Simi Shah

Prime Coalition has long taken a different tack to climate finance compared to its for-profit brethren. It makes the usual venture-style investments in startups through Azolla Ventures and also helps philanthropists direct their money to climate-related projects that it deems high impact. Trellis Climate follows the latter model with a focus on middle stages, where capital has grown scarce. #climatetech #climateVC #climatefinance

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Great time on the Embracing Erosion podcast w/Devon O'Rourke! We talked about: 🚀 How to scale a company from concept to 9-figure exit 🔄 How to break away from the traditional consulting model and apply product approaches ⏩ Why it’s important to iterate quickly and often with messaging 💸📈What signals are important to pay attention to when investing in startups and much more!

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Interesting week Wins from this week and last both personal and podcast: 1. Got a response from several people that I reached out to  2. Got a really kind DM from someone 3. Got into BuildSpace S5 4. Might be cooking up something with Niraj re a Creators Micro Grant - Our minimum viable cycle is to help 1 creator Responses received for the podcast: 1. Got a response from Alfred Lin of Sequoia Capital and more Vouches: 1. No vouches this week Rejections: 1. Got rejected/no response by a few people I reached out to for the podcast  2. And for jobs that I applied for Applied for: 1. Applied for a few jobs this week  2. Pitched myself to someone who’s content I love That’s it for today’s update!

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Summary: Co-founder of Collaborative Fund, Craig Shapiro speaks about their unique investment strategy in sectors like climate, health, and food and their impressive fundraising success in a tough market. Key takeaways: Collaborative Fund invests in non-traditional sectors like climate, health, and food, rather than the popular SaaS business model. The firm's sixth flagship fund raised $125 million in just over 90 days, despite the current challenging fundraising environment. The firm focuses on seed stage companies and emphasizes on addressing changing consumer spending habits and climate sustainability in their portfolio. Counter arguments: Some may argue that Collaborative Fund's focus on non-traditional sectors may not yield as high returns compared to popular sectors like SaaS. The difficult fundraising environment and lower interest from LPs could potentially affect the firm's future investments and success. #venturecapital #vc #venture #startups #fundraising

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𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽'𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 I recently had an insightful conversation with Derek Andersen, the visionary founder of Bevy and Startup Grind, on my podcast. Derek's journey is a testament to the power of community building and the transformative impact it can have on businesses and individuals alike. I wanted to share some key takeaways from our chat in this blog post. 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝘃𝘆: 𝗔 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 Derek's passion for community building led him to create Startup Grind in 2010, a global platform that connects and supports entrepreneurs. Startup Grind's success is a testament to its core values: giving more than you take, helping others first, and making friends. As Startup Grind grew, Derek and his team realized the need for better tools to manage and scale their community efforts. This led to the creation of Bevy, an AI-powered platform designed to streamline community management and growth. It's a great example of how identifying and addressing real-world problems can lead to innovative solutions. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 In our conversation, Derek emphasized the increasing importance of community building in today's world. In the digital age, where connections can often feel fleeting, communities provide a sense of belonging, support, and shared purpose. For businesses, fostering a strong community can lead to increased customer loyalty, engagement, and even product innovation. Derek's insights on leveraging AI in community management were particularly interesting. AI can help automate repetitive tasks, personalize experiences, and provide valuable insights into community behavior. However, Derek also stressed the importance of maintaining a human touch in community building. AI is a tool to enhance, not replace, human connection. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 Here are some key lessons I took away from my conversation with Derek: 1.Start with a clear purpose: What do you want your community to achieve? 2.Focus on giving value: Offer your members something they can't find elsewhere. 3.Embrace technology: Use tools like Bevy to streamline your efforts. 4.Never forget the human touch: Foster genuine connections within your community. If you're interested in learning more about community building, I highly recommend checking out the full episode of my podcast with Derek Andersen. It's packed with valuable insights and practical advice for anyone looking to build a thriving community. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Wei D. (Founder and CEO of unicorn Clipboard Health) dropped some major 💎 gems of wisdom during her fireside chat with PearX founders at Pear VC SF Studio yesterday. These really resonated: 💎 PMF isn't something you achieve once - staying relevant to your market is an ongoing pursuit 💯 (Wei shared that to date she still LOVES talking with customers and - even at 1000+ employees and with all the success already achieved - she continues to chase unlocks for the business and recently obtained her nursing assistant certification in order to stay close to users and unlock new insights with them 🥇) 💎 If you're scared of sales, don't think of it as sales -- you're just talking to someone who you're trying to help. Approach your customers with care and listen to them as you would a friend. The moment it's an actual conversation with a friend, that's probably where you're going to get your first sale. If it feels "salesy" you're probably not doing it the right way. 🤝 💎 Do whatever it takes to get in front of your customers! (For Wei this meant driving around at 8 months pregnant and walking up to DMs at nursing homes!) 🚗 💎 The users you speak with in your market will give you the key jargon you need to use to speak back to your market. Listen intently and adopt their language! 🗣 💎 There is little you decide that can't be undone. Be smart, make calculated decisions, but don't overthink things --- err on the side of action and quick decision making. 🏃‍♀️ 💎 Iterate until your users feel passionately about what you're doing (ie. they get angry when the product is down or doesn't work). You want your users to care A LOT about the problem you're solving. 😡 Wei's resilience, grit and work ethic are off the charts. What an inspiration! 👏 #femalefounders #inspiration #techfounder #unicornfounder #hero

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Wild to see New York Tech Week be such a thing still 2 years later. When we started it at Capital, I had to fight, scratch, claw, and (sometimes) beg people and companies to host events. Didn't look like that publicly because we drove a ton of hype and momentum to it. Eventually, the hype becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. But the 0 to 1 to keep that hype going required a ton of effort. Now the whole thing has a momentum of it's own. For example, two companies that told me no to hosting events just invited me to their tech week events for this year. The lesson - drive enough momentum and eventually something becomes the default. Inevitable. Inevitability can be engineered.

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In a recent episode of H/L Ventures' For Starters, we pointed out that 70% of unicorns have at least one founder from an underrepresented group. As we said then, it highlights how having diverse viewpoints involved can spark innovation and growth. Despite this, new research shows a major funding gap for diverse women and minorities. Racially diverse, all-female startup founding teams with minorities spent the longest time fundraising in 2023 at an average of 25 weeks, a 67% increase from 2022. By comparison, all-male teams secured more funding and at a faster pace. What can be done to address this gap? #Investing #Diversity #Startups

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Summary: Industry Ventures has raised a $900 million early-stage hybrid fund for investing in emerging managers and directly backing growth-stage companies. This is their seventh hybrid fund and is larger than their previous one. The fund will be split between backing VC funds, direct investments, and acquiring stakes from emerging managers. Key takeaways: Smaller, newer funds are finding it more difficult to raise capital, but this fund from Industry Ventures offers hope for emerging managers. The fund will be split between various investments, including backing VC funds and buying secondary interests. Industry Ventures may have an advantage due to their ability to invest in both emerging and more established managers. Counter arguments: Some may argue that it is still difficult for emerging managers to raise funds. The success of Industry Ventures may not be indicative of the overall climate for emerging managers. #venturecapital #venture #startups #fundraising

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Fundraising in 2024 is challenging, and it can be attributed to the circumstances of 2023. 2023 has set the stage for many of the setbacks founders experience in this year’s fundraising environment. Find out in our 2023 deep dive why: 1. Many founders found fundraising in 2023 to be exceptionally challenging. 2. 2024 is not any better (and what you can do about it) 3. Facts: Valuations and round sizes for the first 6 months of 2024. 4. Later-stage valuations finally impact early-stage ventures. All and more on that tomorrow - you don’t want to miss that. If you want to join us, subscribe here: https://buff.ly/3VPoIoF

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At Costanoa Ventures, we pride ourselves on identifying and supporting exceptional founders poised to create impactful, lasting change. Hona is a shining example, driven by a trio of extremely talented founders: Manny Griffiths, Joshua Christensen, and Matt McClellan. They each bring unique, differentiated expertise to the table, and Amy Cheetham and I are extremely excited to partner with them. There are approximately 450,000 law firms in the United States, with half of those firms being B2C - think personal injury, mass tort, or immigration law as opposed to BigLaw. One of the reasons we love how Hona is tackling this market is their focus on B2C law firms and product excellence - B2B firms are historically difficult to sell brand new software products into, but B2C firms are completely different buyers. Oftentimes there's just a handful of lawyers and paralegals in a partnership, and any piece of technology they can use to give them an edge would be valuable. 44% of negative Google reviews on law firms directly reference poor communication as the reason for a negative experience, and the number 1 reason for Attorney Bar complaints in the U.S. is "lack of communication". On the lawyer's side, attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants spend an average of 7.4 hours per week on unnecessary updates, redundant communication, and activities that aren't directly contributing towards getting a client's case solved. Manny and the team at Hona are working to change all of that. Hona delivers a tightly-integrated communications platform to help facilitate better communication between law firms and their clients. During legal proceedings, client communications tend to be a large resource-stressor for law firms. Clients will frequently call firms for case updates, legal explanations, or general administrative questions that tend to eat away at firm resources without providing any additional progress toward case resolution. Hona exists to ease that burden - it’s a platform that allows law firms to efficiently communicate with their clients over text, easily build customizable web pages and embed videos, and share information on case status and basic legal process education. This crucial communication processes allow attorneys to focus on their job – moving cases forward, while keeping their clients informed and educated. If you're a lawyer dealing with these problems - don't hesitate to reach out to us or the Hona team! It's a privilege to work with Hona on this journey. The company has been growing at a rapid pace, and they're delivering meaningful technology to help people get through legal proceedings in a much more fluid, transparent, and easy process. Manny, Joshua, and Matt are exceptional founders whose combined skills and dedication to continuous learning position them perfectly to lead Hona to success. They're just getting started, and we can't wait to see what they'll achieve.

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Why did the startup move to New York City? Because they heard it’s the place where dreams and rent prices grow exponentially! Hi Looking forward to being in NYC next week. Let’s grab a coffee and discuss what’s working for you and how you’re looking to grow. Drop me a line, and let’s find a time to meet! Can’t wait to catch up #NYC #BusinessGrowth #Networking #CoffeeChat #StartupLife

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Pivoting is essential in the startup world. If you don’t pivot, you’ll die. The ability to pivot – to shift strategies based on new data and insights – is critical for survival and growth. We’ve pivoted dozens of times through the startups. Had we not, we surely would have died. Adaptability: When faced with new information, be open-minded and willing to evolve your vision. Cling too tightly to your original plan, and you may miss opportunities. Humility: Check your ego at the door. Pivoting typically means your initial assumptions were not working. Humility is a must.  Learn new information and then course correct. Decisiveness: Once you've analyzed the situation, get moving and commit. Make tough decisions swiftly to pivot your startup in a new direction. Slow movement can crush you. Resilience: Pivots will be exhausting mentally and emotionally. Self-care and reliance on your mentors and supporting team are musts. Resilient founders take a punch and get back up. Please keep these items in mind as you face challenges to your model. You’ll need to make a major pivot at some point, likely one that determines your survival. The path is never linear—it's those who can adapt and evolve who ultimately thrive. #startups #pivot #entreprenur #founders #seedfunding

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As we dive into 2024, the Series A fundraising landscape is becoming increasingly daunting. Investment standards are soaring, and fewer startups are making the cut. Series A investors are finding many seed stage companies too premature. The median valuation jump from seed to Series A skyrocketed from $19.5 million in Q1 2022 to $28.7 million in Q1 2024. Investors now demand stronger revenue performance, targeting $2 million to $3 million in ARR, up from $1 million to $2 million. Alarmingly, only 12% of Q1 2022 seed startups secured Series A funding within two years, down from 31.8% in Q1 2020. #venture #earlystage #seedtoseriesa #seed #seriesa #inspireglobalventures https://lnkd.in/gW4bkcNy

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Southeast VC Update: Q2 2024 PitchBook Venture Monitor Highlights The Southeast continues to hold its position in the VC regional landscape #5 in dollars raised for Q2 2024 🥉 #3 in deal count (just behind the West Coast and the Mid-Atlantic) H1 2024 Southeast Breakdown:  📊 10% more deals than Northeast  📈 30% more deals than Mountain region, 20% more than South  💰 5% more dollars raised than Mountain region  💸 23.5% more dollars raised than South YoY Funding Trends:  📈 Southeast: Up 29% 📈 Mid-Atlantic: Up 136%  📉 Midwest: Down 67%  📉 New England: Down 11%  📈 West Coast: Up 59% Key Trend: While closing in on Mid-Atlantic numbers, we are seeing more deals but smaller rounds. This could indicate strong activity occurring in the seed & early-stage funding, despite the macro challenges. (Pitchbook classifies the Southeast as AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN, Puerto Rico, & Virgin Islands) #BuildInSE

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Want a front-row seat to the frontier of tech? We’ve got the role (or two) for you! We’re expanding our frontier-tech team at Blackbird by hiring a Frontier Tech Investments Associate and Foundry Fellows! Got questions? We've got answers... 1️⃣ What are the roles? 🧪 Associate = a full-time VC investment gig in our Blackbird Investments team, working directly with me. We’re looking for someone with a science and/or engineering background and more curiosity than they can handle. You’ll grow your own investment brand and practice, support our portfolio founders, and will help build Foundry, our early-stage frontier-tech accelerator. ✨ Foundry Fellow = a casual/contract gig in our Blackbird Investments team, ~15h per week for 3 months. The Fellowship is ideal for PhD students and ECRs who want to learn more about startups and VC. You’ll go deep on emerging areas relevant to your expertise (or curiosity!), get a front-row seat to groundbreaking companies in those areas, build out your non-academic network, and develop a solid writing practice. 2️⃣ Why are you hiring? We love frontier tech, and we’re ready to grow our team. 3️⃣ Wow, it’s so great that you’re starting to look at deep tech! Look, we get it: we don’t make a lot of noise about our frontier tech investing. Buuuut we’ve been deep-tech investors since we backed Tim Kentley-Klay to found Zoox back in 2014—we’ve been on incredible journeys with PsiQuantum (building the world's first utility-scale quantum computer right here in Australia!), Inventia Life Science (transforming drug discovery with high-fidelity cell models), Remedy Robotics (surgical robots for remote endovascular procedures), Opto Biosystems (minimally-invasive neural implants to treat cancer), and more. We believe that frontier technologies, and great frontier-tech investing, will be part of the solutions to the greatest problems humanity faces today. 4️⃣ When do applications close? May 31st at 11:59pm AEST. 5️⃣ I have more questions! I’m sure you do! Clare Birch and I are hosting an AMA to answer any and all questions about these roles. Want to know what a week in the life of our team looks like? What’s keeping us up at night? What our ideal candidate looks like? Come along and find out - registration link in the comments 👇 Apply for these roles: Associate - https://lnkd.in/gCfj4EUJ Foundry Fellowships - https://lnkd.in/gj6ATZVZ If you know anyone that we should meet, send me their details! Cameron Elise Ben Andrew Robin Joseph Adelaide James Olivia Lucinda Raghav Jesse Christie Mohamed Tom Amee Pablo Haya Loong Hon Joshua Benjamin Megan Harry Denzil Matthew Diana Daniel Tom Deanna Justin Amar Lilly Stone Thomas

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Over the years, we at GFR Fund have solidified our investment thesis, which is that we invest in "emerging digitally native communities." These communities can be built around games, social media, and any consumer applications. Now, founders have many easy-to-use tools to build user communities, such as Discord, X/twitter, Instagram, etc, and we believe the founders should start building communities even before they launch a product. The communities can help founders: - reach PMF faster - acquire users cheaper - retain and engage users longer - build better UX/UI, and - hire early employees Below, you can see how RTFKT and Omeda Studios built the community and then worked with them to create a product the users really wanted. We would love to talk to the founders who think the community is essential in building a product!

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I echo and a firm believer of Laurel Mintz take on Diversity - "Diversity in thought, diversity in boards, diversity in public companies, diversity in all of this is what creates a better culture. It's what creates better outcomes, both financially and emotionally. Ultimately, it's just a better approach to creating a more well-rounded society.” #ImpactInvesting #VentureCapital #PurposeDrivenInvestors

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