24. A Note on Location
⢠Silicon Valley, New York
25. A Note on Location
⢠Silicon Valley, New York
⢠Seattle, Austin, LA, Boston, Chicago, London
26. A Note on Location
⢠Silicon Valley, New York
⢠Seattle, Austin, LA, Boston, Chicago, London
⢠Estonia, Chile, India, Croatia, Poland
27. A Note on Location
⢠Silicon Valley, New York
⢠Seattle, Austin, LA, Boston, Chicago, London
⢠Estonia, Chile, India, Croatia, Poland
⢠Capital is mobile, but capitalists are lazy
28. A Note on Location
⢠Silicon Valley, New York
⢠Seattle, Austin, LA, Boston, Chicago, London
⢠Estonia, Chile, India, Croatia, Poland
⢠Capital is mobile, but capitalists are lazy
⢠Funding markets develop backwards
30. Markets and
Approaches
⢠Services, multiple products
31. Markets and
Approaches
⢠Services, multiple products
⢠Small Markets (obviously)
32. Markets and
Approaches
⢠Services, multiple products
⢠Small Markets (obviously)
⢠Desktop software / Dead Platforms
33. Markets and
Approaches
⢠Services, multiple products
⢠Small Markets (obviously)
⢠Desktop software / Dead Platforms
⢠Conquered Markets with Network Effects
34. Markets and
Approaches
⢠Services, multiple products
⢠Small Markets (obviously)
⢠Desktop software / Dead Platforms
⢠Conquered Markets with Network Effects
⢠High atom content
35. Markets and
Approaches
⢠Services, multiple products
⢠Small Markets (obviously)
⢠Desktop software / Dead Platforms
⢠Conquered Markets with Network Effects
⢠High atom content
⢠Not too large, not too small
37. Team?
⢠âFunctional visionary and project managerâ
38. Team?
⢠âFunctional visionary and project managerâ
⢠âI have no ego. Currently my role is visionary / strategistâ
39. Team?
⢠âFunctional visionary and project managerâ
⢠âI have no ego. Currently my role is visionary / strategistâ
⢠Outsourced development, business-heavy
40. Team?
⢠âFunctional visionary and project managerâ
⢠âI have no ego. Currently my role is visionary / strategistâ
⢠Outsourced development, business-heavy
⢠Sole founder
41. Team?
⢠âFunctional visionary and project managerâ
⢠âI have no ego. Currently my role is visionary / strategistâ
⢠Outsourced development, business-heavy
⢠Sole founder
⢠Part-timers
42. Team?
⢠âFunctional visionary and project managerâ
⢠âI have no ego. Currently my role is visionary / strategistâ
⢠Outsourced development, business-heavy
⢠Sole founder
⢠Part-timers
⢠âHigh Tech Sales Exec who loves his family and loves to runâ
43. Team?
⢠âFunctional visionary and project managerâ
⢠âI have no ego. Currently my role is visionary / strategistâ
⢠Outsourced development, business-heavy
⢠Sole founder
⢠Part-timers
⢠âHigh Tech Sales Exec who loves his family and loves to runâ
⢠12 years experience in...
51. Team Guidelines
⢠No adjectives / opinions of yourself
⢠Show, not tell
⢠Quantitative and precise, not qualitative and
vague
52. Team Guidelines
⢠No adjectives / opinions of yourself
⢠Show, not tell
⢠Quantitative and precise, not qualitative and
vague
⢠Branded or measurable output
53. Team Guidelines
⢠No adjectives / opinions of yourself
⢠Show, not tell
⢠Quantitative and precise, not qualitative and
vague
⢠Branded or measurable output
⢠Recruit only the best. And if you canât,
youâre not ready
55. Product?
⢠âWe will disclose more under NDAâ
56. Product?
⢠âWe will disclose more under NDAâ
⢠âI am raising money to build the productâ
57. Product?
⢠âWe will disclose more under NDAâ
⢠âI am raising money to build the productâ
⢠âLaunching next monthâ
58. Product?
⢠âWe will disclose more under NDAâ
⢠âI am raising money to build the productâ
⢠âLaunching next monthâ
⢠âSign up for the beta here...â
59. Product?
⢠âWe will disclose more under NDAâ
⢠âI am raising money to build the productâ
⢠âLaunching next monthâ
⢠âSign up for the beta here...â
⢠âBuilding second version nowâ
65. Product Guidelines
⢠No promises / vision
⢠Show, not tell
⢠Quantitative and precise, not qualitative and
vague
66. Product Guidelines
⢠No promises / vision
⢠Show, not tell
⢠Quantitative and precise, not qualitative and
vague
⢠Something hard with speciďŹc knowledge
67. Product Guidelines
⢠No promises / vision
⢠Show, not tell
⢠Quantitative and precise, not qualitative and
vague
⢠Something hard with speciďŹc knowledge
⢠Expect competition
68. Product Guidelines
⢠No promises / vision
⢠Show, not tell
⢠Quantitative and precise, not qualitative and
vague
⢠Something hard with speciďŹc knowledge
⢠Expect competition
⢠Build only the best. And if you canât, youâre
not ready
71. Traction
⢠Markets are efďŹcient - individuals cannot
predict traction
⢠Amount varies by product
72. Traction
⢠Markets are efďŹcient - individuals cannot
predict traction
⢠Amount varies by product
⢠Incremental not cumulative
73. Traction
⢠Markets are efďŹcient - individuals cannot
predict traction
⢠Amount varies by product
⢠Incremental not cumulative
⢠Know your microeconomics
74. Traction
⢠Markets are efďŹcient - individuals cannot
predict traction
⢠Amount varies by product
⢠Incremental not cumulative
⢠Know your microeconomics
⢠If you canât generate traction, do you really
want to raise money?
75. Traction
⢠Markets are efďŹcient - individuals cannot
predict traction
⢠Amount varies by product
⢠Incremental not cumulative
⢠Know your microeconomics
⢠If you canât generate traction, do you really
want to raise money?
⢠How much is enough? 10% per month?
20%?
78. Social Proof
⢠âGet referred to us by someone we knowâ
⢠Entrepreneurs and committed investors
best
79. Social Proof
⢠âGet referred to us by someone we knowâ
⢠Entrepreneurs and committed investors
best
⢠Herd mentality is rational
80. Social Proof
⢠âGet referred to us by someone we knowâ
⢠Entrepreneurs and committed investors
best
⢠Herd mentality is rational
⢠Why? What did they like that you canât
show in the other metrics?
83. Real Hacks
⢠Advisory Round (Notable Founder,
Operator)
⢠Cast a Broad Net, move simultaneously
84. Real Hacks
⢠Advisory Round (Notable Founder,
Operator)
⢠Cast a Broad Net, move simultaneously
⢠Easier to pitch a new investor than to
convert one
85. Real Hacks
⢠Advisory Round (Notable Founder,
Operator)
⢠Cast a Broad Net, move simultaneously
⢠Easier to pitch a new investor than to
convert one
⢠Equity, not notes
86. Real Hacks
⢠Advisory Round (Notable Founder,
Operator)
⢠Cast a Broad Net, move simultaneously
⢠Easier to pitch a new investor than to
convert one
⢠Equity, not notes
⢠Sell an option
87. Real Hacks
⢠Advisory Round (Notable Founder,
Operator)
⢠Cast a Broad Net, move simultaneously
⢠Easier to pitch a new investor than to
convert one
⢠Equity, not notes
⢠Sell an option
⢠But if youâre having a hard time, re-start,
not push
91. In Summary
⢠Get to a funding hub
⢠Recruit an exceptional team.
⢠Build something that you are passionate
and knowledgeable about
92. In Summary
⢠Get to a funding hub
⢠Recruit an exceptional team.
⢠Build something that you are passionate
and knowledgeable about
⢠Test it against customers
93. In Summary
⢠Get to a funding hub
⢠Recruit an exceptional team.
⢠Build something that you are passionate
and knowledgeable about
⢠Test it against customers
⢠Get social and customer validation
94. In Summary
⢠Get to a funding hub
⢠Recruit an exceptional team.
⢠Build something that you are passionate
and knowledgeable about
⢠Test it against customers
⢠Get social and customer validation
⢠Raise on at least one exceptional
characteristic
95. In Summary
⢠Get to a funding hub
⢠Recruit an exceptional team.
⢠Build something that you are passionate
and knowledgeable about
⢠Test it against customers
⢠Get social and customer validation
⢠Raise on at least one exceptional
characteristic
⢠PS - Assume ďŹerce competition
Editor's Notes
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Bifurcated fundings - can’t raise money until you’re suddenly oversubscribed.\nIt’s an emotional decision, so you often get funded on the basis of your single best attribute\nNot like college where they weigh everything equally.\nLooking for that one thing that makes you the best in the world\n
It’s like the number of times a song gets played. No average outcome - statistically meaningless. Because of network effects, leverage. Winner take all. Graph is of book popularity, only of top 5K books!\n