Ilai Szpiezak

Day 22: Get Involved with LvlUp Ventures Explore Opportunities with a DOPE VC Fund LvlUp Ventures has many ways for you to join us, whether you're a founder, investor, or just someone who wants to learn. TL;DR LvlUp Ventures offers many ways to join us, from applying for funding and joining our accelerator to becoming a venture scout or an intern. Find out how you can be part of our exciting venture capital fund. Join Us: How to Get Involved with LvlUp Ventures At LvlUp Ventures, we love helping new and exciting startups. Whether you have a great idea, want to invest, or just want to learn more, we have a place for you. Applying for Funding Founders, Get Funding: If you have a great idea and need money to make it real, apply for our funding. We support startups that are making a big difference. Learn More: >> https://lnkd.in/gvsdmAyy << Bespoke Accelerator Join Our Accelerator: Our NextUp programs help startups grow. We give you personalized help to bring your idea to life and make it successful. Learn More: >> https://lnkd.in/gh4iCZkr << Venture Scout Program Become a Venture Scout: If you’re good at finding cool new startups, join our Venture Scout Program. Help us find the next big thing and earn rewards. Learn More: >> https://lnkd.in/gc_jqGZN << Investing Opportunities Invest with Us: Join our fund as a limited partner. Be part of our mission to support the best new startups. Learn More: >> https://lnkd.in/gms6S6qi << Internships and Volunteering Start Your Journey: If you’re new to venture capital and want to learn, become an intern or volunteer. Gain experience and grow with us. Learn More: >> https://lnkd.in/gN2cZjm4 << Endless Opportunities at LvlUp Ventures No matter who you are or what you’re interested in, LvlUp Ventures has something for you. We are a next-generation venture capital fund, and we believe in working together. How do you want to get involved with LvlUp Ventures? Share your thoughts and let’s grow together! Let’s make these next 100 days DOPE and fun! P.S. Want to get involved? If this resonates, repost, to share with others ♻️ and follow Javy Martinez for more in the future. 📌 Interested in 100 Days of Impact & Inspiration? Join others who get my free newsletter: javymartinez.substack.com

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Ida as an entrepreneur in femtech, I feel your rage. In my gut. Were we all just sucker-punched? I want to acknowledge your vision, your work, and your effort. You are extraordinary, and we are cheering for you. Raising capital for technology impacting women is grim. The constant uphill battle is exhausting, tiring the best of us to the point of wanting to quit. I encourage you to hold on to small glimmers of hope. The big lights don't come on often. I also encourage advocates and allies to shine a light on female innovators and visionaries and use the hell out of their products. As women gain control of financial resources we must focus our investments on tech that will benefit our girlfriends, daughters, sisters, and mothers because the current model refuses to make room for us. Gradually, perhaps in my grandchildren's lifetime, we may see a different game. One that is more equitable and that we are invited to play. Sending you lots of Light. 😡 🤕 #sendingcluelove

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🗞️ I caught up with Hayden Evans recently at Beam it Recruitment to talk about: ▶ how I started with programming and my career so far ▶ the current landscape of Elixir learning materials ▶ the pros and cons of a language like Elixir ▶ why I started PureType and how it fits into a new world of software development 🔗 Link to the article is in the post below

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A founder's perspective on Founder Mode: It's about craftsmanship and soul Last week Brian Chesky and Paul Graham ignited the tech startup world with a discussion around "founder mode", which Paul summarizes in this post - https://lnkd.in/gC7swj59 This comparison of founder mode vs. manager mode and stream of bad advice around it really resonates with me as a multi-time founder. I find there are two areas in particular that get systematically eliminated in the process of moving from product-market fit to "building the machine" and scaling up an organization. 🔮 🛠 Craftsmanship: Early days require a lot of craftsmanship - as if you're designing and building custom homes for a small set of early customers. You need to inspire them with your vision, co-create with them, and make constant decisions about how to iterate, where to influence, and how to listen - all shaped with a view to repeatable and scalable patterns you can leverage to scale. This requires a lot of top-down intuition and hands-on crafting to get right - it also benefits from strong and fast decision making from the founder(s). As companies grow, this founder craftsmanship is easy to see as an enemy of scale that needs to be removed in favour of proven process. While it is true that this is not easy to scale, it is possible and worth it to figure out. I saw Zuck do this at Facebook as we scaled, shaping high impact initiatives and role modelling his craftsmanship to high potential people in his "Zuck reviews" for important new products and key initiatives. Combine this with a clear set of values and entrepreneurial people and you can keep the founder's touch on key initiatives without giving in to manager mode. 💙 🙏 Soul: A founder-led business can be felt much easier than it can be described. There is a passion, a set of values, a purpose that gives the company indescribable depth when done right - that feels magical and gives the company soul. This is the part of founder mode that enables people in the company to embody the same values, act with the same standards, and channel the inner purpose and passion of the founder. It attracts people that are entrepreneurial and secure in their abilities. People who see a founder's touch as a secret ingredient to add, not a box to be checked or worse to be avoided. My former Meta (at that time Facebook) colleague Fidji Simo wrote a great perspective on founder mode for non-founders in the information today, which I also see as possible. Founder mentality is a mindset and combined with an ability to imprint a sense of craft and soul into a company. I think founder-led companies like Meta and Shopify have shown a pattern to study and replicate in scaling startups, they have also produced a talent pool to mine for leaders that can operate in founder mode as the company scales. What do you think? Curious to hear your thoughts on founder mode... it's been a fun one to think about over the weekend. 🤔 #foundermode #founders #yc

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"You can go a lot quicker, cheaper. But as it scales, free becomes a problem for that business." - Dixon Jones ✅, inLinks Want to kickstart your product's growth? Start by offering it to people who would genuinely love it! Having advocates for your product isn't just a great strategy—it's a cost-effective one. Think about it: it's cheaper than selling, cheaper than PPC ads, and definitely cheaper than setting up shop at conferences. Plus, with the right advocates, you can get your product out there faster and with less expense. But here's the thing—while starting with a free model can be a game-changer, scaling up is where the challenges come in. Free isn't always sustainable, especially when there's a real cost to keeping those free customers on board. Whether it's cloud services or maintaining your own infrastructure, there are costs that every SaaS company needs to consider. In our latest episode, we dive deep into the pros and cons of this approach, sharing insights that could help you make smarter decisions for your business. Tune in now to get the full scoop and hear more about how to scale your product without breaking the bank. 🎙️ 👉 Listen and subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/grUEreTj #ProductLedGrowthLeaders #SaaS #MarketingStrategy #BusinessGrowth #PodcastEpisode #StartupTips

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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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Sometimes it clicks Meeting of minds Agreeing next steps Not so often but yes Here’s a thought👇🏼 A short while back we prompted a discussion about product market fit. Short form version is that you know it when you’ve got it. And the same goes for people and what they do. Sometimes it just clicks into place. Like Lego is just clicks together. We also acknowledge that sometimes it’s like standing on Lego in bare feet: immediately painful. The two ends of the range of outcomes. Perfect fit versus sharp pain. The early positive indicator was the preamble chat on the video call. Mind you that wasn’t a given as Teams is a test all of its own and rarely considered a joyful start to any proceedings. But even with that tortuous headwind it was tickling along nicely. Three broad components got us off to a good start and then got better. Quiet confidence and self assurance plus prior preparation and careful thinking plus open minded discussions. In many ways it was a case study for my constant message of #thinklikeaclient And this meant that we agreed meaningful next steps and there will be a positive collaboration that is a win-win for us both. Do note that this win-win started on here with cold outreach to connect with me, a few simple messages and then a call, all of which was achieved in short time lines and minimum fuss. #ThinkLikeAClient #GrumpyOptimist #VentureStudio #Entrepreneur >>>>>>> Footnote: all my content is freshly made daily by me with no additives or tricks. If it interests you please tag the 🔔 in my profile to get it delivered straight to you. Otherwise if you search #GrumpyOptimist you’ll see my past posts.

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In the startup world, having a great product is only half the battle. To truly captivate your audience and stand out in a crowded market, you need more than just a great product - you need a compelling narrative or Product-Story Fit (PSF). Here's how to find and hone your product-story fit (PSF): #productstoryfit #psf #productvision #softwarebusiness #productsense #productstrategy #vision #saas #saasbusiness #saasstartups #saascompany #productleadership #saasproduct #saasgrowth #productmanagement #productstatement #productmarketfit #pmf #productvalue #productgrowth #gtm #strategicplanning #earlystagestartups #scalingbusiness #scalingup #startupscaling #productjourney #businessgrowth #narrative #marketing #gotomarket #scaleups #scalingbusiness #businessvision #customercentricity #visionstatement #customerengagement #customeracquisition #productvalue #customervaluecreation #bestpractices #expertadvice #productmarketing #missionstatement 

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Founders of fast-growing startups, this is the most important thing you’ll read this year. This stings because it’s so true. “Micromanagement” became a convenient pejorative invented by consultants and HR to discourage anyone with pride of ownership from making work harder for others. In my experience with fast growing companies, hyperengagement by founders is critical, and micromanagement often results hyperengagement. Micromanagement isn't always necessary. For example, with exceptional employees that have strong entrepreneurial chops and a strong sense of pride of ownership, micromanagement is seldom necessary. But often when you're growing fast, you're hiring fast, and you're hiring people that aren't entrepreneurial and don't have pride of ownership. In these situations, it's not healthy for founders to hyperengage but stay silent when they see problems or opportunities going unaddressed. All of the very best, most successful founders that I've worked with over the years, including founders of multi-billion dollars companies, have been hyperengaged, hypercommunicative and often micromanagers. Is it always fun working with these types of founders? No. Are they more successful than founders that delegate to professional managers? Absolutely.

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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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He sold his company for 165M€ ... and now wants to create a legendary VC This week's episode of the Nova podcast features one of the most intelligent people I have met: Ander Michelena, partner at Acurio Ventures (recently rebranded from the old "All Iron Ventures"). Ander has checked most of the boxes you can think of: ✅ Studied business at ICADE with great success ✅ Made it to the most "demanded" IB team in Morgan Stanley (FIG M&A) ✅ Launched his startup before the age of 30 ✅ Sold it 7 years after for +160M€ (raising just 10M€) ✅ Created his own VC (now on the third fund with +150M€) ✅ Has been involved in many other projects (2 startups, a SOCIMI, etc.) ✅ Has been married for +15 years and has 4 kids 🤯 Acurio has also a very unique positioning in the market which is helping them grow super fast: - They do not lead rounds, but rather follow - They put smaller checks and can invest in more companies per fund - By having a smaller share, they have more freedom to sell, follow-on, etc. - With all this, they improve the risk/return binomial. - They can be "friends" with most funds in Europe, who share deals with them when need someone to complete the round - They have a +92% founder NPS 🤯 One of the most impressive stories we have ever told. 👉🏼 Listen to the full episode in the first comment

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The Founder’s Journey: I am not going to sugarcoat this: You are never fully prepared  It’s harder than you expect It’s challenging BUT It’s rewarding  I don’t regret starting this journey  AND - It’s going to push you so much out of your comfort zone  That you will start researching “What is a comfort zone?” If, like me, you are all about continuous improvement and growth, you are a learned and problem solver - starting your gig is the 'Job' you were looking for. This is NOT a story of how I made $100K in the first eight months. But I am sharing some insights that are going to be helpful for those who are like me – just getting started and figuring out their success framework. 1.        It’s still OK to fail (even if social media is covered with success stories). Principle:  I would rather look stupid, learn, and grow than pretend to be successful and fail in the long run.  Solution: Prioritization is key. Focus on what brings the most value to your customers and your business.  Lesson: For a few months, I was all over the place. I started many small and big projects, but I realized I needed to stop and focus on the essential and long-term goals.  2.        You are a Business Owner (you and your business colleagues have the same pain points, challenges and probably make the same mistakes. Think about the basics and build a strong foundation (e.g., I am still learning about marketing, sales, SEO, etc.; I am helping my business colleagues be cyber and risk-aware) Principle: It’s not about what you do but how you do it.  Solution: Think Business Magic Quadrant (Time, Money, Resources, Expertise).  Lesson: I needed to learn that I was not selling solutions but solving one or more of these challenges. 3.        Scaling and Complexity Principle: If you think you can do it alone, don’t Solution: Find trusted partners, outsource when needed, scale as the business grows, and manage complexity. Lesson: Thinking that I could do everything by myself was a big mistake. For that very reason, I partnered with leaders in the industry – so I can do things right and the right thing every single time. Find the right partner. What are some of the lessons you needed to learn the hard way? What is the ONE THING that made you successful? How did you overcome challenges?

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We had Alex Norman, partner at N49P Ventures, do a Q&A for our cohort at Antler today and address our questions on finding product market fit, what traits distinguish great founders, and how to land investors. It was super insightful! These were my key takeaways: 🔸 Early founders often make the mistake of looking at each venture firm as if they are all one and the same, but that is not the case (you should look at the size of the fund, their portfolio companies, what they typically invest in, etc.) 🔸 If everyone wants to finance you, there’s probably too much competition; find angels or VCs excited about the particular space you're building in 🔸A sure sign of finding PMF is when customers want to literally rip it out of your hands (gave an example of a portfolio company which had 3000 enterprise waitlist sign-ups) 🔸 Sometimes it can be an advantage to not be a domain expert, as it could lead to more unique insights (it's easier to go against the grain of the conventional thinking in the industry) Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today Alex Norman! 😀 ----------- #startups I'm currently part of the 5th cohort at Antler Canada, and I'm sharing my learnings as a first-time founder as I go along this journey 🚗

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Being a tech founder is tough 🥴 You might find yourself being spread thin across the business… 👉 Speaking to partners as a route to market 👉 Setting up meetings with angel investors or VCs 👉 Discussing ideas and processes with your CTO 👉 Hiring and choosing the right developers 👉 Piecing together your investor pitch deck 👉 Researching your competitors and landscape 👉 Forecasting and looking at your budgets It’s exhausting. In addition, you’re frantically trying to learn Figma, haphazardly clubbing together borrowed flows from other apps and adapting other UI resources you’ve found online. So, when it comes to UX and design, you can’t throw something together and expect a successful product with thousands of paying customers. Luckily, you can get help with… ✅ Defining your UX vision and strategy ✅ Evolving your visual identity and brand language ✅ Diverging on lo-fi ideas and solutions ✅ Conducting user tests and interviews ✅ Working feedback loops into your prototypes ✅ Iterating and learning from users and data ✅ Designing new features and user flows There’s no need to struggle. And there’s no need to max out your budget. Bring on the right expertise so you can sleep better at night. #ux #design #ui #product

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Let's talk about a tough pill to swallow in VC. The best founders aren't always the ones you click with personally. We all know the importance of founder-investor fit. BUT. What about when a brilliant, driven founder doesn't fit your social circle? Let's be honest. Sometimes, the best managers aren't the ones you like the most. The takeaway? As VCs, we need to: 👉 Recognize leadership beyond personal preference. 👉 Strong market fit, a sound business model, and a talented team are what matters It's not about finding a best friend. It's about finding the best leader for the company. We loved to discuss this counterintuitive thing. With Ertan Can, Founding GP of Multiple Capital. And we love to hear your thoughts, too. So, please join the conversation in the comments section. #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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We've ticked off another item from our bucket list: launching our very own podcast on Spotify! It's a pleasure to share with all of you that we at The VC Fellowship have started a series of conversations around VC Careers. The mission is to create more awareness around Venture Capital and how to break into it. In these episodes, Shawrya Mehrotra will be hosting different professionals working with VCs and it would also be interesting to know their career trajectory and how they landed up at a VC role. In our latest episode, we have Shobhankita Reddy, who have talked about her transition into Venture Capital and her thoughts about the ecosystem. Please find the link to the episode in comment section

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Tech founders often struggle with defining their product category. They either try to invent a new category because nothing feels quite right, or they aim for a broad category, hoping to capture more customers, but end up getting lost in the noise. What are the benefits of identifying the right product/market category for your business? - Clarity for customers: in a crowded market, a clear category helps customers quickly grasp your core product value - Clarity for your team: your product category guides the best channels for marketing and sales - Removes a friction point from purchasing process: when your product fits a recognized category, it’s easier for customers to allocate funds - Focus: a well-defined category helps you pinpoint customer pain points, so that customers can recognize themselves If you’re unclear about your product/market category, your potential clients will be too. How to find it? - Re-evaluate your current positioning. Does it clearly highlight your differentiation? - Consider a broader category that is aligned to your product core value. Too broad? Narrow it down to a niche where your value is obvious, and you can stand out. - Too niche? Examine closely related or adjacent categories that align with your strengths. Check out LAUNCHub Ventures fund portfolio paying attention to the industry (the broader category) and one-liner (the product category). https://lnkd.in/d2U6DRpg #startup #enterpreneurship #techstartup #b2b

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Last week, I cold DMed a founder doing some amazing work. He replied: "I’m not raising right now so I don't want to meet at this time" Even after clarifying it wasn't about fundraising and just a general chat - he stood his ground. There are 2 ways to look at it. 1) You might say the founder was rude. 2) Or, you can appreciate the clarity. This founder is guarding the most precious resource: time. By saying 'no' to me, he/she was saying 'yes' to his priorities at that moment in time. I respect that. I’d look at it another way though. How many opportunities are missed by closing doors too quickly, because we want to focus on what’s in hand? In my journey of building Dr. Vaidya's and now running V3 Ventures - the most valuable insights and connections often stemmed from unexpected encounters and random chats. From the person who initiated a conversation for our series A to the first person I connected with at Verlinvest - all random unstructured reach outs. Prioritization is crucial. I’d say I still need to get better at it. But, leave some time for serendipity on the calendar😊 . It’s worked for me Which approach do you take? #entrepreneur #founder #mindset #opportunity

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