Hamzah Chaudhary

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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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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As a first-time founder, I’ve encountered many 'firsts' that push me to grow and adapt. I've written my reflections in the Medium post below https://lnkd.in/eReZBfBb #FounderLife #Entrepreneurship #Startups #Founder

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The UK is well ahead of its continental counterparts when it comes to tech startups* generating revenue. 🇬🇧 👑 💂 *Let’s be honest, at these revenue levels most of the companies counted here aren’t startups. They’re scaleups or established privately held tech companies. https://lnkd.in/ebSnfcYz #vc #venturecapital #startups #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #tech #technology #innovation #money #business

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Really is refreshing to see a founder talk so plainly open and honest about building a startups, low, highs, fundraising and Europe in context of innovation startups: Daniel Khachab at 20VC podcast I used to listen to podcasts on my way to and back from the office Recently not so much - here is the reason: It is mostly about a VC showcasing one of their portfolio companies. Asking half-hearted soft questions that are not only vague but only work to optimise the image and praise the startup as to "how they will change the world" We would like to learn about the real story. The dirty stuff. The nightmares. How you resolved them. Not how everyone wanted to invest and particularly not that you found product market fit with the shittiest product in the world because the problem you were solving was so important and there was no competition It never is like that What other podcasts are doing this? Hope Harry keeps doing more of this - I was just about to churn from 20VC, good thing I listened to this one

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SaaS founders and players of London! 📣 Free this Wednesday at 6pm? I've got an idea for you: COME TO A TECH ROAST 🔥 Hosted by Ghita El Haitmy from TechBible along with Vasily Alekseenko and Seven Jacobs from Rare Founders. If you've been to their events before, you know this will be good. If you're a SaaS founder, you can apply to pitch and get roasted on stage. If you're not a SaaS founder, just come and meet everyone. Link for more info and tickets in my bio. See you there. Agree? #saas #tech #roast #startups

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if you want to learn about how we built the company and what makes it unique, https://lnkd.in/eQS2VRKf is a really really well written article about us by Bill Kerr - better than what I have managed to put together so far!

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As public software companies got hammered over the last week, David Peterson explores what that means in our latest edition of The Angle. Are we witnessing the end of software? Where did all the growth go? Software isn’t dead, but it’s evolving. And building great companies is no longer about riding the wave of the cloud and building products that are a bit better than the incumbent. Founders who want to build great public companies need ideas that break the mold. And we’re excited to partner with such founders. To read David’s column and explore other exciting tech news, please access and subscribe to our newsletter using the links in the comments. 

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Since our US launch last Christmas we: 🇺🇲 Currently have HUNDREDS of US members 📈 Operating at $600k ARR So how did we get there? Well there’s two key areas👇🏻 1️⃣ Partnerships The sheer size of the US market means any partnership we foster unlocks a much bigger scale of distribution compared to the UK. From Mana Tech to Startup Grind, we’ve partnered with key players in the Miami startup ecosystem to sponsor tech meetups, pitch competitions whilst offering incentives such as free memberships and masterclasses. 2️⃣ Bolstering our tech We’ve been making heavy investments into our data/tech capabilities, leveraging AI to help startups understand their data better and enhance their ability to connect with the right experts. Have a read through my interview with Refresh Miami with Riley Kaminer for more insight into our US expansion and the future of Connectd. #Founders #MiamiTech #Startup  

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If you're looking for VC funding in the UK, check out FundFinder.live If you're one of those people that likes to just play with all the circles on an Apple Watch because it's super satisfying, but struggle to pick one because playing with the interface is too satisfying, then maybe don't go to this website :) FundFinder has a similar interface to Apple Watches, but on web. Thank you Hector Mason, Jack Richardson, and the team at Focal for sharing this. Simultaneously showing me a very useful tool that could save me time in research, but also could waste lots of my time thanks to my brain (not sure if ADD or something else). And thank you to Concept Ventures and Justified Studio for building it. Oliver Kicks - who deserves the credit? #random #fundraising #startup #vc

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Question - what does Trump mean in terms of real benefits / disadvantages specifically for startups over the short to medium term? 🌎 Can't imagine its good for immigration - tightening of talent visas? 💸 Better on the tax benefits front - (a little naive of me) but are there any policies he's put forward that have tangible benefits? 🖥️ Musk as tech advisor - not sure whether this will have benefits for the broader tech community or just Musk companies? (can't be good for OpenAI) Please enlighten me.

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Breaking taboos by tech, #femtech My aunt has been a pharmacist for 40 years, and I used to have a lot of fun working alongside her during the summers when I was young. Women would often want to talk to my aunt in the back room, and back then, I couldn't understand what they were talking about. The femtech sector, which offers solutions to women's #health needs, has initiated a revolutionary change in health technologies. Where traditional health approaches have fallen short, women are now seeking alternative solutions to improve their health and quality of life, even starting their own ventures. Femtech focuses on women's health issues, offering a wide range of services from menstrual cycle to fertility, pregnancy to postpartum care. Companies in this field are developing various products that facilitate women's daily lives, from wearable devices to nutrition and exercise tracking applications. Additionally, they are touching women's lives with applications that support mental and emotional health. These developments not only make it easier for women to find solutions to their health problems but also represent an important step towards gender equality. With the core products and services we offer at WearTechClub, we aim to respond to emerging needs in women's health. For example, helping women track their menstrual cycles and monitor their health, as well as developing solutions for fertility tracking or managing the menopausal period, are among our goals. We believe that we can contribute to guiding women towards more conscious health decisions and healthier lifestyles. #healthtech #sportstech #wearables #innovation #design

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Going from a pre-seed to a seed business has been a HUGE mindset shift for me as a founder and our team as a whole. 🤯💰 At pre-seed, preserving runway is constantly top of mind (understandably, as you’re a lot further from PMF!). Now, having raised a $7M seed round, it’s a different ball game… On Monday, we held a full-day strategy session with the whole team. The goal? To discuss how we’re moving forward. We spent a lot of time talking about our ethos on how we spend money now that we have it. And what does it mean to be a cash-rich business (that still prioritises high margins and REFUSES to spend foolishly!) So here’s the mindset shift: TIME is our most valuable asset ⏰ This means ensuring each team member’s time is spent on the most IMPACTFUL things. And building the system around them so they can perform at the highest level. Essentially, we want our people to feel like they’re high-performance athletes. 🏃🏼‍♀️💨 So if there’s a £1,000 SaaS tool that’s gonna make someone more productive - buy it. If there’s a high-ROI event that costs more than we’re comfortable with - let’s just do it and learn from the outcome. We’re NOT here to agonize over small decisions, because it’s that hesitation that will hold us back. And we’re certainly not going to throw our money into a pit and light it on fire by hiring 30 engineers. But we will invest heavily in the 3 or so we do hire, ensuring they have the: 🔨 Tools 😌 Environment 🧡 Support to perform at their highest level. Bottom line - we will not be shy about spending money on things that set our people up for success!

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😮‍💨 We don't just want to be the fastest and most affordable option for founders - we want to be the very best option for them We've had loads of great reviews over the last couple of years but I think this one really nails the value that Verticode team 🧑‍🔧 offers to founders - alongside the power of the Verticode tech ⚡️ #startups #founders

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Having co-founded Carbon Re, an AI and ClimateTech spinout of UCL and University of Cambridge, I have first-hand experience of the highs and lows of setting up and running a company in the UK (and trust me, the highs may be high but the lows can be devastating!). If Carbon Re is going achieve our mission to reduce gigatonnes of Industrial CO2 emissions we need a tech ecosystem in which we can thrive and scale fast. I have signed the Startup Manifesto 2024 Open Letter because the Startup Coalition exists to make the UK the best place in the world to start and scale a disruptive company and gives companies like ours a voice. We desperately need disruption to transform our economy and hit our #NetZero goals, so if you haven't signed this already, get involved. See more 👇

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Bootstrapping is ultimately harder in many ways than just going and borrowing money. But just speak to anyone that has gone down the funded route and not had a successful SaaS exit (99%) and you will get the truth... Better products are built through bootstrapping. 🚀

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An American's reflections of being a tech entrepreneur in the UK 🇬🇧🇺🇸 As a tech entrepreneur having built venture-backed companies in both the UK and US markets, I've tried to identify a few unique opportunities of building in the UK (caveats: Loci is a London-based, seed stage AI startup). 1️⃣ Global Mindset from Day One: In the UK, thinking global is a necessity due to the smaller domestic market. This contrasts with the US, where vast internal markets can suffice for initial growth phases. Silly example: We make tactical decisions like using American English spelling on docs, but keeping in British English for contracts. 2️⃣ Talent Pool: The UK boasts access to highly skilled talent at more competitive rates than the US, thanks to the density of world-class universities and diverse influx of talent from across Europe (and perhaps universal healthcare 🤔). The Loci team is: 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇱🇹 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇮🇳 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇰🇷 🇦🇷. But to take advantage of this, we applied to be able to sponsor visas earlier than what I would have done at a US startup. 3️⃣ Supportive UK Government: The UK's EMI schemes and tax breaks are advantageous for startup founders and employees. R&D tax incentives have been crucial for us as a deep tech AI startup, making speculative development more affordable and allowing us to recoup 20%+ of expenditures developing cutting edge 3D AI models. Perhaps another manifestation of this is that UK HMRC company valuations have been cheaper than concurrent US IRS 409A evaluation exercises, which heavily favors UK startup option packages. Note: there is an important point to be made about market opportunities that robust UK/EU regulatory frameworks on data usage, open banking, etc. provide, but this has been less applicable for Loci. 4️⃣ Work-Life Balance: The cultural norm in the UK leans towards a more accepted work-life balance. The Silicon Valley, immigrant mentality in me often idolizes 24/7 "hustle" and optimizing performance, but I've found a lot of my colleagues here celebrate balanced life commitments and favor designated periods of work sprints. This self-regulating culture makes it feel like Loci is able to sprint quickly in spurts, but maintain a healthy marathon pace for the long run. 5️⃣ Diverse & Growing Investment Scene: London is increasingly buzzing with entrepreneurial energy, and the influx of VCs, including our lead investor, General Catalyst, signals a promising future. We see new funds pop up, hybrid operator/investor models, industry-specific syndicates, and even a mix of corporate venture/financial institutions/family offices enter the venture space interested in what we're building. I'm not sure if this is a broader trend, but the types of investors seem more diverse than what I experienced in the US. Are you an American (or immigrant) building a tech startup in the UK? If not, do you know others? What has your/their experience been? Excited to collab and compare notes!

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