Krishna Dosapati

The DEI Mirage and the VC Money Game: A Wake-Up Call for Founders The entrepreneurial world often paints a rosy picture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the venture capital (VC) landscape. However, behind the glossy facade lies a harsh reality: DEI efforts frequently fall short, and the VC world is primarily driven by profit, not genuine inclusivity. As a founder, you may have envisioned pitching your groundbreaking idea to enthusiastic investors, eager to support your vision. But what if that dream doesn't materialize? What if you never step into the hallowed halls of incubators and accelerators? Let's face it: the traditional path to success isn't always accessible to everyone. The VC world, despite its claims of diversity, often favors certain demographics and business models. This can leave many talented founders feeling excluded and disillusioned. However, this isn't a reason to despair. It's a call to action. It's time to re-evaluate your goals and chart a new course. Don't let the shortcomings of the system deter you. Instead, use them as fuel to ignite your entrepreneurial spirit. The truth is, there are countless ways to succeed outside the traditional VC model. You can bootstrap your business, seek funding from alternative sources, or build a loyal customer base through organic growth. These paths may be less glamorous, but they offer a level of autonomy and control that VC funding often lacks. Moreover, by forging your own path, you can create a business that aligns with your values and priorities. You can build a company culture that truly embraces diversity and inclusion, rather than simply paying lip service to these ideals. Remember, your worth as a founder isn't determined by the number of VC pitches you make or the amount of funding you secure. It's defined by your passion, your resilience, and your unwavering commitment to your vision. So, if the DEI mirage and the VC money game have left you feeling disillusioned, don't give up. Instead, embrace this as an opportunity to create something truly unique and impactful. The world needs your ideas, your creativity, and your entrepreneurial spirit. The road ahead may be challenging, but it's also filled with limitless possibilities. Forge your own path, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Disclaimer: This article is not intended to discourage founders from seeking VC funding or participating in DEI initiatives. It's a call for greater transparency and a more realistic assessment of the challenges and opportunities that exist in the entrepreneurial world. - Google Made me say that... JK - be originally weird and you. - Rodman Johnson founder Shifter | Shftr & bevee smart.

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The Council's first SPV of 2024 is down in the books and oversubscribed. Running SPVs where we have pro rata or extra allocation in fund deals is a muscle we are building pretty late in the game as a firm. As a solo GP with a tiny team, it's crippling to think of the extra work required and risk of not meeting platform minimums to run an SPV. But 7 of our port co's have recently raised follow on funding where we had pro rata. These are awesome deals for our LPs, angel members, and syndicate community. We simply can't afford to let them slip through the cracks. These allocations are only becoming more valuable as our firm grows, so we must start NOW! Proud to say this one went off without a hitch and our syndicate community is small but THRIVING. Wish us luck as we keep building. Note our SPVs are now on Sydecar. The best way to get access is to know someone on The Council Fund team and be on our SPV email list. **What's an SPV?** An SPV is a Special Purpose Vehicle. It allows multiple angel investors to pool together into one larger investment into a company. This helps the founder keep paperwork and investor relations to a minimum (less names on the cap table = simplicity!). When people say they're investing with a "syndicate" or they are "syndicating a deal," SPV is the entity and process by which they do that. A "syndicate" is like a community of people that invest via SPVs together.

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Bilt Rewards went from $0 to $1.5B valuation in under a year post launch. I had the pleasure of hearing Ankur Jain, Bilt’s founder and CEO, speak at FintechMeetup. It was extremely inspiring and I had to dig deeper. What is Bilt? The core idea of Bilt Rewards is simple and compelling. Why can’t your rent payments contribute towards home ownership in the future? Most of us pay rent through our bank since paying with a credit card adds an additional 2.5-3%. With the Bilt MasterCard, you not only avoid fees but earn points on your rent payments: redeeming 1 point for every dollar spent up to 100K points per year - that you can apply towards your down payment. Fascinating tidbits: 1. Before Bilt, you weren’t legally allowed to use points towards a down payment. So Ankur and team spent 18 months working with regulators to create the regulations required to make a system like this possible. 2. Ankur worked on the idea by himself for a year, pitching to real estate owners and finessing the model before even hiring the first employee. 3. Almost every real estate owner Ankur pitched to initially was opposed to the idea. Over the course of 4 years, Bilt built a distribution network of 4M+ rental homes that allows residents to pay with Bilt. Ankur shares lessons valuable to every entrepreneur: 1. Distribution and customer acquisition strategy needs to be at the forefront of your pitch. 2. Creative relentless vs hard-headed relentlessness: “No just means ask again differently. Slightly different changes. Slightly different approach. Slightly different person you are asking. That’s the key. Doing the same thing over and over again will only get you the same results.” 3. A great product will not sell itself. To break through change aversion and transform consumer behavior, you must out execute with relentlessness: “The irony is when you think about building a company, you’ve gotta have the right product to solve a real problem. You have to have the core business economics and all that stuff. But what people don’t talk about - it doesn’t matter how good your idea is or how perfect the timing is. If you are not relentless at taking no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no over and over again and still being willing to come to the plate, it doesn’t matter. That is the single most important trait I’ve found. Because for whatever reason, the world likes to reject change. There is such inherent resistant to anything different. So you have to literally will your idea into existence. It’s exhausting but fulfilling.” Keeping especially the last takeaway in mind as we forge new paths ✨

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NY Climate Tech Founders! 1) YES PLEASE save the date to join us at #techweek (6/3!), and 2) YES PLEASE share your top NY resources to complete our NY INSIDER GUIDE, in collab with NYCEDC!

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Three years ago, Stage Venture Partners backed Ariyan Kabir, Brual Shah , and Satyandra K. (SK) Gupta's startup, GrayMatter Robotics. Today, GrayMatter revealed their $45 million Series B, led by Wellington. In the past three years, GrayMatter's robots have handled 7.5 million square feet of products, streamlining tasks such as sanding, grinding, and finishing high-performance surfaces. This innovative automation addresses urgent labor shortages, enabling U.S. manufacturers to meet demand efficiently. Technology like GrayMatter's is crucial for American factories, and the company is just scratching the surface in revolutionizing high-tech production processes. https://lnkd.in/gJaUfDZq

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Really enjoyed my conversation with Matt Newberg on the HNGRY podcast. We dove into why we founded Bikky, why there's so much potential for restaurants to tap into their customer data, actionable ways to use that data, and the age old third-party vs. first-party debate. Restaurants raised prices aggressively over the past two years to stay ahead of inflation, and for the first time in a while consumers are questioning the value equation for their favorite brands. We're seeing softness in traffic across the category - with even leaders like CAVA (who still had blowout earnings) showing a slight decline. The winners in this cycle will be those that know what levers to pull to drive incremental traffic, frequency, and sales. I want to thank Matt for allowing me to talk about how we're doing that at Bikky. He's one of the most insightful folks covering the space, and holds the record for number of articles I forward when folks ask me what's top of mind in the industry. Here's the link the episode. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed being part of it: https://lnkd.in/e4yHTYeu

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Ep. 007 of The Feedback Loop is here! It's the first half of startup pitches from New York Tech Week, and from an almost-all-AI batch of companies. Joining me on this episode: returning fan-favorite, Jenny Fielding of Everywhere Ventures! For those not familiar, every week, a guest venture investor joins me to give granular and unfiltered feedback to founders on their storytelling and their concept. It's all about helping founders construct a better narrative for their move-forward -- because across fundraising, sales, recruiting, and company-building, it's the core narrative and pitch that can often hold startups back. And Jenny currently holds the tenure jacket as my guest co-host, with this being her 4th time on stage delivering quick insights and context you just can't find anywhere else. Massive shout-out to the founders featured: Matt Shenker building MatterMore, Karl White building Wroom, Trista V. building Nunchi, and Jeremy Da building Acrylic! Relevant links below.

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Looking beyond #VC funding for your #startup? Aakash Shah of Wyndly (YC W21) reveals how he built a multi-million dollar #healthtech company using creative capital strategies. Learn how he leveraged Y Combinator's network and alternative funding methods to revolutionize allergy treatment. In case you missed it, you can watch the #FundraisingDemystified #podcast here: https://lnkd.in/eZT63YS4

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Today was a big win for consumer health, with Flo Health Inc.'s valuation at $1 billion. We're hearing talk about the market becoming frothy again, but I’d argue—without seeing the detailed financials—that this valuation could be entirely warranted. Flo has built an impressive business, with 5 million paid subscribers and 70 million monthly active users. At $60 per year for users to access the product, this business has hundreds of millions in revenue and plenty of room to grow. It's increasingly clear to me that innovators focused on healthcare have been wildly underestimating consumer business models for years, believing that patients would only opt for solutions covered by their health plans and prescribed or recommended by their doctors. That thesis needs updating, particularly given high deductible plans and soaring co-pays. Innovators building solutions that users genuinely love will win - even in healthcare. These businesses also have the potential to move into B2B channels, which is far easier to do when you have an engaged, loyal user base. I expect we’ll see many more consumer health businesses “pop” in the years to come, further proving that consumers are ready and willing to pay for such solutions. We're watching closely at Cherish Kudos to the team at Flo for this impressive milestone. Lainie Muller Charlotte Yeh Aashima Gupta Avanlee Christine Esther Dyson Alexandra Drane Jessica Kamada Vin Gupta, MD MPA Asheesh Saksena Paul Crnkovich Josh Kampel Steve Chazin Lee Wagner #agingwithattitude #independentliving #consumerdrivencare

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if you know, you know Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures. nerd. founder. wise. man. been there done that sv. wisdom. it's missing. let's face it. it's always been missing over time. for.ever. so it's a blessing truly to have an o.g. that keeps it for reals. yes we are a fan. much like Jensen Huang Fei-Fei Li ilya sutskever ...and other good people in sv. they are the ones who make this place so special. indeed they do. here https://lnkd.in/exWqey9K we have sam i am that's all that i am sam (alt)man having a 1-1 with the man. this is a must watch to provide a foundational (no llm required here) mindset as to how sv is at it's best (and worse). caution. watch out for the truth bombs. vinod is (in)famous for this style and we <love> him for it. thank g-d he exists. if you meet the dbags in sf/bayarea your experience you will be quickly lonely, dazed and confused. best to listen to these wise words from vinod and from that determine your spot in the sv landscape. with an insight on the sv playbook from a master. well. need i say more. it's about the very spirit of sv that makes it so special. and this is indeed embodied in a few who are masters. deserve our attention. yeah. yeah. i know attention is all you need. although what happens if your attention is being distracted from building. being in the company of those who will join your mission ala brian chesky of Airbnb. missionaries. search for the good missionaries in sv. keep away and keep in mind of the mercenaries. they are there. pg. he's another gift (as opposed to the grifters) paul graham wrote about this too https://lnkd.in/eEYmQwqZ - being a chesky-esque missionary. these are good things to follow on the path of achieving escape velocity as an (ai) startup. oh. hollywood has entered the ranks of sv. yes it has. so there is a bit of performance art that is required. not enough that you've created something that's novel (truly, novel). also requires a bit of showmanship. audacious in fact. it's a well known sentiment that audacious ideas motivate people. sun microsystems. audacious. juniper. audacious. OpenAI. vinod as an early investor. audacious. Vinod Khosla was born audacious. so fitting he found a place in this world where many have benefitted from this sentiment. perhaps years ago a bit on the abrasive side. now with those white hairs. the elder statesman. non-diplomat. rules, the roost of that which allows for others to flourish. note if you manage to thread the needle of vinod means that it's a very very very good beginning. nothing is guaranteed of course. as my lawyer 'friends' like to say. * buyer beware. be aware. Vinod Khosla is. are you (ai)? are you?? perhaps yes. perhaps, non. < . >

It is was such a thrill today to announce our Loops debut launch within the Product Hunt community. I wanted to provide those of you who are less familiar with Loops some quick background on what we have achieved in the last few years - and that puts this special day into perspective. When we co-founded Loops, we were sick of product analytics “data theater” 🎭 - endless dashboards but little actionable insight. After running data and analytics at Google EMEA, I advised dozens of companies on analytics and saw this problem first-hand. We knew that data should truly be a force multiplier in a company's growth. 🚀 Loops empowers analytics and product teams to identify the biggest opportunities to maximize their growth and revenue. We leverage causal inference AI models, which show insights based on #causation, not just #correlation. Insights are automatically pushed to your Slack/MS teams/Email in natural language, leveraging our #GENAI models. 🔥 With Loops, you get insights like: 👉 What’s your aha and habit moment? 👉 What journeys and features causally drive retention? 👉 Why KPIs are going down? 👉 What’s the impact of my recent product launch? (even without A/B tests). With Loops, data analysts can truly make an impact on growth, and product managers focus their efforts where it matters. Our fast-growing customer base includes large and high-growth companies looking for an edge, like monday.com, AB InBev, Postman, ClickUp, Scribd, Inc., and many others ❤️. Often, our customers find an all-time top insight during a free Loops trial. Check out our case studies! If you’re looking for a better way to drive growth, take a look at Loops. Check out our self-serve demo environment and let me know what you think! love 🧡 Tom #productanalytics

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The Care Summit was an incredible conference, made up of world class speakers, mission driven founders and top tier VC’s. To top it off- it was hosted in San Francisco (don’t bet against SF!). I feel really fortunate I was invited to attend. Most people don’t realize the care economy is now a 6 trillion dollar industry, and only growing. Every opportunistic industry gets a lot of attention when capitalist are at work, but oddly Care- something that will impact every human- gets a fraction of the attention it deserves. Why is this? Why at a conference that’s focused on caregiving, longevity, child care and human health was there only a handful of men? On one discussion, one of the moderators asked the panelist in 5 words what they want to see happen between now and next year. If I was given the opportunity to answer, I would have said, “more male participation”. I think it’s critical more women lead, enter venture, build companies and hold executive roles- we need more voices not few- but I am baffled by the absence of men, and the lack of effort on the huge problems at home, at work and in our policies. We must participate and create positive impact, and not sit silent because you feel you are not impacted (news flash: you are). I am leaving San Francisco inspired by conversations I had. I am eager to dig in deeper at Maple as a founder in this space, and at home as a husband, brother, son and father. A big thank you to FamTech.org , Magnify Ventures , Pivotal Ventures , The Holding Co. And every person involved. I look forward to attending next year, and hope more men join in.

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Episode 341 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Somak Chattopadhyay, Managing Partner at Armory Square Ventures. Yes, markets like the Bay Area, NYC, and Boston get a lot of attention when it comes to building startups and having the ability to raise capital, but there are lots of other places to build a successful company. This has always been the case, but the pandemic definitely pushed this reality further.  This is why a firm like Amory Square Ventures exists. There are lots of secondary markets where entrepreneurs need access to capital and it is also a very important matter for the local economy for these companies to grow and create jobs, versus relocating. Somak shares the details of what led him down the path to start Armory Square Ventures, a seed and early stage venture fund, and why their approach of investing in seconday markets has not only been a differentiator for their firm but what they also consider as an optimism engine and a community catalyst for regions outside Silicon Valley. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Advice on how founders can push back on advice from investors. * Somak’s background story and his early career in startups. * How he landed in venture capital at Edison Ventures and Tribeca Venture Partners. * The details on what they are targeting for investments and portfolio company examples like Machinery Partner and ACV Auctions, a Buffalo company that went public. * Somak’s anti-portfolio, companies that he reviewed and an investment didn’t work out and went on to be a successful company. * Advice on building a marketplace. * And so much more. #venturecapital #startups #marketplaces

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"How do I get things started with a cofounder?" This is a question I'm asked often – and one I love talking about at length, drawing upon my own experience of searching for a co-founder for almost two years. And so, when Mark asked about this for his own venture while we were beating the heat with iced lattes last week, I realized that this *had* to be the topic of the next post for "the founder memo", Corpora's newsletter. https://lnkd.in/gMsj8CF6 The highlight? 👉 A detailed list of questions to *definitely, absolutely, positively* talk about with your co-founder. 👈 And want to document it in a Founders Agreement after you do? You're covered there as well – I've linked the template version of the actual agreement Serop and I used, along with tips on if and when to use it. Any other cofounder tips come to mind? Comment below! ___________ 📣 Are you searching for a co-founder? Pitch your startup idea here!  Who knows... maybe that's how you find you future co-founder. #startups #founder #cofounder

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Had an excellent time getting to know our Y Combinator batchmates and partners at our retreat last week. Some powerful learnings: 1) Find the opportunity in the crises your company encounters. 2) Communicate slowly and clearly and say the minimum that needs to be said to pull your audience in. 3) The greatest partnerships are forged in these sorts of unexpected environments. Excited to continue building next to such incredible peers

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My latest investment is rooted in a profoundly unique insight in one of the world largest industries, and I could not be more excited about it. Meet Kashmir Intelligence. We’re leading a $5M round alongside our friends at Jigsaw VC, Tiny Supercomputer Investment Company, Material Ventures, firedrop and TrueSight Ventures. The ideal Stride.VC deal requires (a) a unique insight in (b) a fundamentally interesting market with (c) a scalable business model and (d) a team of founders who can reshape their industry and (e) intentionality. This opportunity delivers on of all of these. The downstream oil industry is what our world runs on. Optimising the performance and output of existing infrastructure is one of the most immediately impactful things we can do to address the climate crisis. Additionally, delivering effective infrastructure in the face of the Russia crisis is a geopolitical imperative of profound importance. Oil refineries have a major data problem - they run millions of miles of pipes generating terabytes of sensor data they cannot move to the cloud, and their inability to harness this intelligence is hurting their efficiency. Enter Orbital - an edge infrastructure AI layer that delivers cloud-beating deep learning capabilities into downstream environments at a fraction of the cost, with none of the security risks. Founder Samyakh (Sam) Tukra stumbled upon this issue whilst building digital twins for refineries and immediately realised he'd come across a strategic issue plaguing heavy industrial environments in general and the oil industry in particular. Refineries are completely unique beasts with complex optimisation requirements in data-constrained, high security environments. Hence the solution here would require a complete different approach to deliver the predictive optimisation results that these companies need. Figuring out how to address this multi-faceted issue delivered the unique insight on which this company was born. Sam partnered up with repeat founder Callum Adamson and together they kickstarted Kashmir. Quite the duo. Callum and I share a habit of meditating on our own death and Sam is both charming and so talented I'm not even sure he's really human; the chemistry between all of us was excellent from the word "go". The company is emerging from stealth with real world performance underway at ExxonMobil / Gruppo API and ABB/ICL facilities and are excited to formally launch Orbital at Global Refining & Petrochemicals Congress 2024 in Delhi on the 27th of June as part of their Indian market focus. I'm excited to be part of this important company's journey as we strive to make industry more efficient. Big Data needs a sharp Edge, and we’re looking forward to showing you what Orbital can do. Thank you Pietro Invernizzi for the intro and assist! Onward. https://lnkd.in/eWJmft2w

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NY friends! Please come see me at Tech Day on my panel discussing the future of the NY tech ecosystem and what I hope to bring to it!

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🚀 Understand—and Control—Your Startup's Runway! 🚀 As a former VC and now guiding startups at Kruze Consulting, I've seen firsthand how crucial it is to have a clear grasp of your cash burn and runway. That's why I helped create a simple yet effective tool to make this critical financial assessment accessible for every founder. 📈 Quickly Determine Your Cash Runway 📈 Our Startup Runway Calculator is designed to be straightforward, providing a quick snapshot of how long your startup can operate at its current funding levels. This insight is vital for timely decisions about fundraising, budget adjustments, or strategic pivots. Here’s why this tool is a must-use: -Ease of Use: Calculate your runway in just a few clicks. Immediate Insight: Understand your financial status quickly to aid prompt decision-making. -Actionable Results: Gain clarity on when to seek further investment. Knowing your financial runway is more than a number; it's about having the confidence to make informed decisions that align with your startup's goals and growth trajectory. 🔍 Why Trust This Calculator? 🔍 I designed it to be intuitive and quick, respecting the busy schedules of founders. It focuses on what you need most: understanding your financial runway clearly and quickly. Accompanied by an article full of practical tips, you can find strategies to maximize your funding and extend your runway. In the startup world, timing and precision are everything. Understanding your financial runway isn’t just a good practice—it’s essential for survival and success. Check out our article and give the calculator a try today to take control of your startup's financial future! Find the link in the first comment below. #FinancialStrategy

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IF you are a #climatetech #startup OR you are an emerging #VC manager raising your first fund, this podcast is for you. Shomik Dutta of Overture VC shares amazing advice for breaking into #venturecapital as well as advice for climate-focused founders. Huge opportunities in this space. Give it a listen, "like" or share! :)

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