Kaoru Fujita

49 founders and senior startup leaders respond to a survey from Sifted on the relationship between founders and VCs. Are expectations off from the start as VCs try too hard to pander to their founders with over promises of "value-add" and extensive platform teams? Do founders need to be reminded of their primary role - execution?

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Next up in the series of posts about starting a startup for non-technical founders: 2. Finding a co-founder How do you even find one in the first place? For anyone who's tried, it's exceptionally hard. Let's start with the framework. You want to find: (a) Someone that has complimentary skills. Think one plus one equals three. (b) Someone equally passionate about the same problem. If you’re not equally excited about the challenge you’re tackling, it’s going to be hard to keep the momentum going. (c) Someone that is available - Timing. You both need to be available and ready to commit at the same time. After you go down this list, you might be lucky to know one or two people in your immediate network to work with. In terms of what you can do to navigate this stuff, there were 2 things that I thought would give me the best shot. One was immersing myself in a founder-dense environment like SF. Another was co-founder dating. The best matching platform I’ve seen is from YC. They have tons of profiles and make it simple to meet a lot of people quickly. None of this is easy, but all of it is possible. I will be sharing learnings from the process that Tennison C. and I went through (very different; I met 8 new people vs Tennison met 80 new people)—hope they’re helpful for anyone experiencing this.  --- Yesterday, we covered "Things you can’t say as a non-technical founder." For the remainder of the week, I will write about 3. Importance of a deep trial period 4. Investing in your co-founder relationship

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Sifted just released their list of the most promising SaaS startups in Europe. https://lnkd.in/erxJRGzi If you are looking to leave your corporate job for a startup but aren’t sure where to get started, do this. 1. Look at sifted lift of promising startups and pick 10 that really interest you. 2. Based on your skill set, use linked look up the lead of the department you think you would be interested in. For example, if you want to get into sales then look up the VP of sales. 3. Send them a DM on why you want to work for the company and what impact you could have in your first 100 days working there. Don’t send your CV until asked for it. 4. Follow up diligently every few days. If after the third try, no one has got back to you, move to the next 10 on the list. It sounds simple, and it is. Recruitment is the hardest thing for growth stage startups, and no one enjoyed paying 25% recruiter fees. Good luck

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At Forum we look at thousands of deals each year across our Accelerator and Pre-Seed funds but only end up investing in a little over 1% of those startups.  As an early stage VC, I am in the business of saying no to nearly every startup I meet, and while there is nuanced rationale for many of the startups I pass on, a vast majority of businesses that don’t meet the qualification to get funded typically fall into one of two buckets. ▪ First time founders have a tendency to go out to market too early to raise pre-seed capital ▪   I’m sure most founders have heard some iteration of this from VCs that ultimately pass on their business.  In some cases it's a blanket excuse covering up for other pass reasons- perhaps a VC doesn’t believe in a team or isn’t bullish on the market opportunity - but in many cases founders simply haven't proven enough to the market to warrant an investment. I meet many teams with an articulate vision for the product that they want to build, but they either haven't performed enough customer discovery to prove demand for their initial wedge product, or need to raise pre-seed capital to build out an MVP.  In those cases, pre-seed investors are unwilling to underwrite those risks.  To be default fundable, teams need to be able to keep costs low, perform extensive customer discovery, and ship some version of an early product - pilots and early paid customers are key. A huge piece of this is having founding engineering talent on the team. ▪Not every startup is a venture opportunity ▪ By definition, a venture backed business is solving a problem within a market opportunity so massive and so desperately needed, that its growth rate is off the charts.   It spreads like a weed, absorbing almost unlimited amounts of capital to fulfill demand within its customer base.   Each year there are maybe 20 companies launched that ultimately have venture scale outcomes. The bar to reach this rarified air is unfathomably high and the reality is the vast majority of founders simply aren’t building for opportunities that have the potential to be one of these generational companies. Many startup founders view VC as the only viable option for capitalizing their business, but not every great business is a venture business, and most successful founders never take VC dollars.  In order to reach an IPO/acquisition large enough to generate venture returns, a startup needs a credible path to $100s of millions in revenue. This is the standard by which early stage opportunities are evaluated. The flip side to this, and I share this feedback often with founders I meet that are building interesting business in non venture markets, if you are able to scale to $10- $20M in revenue that can be a massively successful outcome for a founder.  There are investors who focus on these type outcomes, namely lower middle market PE shops, and the typical path to those deals is a bootstrapped business or a friends/family capital raise.

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Insightful look into bioplatform strategy, and what it takes to raise a Series A from my partner, Omri Amirav-Drory: https://lnkd.in/dFv7GbF6

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To all the VC associates - you are in a really fortunate job where you are getting to meet really resilient and smart entrepreneurs day in day out. Never burn bridges. Never underestimate and more importantly, never come off as a snob. Be humble, even when you are rejecting a founder. Does not matter how big of a fund you work in. Do not look down upon any founder. I entered the startup ecosystem in 2018 as a junior VC associate. I evaluated around 1400 startups during my 2 year stint there. I passed on over 1300 of them after 1 call, thinking they can never be viable business models. I always tried to close the loop with the founders with genuine feedback - felt feedback was the biggest help I could give them at that point. It has been 6 years now and I am pleasantly surprised to see so many startups I rejected continue to survive and thrive. No funding. No fancy pitches. No fame. No $100M ARR. No burning money for faster growth. They just continue to build frugally. Some of them have also become our customers and trusted us to handle their organic growth strategy. Some of them have referred customers to us. It is a small world and we all are in this for the longer run, collectively trying to forward the ecosystem in our own ways. You never know how people will end up helping you. Relationship is THE most critical asset!

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Is “launch early” bad advice? I always thought it was a cliche VC tagline… but (annoyingly) it actually works. We launched Accend (YC S23) publicly a couple of weeks ago with our press announcement in Axios, and the effects we’ve seen are incredible. More people booking demos, reaching out, wanting to join our team. Of course, it helps to have a product that does what it says and a line up of customers to give us more credibility. The hard part about launching early is learning how to separate the noise from substance. More people are booking calls with me through the link in my bio - but a lot of those conversations don’t go anywhere and aren’t a good fit for Accend. Even though it’s easy to get starry-eyed seeing the metrics go up, more demos doesn’t mean more conversions and more sales. You have to ringfence the core audience you’re trying to serve - for us, that’s fintech platforms and banks struggling with manual KYB - and double click into it. It takes a lot of focus and discipline to avoid getting distracted, but all-in-all it’s been a net-positive throwing ourselves into the spotlight. So even if you don’t feel 100% ready, just launch. You can always course-correct later.

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There has to be a fair and transparent process to any change to taxes and a coherent plan for the future. Unfreezing fuel duty would raise £3bn to absolutely dwarf these taxes on ambition and value creation. And benefit the environment.

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🎯 Having ridden many startup rollercoaster ups and downs, and worked with both phenomenal and , shall we say, “not helpful” VCs, I’ll say the ride or die VCs are the best. 💡For founders nearing end of runway and not seeing the progress needed for a next raise, I’ll add two insights: 1️⃣ Ride or die doesn’t always mean “We’ll support a bridge round.” Sometimes it’s a VC already on your cap table offering you this wise counsel: “Maybe now’s the time to wrap things up with grace.” 2️⃣ Wise counsel from VCs doesn’t always come from those on, or wanting to be on, your cap table. Sometimes it comes from those just wanting to support you as a founder. 🌱 One of the most awesome things I ever heard from a VC was: “I would never invest in this, but I’m a fan of YOU, and I can’t wait to see what you do next. That’s why I took this call.” For me, that VC was Leslie Feinzaig. And that counsel has kept me more motivated that she probably knows. Thank you Leslie for being the OG advocate for female founders! 💐

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I don't know sh*t about sh*t. But I know this is garbage. - All-female founding teams: Receive 2.3% of VC funding - Mixed-gender founding teams: Receive 10.4% of VC funding - Female founders receive about a quarter of the funding they seek: While male founders receive half on average And if you have brown skin? Basically forget about it. The numbers just shrink. I keep bumping into founders that have a bigger uphill battle than the rest. And I'd love to be able to provide some level of help outside of intros and ideas. Who has resources? Who are the VCs that are focused on underserved and underrepresented founders? Can you help me build the list? Or locate the one that already exists? PS: Before you come at me, yes, I realize I'm a middle-aged white man with a c-level title at an early stage company that has received funding. Be part of the problem or part of the solution. Ya feel?

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Nice overview of how we're using data to inform how we invest in early-stage founders. We'll be announcing more this summer but we're seeing some really interesting early data. https://lnkd.in/exU_Juf5

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I’m constantly asked for advice for first-time startup founders… and I've always struggled to boil it down to what really matters, because there is too much to say. The harsh reality is this: the vast majority of founders have literally no idea what they are doing, across any (every) dimension. I certainly didn't! And 3 companies in, I only sort of know what I'm doing, on some things, sometimes. So what do you tell first-time founders? How is anyone ever successful? How are great companies ever built? It turns out it’s simple: your product or your go-to-market motion have to be so overwhelmingly brilliant that they make up for your mistakes everywhere else. So focus on those 2 things, and if you’re lucky, the rest of your incompetence won’t matter :)

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🚨 The BIGGEST problem scaleups face when pivoting? It’s not lack of ideas. It’s the inability to align the entire team around ONE crystal-clear direction. 👉 Teams waste months debating features. 👉 Founders grapple with mixed feedback from investors. 👉 Customers? They're left confused by inconsistent messaging. Sound familiar? This is where the Startup Lean Canvas shines. 🌟 Unlike traditional business plans, the Lean Canvas is a 1-page blueprint that forces clarity. It aligns your product, customers, and revenue streams with your ultimate mission—FAST. Case in point: 👉 Airbnb: From "air mattresses in apartments" to a global travel giant. 👉 Grab: From ride-hailing to a full-blown super app. Both used variations of the Lean Canvas to refine their pivots and align their vision. 💡 What makes it powerful? 👉You can map your pivot in 30 minutes or less. 👉It highlights key risks so you don’t waste time and money. 👉Best of all? It’s ridiculously simple to share with your team or investors. __________________ Want to see how Airbnb and Grab used the Startup Lean Canvas? 🚀 Plus, get your hands on an editable template you can use today? 1. Like this post 2. Drop a comment saying “Lean Canvas” and I’ll send it your way! 3. Make sure you send a connection request! __________________ Let’s make your pivot the pivot that scales. 🙌 __________________ I'm Neha Divanji 👋 Click my name + follow 🔔 To optimise your marketing and product growth, book a call with me at growthspin.co.uk

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Tomorrow is the summer edition of SaaStock Local London and we've a great entrepreneur sharing his story of how he orchestrated an exit (to Zuora). If your building a SaaS with a view to a future exit (most folks except Basecamp), Or your currently thinking about M&A Then this is the inside story from a great founder, James Henderson, who got a fantastic outcome. The content will not be recorded, so you have to be there to get the insights such as: Why selling was right for James and Zephr - How do you plan an exit - What forces did James consider before he sold - How he managed his team and board through the process - What happens when you make a deal and sell All these questions and you get to ask your own. So make sure you're there if you're serious about building a SaaS company to sale. Around 17 tickets remaining. Link in the comments. #exits #M&A #founders #saas #london #CEO #saastocklocallondon

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I stalked my co-founder for months before we started a VC firm together. Not in a creepy way. I just knew Janneke Niessen was brilliant at building tech companies from scratch. She'd done it twice already. Most VCs look at the obvious things: market size, product-market fit, financials. But here's what 15 years of research taught me: 60% of startups die because their teams implode. Not competition. Not market conditions. Not running out of money. Teams fall apart. After studying thousands of founders at Berkeley and Amsterdam, I discovered something counterintuitive: The traits that make someone an amazing early founder often become toxic during scale-up. That raw drive? It can turn into control-freakery. That passionate vision? It might blind you to market changes. That fierce independence? It could prevent crucial delegation. This is why Janneke and I built CapitalT differently. We don't just evaluate pitch decks. We measure team dynamics using hard science. We spot scaling problems before they emerge. Because unicorns aren't born from pitch decks. They're built by teams that evolve. P.S. Know a founder who needs to hear this? Tag them below.

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“Do things that don’t scale” is advice that sticks with many Y Combinator founders, but it means more than simply rolling up your sleeves. Early on at Simplifine (YC S24), we chose to work directly with researchers—getting on calls, testing workflows, and uncovering their specific challenges. Those hours spent in detailed conversations and hands-on support weren’t efficient, but they gave us insights data alone couldn’t provide. This approach may seem counterintuitive, yet it’s helped us understand the deeper, often overlooked needs that drive our product direction. Taking this non-scalable route has led to surprising breakthroughs. By focusing on direct feedback and support, we’ve identified critical patterns and quickly adapted our platform based on real-world use, rather than assumptions. This clarity in direction means we aren’t investing in features or workflows that don’t have real impact. Instead, we’re building exactly what researchers need, helping us keep Simplifine focused and practical. Ultimately, our commitment to “doing things that don’t scale” is more than just a startup tactic; it’s our way of staying aligned with our users. The temptation to grow fast is real, but by choosing to engage personally with researchers, we’ve grounded Simplifine in what truly matters. These early, authentic connections have shaped our product and guide us as we scale—ensuring that Simplifine continues to serve the research community in ways that are both meaningful and impactful. #dothingsthatdontscale

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Very excited to introduce PMF Method Retreat, our new 4-day intensive experience for super early B2B founders. When we shared our framework for finding product-market fit and opened up applications for PMF Method this spring, we were blown away by the response. After getting thousands of applications for just a handful of spots and bringing together a spectacular group of technical founders (coming from companies like Stripe, Vanta and Retool), we started to think about how to make the next cohort even better. We heard from many founders who were eager to join but couldn't commit to a months-long experience — or make the temporary move out to San Francisco — so we’re experimenting with the format. Same tactical sessions. Same targeted, hands-on support from Todd Jackson and the entire team. Still doesn't cost you any equity. But you don’t have to be SF-based for this one, and it’s refactored into a 4-day retreat that accelerates your progress — while quickly getting you back to building. If you're just getting started exploring a B2B opportunity, please don't overthink it, just apply. Deadline is 9/23, but the earlier the better.

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