Spencer Gallagher

🤣 Founders when you ask them what is their product market fit. “The consumer didn’t want Jimi Hendrix, but they got him!” Is there something to be learnt in the relentless attitude of Noel Gallagher? Is it possible to create a product first and then make the market yield to your creation? Remember Apples first vision was their tablet but they pivoted into ipods 📱 so that they could flow with the market’s desires before slowing getting their customer base loyal and hooked on their products. Is it wise to go to market without a product market fit strategy? Let me know in the comments #techfounders #venturecapital #web3 #web3founders #VC #tech #pitchdeck #web3DemoDay #AngelInvestor #ai #depin #RWA #defi #cryptocurrency #businesscoach

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Are you an #investor #angel #familyoffice #VC ? Are you deploying capital into businesses who has DATA surging through their company, networks, on servers they don't own, where there is no provenance, no sovereignty, where they cannot prove permission rights and or ownership? We can definitely confirm the business you have invested into has data that can be challenged, is unsafe, remains unchecked, not validated, no track and traceability from its origins - is the data in the condition the originator wanted you to see? The very data, as information in reports, files, spreadsheets the management is using to 'make decisions' on which to deploy your capital. ** YOUR INVESTMENT IS AT RISK ** The explosion of legal cases, hundreds of thousands, with millions more in the pipe. A house of cards where if challenged to demonstrate you do have permission, rights and ownership - called eDiscovery will cost you millions to defend a claim. It's time to sort it out, and yes there are solutions and things you can do to protect your investment! DM me to find out more #investment #risk #litigation

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I was just talking to a founder about the Stella Service business model that Jordy Leiser had built--where you test the customer service experience at a brand and then charge them in various ways for the results, either showing them how to improve or licensing them a seal of approval. The founder hadn't heard of that model and wondered in what other areas it could apply--and it got me thinking about a repository of models and business structures. Has anything like this been built? Pay to get unbiased recs--a la Angie's list. Good for X, Y, and Z markets. Pros, cons. A plugin that pops up information about each site as you visit it, a la Honey, SiteAdvisor (Chris Dixon's old startup before Hunch). It would be great for founders stuck on something to be able to say I've got X, Y, and Z information flowing from here to there, and it has this criteria, or these types of community members, this kind of power dynamic, etc... What models work for this? Otherwise, you wind up with "Uber for neurosurgeons" without realizing that "Uber for" only works with relatively commoditized services.

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Over the last few months, I've had countless conversations with founders. Many raised huge rounds in 2021, at sky-high valuations. But now? They're running out of capital, facing tough fundraising realities. → Down rounds → Lower valuations → Raising far less than before Some companies smashed their targets and are still seeing traction. But many? They spent like it was always going to be 2021. Now, they're paying the price. The lesson? In good times or bad—sustainable growth matters. P&L’s matter. Are you building for the moment, or for the future? #Startups #Fundraising #SustainableGrowth

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Are you planning on reaching out to Investors but don't know where to start? Join us tomorrow as one of the industry's experts, Eva Dobrzanska takes Hyper Startup Studio's Haydn Gouldie through her fundraising playbook! https://lnkd.in/efjCDNVa Not sure if you want to?? Eva will break down real-life capital raising strategies that Founders used to raise millions, into steps you can replicate yourself right now! These very methods have: Got a positive VC reply within 20 minutes, Got a reply from Mark Cuban, Got a foot in the door and currently speaking with Richard Brandon’s team, A reply from Sequoia Capital in <24 hours, And a stellar 100% response rate (!) within the first 4 hours of sending cold emails. We're talking real-life examples, real emails shown on screen, and practical stuff you wont find anywhere except at Fundraising Playbooks. This is not your usual workshop. This is a masterclass. Webinar Details: 🗓️ Date: Friday, Oct 25 ⏰ Time: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM BST 🎤 Guest Speaker: Eva Dobrzanska Register Here: https://lnkd.in/efjCDNVa

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Big news! I’m now officially available on Intro to help early founders and entrepreneurs create the next generation of entertainment tech. I created UNSHUT to change the way people think about themselves and the world around them, pioneering cutting-edge immersive adventures that are so much better than doomscrolling. (I also built and led campaigns for companies like HBO, Microsoft, Samsung, Calvin Klein, and Marriott, merging storytelling and advanced tech to elevate brand engagement). Recently, I’ve had LOTS of founders reaching out for help—What’s the right strategy to pursue? How can they build their personal brand? What’s wrong with their pitch deck? I’m happy to share everything I’ve learned to help you craft a brand, prototype your products, and connect emotionally with your audience. Grab a call at intro.co/jonclinkenbeard for advice on: ✔️ Building immersive experiences ✔️ Crafting your personal brand ✔️ Integrating AI and VR into your core strategy ✔️ Creating marketing concepts for high growth ✔️ Brand storytelling & audience connection Super excited to share my expertise in 1:1 bespoke sessions, where we talk about YOUR needs right NOW, not just the general best practices you hear again and again in tech conferences and blog posts. Grab a session here and let's get started: https://lnkd.in/gYAs7z39 Honored to be alongside other incredible experts like Rajat Suri (co-founder of Lyft, NASDAQ: LYFT), Shelby Clark (founder of Turo, $1B+ valuation), Jay DeSantis (VP at Parkway VC with exits at Microsoft & Salesforce), Alex Eagle (CEO of Freebirds World Burrito), Xavier Collins (Entrepreneur at world-changing companies like Uber, Deliveroo, and Turo), Siddharth M. (former Sr. Director in AI, Autonomous Vehicles at Waymo), and JOE BURKE (ex-Disney, inventor of Ollyball.

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Not just another startup 'plugging' Gen-AI into beauty. Cosmecode is building something others will want to plug into. In a world where many companies are rushing to plug the latest Gen-AI into every industry, we often get asked if we’re just another beauty startup using generative AI to enhance recommendations. But Cosmecode is different. We’re not taking a generic AI model and trying to make it fit the beauty industry. Instead, we’re building our own specialized AI : one designed from the ground up to recognize colors with unmatched precision and inclusivity. This isn’t about layering generic tech onto beauty; it’s about creating a foundation that’s tailored for it. Our technology isn’t just “smart.” It’s built for beauty, for inclusivity, and for accuracy. And it’s not something that any off-the-shelf Gen-AI can replicate. In fact, as we continue to refine our technology, it’s becoming something other companies will want to plug into—not the other way around. This is the future we’re building at Cosmecode: a world where technology serves the needs of every individual with personalized, accurate, and inclusive recommendations that go beyond what current models can achieve. Curious to learn how we’re redefining beauty tech from the ground up? Let’s connect. #genAI #AI #cosmetics #diversity L'Oréal LVMH The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Groupe Clarins Shiseido Veronique Drecq Gael BOUTRY Mélissa Duhalde Celine Chamla Sarah Hifdi Paul Parikh Huda Beauty 👩🏻‍💼 𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑚 𝐼? 𝐼’𝑚 𝑆𝑎𝑟𝑎ℎ 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑘𝑖, 𝑃ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝐷, 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑑𝑒. 𝑀𝑦 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎-𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦. 💡 𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ.

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Do this before your Series A I often see founders Once they have proved the concept Get pressured into scaling fast and expanding further so much so that they get into the trap of expanding and burning To avoid that watch this #seriesA #growthstage #pr #expantion #Vc #startups

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In New York for fantastic investor pitches organised by London & Partners. It has been really exciting to bring our AI technology and skills to NY. HOWEVER, this post is to share a summary from a brilliant keynote by Amy Kalokerinos AKalaid which has ten key insights that all non-US companies should address before moving to the US: 1. Product market fit outside of the US does not mean it will work in the US. Tip: Partnering with a local company that has a strong base in the US is a good short cut. 2. Sales people are coin-operated, meaning they need to have all the sales material in place before they start. This includes a CRM, Analytics, Ability to A/B test, and most importantly one single brilliant deck. 3. Separated by a common language. Having a UK spelling in comms or a deck is a mistake. Localize the spell check! Brits are humble, but that doesn't work in US start ups or sales for a more agressive and competitive environment. 4. Meetings Non-US meetings might chat for an hour about personal lives, family but not get to business. This is weird in the US. Stick to 10 mins pleasantries [I'd say 5 !] and then focus on why the meeting is happening, and what the outcomes should be. 5. Hire local It's tempting to send a rep, but hiring local with proven connections is the way to go, even though it will be more expensive. 6. Sales Channels The UK uses email for 30-40% of sales comms, but the US is an omnichannel market using phone, social media, LinkedIn, conferences and warm intros, and increasingly live chat on your websites, *but* control the volume across each channel to optimise. 7. Add value to all customer interactions Default to Speeds and Feeds. Listen to customer problems, and add value such as giving a white paper, insights, invites to an event. Become a great value-add partner over and above what you're selling. 8. Time to respond. The average time to respond to a sales lead in the UK is 47 hours. In New York, this is one hour. At most! 9. If a sales person is not performing, let them go. Make the overseer of the sales person is American, as the UK managers are likely to take much longer to fire an underperformer. Tip: NYC is the sales capital of the US, and with many redundancies there are more people on the market than usual. 10. Marketing owns the message, and Sales owns the relationship. A start-up often doesn't focus on getting the marketing right for two years after starting. Needs to be much sooner! Michal Marcinik, Oana Andreea Jinga, Kaushal Shah, Timo P Kunz 🎧, Serge Milbank, Tunde Ogundipe, Phil Westcott, Joshua Wöhle, Simon Hicks, Jeremy Brassington, Dami Hastrup, Jorge Muñoz, Juan Crosby, Gauthier Van Malderen, Gori Yahaya Laura Citron OBE Amrit Kang Richa Ghai Chauhan #Startupsuccess #Salesforstartups #Entrepreneurswhoscale

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I just read the results of this study “Unicorn Founder DNA Report” by Defiance Capital of 845 unicorns and 2,018 unicorn founders set out to look at the “DNA” of unicorn founders, concentrating on the U.S. and U.K. (no EU/European) from 2013 to 2023, to define the common traits of these kinds of founders. A few interesting takeaways: - 70% of unicorns have “underdog founders” (immigrants, women, people of color). - It reminded me of that sentence: "Where you find accent, there is courage" - Unicorns used to have only male founders, but this is changing, with 17% having a female founder in 2023. - Outside of SV Angel (6.4%) and YC (10%), no other VC fund got into more than 2.8% (Sequoia) of unicorns. This suggests the market to invest in a potential unicorn is completely fragmented at seed, meaning outlier VC funds have as much chance as a well-known fund to invest in a unicorn at the earliest stages. The study also found three dominant factors in the “DNA” of a unicorn founder. 1. No “plan B” 2. “A chip on the shoulder” 3. Unlimited self-belief And concludes: “The hunger, self-belief, ingenuity and resilience we found in the unicorn founders also make a lot of sense when you see that 62% had immigrant founders (typically from countries where it’s impossible to build unicorns) and 17% of new unicorns last year had female founders.” “There are only 30 funds that have more than 1% share of all these unicorns, which means that it’s totally fragmented,” he added. “If you combine this fragmentation with the fact that immigrants and women found it harder to fundraise, there’s a huge opportunity for new funds to come in and specifically set out to look for these founders.” It is worth reading: https://lnkd.in/dUj7Rc8v #founders #startups #foundertraits #unicorns #angelinvesting

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We’ve been on the CAC rollercoaster - and it’s not a ride you want to experience. Keeping it in check is daunting, but only if you don’t have the right approach. Here’s how we consistently manage our CAC while scaling at Obvi: Initially, we leaned heavily on just one platform for most of our ads - Meta. If you’ve been paying attention for the last couple of months then you know that’s not the best idea, but back in 2021, Meta was PRINTING on all fronts Then came IOS 14.5, and in less time than you can say “We’re f*cked”... Our CAC went from $30 to $93 And monthly adspend dropped from $600k to $250k. Personally, I wanted Obvi to exist in a year - and that meant that we needed to go back to square 1 and optimize every single aspect of our existing funnels. - Relearning how to make better creatives that convert - Completely reworking our landing pages, product pages, etc. - Ruthlessly testing new offers Our goal was to make every single interaction with us as valuable as the last. Meta will always have its good days and bad days and that holds true even recently. We saw the only sustainable solution was to give our entire process a deep renovation. But The #1 biggest lesson I learned from all this - good marketing is NEVER cut and dry. Ensuring the survival and growth of your business means you need to get scrappy (And become an amateur psychologist)  So - start using every resource available to you. Here’s what I recommend: 1. Know Thy Enemy Leverage platforms that can give you data, insights, and strategies for both you and your biggest competitors. There isn’t a single professional athlete who doesn’t step onto the field without watching film, so neither should you. 2. Become Your Customer I don’t mean this literally - but you can start buying your own products if you want. Go nuts. What I mean is start a community, interact with your customers. get yourself into your own funnel and scroll mindfully, etc. If you can understand your audience on a personal level, then everything you do on the marketing end will reflect it. 3. Leverage Multiple Marketing Channels Paid Media, Affiliate Marketing, Pop up stores at a farmers market - whatever. When you really start to diversify your marketing, 2 things happen: - Your risk of getting screwed if something goes wrong goes way down - Your target audience starts to see you EVERYWHERE Both are ideal, and both will contribute 1000% to the sustainable growth of your brand. Everything I said above we have done, and every single one has helped us to grow Obvi to where it is today. The world of DTC is constantly changing, and your best bet will be to innovate, build genuine relationships, and work to stay AHEAD of the curve.

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Own part of Disco. Disco is revolutionising music discovery. If you’re bored of playing the same old songs and fed up of the music app algorithms recommending you what you’ve already been playing, then Disco is for you. After raising our pre-seed round at the end of 2023, Disco is now about to launch its seed round on Crowdcube (who’d have thought?!). Sign up now for our waitlist and get priority access to guarantee your shares.  https://lnkd.in/e_zmumTJ Crowdcube Risk Warning: Please don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment.

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In 20 years from now Steven Bartlett will hear to this episode that he recorded with @david epstein and will look back and find out how much wiser he will be. Pierre Azoulay’s working paper, “Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship,” sparked significant interest when it revealed that the average age of startup founders in the top 1/10 of the top 1 percent of growth firms is 45. This contrasts with the popular belief that successful startups are typically founded by young entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. The study, co-authored with Benjamin Jones, J. Daniel Kim, and Javier Miranda, is based on extensive data analysis and challenges the stereotype that youth dominates the startup ecosystem. The research was officially published in the American Economic Review: Insights and has contributed to a broader discussion about the role of experience and age in entrepreneurship. It emphasizes that older entrepreneurs, often with years of industry experience, may be better positioned to build high-growth firms compared to their younger counterparts. MIT News further explored the implications of this finding with Azoulay, who holds the position of International Programs Professor of Management at MIT Sloan School of Management. This discussion reshapes how we view entrepreneurship and suggests that the energy and risk appetite of younger founders may be balanced by the experience, networks, and market knowledge that older founders bring to the table. https://lnkd.in/dD5-69SH #entrepreneurship Eternitai

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It's sad that many are concerned about their ability to attract investors because of their age. Talking to an older founder will most likely bring up concerns that investors will see them as being out of touch with new technology. Young founders, on the other hand, are usually worried about not having enough experience that would persuade investors to trust them. The thing is; age and success are not correlated. It's just one of the many myths that cloud the startup world and one you should forget, especially if it's hindering you from taking that step towards entrepreneurial success. — Interested in making that leap? Equip yourself with knowledge that can help make you an investable entrepreneur. Learn all about it in my FREE book downloadable here: https://lnkd.in/dvHSZGmB

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It’s about time for an update ⬇️ (After my month-long LinkedIn hiatus) Let's start with yesterday. → Positioning workshop for new client RIDI Group UK This is a team committed to excellence. One that cares about the heritage of their company. (I wasn't surprised when I heard some of the team have worked there for over a decade) A huge thanks to Richard Holt for choosing Solvi Digital to work with RIDI Group on positioning, external comms and content. Also, a massive thanks to the whole team for making this session so impactful. → Increasing our headcount (while maintaining what it means to work with Solvi) Andreas and I agreed on one thing when we set out to scale Solvi at the start of 2024. "Quality is never compromised." Our biggest challenge has been finding great people who share the same excitement for Industrial marketing that we do. But, I'm glad to share we've got a new copywriter joining the team on Tuesday. → Finally, recording more episodes of The Assembly Line Podcast Andrew Wood, an incredibly successful entrepreneur and investor joined us last week. His story was so powerful. After listening to this one, you'll stop putting up those imaginary barriers or blaming circumstances for not being where you want to be. #Marketing #Sales #Growth #Team

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🌱 The Art of Lifelong Growth 🌱 In a world that’s constantly evolving, PERSONAL and PROFESSIONAL growth isn’t just a goal—it’s a continuous journey. The most successful people are those who embrace change, adapt to new challenges, and keep building, brick by brick, day by day. If you’re on a journey of self-improvement and looking to construct a stronger, more resilient version of yourself, I invite you to explore "Under Construction: The Art of Lifelong Growth." Through the inspiring story of Rahul, this book explores into the power of persistence, the importance of continuous learning, and the joy of building a life with purpose. 🚀 Keep growing. Keep learning. Keep building. Remember, your life is always "Under Construction," and every new day is a chance to lay down another brick on the path to your dreams. Amazon - https://lnkd.in/de_8G3Um Amazon India - https://lnkd.in/ddb87WpJ Other Stores including Apple & Kobo - https://lnkd.in/ddZvFad4 In Hindi - Amazon - https://lnkd.in/dPse47im Other Stores including Apple & Kobo - https://lnkd.in/dd-zQs7p

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Are you looking for the perfect sound effects and music for your videos ? If you want to know what to do or where to look, you can simply go to uppbeat. What could be better than to have thousands of pieces of totally royalty-free music and sound effects all on this fantastic site, and to be able to select just the right pieces for your podcasts, reels or any other type of work? __________________ Drop a comment or send me a message if you're ready to take your videos to the next level. Let's create something truly remarkable together!  #RoyaltyFreeMusic #BackgroundMusic #SoundEffects #CreativeLibrary #VideoEditing #contentcreationtips

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