Kanishka Khanna

Funding down dramatically to Black founders in 2023 across early stages - Sign the Community Development Investment Tax Credit Act and Expanding American Entrepreneurship Act before 5 PM TODAY. Peter Walker of Carta shared this on the state of funding to Black Founders -"2023 was the lowest share of fundraising for Black founders in our Carta dataset since 2020. The declines were consistent across pre-priced, Seed, and Series A rounds. One underreported thesis is that as VCs sought to reduce risk in the venture downturn of the last year or two, they funded repeat founders to an even larger degree than in prior timeframes. And Black founders are less represented among repeat founders (who would have had to found their companies in a less diverse VC ecosystem) than they are among founders as a whole." This is critical and all hands are required to advocate for Black Founders and reverse the anemic numbers around funding. The Center for American Entrepreneurship & Engine | Advocacy & Foundation are asking founders and ecosystem builders of color to sign a letter urging US Congress to pass: Community Development Investment Tax Credit Act: Boosts investment in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). "The legislation would create a new tax credit for private sector investors that make hashtag equity or equity equivalent investments in, or that provide long-term patient capital (i.e., loans with a minimum term of at least 10 years) to CDFIs." Expanding American Entrepreneurship Act: "The legislation would raise the cap on funds organized under a 2018 sub-category of section 3(c)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 from $10 million to $50 million, and double the number of permitted investors from 250 to 500. Together, these changes will enable emerging fundmanagers to raise larger funds." Thanks to John Dearie for your tireless efforts and advocacy. Please add your your name to this letter before 5pm ET Today 🔗https://lnkd.in/grrzAeWG Samantha Katz Dominic-Madori Davis

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Let’s get aspiring VCs noticed 🌟 Investors & platform folks! I post a list of weekly VC job openings every Wednesday. My mission is to open as many doors as possible for other people so that weekly post is meant to help folks break into the black box that is VC. Another way I like to push that mission forward is by having aspiring VCs flag themselves on my posts for VCs who are hiring to see. It’s worked on other platforms. Let’s try it on LinkedIn! 👤 Name 📍 Location 💼 Desired role 💎 Investor or platform* 📊 Stage focus 🔍 Industry focus *Investor refers to those who source new companies for investment & platform refers to those who support portfolio companies post-investment. For those looking for help breaking into VC, check out my blog: https://lnkd.in/eNXQ7_uS 25+ deep-dives on all things VC recruiting + the opportunity to speak with me live. #venturecapital #startup #recruiting #hiring

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Let’s get aspiring VCs noticed 🌟 Investors & platform folks! I post a list of weekly VC job openings every Wednesday. My mission is to open as many doors as possible for other people so that weekly post is meant to help folks break into the black box that is VC. Another way I like to push that mission forward is by having aspiring VCs flag themselves on my posts for VCs who are hiring to see. It’s worked on other platforms. Let’s try it on LinkedIn! 👤 Name 📍 Location 💼 Desired role 💎 Investor or platform* 📊 Stage focus 🔍 Industry focus *Investor refers to those who source new companies for investment & platform refers to those who support portfolio companies post-investment. Learn the 8-steps of a VC interview process here: https://lnkd.in/gri__2vu #venturecapital #startup #recruiting #hiring

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🚨 This is it – The Final Push! 🚨 We’re down to the wire, and your vote could be the one that helps Ferna Tech take the stage at SXSW London 2025! Our panel, “A $16M Blueprint: How Black Founders Can Raise Smart Capital, Drive Culture & Go from Founder to Funded,” is more than a conversation—it’s a movement. It’s about reshaping the narrative, opening doors, and creating actionable pathways for underrepresented founders to thrive. This is your chance to make a statement: → That representation matters → That excellence against all odds deserves a global stage → That community-driven progress is the future 🔗 Vote here: https://lnkd.in/dHQzFMav 👇🏽 How to vote: 📹 #fernatech #sxsw #voteferna #fernafounders #blacktech #founders #venturestudio #AfroTech #Community #innovation

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Great time on the Embracing Erosion podcast w/Devon O'Rourke! We talked about: 🚀 How to scale a company from concept to 9-figure exit 🔄 How to break away from the traditional consulting model and apply product approaches ⏩ Why it’s important to iterate quickly and often with messaging 💸📈What signals are important to pay attention to when investing in startups and much more!

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I got this in the mail today... 👇 The "Angel Fund for Children"? Capital One is making me think... is this an untapped value proposition for Tundra Angels? Could this be a new tactic for investors looking to join Tundra Angels? Or when startups are looking at their different funding options... Or when co-investors of ours are looking at a mutual startup investment... I'll hit em' with, (*puppy dog face with emotionally stirring tone of voice*) "But... it's for the children." Venture capital won't know what hit it... 🤣 ----------------------- I drop weekly insights as an investor what I wish I could have read 10 years ago as a founder. Check it out here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eMiaUx7R

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One month left to apply!!!! Apply to NETI's Climate Tech Bootcamp Cohort 3.0, a pre-accelerator program powered by Riffle Ventures, Climate Tech Bootcamp, OHUB and Greater New Orleans, Inc. – GNO, Inc. part of H2TheFuture, a Build Back Better Regional Challenge of The Economic Development Administration. This bootcamp is a 10-week pre-accelerator program for climate tech and new energy entrepreneurs in the United States that have an interest in building in or expanding to South Louisiana. ‍ Five (5) founders from the program will pitch for a $100,000 (US) investment on the terms of their current round. Application is in the comments and here's a quick overview as well: - 📆 When: September 3 - October 31, 2024 - ⏰ Deadline to Apply: August 27, 2024 - 💻 Location: Virtual - 🆓 Cost: Free. The $5,000 per person fee is waived thanks to GNO, Inc. and The Economic Development Administration's Build Back Better Regional Challenge. - 💰 Funding: Up to $100,000 US (equity investment) in current round to the top startup selected at the end of the cohort. - 🈺 Cohort Size: 25-30 entrepreneurs - 🌍 Cohort Geography: United States - 📈 Stage: We welcome applicants from multiple stages, though having a minimum viable product is ideal.

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A powerful lesson I've learned about venture capital and private equity: picking a niche you can truly OWN is a huge competitive advantage. Venture & PE is a competitive game. Many funds raised capital in the last five years simply because they could due to an easier-than-normal fundraising environment. But many of these funds lacked (lack) a clear sense of the 3 key "why's": - Why this strategy? - Why this team? - Why now? Picking and executing within a defendable niche can be a huge differentiator not only in raising capital, but more importantly in building a strong deal flow engine and building the leverage needed to negotiate and execute strong deals. cc: Top Shelf Ventures #VentureCapital #PrivateEquity

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An important discussion that I see first hand in both my very deep tech focused investing industry in venture capital and as an ethnic minority. The anti-woke discussion MUST not derail critical corporate DEI initiatives but the lesson is we need to more than box tick. Fabric Ventures Money20/20

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Non-Engineering Roles at Early-Stage Startups Offering $120K+ Base Salary with Meaningful Bonus and Equity: Chief of Staff @ Milo (Consumer), Remote Biz Ops Lead @ Fractal Agriculture (FinTech), Remote; Backed by Virta Ventures Chief of Staff @ CakeAI (AI SaaS), NY; Backed by Primary Venture Partners Demand Generation Specialist @ Rootly (Consumer), Remote; Backed by YC, 8VC, Gradient Ventures Account Executive @ CommandBar (Enterprise SaaS), Remote; Backed by Soma Capital, YC, Insight Partners Product Marketing @ Slope (Enterprise), Remote; Backed by YC, Union Square Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures Supply Planning Manager @ PROVEN Skincare (Consumer), Remote; Backed by YC, FJ Labs, Soma Capital, Social Capital Account Executive @ Accrue Savings (Consumer), NY; Backed by Ground Up Ventures, Tiger Global Chief of Staff @ UNIGRID Battery (Climate), CA; Backed by Union Square Ventures, LiquidMetal Ventures Job details and the full list (40+ opportunities) are in the comments below. If you're interested in non-tech jobs focused on specific industries like HardTech, HealthTech, Climate, etc., then DM me or let me know in the comments.

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Hi Folks; Here’s a post about what Lisa Morales-Hellebo and I have been up to this year at REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund. We made 13 new investments in 2024 - including 2 that remain in stealth, and 1 that's closing "as we speak." - Diagon - AutoMetrics Manufacturing Technologies Inc - KayaAI - FLUIX AI - Cosynd - MYAVANA - Spectrohm - Nevoya - Vendorflow - Barn Owl Precision Ag This brings our portfolio to 57 startups since we got going in July 2021. Our investment Thesis: REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund invests in early stage startups refashioning legacy industries through Data & AI, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing, & Next Generation Supply Chains; Defensible through economic moats. It has been a challenging year for pre-seed and seed stage startups, and for  emerging venture fund managers. But, we’ve made it this far, and take great pride and joy in what we have accomplished this year. We took our enthusiasm for Industrial Transformation & Supply Chain Technology on the road, and hosted supply chain meetups in Silicon Valley and in Miami for The Worldwide Supply Chain Federation. We are closing the year with gratitude for the founders who have taken as much of a bet on us as we have on them, and, for our limited partners, without whose financial backing we would not be where we are now. We are living in a world that embodies our Industrial Transformation & Supply Chain Technology investment thesis at REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions & Great Power Competition; The Climate Crisis & Severe Weather; Consumer Behavior & Demographics. Join us. We’ll publish our annual year in review next month. Till then . . . May the holidays bring you and those you love many reasons for celebration, and may 2025 bring us all many reasons for laughter. Happy Holidays.  #IndustrialTransformation #SupplyChain #Innovation #Technology #Startups #VentureCapital

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I'm watching Slow Ventures closely as one of the most innovative funds out there. This podcast with Slow Ventures Principal Yoni Rechtman offers a refreshing take on scaling B2B software through #GrowthBuyouts centered around Metropolis Technologies case study and super interesting overview of Teamshares Rollup strategy, both Slow portfolio company. Growth Buyouts, specifically, flip the traditional SaaS playbook on its head. Instead of burning capital on customer acquisition, this approach suggests building software and then essentially "buying customers" - making a strong case for why the future of scalable business might look more like PE than traditional SaaS. This is a particularly relevant perspective for founders struggling with CAC in traditional software distribution. Also, I really believe #PE and M&A are very key elements in the transformation of most of asset heavy industries.

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Participating in Cohort 14 of the VC Lab has been an energizing experience so far. I am learning so much about the ins and outs of being an emerging fund manager and how to succeed in this space. Today they hosted a panel for Women in VC that provided some real world advice from some fantastic panelists. The curriculum is rigorous for sure, but rewarding. If you are curious about why this is such an exciting area check out this article. #venturecapital #vc #investing https://lnkd.in/gMMM_mwp

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At Kearny Jackson, founders constantly ask us what we look for in founding teams. I’m sharing the rough framework that my partner, Sriram Krishnan, outlined to assess founders as a pre-seed/seed investor. This is also how I judge whether someone is “biased for action” or “biased for thought.” I get along well with the former and not the latter, but that’s a story for another day. Level 1 - Speed of communicating Whether by text or email. Quick turnarounds, “acknowledged receipt” types of folks. Not being speedy is not necessarily a bad sign; it can also mean they’re busy or don’t care about you or your email. Usually “closes the loop” and, most importantly, tries to leave no email unresponded. Level 2 - Speed of rewriting deck or memo Founders who pitch one version of the deck and share an updated version after the pitch the same day with slides that address the questions asked during the pitch. Or founders that iterate on positioning and strategy quickly based on input and ship a new version of a deck within days. Some founders use a static deck when presenting (i.e. the same deck for weeks on end), but some are more dynamic and change/pivot/edit when new information or tactics come to light. Level 3 - Speed of talking to or onboarding design partners Founders who not only speak to 50-70 potential prospects within a short time frame but also ones who onboard X design partners very quickly. I’ve seen some founders pitch an idea in week one and sign up four design partners in week two. That’s pretty impressive regardless of what is being built and shows they can execute. Level 4 - Speed of shipping new code, new features, new products, or new pivots This is the holy grail. This is what every early-stage investor means by execution velocity. In the world of early-stage startups, the big fish don’t eat the small fish. The fast ones eat the slow ones. And how quickly you ship code represents how efficient or productive you can be in a resource-constraint environment. All investors would preferably want to see how founders execute with code, but (A) founders don’t always have product during the seed/pre-seed rounds, eg. figma designs, mock-ups, ideas, etc (B) so investors have to rely on other signals to decipher whether you can execute on 4 so levels 123 above will hopefully inform them on that.

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Crunchbase charted smaller VC funds that successfully raised capital this year. Joanna Glasner, A few callouts: 🏁"Smaller" funds (sub $500 million!) have reached the lowest raised tally in years: totaling $13.7 billion.. For context and as charted: $40 billion was raised in 2022. 🏁Larger round sizes are getting larger, i.e. OpenAI - clearly favoring funds with deeper pockets. However: smaller funds are driving the #alpha, are able to put smaller sums to work in transformational companies, and deliver returns without requiring #unicorn exits. 🏁History has shown that funds that are raised in sluggish environments tend to outperform. Accel and Andreessen Horowitz #VentureCapital #Fundraising

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Even the smartest people misunderstand product-market fit in fintech lending. 💸 Take Dalton Caldwell, Y Combinator partner, who’s saved me more times than I can count. He’s brilliant, but his take on lending misses the mark: Dalton: "Money has product-market fit." Michael Siebel’s response: “Always.” In tech, product-market fit means your product sells itself. But in lending? It’s trickier. Lending isn’t just about giving money away—it’s about getting it back. You might hand out loans, but that doesn’t mean you’ve nailed product-market fit. Think of it like giving away free food. The real question is: will they come back to pay? The sale isn’t done until the loan is repaid. Repayment is part of the sales process. 🏦 In my fintech lending days, we hit a 97% repayment rate—but collections were a grind. When we shifted to niche lending, collections became seamless. This is where true product-market fit in lending lies: a system that sells itself twice. If you were lending, how would you guarantee repayment? 🤔

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Questions from my founders this week: 1) Can I close the rest of my pre-seed round quickly with angels...or do I need to hold out for VC/institutional money? (Yes. Close it asap, and get back to work towards reaching those milestones the VCs are giving you for when they will be interested.) 2) I keep spinning out and reacting when I hear the SAME advice/suggestions from potential investors - who have never started a tech start-up. (Let's look at the feedback. Let's filter it based on the context. Let's prepare some good responses for you to address the concerns and continue with the conversation.) 3) Everything is changing/progressing so quickly in my startup, I feel like I can't fill in any of these applications/forms for investment consideration. (We have to choose a stopping point from which you can fill out these applications... knowing that things will rapidly change and move forward. But you can't delay until things "calm down".) 4) My projections should be based on closing this round, and nothing more, right? (No, your projections are a big vision, and should include all your assumptions, including getting the resources you need in your next rounds.)

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‼️ ICYMI: High Alpha's Benchmarks report is live! SaaS founders and teams—this is a must-read, filled with actionable benchmarks designed to help you build smarter, measure success, and accelerate growth. From growth rates to cash efficiency, it’s all in there. I cannot stress this enough—pay attention to your NRR. Top-line growth is nice, but delivering outsized value to customers proves how indispensable your product truly is. More below!

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