Karan Baweja

Pre-seed/seed founders: When pitching investors, don't shoot yourselves in the foot by trying to hide what isn't pretty. A good early stage investor accounts for there being things that aren't figured out, or just plainly look bad. When I can't get a straight answer to a fact-based question from a founder, it is likely that my main takeaways will be: 1. #Fundraising will be hard for you. This is a gut and trust business. Obfuscation drops a bomb on that for many investors who index on founder honesty and ethics. "I don't know", "I can get back to you", "It's not great" or "I don't think that's the right question" are better than a cryptic misdirecting answer. 2. #Hiring and #retaining top talent will be hard for you. Great talent won't stick around at the early stage if you can't provide clarity and transparency in your leadership of teams & targets. 3. #Sales will be hard for you. Customers want clarity on value add, and how it solves their problem. I'm less inclined to believe that you provide that when I am not experiencing it myself. Any combo of the above makes a bigger dent on your funding prospects than the ugly truthful answer to the question I asked.

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So you missed the 83(b) election, which is holding you back from raising VC money? Here's what you can do: Unfortunately, you can't file a late Section 83(b) election because the Internal Revenue Code requires it to be done within 30 days from the Board consent approving the stock grant subject to vesting. There are no perfect fixes, but here are a few things you can try: 1. Cancel the Stock Grant and Issue New Stock: You can cancel the original stock grant and give yourself new stock instead. Just make sure to avoid any funny business like backdating the grants, and be careful not to raise any red flags with the IRS. To make the new grant different from the old one, you could give out stock options instead, change the vesting schedule, or adjust the number of shares. 2. Remove the Vesting Schedule: Another option is to scrap the vesting schedule from the stock agreement altogether. I like this option, but remember that when you're trying to get venture funding, they might want to put a new vesting schedule in place. That's pretty standard. But before that happens, there's a risk: a founder with stock that doesn't have a vesting schedule might just up and leave, holding onto their stock. It's a real risk especially when there are multiple co-founders. While missing the 83(b) election deadline does come with some tax risks, these options could help you minimize future tax problems. It's always a good idea to talk to a tax lawyer. #startuplawyer #startupfounder #83b

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Nice overview of how we're using data to inform how we invest in early-stage founders. We'll be announcing more this summer but we're seeing some really interesting early data. https://lnkd.in/exU_Juf5

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Over the past few weeks, I've had multiple founders ask if fundraising slows or stops in the summer months. So, I wanted to share my thoughts and some data (thanks Peter Walker & Carta!) for other founders wondering the same thing. Here are a few highlights from the data: - Timeline Insight: Note the subtitle: deals by month SIGNED. It typically takes a few weeks to a few months from the first meeting to close a deal. - December Activity: Despite December often being slow for new investor meetings, it consistently shows a high percentage of deals being signed. This is due to conversations that were initiated prior to December. - Summer Months: Contrary to common belief, summer months like June, July, and August don't see a significant drop in deal activity. Understanding these trends can help you better strategize your fundraising efforts throughout the year. My experience: Over the past year with FTFC, I haven't noticed any slowdown in investor conversations during the summer months. I've had productive discussions with many investors throughout the summer, and they've all been open to exploring aligned deal flow. Investors, what do you think?

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49 founders and senior startup leaders respond to a survey from Sifted on the relationship between founders and VCs. Are expectations off from the start as VCs try too hard to pander to their founders with over promises of "value-add" and extensive platform teams? Do founders need to be reminded of their primary role - execution?

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If you're looking for VC funding in the UK, check out FundFinder.live If you're one of those people that likes to just play with all the circles on an Apple Watch because it's super satisfying, but struggle to pick one because playing with the interface is too satisfying, then maybe don't go to this website :) FundFinder has a similar interface to Apple Watches, but on web. Thank you Hector Mason, Jack Richardson, and the team at Focal for sharing this. Simultaneously showing me a very useful tool that could save me time in research, but also could waste lots of my time thanks to my brain (not sure if ADD or something else). And thank you to Concept Ventures and Justified Studio for building it. Oliver Kicks - who deserves the credit? #random #fundraising #startup #vc

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Fundraising strategies that work: 1. Finesse 2. Brute Force 3. Just be a 2nd-time exited founder 4. Just be an early employee at Ramp, Stripe, Open AI (any of the 3-5 hottest companies in tech will do) 5. Just have a trust fund Idk why more people don't do number 3-5. In all seriousness, if you're a 1st-time founder you won't be able to raise like a second time founder so just accept that and focus on what you can do.

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Big rounds are back. VC Funding is flowing. In April, there were 28 fundraising rounds announced with >$10M in funding. We've seen private market (pre-launch) deals valued >$3B recently. Private Markets are hot. Public Market comps (FDVs) are hot. But who will buy our multi-billion dollar bags? Deal Flow Digest April w/: - Recap of largest web3 funding rounds - Airtable with ALL the data - Hackathons & Demo Days - VC Fundraises Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g7V4KrAj

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❤️ this from Mattias Ljungman - thanks for expanding on my Inception stage investing framework, no pun intended, with what comes after Inception with "Seed Expansion". Yes, seed is so confusing as everyone from pre-seed firms to multi-stage firms are writing checks. Hopefully founders can get some clarity with Mattias' post below on where to go for their early rounds. Also check out my initial post on what's happening in the venture market, The Race to Be First and What is Inception Investing? https://lnkd.in/eJhEsZ4s

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we invested in the infrastructure for quick commerce - Wherehouse & Blitz (both founding stage rounds) - with the picks and shovels argument well before we believed in the wider potential of the the quick commerce rails. sometimes investing in the picks & shovels helps you understand the gold rush better :)

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Emerging GPs📢 We all know it is a difficult time to raise your first (or second) VC Fund.😟 But AlphaQ Venture Capital is here to help you with the Global Allocator Alliance Pitch events and invite-only GP and LP matching Discovery platform.🎌 With an incredible team of Jocke Martelius, Amina Bijedić, Zerina Zimić and Marius Weber, be sure you will get unmatched support when you most need it. Check how they supported our partner Vadim Balashov of US California-based Viaduct Ventures, raising their Fund II.👇 DM me for a warm intro.🤝 ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #VCfund and increase the international pool of your LPs?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments (Series A/Series B)?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE   #VentureCapital #VentureFunding #VentureDebt #Fundraising #Innovation #Technology 

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Founders raising for the first time? This is an awesome guide. 👀⤵️ All credits to Brian Ortiz 👏🏽 #firstdegree #founders #investors
#alwaysbelearning #sharingiscaring #changethewaywework

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In early-stage startups, product sense is crucial. With limited resources and data, it can be the key to success. I've seen founders with strong product sense navigate uncertainty effectively, using intuition and early market feedback. #product #startup

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You and your early stage startup deserve investors who are INCREDIBLY EXCITED about YOU AND WHAT YOU’RE BUILDING. I know times are harder now but don’t settle for less. The delta in your founder energy when you’re surrounded by people who just back you is MASSIVE. And ultimately founder energy and access to high quality and well priced execution resources increase your shot at building the company you want to build.

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We believe in extreme vetting of our founders. You can't build a unicorn if you spend time on silly stuff, like seeing family and friends. Grow up, and focus on investor returns. #vc #startups #investment

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In a recent Sifted article, I share thoughts on emerging managers esp. Solo-GPs, here's what I think 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/eYx7h5Qv I’m a solo-GP building OpenseedVC, here’s what some think this means; 🔻That there is key-person risk 🔻That there is little accountability or governance 🔻That it is a one-person show Here’s what it ACTUALLY often means; 👇🏽 ✅ We've set up governance that foster accountability, not bureaucracy ✅ As a fund, we have a dizzying depth of complementary skillsets ✅ We build conviction and move quickly; critical for early stage ✅ We are process geniuses, automations and efficiency is in our DNA ✅ We have a lean, mean team optimised for high for efficiency There is no "founder-like fund" quite like a Solo-GP emerging manager. For us at OpenseedVC, we invest up to $150k at the angel stage, and are flexible. We can lead your angel round. We can follow if the terms work for us. We don't take board seats. Whatever it is, we are first investors in ambitious and experienced operators just as they start their technology companies! We are founders ourselves, and have parallel experiences to the most ambitious and resilient founders, and this is ultimately superpower 💥 Solo-GPs are outliers, and in the business of #VC #venturecapital, outliers signal potential for outsized opportunity. #operators #openseedvc #europe #africa #soloGPs

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As public software companies got hammered over the last week, David Peterson explores what that means in our latest edition of The Angle. Are we witnessing the end of software? Where did all the growth go? Software isn’t dead, but it’s evolving. And building great companies is no longer about riding the wave of the cloud and building products that are a bit better than the incumbent. Founders who want to build great public companies need ideas that break the mold. And we’re excited to partner with such founders. To read David’s column and explore other exciting tech news, please access and subscribe to our newsletter using the links in the comments. 

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