Messages
5/31/2022
15 : 34
Coworking spaces are awful but important
Our current measuring stick for coworking spaces (and startups) is wrong. When you try to measure them like any other business, it's hard to explain their importance to anyone outside our community
5/24/2022
15 : 24
Understanding the Venture Treadmill
When you raise money for your company from anyone, you've stepped on to the Venture Treadmill. At that point, you're not rewarded for anything but growth. Read More If you're ready to hop
5/20/2022
16 : 14
Did YC pull the fire alarm?
If you haven't already seen the email sent to the YC portfolio, it's attached to my tweet below... Two (2!!) New Podcast Episodes Today's bonus episode is all about the YC letter -- and how
5/17/2022
15 : 24
The bigger the city, the less it understands modern entrepreneurship
Happy Tuesday! 👋🏼 I've been thinking quite a lot about the last 100+ cities I've visited in the last ~24 months and something sticks out to me: it seems to me that city size and their
5/13/2022
17 : 4
How to Prepare for Recession or Worse
I know, I know. I promise it's not a clickbait title. Like you, I have no idea if a recession is coming. What I do know is that most people only do half of what's required in preparation. Hear
5/10/2022
15 : 24
Growth is the only common language between entrepreneurs and everyone else
One of the many things I've learned over the past few years is that when you put entrepreneurs, investors and anyone else around a single table something weird happens: they're all kind of
5/6/2022
16 : 4
How to use free, sticky apps to fight CAC
What. A. Week. Amirite? 😅 New Podcast Episode Codie Sanchez did a $2M first close on her new fund... with one email. She's using it to buy "boring" business and I love it. Ed shares a
5/3/2022
15 : 24
Niche is the new big
You know, I'm tired of entrepreneurs showing off their "exit slide" on their half-assed pitch decks. I'm tired of investors constantly looking for unicorns. I'm tired of community
4/26/2022
15 : 25
It’s the same everywhere.
In short, it's pretty much the same everywhere. The local entrepreneurs are just trying to build their businesses. The local elected officials are trying to figure out what tech companies actually
4/19/2022
15 : 24
Why Startups Die
Many entrepreneurs start out thinking that building the product will be hard and selling the product will be easy. In hindsight, most tell me that they had it backwards. Read More As for today's
4/12/2022
15 : 24
How to gauge the state of your local tech community
Every tech reporter tries to measure the state of their local communities by the clicks they received on the articles through the years. And someone needs to tell them that's not the way any of
4/5/2022
15 : 24
You don’t need a Board of Advisors
Yo. Happy Tuesday. It's 2018, y'all. You don't need advisors. You need customers. Read More On a random note, since I know you love seeing my face, BEHOLD... Why is my hair wet? What am I
4/3/2022
15 : 24
[Fundraising for Startups] Lesson 18: What should you ask for in an investor meeting?
You know, we've spent all this time preparing you for all the things an investor is going to ask you... but we haven't talked about what you should be asking of the investor. Don't worry, I
4/2/2022
15 : 24
[Fundraising for Startups] Lesson 17: How do you go about following up with investors?
Before you follow up with investors, you need to know two things about them: They have zero incentive to tell you "no." They're getting pitched a million times a day -- things slip
4/1/2022
15 : 24
[Fundraising for Startups] Lesson 16: How should you communicate with investors?
I'll keep this one quick and punchy. Don't email your deck to someone that hasn't already spoken to you on the phone or in person. There's never been a time when a random pitch deck in
3/31/2022
16 : 14
You should look at more *real* investment deals. And here's how to do it...
You know, I was just thinking about that last email I sent you about finding investors. And I think this tip could get me in trouble, so do me a favor and keep it to yourself: You should signup on
3/31/2022
15 : 24
[Fundraising for Startups] Lesson 15: How do you find investors for your company?
Most of you are starting from a blank slate. You don't hang around investors. You don't know investors. You don't know how to find investors. I get it. I was there once too. And so was
3/30/2022
15 : 24
[Fundraising for Startups] Lesson 14: Shark Tank is not real life.
Say it with me y'all... 👏🏼SHARK.👏🏼TANK.👏🏼IS.👏🏼NOT.👏🏼REAL.👏🏼LIFE. It kills me when the conversation is going so well... and then the entrepreneur drops this little gem into the mix. "Yeah, so
3/29/2022
16 : 44
The difference between angels and VCs.
Whoa. A shit-ton (that's a real number) of you replied to that last email and called me out for not explaining myself better. Sorry. POP QUIZ: what's the difference between an angel and a VC? .
3/29/2022
15 : 24
[Fundraising for Startups] Lesson 13: If you make it, they will do absolutely nothing.
This applies to products. This applies to pitch decks. This applies to everything you do in your personal and professional life. You have to actively pursue your first customers, investors and