Peter Farago

This is a great read by Sachin Rekhi that outlines the deliberate startup methodology. If you want to learn more - join me while I facilitate his Finding PMF course where we cover the methodology in depth, including case studies. Link to the course in the comments.

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🌟Innovative VC Firm Overcomes Exits Drought with Secondary Sales🌟 ⛵Navigating a challenging landscape where exits are scarce, Santa Barbara Venture Partners (SBVP) has pioneered a novel approach to sustain its growth and attract investors for its second fund: secondary sales. Instead of waiting for traditional exits like IPOs or acquisitions, SBVP opted to sell shares of its portfolio companies, demonstrating its ability to generate returns for investors and stand out in a competitive market. 🎤According to Dan Engel, founder and managing partner of SBVP, these secondary transactions have been a game-changer, sparking investor interest and bolstering the firm's credibility. By leveraging its recent successes, including a lucrative stake in sports-betting company DraftKings Inc.' acquisition of digital lottery app Jackpocket, SBVP seized the opportunity to return profits to its limited partners (LPs) and pave the way for its second fund. 💡Engel highlighted the challenges faced by young VC firms in raising subsequent funds, particularly amid a downturn in exit activity and heightened investor scrutiny. With traditional exit routes becoming increasingly elusive, the pressure is on for firms to demonstrate tangible returns and establish a track record of success. ✨"For us, secondary sales have been a game-changer. They've helped us return profits to our LPs and attract investors for our second fund," said Dan Engel. 💰For SBVP, the decision to pursue secondary sales was driven by the need to provide liquidity to LPs and validate its investment thesis in the eyes of prospective investors. By strategically offloading portions of its holdings in high-performing portfolio companies like Bark Technologies and Rad AI, SBVP not only generated substantial returns but also bolstered investor confidence in its ability to deliver results. ⚠Despite the complexities and potential stigma associated with early share sales, Engel emphasized the importance of prioritizing investor returns and seizing opportunities to unlock value for stakeholders. With a focus on profitability and transparency, SBVP remains committed to its mission of delivering sustainable growth and maximizing returns for its LPs. 🔍 "Returning profits to our investors is our top priority. By strategically selling shares, we're proving our commitment to delivering results and driving value for our stakeholders," added Engel. As SBVP continues to explore secondary transactions and expand its investor base, the firm stands as a testament to innovation and resilience in the face of market challenges. 🚀 ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #fund and increase the international pool of your LP #investors?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VCInnovation #SecondarySalesSuccess #InvestorReturns #ValueCreation 

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Ever wondered where the perfect balance between tranquility and innovation lies? For me, it’s Seattle. Unlike the Bay, Seattle has a more serene environment that’s perfect for focusing on building products and businesses. The city’s vibe encourages deep work and creative thinking, free from the overwhelming hustle. But let’s be honest, Seattle’s founder and investor communities aren’t as vibrant as those in SF. Yet, this city holds a special place in my heart – a blend of my love for startups and the charm of Seattle. I believe in Seattle’s potential and I’m on a mission to help ignite its startup community. From connecting with fellow founders to engaging investors, let’s come together to build something extraordinary here. Seattle has all the ingredients to be a startup hub – talent, innovation, and a supportive ecosystem. What it needs is a spark. Let’s be that spark.

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3 years of pricing lessons at Equals condensed into one blog post. Since starting the company, we've tinkered a lot with pricing and packaging. It's one of the single most impactful levers early stage companies can pull. I think folks *don't* experiment with pricing enough, or take big enough bets when they do. We've tried free. We've tried completely sales led. We've tried not listing pricing on the site. Matt Hodges details all the plans we've had, why, and what we've learned in our latest installment on Wrap Text. https://lnkd.in/ecckEDba

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Yelp has launched a new AI-powered assistant on their iOS app, revolutionizing the way users connect with local businesses. Located under the "Projects" tab, the Yelp Assistant allows users to easily find professional services by simply chatting with the AI, which smartly matches them to relevant professionals based on their needs. Yelp is empowering developers with the new Yelp Fusion AI API, enabling the integration of this conversational AI into third-party platforms for tailored business recommendations. On the restaurant front, Yelp has also revamped its Guest Manager tool, enhancing the dining experience for customers and streamlining operations for restaurant staff. Yelp continues to innovate, providing efficient solutions for discovering and connecting with local businesses. Read more from Techcrunch here => https://neoswap.cc/28e2a5 #YelpUpdate #AI #TechNews #LocalBusiness #Innovation

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I am honored to host Nolan Bushnell for a fireside chat at TechCon SoCal 2024 in San Diego on May 24th. We'll discuss how his innovations at Atari laid the groundwork for today's tech landscape and what lessons we can draw for the future. 🌟 Why Nolan Bushnell is a Must-Hear for Every Tech Enthusiast🌟 🕹️ Pioneering the Video Game Industry: Bushnell's creation of Atari and the iconic game Pong marked the beginning of the video game era, democratizing technology through entertainment. By democratizing technology through entertainment, Bushnell made electronics and computing accessible, inspiring a generation and catalyzing the tech ecosystem. 👔 Redefining Startup Culture: Bushnell invented a new breed of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs: visionary, bold, and nonconformist. His management style and the work environment he fostered at Atari—including laid-back elements like beer and ping pong—helped set a template for Silicon Valley's informal and innovative corporate culture, influencing giants like Google and Facebook. 🌱 Innovating Venture Capital: Bushnell became a crucial pivot in VC history by becoming the first example of how new business models over technology advancement become VC "fundable". Sequoia Capital's first seed investment concept in Atari demonstrated the profitability of supporting early-stage consumer tech businesses. It broadened VC horizons to include software and entertainment, impacting how venture capital operates today. 🚀 Driving Silicon Valley's Evolution: The Foundation of Silicon Valley was Arthur Rock funding Fairchild Semiconductor & Intel, establishing the semiconductor industry, and putting the silicon in Silicon Valley. The expansion phase was Don Valentine's investment in Atari, expanding the focus from hardware to software and entertainment, creating the video game industry, and expanding Silicon Valley's tech ecosystem. Bushnell's role enabled the Transformation Phase of Silicon with the 1980 IPOs of Apple and Genentech, showcasing SV's innovation breadth across multiple sectors. 🔗 Enabling Icons: Bushnell provided Steve Jobs, who did not have a college degree, with his first job inspiration for the idea of bringing computers to home users, invaluable introductions and opportunities, and influenced the birth of Apple. 🎮 Inspiring Future Innovators: By integrating fun into computer use, Bushnell likely accelerated technological innovation by making computing appealing to those who might not have otherwise engaged with it. His work at Atari made the daunting world of computers relatable and exciting, inspiring many future founders and technologists. Nolan's influence is evident in the increased computer literacy and the surge in tech-driven career interests among the youth of his time. Connect with over 80 early-stage investors and hundreds of founders from San Diego, the Bay Area, Austin, Denver, and New York. Explore more about the event at https://lnkd.in/gTYMN65n

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Learn how to fine-tune your product to meet market demands with strategic customer conversations and data-driven feedback mechanisms 👇 ➡ 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗲: Brian Long, CEO & Co-Founder at Attentive 🔌 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿: Nick Moran, General Partner at New Stack Ventures and Nate Pierotti, Principal at New Stack Ventures ✏ “The Playbook to Finding Product-Market Fit, When Founders Should Begin to Scale, and Lessons from Building Attentive” ⭐ 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀: 💬 "I think that what we got right were two things. One, I think that we talked to a tremendous amount of customers, before we started building things. So we learned to hear their problems, hear their issues, and then start building and assaulting those, you know, rather than kind of just jumping right into build-build-build, so that saved us a lot of time." ⭐ 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀: 💬 "I think you're also looking at things like NPS, you know… because if that number starts dropping, it's often because you're no longer solving the problem." ⭐ 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: 💬 "I think that we've taken an even longer term focus. We know what can be big. And we know it's dangerous to start getting an ego to think you can do things because it's always very hard. You've always got to think towards taking a longer term view, having a thesis around that view, and then understand how the pieces can come together for success." ───── 👉 Follow me, Alexander Small, for tactics and strategies for building startups from industry-leading Founders, Operators and Investors

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Starting a new fun project with Victor Lee - an AMA series with early stage founders. There are many podcast shows featuring successful, famous entrepreneurs. But what about those who are still relatively early in their journey, perhaps just one step ahead? The zero-to-one founders who have recently cracked the product-market fit and raised Seed or Series A capital. They may not have figured out everything yet, but they have fresh, relatable tips and advice to share. We’ll invite early-stage founders for a one-hour AMA session. Afterwards, we’ll create a public webpage featuring each Q&A session with media clips and transcriptions. This will be 100% free and open to the public. Our first AMA (June 11 1pm PST) will feature Will Drewery, whose company (Diagon) recently raised $5.1 million in Seed funding. We’ll get to know Will better and cover topics such as tips on raising funding in this tough environment. It will be a fun AMA, and you can register for free using the link below. RSVP now!

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🚨 Bookkeeping is HARD - a Lesson from Synapse's Collapse 🚨 I was recently quoted in Mary Ann Azevedo's TechCrunch article on the bankruptcy of Synapse, a banking-as-a-service startup. As someone who works at a CPA firm that does bookkeeping for clients, the Synapse situation really resonated with me. Synapse had essentially one job - to sit between fintech startups and banks, and keep track of where each end-customer's funds went. Sounds simple, right? WRONG. Bookkeeping, especially in the highly-regulated world of finance, is incredibly complex. When Silicon Valley tries to "move fast and break things" in fintech without truly understanding the accounting complexities, people can actually get hurt. Supposedly, Synapse's collapse has impacted up to 10 MILLION consumers who now can't access their money. 😱 That's a lot of ordinary people who are going to have problems paying their rent or getting groceries. I'm seeing a similar wave of unkept promises hitting the small business accounting space. Startups saying that they can "automate" complex accounting tasks, but not really understanding what they actually need to do. And not taking into account how their mistakes will impact their small business customers. The last time this happened there were a lot of business owners who ended up losing a lot of their hard-earned cash when their supposed expert accountants messed up or dropped the ball. 😞 I'm sure that will happen again, and it bums me out. I'm all for moving fast and breaking things, but not if it hurts other people. https://lnkd.in/g6p_5viM?

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HELP YOUR INVESTORS HELP YOU B2B Startup founders: don’t rely on your investors for intros to early design partners. You must get those yourself. However, once you prove real value (eg grow revenues, reduce costs, increase operational efficiency) with a small number of paying customers, your best investors will be able to help make scaled intros to prospects. Your investors are excited to ping potential customers on your behalf once they feel like they are doing a favor to the company by introducing them to your product. So - give them the ammunition and data to do so. The more quantitative the metrics, the better.

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If anyone is in North County San Diego, on Thursday May 2nd, we will be hosting a tech entrepreneur and investor meet up at 5:30pm. We’ll have a couple speakers, one of which is a fin-tech start-up raising a round, followed up by a presentation on the state of the stock & crypto market. We host these events quarterly and usually get a lot of founders and investors to attend. If anyone is interested, please message me and I can send you the details. LaunchPad San Diego #startups #startupincubator #entrepreneur #investing #crypto #meetup

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In a previous post, I mentioned that #VentureStudios enable their #founders to focus on testing their hypothesis and building and iterating on their product. But how do they do it? Through their #Platform, a game-changing function for ventures that includes: 🖨 Back-Office consists of HR for building talent pipelines, taking care of payroll, and administering benefits; IT to support critical tech infrastructure, including cybersecurity and collaboration tools; Legal helps form entities, navigate complex regulations and compliance issues, and optimize tax position for founders and investors; and Accounting maintains accurate reporting and empowers the ventures with insights into their financial status 💻 Shared Vendors. Bundling services provides ventures access to bulk pricing and cost-effective options for things like computers, cloud storage, and even outsourced professional services (like Legal or Accounting) 🏢 Facilities. Co-working spaces enable convenient collaboration and grant easy access to essential Studio resources, both of which help to foster an exciting culture of innovation 🚀 By providing these services across a portfolio of ventures (and to the Studio itself!), allows the costs to be amortized and avails top-notch support and favorable pricing to startups who would not otherwise have access to so much support so early in their journey.

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Two weeks ago I spent 3 days with brilliant human beings discussing the state of AI investment with other angel syndicate leads, angel investors and VCs at Hustle Fund's #camphustle in Los Gatos. It was brilliant. Truly awesome to learn so much from insanely accomplished investors. But was so clear to me again is that the US and the UK are two countries divided by separate languages of ambition. Aspiration and ambition underlined by the cluster effect of successful exits, incredible talent and venture capital driven by operators and founders rather than accountants. But one reason why the US often trumps (pun not intended) the UK is they learn from failure. Run a startup that didn't reach the dizzying heights of venture-scale returns? Learn, reset and go again. What they certainly do not do is look at failure with glee and an "I told you so" attitude. Which is what I sense when I read most of the narrative around the failure of Cazoo. Alex Chesterman swung and missed. The business was flawed, unit economics didn't add up and in reality - there was very little innovation outside the vertical alignment of a well-understood business. But when we look down upon what he tried to do and 💩 💩 it all we're doing is making it harder for someone else to be equally as ambitious. Focus on what went wrong. Focus on the fundamental underlying business models that drive efficient use of capital and the push for profitability. But let's celebrate people shooting their shot and not celebrate the failures.

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Are you using AI audiences to see your RoAS pop on your paid media channels? Nowadays, it's getting much more difficult to see RoAS that truly has a good ROI for paid spend campaigns. Platforms are moving in the direction where costs have to go up every quarter, slowly chipping away at any profits left over for brands. With that, we've been working on an AI audience tool to help restore some power back to brands! 🎯 Why Targeting is the Heartbeat of Digital Marketing - Deep Audience Insights: To truly connect with your audience, you need more than just demographics. You need a deep understanding of their behaviors, needs, and decision-making processes (and ideally purchase intent). - Efficient Resource Use: By focusing on segments most likely to convert, you minimize waste and ensure that every dollar spent is going towards reaching potential customers who are genuinely interested. - Enhanced Customer Journeys: Targeted advertising helps craft personalized customer journeys. Delivering relevant messages at the right times enhances user experience, leading to higher satisfaction and brand loyalty. 🤖 Introducing JUICE AI Audiences (beta!): Transforming Good Campaigns into Great Ones - Predictive Targeting: JUICE's AI Audience machine learning algorithms analyze historical data to predict user behavior, targeting users who are at the right stage of their journey to engage or convert. - Granular Audience Segmentation: JUICE AI Audiences identifies micro-segments of your audience based on subtle patterns and similarities, making your campaigns precise and impactful. 🚀 Success Story: How a CPG Brand Boosted Its RoAS by 75.9% with JUICE AI Let’s dive into a real-life example. A well-known CPG brand was struggling to match its competitors in the digital space. Despite a robust marketing budget, their campaigns were not delivering the expected results, and their RoAS was stagnating. The brand turned to JUICE AI for a solution, and the results were nothing short of remarkable. The tool analyzed the brand’s existing customer data to identify high-value customer segments. By focusing on these segments, the brand could tailor its messaging to resonate deeply with each group. Within weeks of implementing JUICE AI audiences, the brand saw a dramatic increase in its digital marketing performance: - A 75.9% increase in RoAS, turning underperforming ads into significant revenue generators. - Enhanced customer insights, leading to even more refined and effective future campaigns. 💡 Takeaway: - This success story is a testament to the transformative power of JUICE AI Audiences. By leveraging sophisticated AI-driven targeting and dynamic adaptation, the brand not only improved its RoAS but also set a new standard in terms of results that are possible. 👉 Are you ready to see similar results? Comment below or send me a message to discover how JUICE AI Audiences can help significantly improve your RoAS!

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"Finding community is so much harder than founding a company 🚀" That's what a friend said the other day, who just moved to SF. I wished I could have pointed him to something like a magic list of all the SF-based communities directed at new founders. Before moving to SF myself to build my current startup, I wanted such list as well. In fact, I spent a good amount of days googling and googling "top hackerhouses in SF" and "founders community SF", only to find few results, things I already knew and outdated blogposts. Thankfully, On Deck's SEO was solid, so I applied and got accepted and that was my lucky baptism in SF's founder communities. Some folks like Garry Tan, say that SF's uniqueness is not its taxes, but its people. It's the builders, the hustlers, the AI startuppers, even -maybe- the VCs. That's definitely true, as long as you're able to find them! If you can't find them in the first place, there's no point in paying the SF rent, nor a reason to move there. You may as well live in Treasure Island! (fun fact, I do) So, for those like my friend, like myself, and for you, here's *our* imperfect list. Shoutout to the tons of friends who invited me to, hosted me at and co-infiltrated different communities and events over these past few months. Did I miss any other communities/accelerators/hackerhouses? Definitely comment below or DM me and I'll edit ASAP. On Deck Julian Weisser Noémie Federico South Park CommonsZ Fellows Inception Studio Entrepreneur First Founders, Inc. A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN Y Combinator Techstars Unshackled Ventures Sequoia Capital Pear VC Alchemist Accelerator 500 Global Race Capital HF0 AGI House Rocky Yu SHACK15 Ventures SHACK15 Studio 45 Nate Padgett The Battery The Commons The Long Now Foundation Commonwealth Club World Affairs

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Another awesome investor dinner, this time with 2x exited founder Sahin Boydas of Claros Farm. Claros has pioneered "generative nature," a revolutionary soilless farming method with 10x less water usage. Using affordable hardware, advanced AI, proprietary liquids, and bacteria, Claros enhances their products' nutritional content. For example, their strawberries contain 190% of daily recommended Vitamin C and can be grown much more cost-effectively compared to vertical & traditional farms. Website: https://www.clarosfarm.com It was great to hear the Q&A from CPG and tech investors alike. A tech leader from Silicon Valley, Sahin presented a bold vision for tech-enabled scalability while remaining humble to the advice of experienced CPG operators and investors. Claros' round is already 50%+ closed. Reach out for an intro if interested. -- At Supernova Dinners, we hyper-curate your exact investor persona for a private event with you. Investors arrive having already reviewed your deck and already been vetted as accredited, actively deploying, and matching your target industry and growth stage. We'll coach you on a 15min pitch, 45min Q&A, and then treat everyone to a buffet-style private chef dinner in a gorgeous luxury home. By lowering the barrier to entry, we're building a nationwide network of HNW private investors who invest directly into companies and funds as LPs. Website: https://lnkd.in/gukzKfD9 #investors #supernova #astronomic #austintx

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Want a front-row seat to the frontier of tech? We’ve got the role (or two) for you! We’re expanding our frontier-tech team at Blackbird by hiring a Frontier Tech Investments Associate and Foundry Fellows! Got questions? We've got answers... 1️⃣ What are the roles? 🧪 Associate = a full-time VC investment gig in our Blackbird Investments team, working directly with me. We’re looking for someone with a science and/or engineering background and more curiosity than they can handle. You’ll grow your own investment brand and practice, support our portfolio founders, and will help build Foundry, our early-stage frontier-tech accelerator. ✨ Foundry Fellow = a casual/contract gig in our Blackbird Investments team, ~15h per week for 3 months. The Fellowship is ideal for PhD students and ECRs who want to learn more about startups and VC. You’ll go deep on emerging areas relevant to your expertise (or curiosity!), get a front-row seat to groundbreaking companies in those areas, build out your non-academic network, and develop a solid writing practice. 2️⃣ Why are you hiring? We love frontier tech, and we’re ready to grow our team. 3️⃣ Wow, it’s so great that you’re starting to look at deep tech! Look, we get it: we don’t make a lot of noise about our frontier tech investing. Buuuut we’ve been deep-tech investors since we backed Tim Kentley-Klay to found Zoox back in 2014—we’ve been on incredible journeys with PsiQuantum (building the world's first utility-scale quantum computer right here in Australia!), Inventia Life Science (transforming drug discovery with high-fidelity cell models), Remedy Robotics (surgical robots for remote endovascular procedures), Opto Biosystems (minimally-invasive neural implants to treat cancer), and more. We believe that frontier technologies, and great frontier-tech investing, will be part of the solutions to the greatest problems humanity faces today. 4️⃣ When do applications close? May 31st at 11:59pm AEST. 5️⃣ I have more questions! I’m sure you do! Clare Birch and I are hosting an AMA to answer any and all questions about these roles. Want to know what a week in the life of our team looks like? What’s keeping us up at night? What our ideal candidate looks like? Come along and find out - registration link in the comments 👇 Apply for these roles: Associate - https://lnkd.in/gCfj4EUJ Foundry Fellowships - https://lnkd.in/gj6ATZVZ If you know anyone that we should meet, send me their details! Cameron Elise Ben Andrew Robin Joseph Adelaide James Olivia Lucinda Raghav Jesse Christie Mohamed Tom Amee Pablo Haya Loong Hon Joshua Benjamin Megan Harry Denzil Matthew Diana Daniel Tom Deanna Justin Amar Lilly Stone Thomas

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I recently talked with Paz Yanover, VP of Product at Amplication, about creating and managing effective docs. Here is his developer docs success formula (check 1st comment): In this interview, Paz shares his formula to creating developer docs that drive product adoption. You'll learn: - The important role docs plays in support and attracting devs - Tips for balancing technical accuracy with user-friendliness in your docs - Strategies for effective collaboration between technical writers and product teams Check the first comment for the full interview. --- Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Derick Ruiz for more.

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Parker just posted Rippling's new fundraising memo. It's the manifesto for compound startups and one of our initial inspirations for building Atlas. Here's a nugget that I really liked that summarizes how we feel about the competitive advantage of all-in-one startups over vertical startups (in customer support especially): "When we build corporate cards, we're not innovating on the way we issue corporate cards (through Stripe issuing or Marqeta) or the way we scan and extract metadata from receipts (which is mostly a vendor relationship for us today). We're going to win on the capabilities we have that are common to all Rippling products—the integration with the rest of Rippling and with employee data, the platform capabilities, and the common UX described above." Here's the full doc: https://lnkd.in/gYH59HVZ

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