership percentage.
Was coached by Mica Vaipan of RunYourself.
Am waiting at the airport for my delayed flight.
#LaterI
Am going to a Chanukah dinner.
Percentage ownership targets are crazy
Percentage ownership is a crazy game which many investors play. It is the market orthodoxy.
Percentage ownership is a crazy game which many investors play. It is the market orthodoxy.
All that matters is if you are happy with the amount you are investing at the valuation you are investing at.
Otherwise, as the valuation goes up you are forced to invest more as the return profile gets worse.
It makes no sense.
Evening update - 7 December 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared yesterday's update.
Had a chopped liver sandwich at Tongue & Brisket.
Had coffee with James Campbell 甘吉 of YASO.
Shared attendee takeaways from my founder breakfast with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
Had a postponement.
Had coffee with Monika Holod of OMA (fka wangie.app).
Had coffee with Singe (StJohn) Deakins.
#LaterI
Have an investor and Sigma Squared Society fellows dinner. Thank you Haz Hubble for inviting me.
Key founder breakfast takeaways
Key takeaways from my founder breakfast with Matthew Codd yesterday, written by the attendees:
Key takeaways from my founder breakfast with Matthew Codd yesterday, written by the attendees:
Dhiren Gami - Keep messaging tight, keep messaging real 🤘🤓
Alison Berryman -
1️⃣ 𝗘𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿.
Aside from the obvious benefit - that you'll find out what they want, and can then better position yourself to match that need - this has the effect of levelling the playing field, by showing the other person that you are also looking for a good fit.
2️⃣ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
Try to distil this into 8 words or less. (Good luck!)
3️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝙮𝙤𝙪.
If the person you're talking to likes what you're selling, they will probably need to persuade someone else further up the chain to buy into the idea. Whether you're speaking to VCs, enterprise customers, or your line manager, it's worth remembering that you need to give them the tools and info they need to sell you to the next person up the chain.
Jake Fieldsend - the session highlighted the significance of founder-led sales in the early post-launch phase. Also, the importance of levelling up discussions with investors/VCs, and ensuring that we have concisely articulated the problem that we are solving for our customers in our deck (so even my mum could understand and relay it back!!)
Hervé Ky - 🚀 Refining your elevator pitch: In our case for KeyBento, switching from “We are building a home swapping platform” to “We are allowing millions of families to save thousand of €/£/$ a year”
🌟 Do unconventional things to appeal to VCs: share video or audio introduction and send a printed deck to their offices with hand notes
Ilona Melnychuk - all founders are salespeople, whether use the word ‘sales’ or not. Call it negotiation, emotional intelligence, marketing - whatever feels good. In the end, it all comes down to driving some change.
Late update - 6 December 23
Yesterday I…
#YesterdayI
Shared my top tip for fundraising was to put yourself inside the mind of your investors and make it as easy for them as you can.
Had my breakfast event on how to fundraise with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners. I will post about it later.
Had a post event coffee with Rayan Bannai of Squared. Sadly no selfie.
Spoke with Jonathan Blausten of Sprout about the venture capital industry.
Had coffee with Joanna Shan of Google DeepMind.
Had an online course.
Got a sneaky McDonalds.
Passed out.
Top tip for fundraising
Put yourself in the mind of your investors and make it as easy for them as you can.
Ahead of my founder breakfast this morning, here's my top tip for fundraising:
Put yourself in the mind of your investors and make it as easy for them as you can.
Founders, we're not asking for your sympathy (cue tiny violin) but empathy will help you. If you understand our problems and how we have to manage our time and our process, you will have a much better chance of selling to us. And this is a sales process.
Find out what this means in practice at the breakfast this morning. And you never know, it might inspire a few more posts.
Evening update - 5 December 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared about yesterday's event, "The Rise of the Female Entrepreneur", hosted by Shaa Wasmund MBE.
Had a very disappointing turkey sandwich lunch with Anthea Stephenson of willow. Just the sandwich was disappointing.
Worked on my founder breakfast on how to fundraise tomorrow morning with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
#LaterI
Am going to the Building Your Investor Brand event with Gabbi Cahane of Stride.VC and Samira Ann Qassim of Pink Salt Ventures and Patrick Ryan of Odin.
Final call - how to fundraise
Final call for my founder's "how to fundraise" breakfast event tomorrow with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
Final call for my founder's "how to fundraise" breakfast event tomorrow with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
Link here.
Do not expect waffles!
Late update - 4 December 23
YesterdayI…
#YesterdayI
Was incredibly fortunate to be on a panel at The Rise of The Female Entrepreneur yesterday at the London Stock Exchange - an incredible event.
Lovely to see Chantal Epp FRSA and Sky of ClicknClear and to meet Tash Grossman of Slip in person for the first time.
Trinny Woodall as the keynote was a great speaker about her entrepreneurial journey and the challenges she has faced.
The lovely people alongside me on the panel were Janet Coyle CBE, Vanessa Vallely OBE CCMI and Bill Morrow (Angels Den).
Thank you again Shaa Wasmund MBE for including me.
VC in 23 was all about AI
Here's my article for Business Brief magazine on the impact of AI on startups and venture capital investing.
Here's my article for Business Brief magazine on the impact of AI on startups and venture capital investing.
ChatGPT 4's summary isn't great:
"VC in 23 was all about AI," highlights the article, focusing on the major strides in AI, particularly with the launch of OpenAI's GPT-4. Venture capital investor Marc Cohen points to the rapid integration of AI into various tech products, a trend poised to escalate with upcoming advancements like GPT-5. The piece suggests a promising future for startups leveraging AI, with a nod to the revolutionizing potential of AI in development tools and market dynamics.
Link to the full article here.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Context window length hack
Niche ChatGPT 4 hack:
Niche ChatGPT 4 hack:
If your context window is too long, put the text in a pdf and it doesn't care how much text there is.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Pitch and newsletter links at unbundled dot com.
Evening update - 1 December 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared Danae Shell's nice words about me and that we underestimate the effects of luck.
Had a mentoring session with Ofentse Motaung CA(SA).
Had coffee with Robert Dorey of Astaara .
Had a postponement.
Shared the video of my fireside chat on fundraising hosted by Lucy Ann Kirby of Digital Greenhouse Guernsey.
Procrastinated.
#TomorrowI
Head to the UK to see my parents.
#MondayI
Am privileged to be on a panel at the London Stock Exchange for Shaa Wasmund MBE's The Rise of the Female Entrepreneur event.
Gaining Investment for your Venture: Fireside Chat
I did a fireside chat here at Digital Greenhouse Guernsey a couple of weeks ago, hosted by Lucy Ann Kirby, on how to gain investment.
I did a fireside chat here at Digital Greenhouse Guernsey a couple of weeks ago, hosted by Lucy Ann Kirby, on how to gain investment.
It hope it is helpful.
I should be so lucky
I had a great call with Danae Shell yesterday and love to help. If she'd got in touch a week earlier I'd have been too busy.
I had a great call with Danae Shell yesterday and love to help. If she'd got in touch a week earlier I'd have been too busy.
There is a lot of luck in this life and we don't always acknowledge it.
Evening update - 30 November 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared I am hosting a how-to-raise breakfast event next Wednesday with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
Took the kids to school.
Missed Mica Vaipan's RunYourself investee meetup 😢 .
Tried to minimise my meetings because I have lost my voice.
Chatted with Danae Shell of Valla.
Shared I will be a judge at the SeedLegals Startup Awards.
Had a call with Jonathan Canizales of Squared about my operations setup.
Caught up with Jamie Beaumont of Playter.
Spoke with my father.
Had a call with Dylan Cohen, Game Dev.
Failed to minimise my meetings to save my voice.
#LaterI
Am providing a taxi service for kids' movie nights and table tennis leagues.
Raise your round and manage your process
Founders, Matthew and I are running a breakfast event next Wednesday on how to fundraise. We'd love to see you there.
Founders, Matthew and I are running a breakfast event next Wednesday on how to fundraise. We'd love to see you there.
We will take as many questions as there is time for.
There will be coffee and pastries.
Please sign up at the event link so we know how many to expect and we will see you next Wednesday!
Evening update - 29 November 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared yesterday's update complete with poorly tied bow tie.
Took the kids to school.
Postponed a meeting.
Finalised plans for a breakfast event in London next week with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners. More info tomorrow.
Shared my podcast on Jack Richardson's ProRata was live. Link in the comments.
Introduced an investor to a founder.
Co-hosted a mock Oxbridge interview.
Went to the dental hygienist.
Collected the kids from school.
Attended an online course.
#NowI
Have to collect my son from table tennis.
Podcast with Jack Richardson’s ProRata
Hot off the press - just released - Jack Richardson was kind enough to have me on his ProRata podcast!
Hot off the press - just released - Jack Richardson was kind enough to have me on his ProRata podcast!
We discuss:
💻 The switch from algorithmic trading to VC
🚀 Founder or market in early-stage investing
👉 Investing alongside Sam Altman of OpenAI in Magrathea
🏃 Runna, (congrats on the recent round)!
🙅♂️ Is it best to be ownership-sensitive or sensible?
💰 Why a fund is the natural next step, LP strategy, portfolio construction and points of differentiation
Listen here 🔌
