Akhil Bhiwal

Startup decks vs Business plans. It's accepted that a startup needs a deck. Dax Dasilva of Lightspeed Commerce made an important point on 20VC. Writing a business plan - including financial projections - is an important step. It requires discipline. It provides a rigorous framework for thinking deeply about the problem you're trying to solve. Harry Stebbings countered that he doesn't even want to see a deck since it's all dreams. We spent a lot of time and energy on our business plan with the expectation that we would show it to no one ever. The business plan was part of our roadmap for the company. We researched customers - including having 50+ conversations. We wanted to understand them: their background, their interests, their presence on social media. We also wanted to understand how they were evaluated by leadership and how integrated they were with the business of the company they were protecting. We researched pricing both with potential customers and other products in our industry to find out if OpEx or CapEx was a better fit. How did they buy today? How would they like to buy? We did market research to understand the verticals and map the right entry point - we were wrong but that doesn't reduce the value of the research. We looked at competitors in depth to understand what they were seeing that we weren't. Dax is right. This is an invaluable document that should be updated every year - the company is changing, the market is changing, there's more feedback about price and ICP. It's not for sharing with the outside world. It's a map for driving forward. Decks won't get you investment - VCs invest in people. We make decks but we know they don't tell our story. The deck is a calling card. Dax and Harry are both right. https://lnkd.in/e25M82xY

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This hard reset is required for all AI founders from India building global B2B products: Product Innovation > GTM muscle Product innovation is happening at a rapid pace in each of your categories, valley competitors are building thought through features that can help them win customers mid-long term, GTM muscle alone without product differentiation wont help you win in the first half of this AI decade. We are doing this hard reset within BoldCap on what we are looking for in AI founders. Ping us if you are tinkering in global AI B2B products. Shiv Tayal Pratham Chadha Aditi Gera

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Weekly Recap 1. Recorded an episode with Arun Antony of YE Stack - They have a very interesting hypothesis 2. Talked with Arav Behl building BuilderCast podcast 3. Talked with Adil building WeCrack Cohort 4. Preparing for a big episode today Ft. Co Founder of Blume Ventures 5. Received a really kind message from an upcoming guest 6. Received an encouraging message from Amrit Sheneva building Flashmates, Hiremart, and more Next week is going to be an interesting one

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Truly inspiring to listen to Dax Dasilva tell the story of Lightspeed Commerce on 20VC. With $900M in ARR I was thrilled to learn that Dax bootstrapped the company for 7 years to get to $10M in ARR. I hope it doesn't take us 7 years to get Liquid360 there but it makes me feel better about the 3.5 years we've put in to date. For me these stories are deeply encouraging. When you're building something very big it can take time to get to launch. A couple of weeks ago we met with a global player in the VC world. They were looking to invest $5M - $10M and we said we weren't there yet. We'll get there but it wouldn't be the right move today. They then jumped to another conclusion. The wrong one. I get it. They have a multi-billion dollar fund and capital to deploy. We have a company to grow and too much cash will not help us do it right. We've made good decisions being lean. Our customers are starting at $500K. This is an enterprise/gov't product. We have to satisfy a very discerning customer. No bugs, no glitches. A dependable and reliable product. We are excited by the feedback. We are making the world safer. Harry Stebbings suggested that Lightspeed is one of the most misunderstood companies. It's market cap is $2.6B which seems really low relative to the ARR. Very interesting episode.

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Here are 7 takeaways from the 2024 SaaS Benchmark Report by High Alpha, Openview, Paddle, and Tremont: 1. Revenue Growth & NRR at public SaaS cos have stabilized 2. 76% of founders are most concerned about GTM Execution 3. Revenue growth is down for companies >1M in ARR 4. Early signs of re-acceleration of revenue growth in early stage cos 5. NRR is a key revenue growth driver for larger companies 6. Companies with higher ACVs has stronger growth & retention rates 7. SaaS Spend bounced back in 2024 What's the most surprising find you had? Comment 👇 #SaaS #GTM

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The average successful exit for a bootstrapped SaaS company happens around the $5–10M ARR mark. Contrast that with VC-backed companies, where anything less than a 10x return is often considered a "failure." And while slow and steady wins the race for some, let's be realistic here — how long will it actually take? Years of grinding, reinvesting every penny, and hoping for that shmillion dollar outcome. So, here's a thought: 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘀 the outcome you should be optimizing far all along.... Here's why: First off, it makes sense. You get immediate value realization.   No need to wait years for a 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 IPO.   There's a clear and high probability off-ramp. Unlike VC, which often dilutes your control, strategic buyers actually want your expertise and want to preserve your vision. You might even get to lead your "baby" into its next growth phase. This means lower stress, higher satisfaction.   No more sleepless nights worrying about making payroll or prepping for the next funding round. Skip the exhausting cycle of pitches, term sheets, board meetings, and no pressure for unrealistic growth either. You get to focus on what you love—building and improving your product. Plus, you get to tap into the buyer's resources, distribution channels, and customer base. Your product could scale faster than you could ever do on your own. But what about the unicorn dream?   For every 1x unicorn, 1000x startups never make it big. Strategic acquisition offers a bird in hand—tangible success you can bank on. The real question here is: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲? Do you want to build an empire? Create something valuable and move on to your next adventure? Is your goal financial security? Or do you just like the constant hustle of startup life? The choice is yours to make. If you're a SaaS founder with $40k+ MRR and curious about what's possible, let's talk! For the love of the game 🏴‍☠️ ⚡ #Fundraising #Investing #VentureCapital #Startups 

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$1.7B: the valuation of Zuora, a profitable public SaaS company with $415M in ARR because, 4.25x multiple Also, $1.7B: a run-of-the-mill Series B valuation in Generative AI (revenue optional) because, vibes (I know, I know, low growth at Zuora, but still)

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Solid advice to founders from the co-founder and CEO of Databricks, Ali Ghodsi 👇 Target other startups first. Ali draws on Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm, which identifies five key groups in the tech adoption cycle: 1️⃣ Innovators 2️⃣ Early adopters 3️⃣ Early majority 4️⃣ Late majority 5️⃣ Laggards Ali’s advice is especially relevant for AI-focused founders, given the myriad of risks (security, privacy, explainability, and so on) that come with putting generative AI models into production. It is difficult to target established, traditional companies—the laggards—as an initial market. These large enterprises come with a labyrinth of security requirements, bureaucratic red tape, and drawn-out sales cycles. Beginning with other startups increases the likelihood that a product will be adopted and provides a powerful way to collect early user feedback. Establishing this data flywheel can help an AI startup differentiate their model and iterate their way to product-market fit. Salesforce and Dropbox used this particular playbook. Once you've proven your model with startups, then you can set your sights on enterprise 🚀

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The Ultimate Cheat Sheet collection for SaaS leaders & Founders - by Vencha, Included #VC & Notion Capital Here you have 15 cheat sheets on marketing, sales, fundraising, pitch decks and more: 💵 How to price and package your software ? 🎢 The 5 prospect stages 🚀How fundable is your company? 💸 Leadership transitions at different stages of business growth 🎯 SaaS monetisation in 8 steps 🕹️ Identifying your market: TAM, SAM & SOM demystified 🛠️ How to skyrocket SaaS sales? ⚖️ The ICP Grid, goal setting and how to prioritize ? #Fintech #saas #CheatSheet #isaphr #isapone #isapsolutions #starthubagency #isapinvestments www.isap.group www.isap.one www.isap.hr www.isap.agency www.isap.investments iSAP Solutions ltd iSAP ONE iSAP.HR StartHub.Agency iSAP Group Investments ltd Tino Herold

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After watching 100+ startups' founder-led sales demos, I am honestly surprised that ONLY ~90% of startups fail. As a first-time founder, I didn't understand sales, didn't realize how difficult it was, and didn't realize how different pre-PMF sales was from post-PMF sales. I also didn't realize that selling & delivering are THE core generative process for finding PMF... NOT research, experiments, & all the other nonsense I was taught. Which means I spent less time and mental energy on sales than I should have. Worse, I got stuck believing a bunch of bad ideas about pre-PMF sales: That I needed to "challenge" my prospective customers, that I needed to pitch the vision, that I needed to create a category, etc. When I watch pre-PMF sales calls, here are the FOUR cardinal sins I see: 1 - Spearfishing for pain points We're taught to discover pain points and problems... so we take the first 10-15 minutes of the call probing for pain points. Guess who likes to have their pain points probed for? Nobody. The idea is that if you find big problems & pain points, you can then convince customers to solve these using your magical solution. Which sounds right. But... has this ever been said? "WOW! You've done such a good job probing my pain points that I'm going to drop my existing projects and initiatives to buy your innovative new software!" Quite simply: We don't understand *why people buy software.* There is something that CAUSES people to buy software; nobody wakes up and says, "Yes! Today's the day I get to buy new enterprise software!" Plus, about pain points, remember: Life is a series of pain points that we mostly do nothing about. 2 - The investor pitch crossover If you're using your investor pitch deck for sales calls... may god have mercy on your soul. Investors like to see: - Big, abstract problems - Huge market opportunities - The 10-year vision - Where the product will be in 3-5 years, assuming you raise $50M+ - How you're going to be the main character of the next technological wave Customers couldn't care less about any of this. They care about themselves, their goals, their projects, their jobs. When you show customers your investor deck, you speak in a different language that's offensive to them. 3 - The "let me prove it works" demo Prospects ask to see your software for the same reason you walk them through every screen in your product: Because you both hope that by seeing something tangible, some lightbulb will go off in their minds that causes them to get it and want to buy it. In some ways, it's like we show them every screen of our product to *prove the product works.* I get it, it's kinda a miracle at this stage that the product DOES work. The purpose of the demo isn't to prove the product works, or to show them every screen in hopes that something clicks. 4 - Dealing with objections like a blindfolded hockey goalie Ran out of space, this is the most important one. Another time.

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I often hear early-stage founders ask: What numbers should I project to get a good valuation? But wait is the valuation arrived just based on projections? While projections play a role, they aren't the full story. Fundamentally, your valuation is shaped by: [1] Your execution: What milestones have you achieved? MVP ready? Problem/Solution Fit? User Metrics? Primary Market Research? [2]Capital already raised/invested: How much capital have you already raised or invested? [3] Your experience: Does your background inspire investor confidence? The more 'yes' responses you have to the points above, the greater your chances of securing funding at a favorable valuation. Your past traction and current execution will heavily influence how investors perceive risk, which, in turn, shapes your valuation. Any thoughts? #Valuation #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #Fundraising #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #FinancialModeling

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{New pod 🎤} "𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗠 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗜 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘆" Was super-fun to record this with Rohini Pandhi - Product Lead at Mercury and ex-Product Lead at Square/ Block. The first half of this episode covers best practices and frameworks used by best-in-class fintech companies like Square and Mercury to build products and drive go-to-market.  In the second half, we discuss insights and learnings for PM career planning in fintech, including ways to prepare for the potential impact of AI on product jobs. Some great learnings here for fintech product leaders, young PMs, and founders. Let me know what you think! Spotify - https://lnkd.in/dJQMM9sB Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/dyDaCDk7 An Operator's Blog - https://lnkd.in/dREtbx9n

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Sequoia Capital's Framework to Find Out If a Startup Has Achieved Product-Market Fit (PMF) 👇 The First is "Retention Curve" - "The retention curve is what percentage of your users keep coming back over some time while using your product/service." Essentially, there are 3 kinds of retention curves, and you should plot this curve by day, week, or month, once you launch your product. 1. Declining Curve (dark grey line), let's say you’ve launched a consumer internet app on day 0, and every week your retention rate declines by 10%, which essentially means that by the end of 3rd month, all your initial users would have churned, then that's a declining curve, which indicates that you don’t have a product-market fit. 2. Flattening Curve (orange line) is actually good, although it kind of varies depending upon the category (Health-Tech, EdTech, etc.,) but generically speaking if the retention curve flattens between 20%-40% that could be quite good. 3. Finally the best one is the Smiling Retention Curve (green line), which means that retention drops but then as time goes on you keep reactivating users, which indicates that you're getting close to your product-market fit. Another question that founder should think is - 2. Do Customers Love Product? Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric that organizations use to measure customer loyalty toward their brand, product or service. NPS works by asking your customers a single question: "How likely are you to recommend our products/services to others?" NPS = % Promoters (score 9-10) - % Detractors (score 0-6) If the magic score is = 70% or more, then you have an amazing product-market fit. But if the number declines to 40% or below, then you don’t have it. It's that simple! What do you think of these two methods? Check out my free newsletter for more insights: https://lnkd.in/dTzRN9HK . #startup #fundraising #venturecapital #funding #fundraising #founders #founderjourney #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #founderstories #startuptips #sharktankindia #siliconvalley #startups #vc #vcfund #vcfunding #funding #startups #pmf #product #sequoiacapital

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Vinod Khosla, a renowned Indian-American billionaire and influential venture capitalist, is a key player in the industry, with a remarkable track record that includes founding Sun Microsystems and Khosla Ventures. His investments in companies like Square, Stripe, DoorDash, and Instacart have been pivotal. Mario Gabriele shares valuable insights from Vinod: - Remember, you may be closer to a yes than you think. - Focus on getting the goose, not just the golden egg. - Be prepared for resistance to innovative ideas. - Your ultimate task is to sell. Delve into top resources from Khosla to boost your entrepreneurial journey: 1. Pitch the way VCs think: [Link] 2. Master how to solve the Pitch Problem: [Link] 3. Explore "Plausible Tomorrows 2035-2049": [Link] 4. Read "Letters to a Young Founder" by Vinod Khosla: [Link] Leverage these insights to thrive in the realm of venture capitalism and entrepreneurship. #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #Innovation

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If your SaaS startup is hitting a rough patch, here are some strategies to reinvigorate your business: 1. Introduce free trials or discounts to entice prospects to test your product, which can lead to increased adoption. 2. Boost your presence on social media and invest in content marketing to expand your reach and attract new customers. Be consistent with your social media posting - automate it if you don’t have time or resources to maintain it. 3. Implement a referral program with incentives for current users to bring in new clients, enhancing both engagement and your customer base. 4. Form alliances with complementary businesses to access broader audiences and drive mutual growth. 5. Invest in SEO to increase your visibility and help more potential customers find you online. 6. Regularly collect and act on feedback from users to gain insights into product improvements and customer satisfaction. If you’re very early-stage a small user research WhatsApp group for your super users may make sense. 7. Engage leads and maintain connections with current customers through targeted email campaigns. People do read emails, even the newsletters. 8. Deliver more personalized customer support to quickly resolve issues, building trust and loyalty. 9. Adjust your pricing strategies to find the perfect balance that maximizes revenue while minimizing customer churn. 10. Continuously track and measure your performance metrics to refine your strategies and enhance effectiveness. Flexibility and responsiveness to feedback are crucial in the SaaS industry for scaling and refining your operations.

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U-Haul's data on one way rentals is always informative when looking at migration patterns (below from 2023). This trend is a continuation of patterns seen during COVID - which enabled people to move and didn't require close proximity to their jobs (due to WFH). Few points to note for real estate + tech deployment: - The Carolinas has "4 seasons" weather wise - i.e warm summers and cold winters - a reason cited as why it it is a high, net recipient. One of the other factors noted was the lower risk of major weather events (c.f Florida). Climate events are now a material consideration for homeowners. - Prior datasets + investment hurdles, on clustered locations such as New York, are less relevant with material impact on vals - meaning significant overhauls, perhaps AI driven, to CapTrans models + data - Given infra projects take up to 7 years to complete (a proxy for 500miles of rail), we foresee a number of "white elephant" infra projects. A number of these projects were built with a CBD centre point - but these are less relevant now- impacting previous asset val assumptions. #Portfolios and assets are now fundamentally different. At The Proptech Connection, we help our clients with understanding how asset use will look across a ream of horizons and adopting the technology based on this. Reach out today to find out how we can help. Ivo van Breukelen Stuart Daun #Futurism #RealEstate

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Choosing the wrong growth model can sink your SaaS business. And that's a mistake you can't afford to make. So, how do you pick the right one? Here are five growth models to consider: 1. Product-Led Growth (PLG) - Users experience value quickly. - Scalable with low-touch acquisition. - Best for strong product-market fit targeting SMBs. 2. Enterprise Sales - Direct selling to large organizations. - High-revenue, personalized solutions. - Ideal for high-value products needing hands-on sales. 3. Freemium Model - Basic version free, paid tiers for more. - Drives quick adoption. - Great for scaling with a clear upgrade path. 4. Channel Sales - Use partners or resellers to expand reach. - Leverages others' networks. - Good for scaling without a large sales team. 5. Hybrid Model - Combines multiple strategies. -Flexibility to target various segments. - Balances low-touch and high-touch approaches. Choosing isn't easy. But aligning your growth model with your product and market is a game-changer. So, which one fits you business? #BrainDumps | BrainDump #106

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𝐔𝐊 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 The past few years have been brutal for #startups, with record layoffs, halted hiring, and widespread closures or down rounds. Yet amidst these challenges, some #fintech companies have not only survived but thrived — achieving profitability and making waves in the industry. Here’s a spotlight on some of the UK’s most profitable #fintechs: Revolut Launched in 2015, Revolut has solidified its position as a leading UK startup, recently reaching an impressive $45bn #valuation. Their 2023 performance was phenomenal: ▪️ $2bn in revenue ▪️ $545m in profit Monzo Bank Monzo’s latest annual report shows a complete turnaround, with remarkable growth across the board: ▪️ £15.4m in profit (a huge leap from a £116m loss in 2023) ▪️ £880m in revenue (+147% YoY) ▪️ 9.3 million users (+26% YoY) Allica Bank Positioning itself as a full-service #bank for SMEs, Allica has quickly gained traction since its 2019 debut and reached profitability faster than most UK fintechs: ▪️ Revenue surged by 141% to £191m ▪️ Pre-tax profit hit £16.1m Moneybox Moneybox’s latest results highlight significant growth, showcasing their ability to scale rapidly: ▪️ £77m in annual revenue (up from £28m last year) ▪️ £27m in pre-tax profit (a massive jump from a £4.1m loss last year) Starling Bank Founded in 2014, Starling achieved #profitability in 2022 and shows impressive 2023 results: ▪️ £453m in revenue ▪️ £169m in net income ▪️ 37% profit margin Zopa Bank Zopa bank became a #unicorn in 2021 when it raised £220m at a valuation of $1.03bn. After losses in 2022, FY23 results reflect Zopa's #profitability growth: ▪️ £222m in revenue (+44% YoY) ▪️ £16m in profit (compared to a £24m loss in 2022) ClearBank A leader in enabling real-time #payments, ClearBank’s 2023 results show impressive growth: ▪️ £111m in total income (+91% YoY) ▪️ £18m in profit (+109% YoY) ▪️ £6.1bn in deposits (+103% YoY) iwoca Founded in 2012, iwoca provides businesses with access to funding and just released its FY2023 report: ▪️ £143m in revenue (99% YoY) ▪️ £22m in pre-tax profit Atom bank Atom delivered its first year of operating #profit in FY23 and showed growth results: ▪️ £100m in revenue ▪️ £7m in pre-tax profit OakNorth A unicorn just two years after its founding, OakNorth’s latest figures highlight its staying power: ▪️ £466m in revenue (+73% YoY) ▪️ £187m in pre-tax profit (+24% YoY) ▪️ 30% net profit margin ClearScore ClearScore’s 2023 results emphasize consistent performance while helping consumers access free credit reports: ▪️ £77m in revenue ▪️ £5m in pre-tax profit These fintechs have proven their strength and adaptability — 2024 will show us how the fintech landscape will evolve with new milestones the industry can reach. #FY2023 #dmtech #dataminingtech #dataminingtechnologies

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