Martín Granados García

Founders, we don’t need a new dating app. We need a new way to date. Despite the market being as packed as a rush hour subway, founders keep trying to invent the next big thing in dating. It’s Bumble for those on parole! It’s Tinder for insect collectors! Why stop there? Just merge two startup ideas into one. It’s OkCupid for the unbanked! Let’s face it: the dating app scene is older than my browser history. Claiming 'people need a new way to date' isn’t a groundbreaking strategy—it’s a recipe for swiping left on your pitch deck. So, let’s move on to something fresh. How about a vertical with actual opportunities? And by 'actual,' I mean opportunities that aren’t just AI for sushi." #startup #founders  #venturecapital

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Founder’s journey to fundraising (1 of 2): I raised nearly $500,000 in total without taking a penny from VCs, while keeping £175k in SEIS intact, and leaving £5m fully available in EIS. Not going to lie though, it was brutal. → Fundraising really does consume all your time, energy, and mental health. Fortunately, I met very inspiring, high-ranking industry leaders who stepped up to be angel investors and mentally supported me. And now, at the end of it, I have a small community of like-minded angels who are part of our journey. → None of the investment will go to salaries; all of it is allocated for tech. These angels committed to actively support us in building the world’s first end-to-end GTM AI SaaS platform for B2B companies. I went from having an idea in 2023 to running a full-blown AI tech company within 12 months. → We now have 14 vetted senior engineers working on the project. Naturally, during the fundraise, I've practiced what we preach at Pebbles Ai by using the same science-led principles and GTM strategies. These sciences are taught to highly-trained AI agents and are housed in a SaaS workflow platform. Below is the proof. Want the same? Join the waiting list: www.trypebbles.ai #Ai #GTM #Fundraising

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Demo Day for Iterative Winter 2024 is on Wednesday, May 8th, at 10:00 AM GMT+8. If you're an investor, we would love to have you. After 1,000+ applications and 500+ interviews, 23 companies were selected for the Winter 2024 Batch. Over the last 11 weeks, we’ve been been focused on helping these companies grow and we’re beyond excited to share their progress with you. Iterative Winter 2024 Batch 1. ArmasTec Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) – Air-Powered Fabric Exoskeletons for Manual Handling 2. Arogga (Bangladesh) – Bangladesh’s Top Online Pharmacy and Healthcare Platform 3. Arshipelago (Indonesia) – Ocean Shipping Platform to Digitally Enable Indonesia's Domestic Freight Forwarders 4. BLITZ (Singapore) – B2B Data-Driven Last Mile EV Delivery Service for Enterprises 5. Finskor (Indonesia) – SaaS that Empowers Financial Institutions to Digitalize and Make Data-Informed Decision 6. Fluentjoy (Vietnam) – Interactive Short-Video App for English Learners 7. Gohub (Vietnam) – The Ultimate eSIM Store 8. Halana (Vietnam) – The Leading B2B Marketplace That's Consolidating the Supply Chain for Industrial Goods 9. Lawdify (Singapore) – Building AI Agents that Run Specialized Tasks for Lawyers 10. Momofin (Indonesia) – Document and Contract Management System Integrated with E-Meterai 11. Rootally AI (Singapore) – AI Therapist for Musculoskeletal Conditions 12. SansDebt (Singapore) – Automated Overdue Invoices Management 13. Superbench (Singapore) – AI Operator for Home Service Companies 14. TapTalent(Singapore) – All in One AI-Powered Talent Sourcing Platform 15. Persona Studios (Singapore) – Official AI Personas for Creators, Influencers and Celebrities 16. WaxWing AI – AI-Powered WorkOS for Marketers to Brainstorm, Plan, Prioritize and Execute Growth Marketing Strategies 17. WeAssist (Malaysia) – Connects Hospitals and Clinics in Malaysia to Licensed Medical Staff 18. 1Long (Vietnam) - Responsible Investment Plans for Vietnam's Rising Affluent If you're an investor and would like to attend, look for the 📌 in the comments to register for Demo Day.

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Everybody's trying to be an AI company When I posted about pre-IPO Klarna's use of AI earlier this week, some people described all their AI chatter as just great marketing ("a pump") for their public offering The company took an 85% haircut on its 2021 valuation in a private equity-led round in 2022 and is in a tough space (BNPL) so the results and the narrative will both be important (they always are) TBH, I think both things can be true: * they are leaning heavily into AI to get leaner & meaner; AND * they are pushing the AI narrative as people eat that isht up We dug into it all right here ⤵ https://lnkd.in/ej-igRef

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I’ve worked with multiple app founders throughout my years in app development. Here’s the most important thing. It’s not how quick you can deliver a feature. It’s about caring for their app as if it’s your own. That’s when actual quality work comes out and you create a lasting bond with them. If you’re just putting out quick template apps which die down after a few months, you won’t make it too far. (No-code people, don’t come running at me, again. 🙏 😅) Build a good relationship with your clients instead of saying goodbye to them after a month. That’s our focus at Ondoro. — #entrepreneurship #startups #founders #appdevelopment #unitedstates #europe #mobileapps #iOS #Android #ReactNative #Flutter #investors #artificialIntelligence #apple #google #mobileappsagency

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We lift the lid on the tech we build And founders are never locked-in 👇 Startups and most dev agencies simply aren't compatible. I think this is mainly because many agencies do everything to avoid the very things startups need the most: ⭐ Flexibility (payment terms, pivots, scope changes) ⭐ Full transparency ⭐ Full ownership of tech and IP protection ⭐ An easy way out ⭐ Urgency Not to mention, some agencies are waaaaay more expensive than what startups can afford. Now, I think that all makes perfect sense because this approach minimises the agency's risk. But what we do at Founderbase is kind of the exact opposite. My experience has been this: if we are willing to take some risk to provide all the above benefits, then that risk brings us closer to the founders (who are the ultimate risk-takers) and sets the stage for a very efficient and healthy collaboration. This mindset has been serving us well, and we're lucky to be working with amazing founders on a daily basis. How can an agency become more startup-compatible? Comment below! #startups #founders #technology #tech #softwaredevelopment

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Speed is the single most defining feature of a startup. Releasing a bug fix or feature live as you’re on the chat with a user is one of the most satisfying feelings ever. The delight they feel is incomparable. It’s what makes startups worth it. Patrick Collison has a really awesome page highlighting ambitious projects with tight timelines and fast deliveries: https://lnkd.in/gfy65j_A Was just reflecting on this after shipping this small feature to a user in 11 minutes. We could probably shave a few more minutes on the next one. Single digit minutes here we come. Keep shipping fast 🚢 #startups #speed

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Big news from WhatsApp! The team at Meta is testing Webview within WhatsApp. That means customers will never have to leave the platform to complete full transactions, moving far beyond engagement. Combined with WhatsApp led banking, payments and now even bookings across any business. Is WhatsApp going to the silent super-app we didn’t know we need? And might websites stop being a necessity for businesses starting off? Heard at AiSensy’s event Evolve. My bonus prediction - BrandGPTs as WhatsApp contacts who can completely replace other forms of consumer initiated brand interactions. Ekta Agarwal Gautam Rajesh Shelley ⚡️ #Whatsapp #DigitalCommerce #Payments #ChatCommerce

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On 22nd Feb, Dan Siroker and I disagreed about funding round dilution on Twitter. In this episode we hash it out 🥊 ❌ Fundraising rules that are BS 🗣️ What VC’s really mean & want 💸 Getting Peter Fenton to invest for less than 10% My key lessons from winning this fight 👇 1. The Importance of Focus I worked on thousands of things at my first company & thought everything was important. In hindsight, there were only 3 or 4 things that made a difference. Founders need to distinguish between which tasks are truly important & focus on them. 2. The Big Secret When An Investor Asks How Much Are You Raising? They are actually asking how much you think you’re worth. Instead of giving a number, say you’re selling a certain percentage & letting the market decide the valuation. This annoys investors because they don’t get what they want. 3. Elad Gil on When and How to Pivot  The things that work tend to work really fast. Sticking it out & being perseverant doesn’t always work. You have to see some glimmer of hope in the early days. 4. Contrarian View on Selling Stock as Employees Founders should let employees sell their stock at any point. I’ve let my employees sell up to 25% when we were oversubscribed in our series A. My theory is more liquidity = more retention. 5. When They Bring up Title It Is a Bad Sign It shows you where their values are. The best people I’ve hired never brought up titles during the interview. They care about the problem & the company. 6. Why Always Be Raising is Total BS You need to have an on & off switch on fundraising. I have all my investor meetings in a week every two quarters. This removes any distractions when I’m building the company. 7. The Best Question Peter Fenton Asks Founders "What will excite you about being at this business in five years?" Great founders need to be perseverant. They have to stay in love with the business in 5, 10, or 20 years. (links in comments) #founder #funding #business #investing #vc #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #seed #funding #fundraising

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Diving headfirst into my first tech startup, Partnar, felt like moving to a new country where I didn't speak the language - especially in VC meetings! I've added some of the jargon and abbreviations below I probably had to Google after hearing, so you don't have to: 1. MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): The amount of revenue a subscription-based business receives every month. 2. TAM (Total Addressable Market): The total market demand for a product or service. 3. Churn: The percentage of customers or subscribers who stop using a product over a given period of time. 4. LP (Limited Partner): An investor in a limited partnership, who is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. 5. Pivot: A strategy startups use to shift their business proposition when their current one isn't working. 6. Term Sheet: A non-binding agreement that shows the basic terms and conditions of an investment. 7. PMF (Product-Market Fit): When a company's product satisfies a strong market demand. 8. ARPPU (Average Revenue Per Paying User): A company's total revenue in a specific period divided by the number of paying users during that period. 9. MAU (Monthly Active Users): The number of unique users who interact with a product in a month. 10. Time to Value: The period it takes for a customer to realise the value of a product or service after purchase or subscription. While I mostly knew the phrases after learning what the abbreviations meant, if I was up to speed at the time it would of helped me. You don't know what you don't know. P.S I still Google jargon weekly 😂

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I love when accelerators ask me to run a funding strategy workshop to help the founders on the programme work out if they should raise! Especially if they're an early stage accelerator! It's so important as founders that we stop and check if investment is right for us, and if it is which kind, and is it right right now? It's why I co-founded IfWeRaise with Tim Deeson. To ensure entrepreneurs get to ask the right questions at the right time, before they're set on a path that's hard to leave happily. Really enjoyed talking about this on the Graduate Guide with Marlene Leiss. Ps if you're a founder and need help with what questions to ask to work this out,  or if you're running an accelerator and want to offer your community/cohort this support, drop me a note - I'd love to help! #founders #fundraising #investment #accelerator#startups #startupstories #fundingstrategy #entrepreneurship  Type your message...

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The UK is well ahead of its continental counterparts when it comes to tech startups* generating revenue. 🇬🇧 👑 💂 *Let’s be honest, at these revenue levels most of the companies counted here aren’t startups. They’re scaleups or established privately held tech companies. https://lnkd.in/ebSnfcYz #vc #venturecapital #startups #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #tech #technology #innovation #money #business

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Reality check founders: Can you afford those premier onshore rates? You want to hire a fancy local tech company to build your app idea. Top talent with no hassles, nice! But before paying their huge fees, there are some harsh truths to think about. As a non-techie founder, those big-name agencies promoting their urban zip code elite skills seem really appealing. No midnight deadlines or confusion thanks to being in the same city and time zone. But having competed against the giants for years, I know their "premier" services come with major money struggles. 🚨 ↳ Sticker shock city - Their $250/hour+ rate might make your jaw drop before all the mandatory minimums, fees, and surprise overages. ↳ Unplanned change order craziness - Need to tweak something small? Get ready to pay through the nose for it. ↳ Zero consistency - Top talent is always looking for better gigs. Enjoy the rotating cast of random new "experts!" ↳ Sloppy process disasters - Loose procedures mean 80% of their projects massively miss deadlines and budgets. Conflicts of interest! You get it right? ↳ Revolving door costs - Agencies have developers quitting all the time. Guess who pays for recruiting replacements over and over? Could I pay less for reckless freelancers? Yeah, but I've had disasters with that too. I'd rather invest a bit more upfront for quality work without hassles - not another money pit. Have you had any similar experience? Forge ahead! 💜✌️ #entrepreneurship #saas #founders #startups 

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First-time founders maynot know when to raise funding: ⏱️ Earliest time: Problem/Solution Fit Investors today don’t fund product development but traction (aka paying customers). Problem/Solution fit is when you validate demand for your product and go from hoping people will buy to knowing they will. What they buy: Promising pipeline with tangible customer commitments 🚀 Optimal time: Product/Market Fit Before product/market fit, your goals and your investors' goals are misaligned. You need to learn, and they want growth. After product/market fit, you both need and want growth. What they buy: Repeatable and scalable business model with 10x growth potential. 👊 Ideal time: Almost never :) Bootstrap all the way and build a profitable and scalable business powered by happy customers. Rarer, but possible, if you prioritize building Camels over Unicorns. P.S. Camels can/do still raise money, but for strategic growth, not survival. Credits to Ash Mauria, Guillermo Flor #fundraising #fundwise #fundraisingtips #firsttimefoundertips

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NDAs are dead. If you are a founder sending an NDA before you share what you are working on, not only is an NDA dead, put your pitch is DOA as well. VCs look at hundreds of deals and by in large don’t sign NDAs. Why? Plain and simple it’s because it puts restrictions on ability to make some investments, seek out and evaluate others, or advising companies already in their portfolio. Why would a VC ever do that if thier job is to evaluate the best and place capital for thier LPs. The answer is never. So… if you feel you need an NDA… you prob don’t need to be pitching VCs in the first place. If you want something in place, try a friendly confidentiality agreement. That basically just says “this info is sensitive, just for us looking at this transaction and if it doesn’t work out you never talked to us, keep the name and info under wraps, cool?”. Easy.

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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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First Priority: Founder First duty: Protect The Founder at Foundership

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OK, quiz time: ❓What do founders end up spending over half their time on once they have MVP and funding? 🥁Drumroll please…🥁 Answer: People management That’s right, ambitious entrepreneurs with big ideas quickly find themselves shifting from: Building a product 👉🏽 Building a team. And often this comes with a huge learning curve and a wave of challenges; from missed milestones, conflicting priorities, low engagement and lack of ownership. So, how as founders can you turn your startup scrappiness into a scalability-dream-machine without losing hours on people management? Well, we need a framework that helps us to focus on something, when we don’t have the time (or resources) to focus on everything. Enter: your company Operating System (cOS) Just as our tech devices rely on operating systems for optimal functionality, longevity and security, so does your business. A well-designed cOS provides a systematic approach that streamlines your strategy, maximises your people’s potential and minimises mishaps - enabling true teamwork, and unlocking your biggest competitive advantage - your people and culture. It’s the scalability scaffold that’s designed to enable: ✅ Faster decision-making: Streamlining processes and prioritisation for quicker, more informed decisions. ✅ Clarity and focus: Providing a clear roadmap that keeps the team focused on the overarching goals, how they are going to get there and by when. ✅ Speed and efficiency: Enhancing operational efficiency to keep up with the demands of growth. ✅ Creativity and collaboration: Establishing an environment that encourages innovation and collaboration among team members. ✅ Alignment and accountability: Ensuring that everyone in the organisation is on the same page and understands their actions and there impact. ✅ Emotional resilience: Building a culture that withstands challenges, promotes resilience and protects the well-being of it’s people. Your company Operating System is your freedom framework. It enables you as founders and leaders to empower your people and create a culture that is both stable and adaptable. And ultimately, enables you to focus on what you love and are good at; finding solutions and delivering on a vision that make a positive difference to the world. ----------------------- 👀 Want to learn more? I’m offering free 30-minute 1:1 consultations to help startups and scaleups with defining their company Operating System, improving ways of working, and maximising performance. I’ve opened up 4 slots per month, for a private call with no strings attached – I’m genuinely looking to help out. If you’re interested DM me 📩

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When to start hiring as a #founder... Disclaimer: I don't really know the answers here. Lots of founders have 100X more experience #scaling from garage to IPO. I don't. But I've been deeply *feeling* something for weeks and it feels worth airing out. At my first startup, we spent a lot of time chasing our tails. The product was always under more-features-needed duress. Which meant that I spent a lot of time just putting out fires. It meant that sales meetings went well, but closing deals was challenging. It also meant that we never had more than 4 full-time people. Because there wasn't enough of any function to do to warrant another hire dedicated to [FUNCTION]. Now, at Air Traffic Control — Grow Pipeline With Existing Content, we're faced with the most phenomenal need to hire. Our customer count is FLYING. So many thoughtful use cases. Great questions. We need more support materials for them and we're creating that. I spend a lot of time on customer calls. I learn something in every single one. We record them. Then line them up to translate those calls into support materials. And there's now enough of that work to require a full-time CS leader. Same for partnerships. Same for RevOps/MarketingOps. And our product roadmap is INSANELY exciting (I love what we do today and our rapid growth says we're right to feel incredible re what we've built, but if you saw where we're headed you might faint). And the only thing holding us back there is human bandwidth. Our devs are WORLD CLASS and chugging on all cylinders. So... ...we need more people. The balancing act is getting those people before anyone gets too stressed for too long *without* putting our capital runway at risk. And it's the first time as a founder I've ever been in a position to raise to *grow* as opposed to raising to *survive.* It is... a lot. And I'm so impossibly thrilled it's where we are. What's wild is where we'll be once the team fills out just a bit more. Being kept up at night thinking about how to fund and find our new crew members is actually a joy. It's just one I'm learning along the way. Thankful for advisors, friends, and our current small but mighty crew that they know what needs to be done and can help us chart a course. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far... go together. If you want to go really far and really fast, go with insanely smart people. :-)

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