Ben Bergman’s Post

PSA! Looking for your next role? Over the past couple of weeks, some fantastic professionals in my network have asked about topping-up their fractional CFO/COO & NED portfolios. And in these challenging times, other highly regarded friends and connections in operations & business development have either been laid off, or are simply looking for a new challenge in the investment, start-up operator or accelerator space. So: on April 17th at Level 39, since we're convening 200 founders, VCs and accelerators, let's see if we can give serendipity a little helping hand. If you're looking for your next role, DM me here. After I welcome the audience, before starting the VC presentations, we'll do a quick intro of the available talent in the room, so that connections can be made easily during the networking. Depending on how many DM's I get, this might need to be on a first-come basis. We'll comp you, if you're looking for your next role. Serendipity engineering - is that a thing? Please share this, and pass on to anyone who might need to see it.

Every founder should watch this and determine which CEO you are. Self-awareness can make a huge impact (BEFORE you are confronted with it)

This is such a true post but I want to add another angle. When founders are seeking Venture Capital and in the process of pitching funds, they should ask those funds these questions: 1. Are you actively making investments in new companies or are you only supporting current portfolio companies with follow-on investment. 2. Have you closed your Fundraise (VC's are always actively raising from LPs, just like founders are raising from VC's) or are you still seeking to close your fund target. 3. If the fund is fully capitalized, always ask where they are in their deployment cycle. If X fund is a $10M fund, have only deployed $1M and they write $100K-$500K checks, that is a much better spot than the same fund that has already deployed $6M or $7M. Its a competition game at this point. All of these questions can be answered in a 15 min call vs going through 2-3 pitch meetings. Many funds meet founders when they have no capital to deploy which is fine. But value your time when it comes to fundraising efforts. It is a game changer. #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

Pitching to Angels and VCs - one of the biggest lessons so far has been about finding the right fit. As our pitch evolves and our platform grows this process becomes smoother. Every yes, no, and not yet is an opportunity to learn and grow. Loving this process and the journey.

I know we just published our Seed 100 and Seed 40 lists, but I'm already thinking about our next VCs list. Who are the top solo VCs out there right now? Comment 👇🏽 for recommendations.

Applications to 757 Accelerate close in 10 days! Here's what you'll gain by applying: ✅ $20,000 in non-dilutive funding ✅ Enhanced focus on investor readiness. ✅ Two lead mentors (Investor and Operations) ✅ Investor Roadshow ✅ And much more... Apply now and become part of a vibrant community shaping the future of innovative founders. 🔗: https://ow.ly/X1v550R5Fez Let's accelerate your journey to success! 🚀 #757Accelerate #StartupOpportunity #EntrepreneurialJourney #757Collab

Applications to 757 Accelerate close in 10 days! Here's what you'll gain by applying: ✅ $20,000 in non-dilutive funding ✅ Enhanced focus on investor readiness. ✅ Two lead mentors (Investor and Operations) ✅ Investor Roadshow ✅ And much more... Apply now and become part of a vibrant community shaping the future of innovative founders. 🔗: https://ow.ly/X1v550R5Fez Let's accelerate your journey to success! 🚀 #757Accelerate #StartupOpportunity #EntrepreneurialJourney #757Collab

Applications to 757 Accelerate close in 10 days! Here's what you'll gain by applying: ✅ $20,000 in non-dilutive funding ✅ Enhanced focus on investor readiness. ✅ Two lead mentors (Investor and Operations) ✅ Investor Roadshow ✅ And much more... Apply now and become part of a vibrant community shaping the future of innovative founders. 🔗: https://ow.ly/X1v550R5Fez Let's accelerate your journey to success! 🚀 #757Accelerate #StartupOpportunity #EntrepreneurialJourney #757Collab

Applications to 757 Accelerate close in 10 days! Here's what you'll gain by applying: ✅ $20,000 in non-dilutive funding ✅ Enhanced focus on investor readiness. ✅ Two lead mentors (Investor and Operations) ✅ Investor Roadshow ✅ And much more... Apply now and become part of a vibrant community shaping the future of innovative founders. 🔗: https://ow.ly/X1v550R5Fez Let's accelerate your journey to success! 🚀 #757Accelerate #StartupOpportunity #EntrepreneurialJourney #757Collab

A founder's ability to hone in on their ICP and build value and solve a problem for a very specific customer segment is crucial. 🎯 One insight I took away from Parker Gilbert's journey building his company Numeric is not only their ability to do this effectively, but to elect to work with a focused customer segment where the value of the partnership compounds over time (i.e go-to-market, integration). 🥞 For Numeric that's incredible finance customers and partners like Mercury, Plaid, Wealthfront, Betterment. 💜 Not to mention the traction that led to raising their $10M round from top firms like Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures, and 8VC. 💸 🚀 🎙 🎙 Check out the entire interview with Parker here: https://bit.ly/numeric-br