Samir Kaji’s Post

Absolutely loved joining the Redpoint Ventures team for my first “un-conference” bringing together angel and seed investors at their office in San Fransisco! The event started out with a fireside chat with Elad Gil, an investor in 40+ billion dollar startups like Airbnb and Coinbase. From there, we broke out into community-led breakout discussions. I chose to join the group discussions on Consumer AI and Exit Activity in Today’s Market. Learned a ton, but here are my main takeaways from the day: 💫 Redpoint Market Update: 15% of rounds are down, up from 7% in 2021, and compared to 53% in 2001 during the bubble. This year 129 startups that raised over $10M have shut down, and more are to come. 💫 Elad Gil’s weird signs of startup success: 1) If people hate the product, but they're still buying it. There is a real need. 2) Negative reference checks on founders are often a neutral sign not a red flag. 💫 Elad Gil’s Portfolio Update: 95% of his investments have been into AI over the past 3 years. He has seen very little in Consumer AI, and believes there is big opportunity here. 💫 Elad’s Advice for Angel Investing: 1) Buy some brands — get a small check into a logo deal 2) Create content and become known for something 3) Be useful and founders will find you. Thank you to Meera Clark for the invite! This day reminded me how important it is to surround myself with super smart people I can learn from. Excited for more opportunities like this in 2024!

As venture investors and support systems push into the heartland from concentrations on the coasts, some regions are seeing more of a surge. Read about how Columbus is putting the pin in the startup ecosystem! 📍🚀 https://ow.ly/VcUU50PvRiB

The old VC mantra of "go big or go home" is broken. My take: Bigger isn't always better when it comes to funding your business. And I'm putting my money where my mouth is... At OpenSky Ventures, we're the pre-seed investors who are focused on finding the disruptive founders building the next generation of innovative commerce startups. We've funded 15 companies over the last 16 months from $100k to $250k check sizes. We're operators with experience who have both successfully exited. We don't care if you want to exit for $50m or $500m as long as our cost-basis is aligned and we have a 10x upside potential. We know that the startup world is constantly pushing this narrative that massive funding rounds and hyper-growth are the holy grail. But from our experience as pre-seed investors, excessive dilution can seriously impact your long-term ownership and potential rewards. Let's look at the numbers. If you raise $100 million to achieve a $500 million exit, it's likely to come with restrictions and preferences that seriously hinder your exit potential. Your slice of the pie ends up being much smaller than if you had taken a more targeted pre-seed round from a VC and then nailed a $100 million exit without giving up tons of equity. This approach may sound counterintuitive (especially given the 'unicorn or bust' narrative that's been pervasive lately), but in many cases, a smaller, more focused strategy can actually lead to a more rewarding long-term outcome--for both founders and investors. In fact, I ran a similar playbook when scaling StackCommerce. We took a small funding round early on, then scaled from there. I call it "seed-strapping." One of our portcos, Levanata, is running a similar play (check out my post on their growth for a deep dive). I'll leave you with this. One of my goals in getting into venture capital is to empower founders to scale their businesses while holding onto the ownership they deserve. On that note, if you know someone who fits that description in the ecomm infrastructure or CPG space, drop me a line.

2/100: 🚀Know Your VCs🚀 First Round Capital: Where Early-Stage Dreams Take Flight 1/ When it comes to early-stage venture capital, First Round Capital stands as a true luminary. Founded in 2004, they've nurtured startups into major players like Uber, Roblox, Notion, and Mirror. Let's dive into their story. #FirstRoundCapital #KnowYourVC 2/ First Round's philosophy revolves around exceptional founders. They believe in backing passionate visionaries with profound market knowledge. They're not just passive investors; they actively connect their portfolio companies with experienced mentors, advisors, and investors from their extensive network. #VCInsights #FounderFocused 3/ First Round's investment spectrum covers Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Healthcare, and Hardware. A diversified portfolio that reflects the multifaceted tech landscape. #VCPortfolio #TechDiversity 4/ While they invest worldwide, the US remains their primary focus. However, they've left their mark in Europe and China too. Their global vision extends their reach far and wide. #GlobalInvestment #VCLeadership 5/ First Round's investment range is typically between $750,000 and $4,000,000, offering startups the capital they need to thrive in the early stages. Their investments have paved the way for startups to become industry giants. #EarlyStageFunding #VentureSuccess 6/ Founded by Josh Kopelman and Howard Morgan, First Round is guided by seasoned leaders. Kopelman serves as the firm's Managing Partner, and Morgan as a Partner. With over 30 investors and operators on their team, they have the firepower to support their portfolio companies. #VCFounders #StartupMentors 7/ If you're an early-stage founder, First Round Capital might be the launchpad you're looking for. Explore their offerings and connect with them at https://firstround.com. Your journey to shaping the future of tech could start here. #InvestWithFirstRound #TechInnovation Explore a startup resource center with investor lists, pitch decks, KPIs, and fundraising guides! Elevate your VC pitches: https://bit.ly/3LJ8fyc Get ready for a closer look at the individuals driving innovation and investment in startups by following StartupTalky!

I've long thought that while incubators and accelerators are necessary, they focus on teaching -- the how-to. This leaves all the execution to the startup founder, or founders if you're lucky enough to have them, with no additional feedback or guidance (Did I do this part right? I'm struggling over this part, etc.) To use an analogy, accelerators are the midwives that help get the idea birthed, but then the new parent is left to do, and to figure out how, when, and what to do, all the steps necessary to grow the idea to the stage where even angels will take a serious look. And while all of this is happening, the founder not only has to fund the startup, but pay all of his or her own bills, and that means working one or two other jobs, usually with their own demands. Plus, there's all the other activities of daily living, like cooking and eating, cleaning, laundry, bill-paying, bathing, and even, Sleeping! It's insane. It's not a matter of "wanting it enough," or "working hard enough."

Wouldn't it be a game-changer if founders could focus more on building great products and less on all fiddly bits? That's where start-up studios shine. They represent an innovative model that offers founders resources, expertise, funding, and a team to bring their visions to life. By investing at the earliest stages, often at the idea, these studios reduce some of the inherent risks associated with early-stage ventures while speeding up the business development process. It's high time we started recognizing startup studios for what they truly are - the evolution of startup creation and venture investing that fills gaps in our current startup ecosystem.

30 inspiring minutes today with Matthew Burris 🔥 The energy and passion to build great digital companies was one of the topics. See you soon for a longer talk in New York.

A very honest appraisal of the toxic/FOMO culture that can develop within VC firms. Having said that, most of the individuals I work at the “seasoned” VCs are 100% professional: they are diligent, listen deeply and are ready to roll-up their sleeves to help their portfolio companies. My concern is the new breed of "spray and pray" VCs who have raised large amounts hyping the latest tech trends (crypto, Blockchain, AI, code-less platforms, embedded finance, yada-yada-yada..) and spread it way too thinly across too many start-ups.

#snsinstitutions #snsdesignthinkers #designthinking hey Connections....!! My article is about Y Combinator(YC) Y Combinator Management, (YC) is an American technology startup accelerator and venture capital firm launched in March 2005 which has been used to launch more than 4,000 companies.The accelerator program started in Boston and Mountain View, expanded to San Francisco in 2019, and was entirely online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies started via Y Combinator include Airbnb, Coinbase, Cruise, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart, Reddit, Stripe, and Twitch. It is Founded in 2005 by Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Robert Tappan Morris, and Trevor Blackwell,Y Combinator (YC) initiated operations with concurrent programs in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Mountain View, California. However, operational complexities arising from managing two programs prompted a consolidation in January 2009, resulting in the closing of the Cambridge program and the centralization of activities in Silicon Valley. In 2009, Y Combinator secured a $2 million investment led by Sequoia Capital, enabling increased annual funding for around 60 companies. Sequoia further supported YC in 2010 through an $8.25 million funding round, bolstering the organization's capability to accommodate a growing number of startups. Concurrently, Kirsty Nathoo joined the team, initially as an accountant, and subsequently as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2012. In 2011, Yuri Milner and SV Angel offered every Y Combinator company a $150,000 convertible note investment. The amount put into each company was changed to $80,000 when Start Fund was renewed. In January 2023, Garry Tan assumed the positions of president and CEO, succeeding Geoff Ralston. Tan's leadership marked the discontinuation of the YC Continuity growth fund. YC moved its headquarters from Mountain View to San Francisco in the spring of 2023. In March 2024, Seibel stepped down as managing director. Garry Tan is looking to raise $2 billion in new capital in 2024 for YC itself.

At nearly every phase of the startup market, venture round sizes got bigger in Q3. The median size of primary rounds on Carta increased at every stage from Series A to Series E, with the biggest leap occurring at Series A: There, the median primary round size hit $9.6 million, a 25% increase over Q2. But this isn't the full story. While valuations were trending up in Q3, the number of deals taking place was still trending down. The total number of new primary funding rounds on Carta sank to a five-year low in Q3. VCs have grown choosier about which companies to back. But when they find the right target, investors are still willing to spend big. “From 2020 to early 2022, there was a tremendous amount of top-of-market investing. Valuations were popping off the chart. Then, a downturn cycle kicked in. Now, I think there’s a lot more focus on profitability or path to profitability, a lot more focus on rigor and discipline.” -Ron Heinz, co-founder and GP at both Signal Peak Ventures and Oquirrh Ventures Take a deeper dive into the data here: https://lnkd.in/g7n8dXrz We're also sharing charts that show startup fundraising by stage at the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles. #vcfunding #vcdata #valuations