Natalie Kaminski

For those a bit interested in Startups, and more specifically building ones that will succeed, @madelynblair and I hope you will tune it. Detail on the pic. #startups #arrangr https://lnkd.in/eHMbgHV7

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For founders raising money — here are a few ways to start building your initial list of investors to vet: ➟ Work through Crunchbase to find companies in your space, and look up the investor who funded them at the appropriate round. You can also look at funding announcements for companies in your space and see which investors are involved. ➟ Reach out to angel investors, advisors, mentors, and your extended network to ask which GPs could be a good fit and have keen interest in your space. ➟ Look up lists of the most active investors in your region and try to understand if those investors have a thesis or have previously invested in companies in your industry. Good luck and stay strong! I've seen Unicorns get 100s of No's at the Pre-Seed stage before they got to their first Yes.

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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.”

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💰 Attn: Are you a founder or CEO prepping for fundraising? Or a GTM pro who works for one? You’ll want to check out our (2) new templates: 📚 Interactive fundraising deck: https://lnkd.in/eCECjnG5 📚 Executive summary: https://lnkd.in/e7SfggGf Even though AssetMule was designed to help GTM teams better engage prospects with interactive sales assets, we’ve started to see an influx of founders signing up to build their fundraising assets. And it makes total sense. Just like buyers, investors are overwhelmed with the amount of pitches coming their way and are harder to reach than ever before. Founders need new ways to rise above the noise and earn their attention. And that’s exactly what AssetMule is designed to do. Not only will these templates help you pull your core fundraising assets together in a fraction of the time & with less effort, but they’ll help you engage investors in a more meaningful way and book more pitch meetings. Check out Justin Dorfman's demo below & sign up for AssetMule to get started for free: https://lnkd.in/efkfwj7i #startups #ceos #founders #fundraising #saas

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🎙️ Exciting insights from SaaS Academy's CEO Johnny Page on the Expertise Economy podcast! Johnny breaks down their two-step approach to helping SaaS founders: 1️⃣ The Discovery Call: Uncovering the founder's "why" and long-term vision 2️⃣ The Strategic Game Plan Session: Creating a 90-day action plan to achieve 12-month goals 🔑 Key focus: Identifying and solving business constraints Want to dive deeper on the secrets of building a successful SaaS business? Check out the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/dju-Be2u #SaaS #BusinessStrategy #SaasAcademy #ExpertiseEconomy #Podcast

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VISION => TALENT => TEAM Founders: The strength and clarity of your vision precedes your ability to attract great talent, which in turn precedes the construction of teams who will build great products. If you think you have a team problem, you likely do... but the root cause is that you have not effectively crafted your vision, ambition and business model in a way that will attract the best talent.

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The old adage is true -- if you want to get something done, ask a busy (parent) person. I've noticed those "forced breakpoints" in the day really move the needle when it comes to: 1) Selecting my priorities. Knowing that I have to pickup kids at daycare or school means I have to wisely choose what I'd like to tackle today. The "must dos" get a lot more clear, as does saying no or managing team expectations. 2) Managing energy. Sometimes, it feels like getting to 7:30pm, when the kids are hopping in bed, is a minor miracle (and no way I could do it without my partner, Jackie). I also know my energy levels are not the same after that, so I have to line up the right work with the right energy level. 3) Time boxing work. I can't remember who told this to me, but a task will always fill the time you give it. They meant it in the bad way, where you can waste time on something that can/should be done quickly. The breakpoints for family mean all I have is this time, so push hard to get it done. 80/20 rule typically prevails. I have been surprised at how effective it is to give yourself a much shorter time frame and try to get it done.

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Bump is platform that helps creators manage and grow their businesses. Launched in 2020 by James Jones, Esq. and Kovalyov Anton, Bump recently announced a $3 million seed round, with investments from ImpactX, Capitalize VC and Serac Ventures. Bump allows creators to track income and market value, which can help them negotiate better deals and see how much money they are owed from partners. In 2022, Bump launched the Bump Creator credit card in partnership with Mastercard, which provides no monthly or hidden fees and can be acquired without a credit check. Bump also works with a banking institution and has direct deposit accounts that let creators earn interest on cash placed in its money market account. Bump closed its seed round in about six months, with other investors, including Heirloom Ventures, H/L Ventures and Mana Ventures. It has raised $3.5 million to date, with existing investors, including Snap Inc. and Sixty8 Capital. “The creator economy is one of the most important trends in the future of work,” Oliver Libby, a managing partner at H/L Ventures, told TechCrunch. “There is virtually no financial infrastructure, no financial training, products, or help for this growing population — many of them underrepresented and underbanked.” Bump will use the latest fundraise to help it expand and refine its infrastructure. #creators #creatoreconomy #startups #finance #tech https://lnkd.in/gE5xzp_s

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🗣 Startup Founders (particular early stage) I'd love to pay it forward and help you! What's top of mind or what questions do you have that I can (potentially) share thoughts on? From hiring and team building, to designing a cohesive product or fundraising. Run wild!

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In an increasingly crowded field of telemedicine startups, building a platform that not only attracts users, but also retains them is key. For this week’s episode of the Building One podcast, I recently sat down with Alexandria Stried, the Chief Product Officer of Cerebral, a telehealth business specializing in mental health - from therapy to medication management. One of my favorite takeaways from this episode is about how Alex and her team learned the importance of early activation -- the moment in which newly onboarded users realize the value of your product. In Cerebral’s case, they found that people who went to three therapy sessions in their first month were more likely to retain. Once they figured that out, they focused their growth team on getting their onboarding journey right. This is a lesson that really applies across many industries & products, but few product leaders actually know what it is for them. Alex goes into detail on all this and more in the full episode, including (1) the value of getting direct feedback from your users, especially ones who churned, and (2) why investing in a better product for Cerebral’s service providers was potentially even more important for customer satisfaction than anything else. Check out the full episode for all the great learnings. Click here to listen and follow: 🎧 Apple: https://lnkd.in/etbU8_76  🎧 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eCrAQMCB

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𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀! We're conducting a benchmarking study to define success metrics specifically for vertical software companies. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Existing SaaS benchmarks just don't cut it for your unique industry needs. This research will provide the data-driven insights to measure and optimize your vertical software business. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽? A few minutes of your time can make a big difference.

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🌶🌶 Category creation has been all the rage. 🌶🌶 Kyle Poyar's post from James Evans is gold on this topic. My TAKEAWAYS: 1️⃣ Category creation = playing the game on HARD mode 2️⃣ Before & after narratives = critical 3️⃣ Repositioning > Pivoting I feel like I've been waiting for years for someone to call out category creation like this. Category creation seems great. It sounds so bold. So "Blue Ocean." Very "Alpha." We don't play by other people's rules... we make up our own rules! But being so novel nobody "gets" what you are? That's hard. Hard for customers. Hard for investors, Hard for employees. If you loved the book "Play Bigger"—the latest darling of category creation—this is the counterpoint to round out the topic. Locally, Qualtrics was the poster child for category creation. They hired the authors of "Play Bigger." But “experience management?” Really? What does that even mean? Are they an app for travel agencies? When’s the last time you took a survey and felt like you were having an experience? Never made sense to me. ... also if you need further proof that I know what I'm talking about and that Qualtrics is up in the night...well, I’m still working for a living and Ryan Smith owns the Jazz after scratching $8 Billion on a napkin while playing basketball. 🤷🏼‍♂️ 😜 😱 Win some, lose some. P.S. IMHO, "Play Bigger" is an "also ran" to the O.G. and much more practical "Positioning: the Battle for Your Mind" Don't believe me? 🤔 Never heard of Positioning: the Battle for Your Mind? 😕 That's okay. FYI Play Bigger was a best seller with over 150,000 copies sold world wide. It only needs to sell 3,850,000 more copies to catch up to Positioning. 😁 #cmozen #positioning #categorycreation

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Sometimes I encourage founders to socialize their company to prospective investors before actually starting an official fundraise process. We've seen this work in a variety of ways: (1) preemptive term sheets; (2) founders pick up on investor sentiment towards their business; (3) opportunity to form more organic relationship with an investor; and (4) get a sense of what investors want to see for a subsequent fundraise. Some founders are reluctant to socialize their business until it appears more solid and there's obvious traction. While this makes sense, the reality is that early-stage is inherently messy and investors know the plane is being built and flown simultaneously. The art of conveying the narrative of, "this is what I've already accomplished and here's where the business will be in next 3-6-9-12 months" can be the most effect fundraising tool in the game. What do others in the VC community think of this strategy?

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"What was it like living in the heart of Silicon Valley during the dot-com bubble?" Pete McCarthy has helped launch industry-changing startups, bootstrapped his own ventures, and revitalized aging tech solutions for larger companies. As a product manager, Pete's unique blend of creative thinking and rigorous process ensures repeatable success. He understands the full spectrum of business operations, from coding intricacies to strategic vision. In last year's discussion, Pete shares his firsthand account of life in Silicon Valley around 1999-2000, particularly his experiences at OpenTable. He describes the initial exuberance of rapid growth, lavish startup culture, and aggressive expansion, followed by the dramatic downturn during the dot-com crash. Despite the chaos, Pete advanced to an implementation role, connected with local restaurateurs, and engaged in side projects, showcasing resilience and adaptability. In the full episode, we explore Pete's tech journey, from witnessing the first web browser to navigating the early days of Silicon Valley. We discuss his entrepreneurial ventures, his return to tech to deepen his coding knowledge, and his experiences across various industries. Pete also delves into agile and waterfall methodologies, the contrarian mindset, crypto, Bitcoin, and Earthships. As Pete says, "Get this thing (software) out the door and get it being used. People will forgive a lot of mistakes in the software if they see that it's launched because there's that relief that the money and time went in got you something." Pete's story is a testament to the power of resilience and adaptability in the ever-evolving tech landscape. His dot-com bubble journey and beyond highlights the importance of embracing change, learning continuously, and seizing new opportunities. Check out the full episode to hear more about Pete's insights on the dot-com bubble, his approach to product management, and his thoughts on the future of tech. Links in bio. #SiliconValley #TechRevolution #StartupJourney

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How many companies in a single screenshot are ready for #disruption by a savvy #DLT #startup? I count 2. If a company has 1/5 stars from the majority of customer ratings, how is that still an A+ BBB rating? If Escrow(.com) is so universally bad to such a wide variety of customers, how long before a half way competent #fintech comes to eat their lunch? I can't help but think there's a better way, and it probably has something to do with distributed ledger technology. Ideally on a trusted network with adults at the helm like Hedera. In #2024 with such technological marvels left and right; why should any company be able to get away with this?

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21 Ways to Kill Your Company Day 9: Poor Fundraising Strategy This means two things - be realistic about the benchmarks you need to unlock your next raise and then raise enough money to hit those milestones. Be great (and realistic) with financial planning. Don't forget those extra five months you typically need to raise. #21waystokillyourcompany #fundraising #venturecapital

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I 💯agree with Oz Merchant on this topic. Some folks advise founders to pitch very selectively and 'pick your pitch' - you get one shot, choose it wisely? I'm 180 degrees opposite of that - be a promiscuous pitcher! - ABP - ALWAYS BE PITCHING. Because your pitch gets better with every no, take that feedback, learn, iterate. Right now it's taking 50-100 no's for Triangle co's to get funding, it's still tough out there, so get through the no's fast to get to a yes. Check out the event - also go see others pitch, it all helps you get better - pitching is like PMF - lots of iteration, tons of grinding to get through to the other side.

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TechCrunch's Mary Ann Azevedo discusses our list of 85 potential M&A target predictions for Ramp Watch this list of targets If you're a corp dev team and want to quickly build a target M&A list in seconds, we got you note: We made some predictions for Wiz M&A targets earlier this week (see first comment) https://lnkd.in/ezQ7mmex

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I've had the same conversation with several SaaS Founders about fundraising struggles this past week. Here are 3 things Investors aren't telling you right now (that only second-time Founders know): • From June - August, VCs are on vacation. Deals rarely get done over the summer because VCs are busy and distracted. Second-time Founders use this period to get jacked and ripped on their metrics and GTM, while building momentum to capitalize on the late August to November fundraising window. • Investments in AI have slowed. Many startups have already failed due to core OpenAI model updates. If you’re building an AI company, expect slower progress as VCs are in a “wait and see” mode. Again, 2nd time Founders use this time to build up their momentum. • First-time Founders go into fundraising with the wrong mindset, “We’re raising money to figure out distribution.” VCs don’t want to fund that. They want to invest in momentum that’s already building so you can accelerate it. Nailing your GTM and showing the momentum you’re building is super important. If you’re fundraising for your SaaS business and haven’t figured out your GTM strategy yet, grab a complimentary copy of my 5-Point SaaS Growth Strategy Guide. Just follow the link in the comments below. 👇

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