Ben Sharf

I'm excited to reshare this timeless episode of #Supermanagers featuring David O. Sacks, a member of the PayPal Mafia, founder of Yammer, Inc., and General Partner at Craft Ventures. David offers invaluable advice for CEOs, managers, founders, and anyone looking to elevate their organization. In this episode, David dives into:  - Introverted leadership - Managing hyper-growth - Knowing when to throw out processes  - And so much more. Don't miss out on his unique perspective and leadership journey. Tune in to learn from one of the best in the business! 🎧 Link in comments 👇

30

3 Comments

Movac KiwiNet Deep Tech is difficult because you do not comprehend 95% of the universe using the Standard Model of Particle physics. Either learn that measurement is flawed due to human bias or experience and unbiased state through transcendence experiences corresponding to Christ consciousness. The physics of life is based on LENR and not the Standard Model of Particle physics. Unfortunately, scientific research has been captured by the materialism perspective. This is mutually exclusive to the light observed in consciousness. Physics of life. Deep Tech https://lnkd.in/gKqC3PAR Gateway into the aromatic ring Faraday cage system. Time to see the light 😁.

4

Founders, you're losing deals by not having a clear discovery call plan. I've seen this a lot where founders looking to scale up their early sales efforts are going into it thinking the product will get them through the sale In most cases, this isn't the truth You need to have some sort of framework to make the selling motion more repeatable Instead of demo'ing the product, try learning more about them and their challenges first. Your goal should be to know enough to build a customized demo for them. This will help in building solid relationships, build value throughout the process and likely speed up deals on the back end of it. If you don't know where to start, hit me up and I'm happy to lay out some early sales structure for founders! Go crush it out there 🤙

16

One thing I always want to tell founders: If you don't have the full 100% support of your significant other, don't bother with entrepreneurship. Business is hard enough—everything else is stacked against you. Make sure you have the support and blessing from your partner before you attempt an entrepreneurial run.

57

8 Comments

How to pitch: The company has zero traction —> “We’re early” You only have 2 customers —> “We’re working with design partners” You currently have no revenue but hoping some pipeline finally closes —> “we’re on track to exit this year at $3M ARR” You’re in the natural kill zone of a FAANG —> “We view them as partners rather than competitors” There’s no way the tech can actually work —>“We’re manifesting the future” And of course: One of your developers uses Co-Pilot to write some front end code —> “We’re an AI company”

1,132

65 Comments

Founders often underutilize the upfront contract in sales discovery calls. The upfront contract is about positioning your prospect to tell you whether they are interested in what you have to offer. Although this may seem straightforward, many conversations end without a clear decision, next step, or clear idea about the prospect's interest. Here's a simple upfront contract I use: "<first name>, by the end of this call, I would like you to be in a position where you're either interested and we can schedule a next step that makes sense for you and your team, or you're not interested, which is perfectly okay. You're not going to hurt my feelings." If you're a founder doing discovery calls, give this a try.

20

Two recipes for success when you come from nothing: - Build a SaaS business in an unrepresented / niche vertical, e.g., compliance, taxes, immigration. The key is to identify verticals with untapped potential, poised for growth yet not saturated with competition. By focusing on these niches, you can carve out a unique space for yourself. - Build a “boring” business. Something that’s tried and tested. A product where the customer behavior is predictable. It will surely be competitive, but if you have a bit of a tech background, you can automate it better than many conventional alternatives. Make sure the product and its brand resonate with today’s consumers. Once you have amassed sufficient capital, network, and experience, go after a moonshot, e.g., hardware, rockets, life extension, or whatever big problem inspires you. As Steve Jobs famously said, aim to “make a dent in the universe.”

28

1 Comment

Most recent investor feedback: Pretty interesting, more compelling in some ways than the creator q&a platforms... Too early for where we'd get involved realistically, but appreciate the share. I'm in SF right now meeting VCs back to back to back. Making mistake and learning a lot. Here's our pitch in brief: A marketplace for CreatorGPTs available to FaceTime. Founders led IBM Watson chat and Hyperloop labs, 13 patents, mobile app exit. If you know anyone interested, feel free to share!

14

4 Comments

👋 What better way to get to the AWS Summit NYC than on a boat 🚤 Looking forward to meeting developers, startup founders, and builders at the Summit TODAY! Catch me at the Dev Community Lounge, Startup Lounge, or on the floor of the Expo filming folks to learn what they're building! DM me in you want to meet up, be in one of my videos, or just grab a cup of coffee ☕ In the meantime, let me know where you are coming in from and what you are most excited for the AWS Summit 😁 #AWSSummit #AWS #startups

27

2 Comments

Startups mirror their founder's best and worst qualities. You need to be able (and willing) to consciously tackle your challenging traits as they arise. Here’s a quick story about Evan and Maveric, co-founders of Getro: Gratitude comes naturally to them. On the flip side, people-pleasing was a shared "shadow" that held them back. It made it hard for them to have difficult but necessary conversations. That dynamic trickled down, causing communication breakdowns across the org. To break the cycle, they: 1. Did the inner work to address their people-pleasing patterns 2. Encouraged the team to do the same 3. Added "compassionate candor" to Getro's core values 4. Regularly reinforced this value to make it stick A startup's culture will always mirror the founders' personalities to some degree. Acknowledge it, own it, and put in the time to grow in areas where you may need a little work. — What "shadows" have you noticed in your own leadership style? How might they be shaping your startup's culture?

10

Hosting stuff- events, or small scale meet ups 1. Helps you build your network, connects with venue partners, community builders, etc 2. Helps you manufacture luck and serendipity - You can create this just by surrounding yourself in the right rooms both virtual and in person 3. Create belief capital- more people who want and can help you + social capital- more people know who you are I hosted my first event in Bangalore and it was a success because of some amazing connects I made during my stay there From the event in Bangalore: - Ended up meeting some super cool folks and learning from them(spent a hour or so after the event learning from them) - 2 people ended up meeting in the event and recorded a podcast together - Made some new connects, and got to meet some people IRL - Build Leverage through content, podcasting = more people know you- for what you are doing Below is the YouTube video from the video podcast with The Neon Show and Fund co founder

2

Founders are constantly bombarded by vendors that can (or claim to) help your business. I was happy to sit in on a conversation with Fermented Felon's CEO and Founder Tony H. and one such vendor. His silver bullet question: "So, what is your KPI for success?" Those KPIs have to ladder up to your vision, forecast and cash management. Loved seeing his clarity of leadership in action. Proven Ventures Nathan Preheim

66

2 Comments

I am looking to talk to a handful of founders about their experience raising from angels after getting a "starter check" from a pre-seed fund like Hustle Fund or Precursor. Who should I talk to? #founders #startups #fundraising

16

11 Comments

A few weeks ago I dropped a podcast episode with my talented founder friend Guta Tolmasquim, telling the story of how she raised a $1.2M pre-seed round for Purple Metrics. It was a crazy story… here are two of my main takeaways: 1. Setbacks Are Only Setbacks if You Allow Them to Be "So I knew [that this was a real problem], and they weren't seeing it. And I was like why, what am I doing wrong? And then I did what I always do. I went to study. So I had this second chance because I raised again from angels . . . and I had this perfect excuse that it's [because] the market is very bad right now so it's not my fault. And then I can go back in a year after and try again. And that's what I did." Guta was facing a ton of rejection when she first tried to raise her pre-seed back in 2022. Investors simply didn't believe the problem was as real (or big) as she said it was... I'm sure a lot of you who have experienced rejection can relate to this frustration. Sometimes it's because the investors just don't get it, and sometimes, the rejection you're facing might be a good opportunity for you to pause and in Guta's case, study. She spent that next year doubling down on her company, studying her market, making sure that the next time she went out to raise no one would question whether it was a big enough problem. 2. Know Your Strengths and Execute on Them "What happened is that our money ended in April, 2022. Not the best time to fundraise. And since I was very good at two things which is bootstrapping a company and raising from angels, I decided to go raise from angels again." As I stated above, Guta wasn't able to raise from funds the first time she went out to raise, but she still needed money. So instead of giving up she got creative and focused on her strengths. What I love about Guta is that giving up wasn't even an option. She might have not been confident in her ability to raise from institutional funds, but she was confident in her ability to raise from angels as she had done it already in the past. So... she raised enough to carry her through the year before going out to close a $1.2M pre-seed round in 2023. If you're a founder facing a similar struggle, figure out your strengths. Get creative. Execute. That's a wrap! I always try my best to highlight the best parts of the episode, but it's always better to just give it a listen and hear from Guta herself. If you want to hear: - How Guta built relationships to get funded by angels - The story behind Purple Metrics’ 1.2M pre-seed - The struggles Guta faced when raising after the SVB crash ... make sure to give the episode a listen. I'll leave the link below 👇

23

4 Comments

Kevin Lavelle has built some amazing DTC brands like Mizzen and Main. This week on The Founder's Journey Podcast, Kevin and I discussed bad lessons, advice, taking risks, and venture capital trends. At first, Kevin didn't see the need to hire an industry expert. However, by the second or third year, he discovered that bringing in industry expertise could have helped identify gaps and areas for improvement that he needed to be aware of. His advice is clear: Don't make the same mistake. Invest in an industry expert early on. Hiring is a struggle on its own. Kevin's journey through hiring shows the learning curve of starting a business. He explains how he first made every mistake in the book when hiring. The key takeaway? Embrace the process, learn from your experiences, and remember that patience is your greatest ally in business. 📌 Don't miss out! Learn from Kevin's experience in this week's edition of The Founder's Journey Podcast. Listen to the full episode today and subscribe—the link is available in the profile and comments.

17

20 Comments

A venture studio inside of a scale-up? That’s basically the playbook Sword Health has followed on its path to a $3B valuation. Per Nikhil Krishnan, “Sword Health has an interesting org structure where they essentially hire GMs for a new business line, give them an internal "seed round" and then they need to use that money to recruit people internally”. “At least half of Sword’s valuation comes from this strategy” says Sword Health CEO Virgílio (“V”) Bento : “What we do is we hire a GM, so a strong generalist past founder or that wants to be a founder; we hire a GM and we give that person $1 million to put a team and to execute and get to product market fit 12 months, that's your seed round. And of course then you are able to accelerate much faster because you have access to finance and legal and HR. You don't need to spend your time or focus thinking on that. Then you have also an engineering team that you can recruit, but by the way you pay, it costs you money. So part of the $1 million is going to pay that allocation for the engineering team if you are just launching your startup. So we want to replicate that scarcity mindset and then if when after 12 months we discuss was there product market fit or not -- if there was you do your series A, which means that you get more money, you get to accelerate faster. If it doesn't, then we kill the solution. If you go to product market fit before the 12 months, you are able to raise your internal series A faster and then you expand. And one example Bloom, I can tell you Bloom was our second solution that we launched and that's the pelvic health solution. We are going to do as much revenue with Bloom in 2024 that we did with Sword all together in 2022.“

22

2 Comments

Cannabis tech post: The cannabis industry is finally waking up and realizing the value of offering custom solutions over basic, off-the-shelf implementations. This shift is set to boost the experience for customers, patients, and companies alike. At Kief Studio, we've been championing custom solutions since our inception. As the CT🜁O, I've seen firsthand how tailored software can transform businesses. Custom doesn't mean superficial changes like swapping fonts or pictures; it means building a unique experience from the ground up, one that caters to the specific needs of consumers and employees while molding the software to the business, not the other way around. Having been in the tech industry since 2006, I can attest to the long-term benefits of this approach. Many of our clients have been with us since the beginning when we were just freelancers. A testament to the power of custom solutions coupled with exceptional training and support. It's cool to see larger companies in the cannabis space pivoting to offer custom solutions, likely in response to the growing awareness of its importance. While it may require more work upfront, the payoff is undeniable for the customer. As the industry matures, I'm excited to see how this newfound emphasis on custom solutions will improve the cannabis experience for everyone involved. It's time to do things the right way, not just the easy way. As I've said before, do your research when choosing a custom solutions partner, you'll get a good idea if they can pull it off when you ask the right questions. Even if you don't choose us for the job, we're still happy to provide consultation to ensure you get the right solutions for your company. My wife and I are not motivated by money or power, we're motivated by our core mission, we help good people do good things. The plant's ability to help people aligns with our mission. The more the better. #CannabisTech #CustomSolutions #IndustryGrowth #CustomerExperience #KiefStudio

3