Let it fly
Sometimes you have to throw an idea out into the wild to see if it will fly.
And be comfortable that it may not.
“This is how it’s always been done.”
I hate, "This is how it's always been done." It's a blocker on innovation. You have to know why.
It's as true in VC as anywhere.
Pitch decks, ownership targets, process, valuation, and more.
If you can't look at everything through fresh eyes, it's hard to outperform. In any business.
Knowing too much
"It's weird to say this, but one great advantage I had in starting a business was knowing that I didn't know much about building a business.
It forced me to watch, listen, and learn. I knew I would make many mistakes, but it was better than thinking I knew and being wrong"
Sometimes it is easier to come at a problem without knowing to much. It forces you not to assume.
Thank you Jimi Sotimehin for your wisdom.
The best founders: part 183
The best founders try and get as close to their customer needs as possible.
It's hard to build the right thing or to know what message will resonate with them without that.
VC10X podcast
It's podcast time, with Prashant Choubey of VC10X. Highlights include:
- My journey from Maths nerd to VC
- Building the world's best Poker AI
- Why I backed companies like Runna
- How AI helps me compete with bigger firms
Catch it on YouTube and Spotify in the comments.
All VCs suck: Part II
All VCs suck: Part II.
Fred Destin just wrote about being shocked at founders' views of VCs on boards - that they subtract value not add - and need education to perform better. (link in comments)
The truth is this is a sympton of a much broader problem. Most VCs don't know how to be true partners to founders rather than investors. They think about what matters to them and not what the founder needs. (if you're reading, I'm sure you are the exception)
Solve that and the board problem naturally goes away.
No unique insight?
No unique insight? No venture backable business.
What's yours? You've spotted a problem nobody else has - or a way to solve it nobody else has though of.
Expert or generalist, you need that unique insight. Then you need to convince others - investors, customers, potential team members - that it's real. Then you need to execute.
But if you don't have that unique insight - if it's obvious to everyone - you don't have a venture backable business.
Random untargeted outreach
Random untargeted outreach: I'd love to see how xxx can help unbundled vc with *substitute any service I don't need*. If you're not the right person for this, could you point me to whoever is.
Me: nobody here is the right person for this.
Harsh?
Founders and team members and ethics
Founders, if one of your team reached out to me for advice on what investors are looking for because they want to start something themselves, would you want to know?
They say it's not imminent but have done some research.
Obviously asking for a friend 🤐
Solving a real problem
I always like a pitch that convinces me it's solving a real problem that people will pay money for that can generate a venture scale, and ideally much bigger, outcome.
If that's there as early as possible, I'm paying attention. I can't speak for others but I'm laser focused on that.
If it's later and/or not presented as directly, people may never get it or get to it.
Extracurricular for university
My son just asked me, "What extracurricular stuff do I need, over and above results, to get into a good university?"
He's 14 and just started his first year of GCSEs. It shocked me that he's already thinking of this. I love that he's planning ahead.
How would you answer?
Hinton Nobel congrats
A bit late, but congratulations to Geoffrey Hinton on his Nobel. My AI Masters course was run by one of his mentors, Inman Harvey.
We never knew until Hinton tweeted about this when he got the Turing Prize.
I can't find any images of them together so this will have to do.
Link to Turing Prize tweet in the comments for those who are interested.
Obligatory
Obligatory chopped liver and pickle sandwich at Tongue & Brisket.
Who's up for a Tongue & Brisket meetup next time I'm in town.
Focal team minus Issie
With Joel Hambly, Taos Edmondson, CFA & Hector Mason, most of the Focal team, at the Focal W24 Afterparty.
Sorry I missed you for this one, Issie James. If you don't know, Issie actually runs Focal.
It was a pleasure to earlier host one of the Focal Founder Sessions, with Dario Di Carlo of Bricks AI. Expect great things from him and them.
Pre-fountain colour coordinated coffee
Colour coordinated coffee (and cheesecake) at Arto Coffee at The Dubai Mall with Burj Al Khalifa in the background.
Next stop: the fountain display.
Robert Farquar of Ctrl Alt
Coffee in Dubai with Robert Farquhar who explained the amazing progress Ctrl Alt is making here.
Great things lie ahead.
Thank you for your time today, Robert.
Tony Stark energy
Tony Stark energy this morning with Kyle Lightbody who is building something impressive in the property space.
The Channel Islands connection comes good in Dubai.
