Matt Lerner

The best things Founders can receive from investors (apart from term sheets) is feedback! At Funden, about 50% of pass notes come with some sort of feedback thats actionable and helpful to the Founder. Here’s an example of a pass note from earlier this month: “We focus on having live, paying enterprise customers with a repeatable, scalable sales process and line-of-sight to series-A financial metrics" Boom! That kind of transparency is unprecedented in the venture world. This type of feedback says, "Hey we're excited about the industry and product, but we need to just see a little more proof of concept on the business before we can dive deeper". Now, this founder has someone they can reach back out to, who is going to be familiar with them, and the Founder will now be right in their investable sweet spot! Another one we got recently was a few investors are telling the same founder, independently of one another, that their round size was far too big for their level of traction. Hearing the same type of feedback as to why they're passing in such a short period of time has a real and meaningful impact on how founders are structuring their raise. And we're happy to help them. https://lnkd.in/gZ_tVkTB ---------------------- Funden is the #1 fundraising platform connecting founders to capital. Founders use our tools and strategic guidance for quicker, more effective fundraises. Investors use us to receive curated, quality deal flow and broadcast co-investment opportunities to our audience of 1000+ global VCs, family funds, angel networks, syndicates, and more.

20

2 Comments

21 Ways to Kill Your Company Day 9: Poor Fundraising Strategy This means two things - be realistic about the benchmarks you need to unlock your next raise and then raise enough money to hit those milestones. Be great (and realistic) with financial planning. Don't forget those extra five months you typically need to raise. #21waystokillyourcompany #fundraising #venturecapital

6

Some of you may know that I angel invested in 30 companies before launching Fund I, where I’ve now invested in another 30. I get a ton of questions from new angels on how to generate deal flow, what good diligence looks like, how to design a portfolio, how to differentiate (why would a founder take your check?), how to track your own performance, and more. I had the same questions when I got started! Excited to bring The Council Angels and Brydge Club communities together to cover Angel Investing 101 next Tuesday. All are welcome - RSVP below!

67

4 Comments

"What we are saying is, hey, right now you have this unified infrastructure that allows you to do payment experimentation. And guess what, if you want to try and test different services, now you have access to an app store of services, you go in, in the Primer dashboard, they can just like toggle on and off, like the services you want to use. You can add test them, AB testing in the world of payments is simply impossible, right?" - ⁠Gabriel Le Roux The Asia Tech Podcast welcomed Gabriel Le Roux, a co-Founder and the CEO of Primer back to the show for a quick catch up. Gabriel had written a post on how Stripe's new openness would change the payment space and I wanted to record about it. Check it out on the Asia Tech Podcast YouTube channel as well...and subscribe! Listen to the full episode here... #payments #openpayments #fintech #platforms #interoperability #SME

24

9 Comments

Venture Capital Fundraising Deck Template: Carta and Kauffman Fellows present a comprehensive venture capital fundraising deck template to guide General Partners (GPs) in attracting limited partners (LPs). Here’s what to include: 1) Background: Highlight the unique qualifications and track record of your team. LPs are investing in the people as much as the strategy. 2) Differentiators: Showcase what makes your fund stand out—whether it’s your access to networks, industry expertise, or proprietary methodologies. 3) Investment Thesis: Present your vision for the market, future trends, and how your fund will capitalize on these opportunities. 4) Track Record: Include metrics like IRR, multiples, and past successful investments to demonstrate your fund’s potential for generating returns. 5) Terms: Outline the economic terms, including fund size, management fee, carried interest, and target raise. PS. check out 🔔 for a winning pitch deck the template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel https://lnkd.in/ejp-Bhnu

22

Want a front-row seat to the frontier of tech? We’ve got the role (or two) for you! We’re expanding our frontier-tech team at Blackbird by hiring a Frontier Tech Investments Associate and Foundry Fellows! Got questions? We've got answers... 1️⃣ What are the roles? 🧪 Associate = a full-time VC investment gig in our Blackbird Investments team, working directly with me. We’re looking for someone with a science and/or engineering background and more curiosity than they can handle. You’ll grow your own investment brand and practice, support our portfolio founders, and will help build Foundry, our early-stage frontier-tech accelerator. ✨ Foundry Fellow = a casual/contract gig in our Blackbird Investments team, ~15h per week for 3 months. The Fellowship is ideal for PhD students and ECRs who want to learn more about startups and VC. You’ll go deep on emerging areas relevant to your expertise (or curiosity!), get a front-row seat to groundbreaking companies in those areas, build out your non-academic network, and develop a solid writing practice. 2️⃣ Why are you hiring? We love frontier tech, and we’re ready to grow our team. 3️⃣ Wow, it’s so great that you’re starting to look at deep tech! Look, we get it: we don’t make a lot of noise about our frontier tech investing. Buuuut we’ve been deep-tech investors since we backed Tim Kentley-Klay to found Zoox back in 2014—we’ve been on incredible journeys with PsiQuantum (building the world's first utility-scale quantum computer right here in Australia!), Inventia Life Science (transforming drug discovery with high-fidelity cell models), Remedy Robotics (surgical robots for remote endovascular procedures), Opto Biosystems (minimally-invasive neural implants to treat cancer), and more. We believe that frontier technologies, and great frontier-tech investing, will be part of the solutions to the greatest problems humanity faces today. 4️⃣ When do applications close? May 31st at 11:59pm AEST. 5️⃣ I have more questions! I’m sure you do! Clare Birch and I are hosting an AMA to answer any and all questions about these roles. Want to know what a week in the life of our team looks like? What’s keeping us up at night? What our ideal candidate looks like? Come along and find out - registration link in the comments 👇 Apply for these roles: Associate - https://lnkd.in/gCfj4EUJ Foundry Fellowships - https://lnkd.in/gj6ATZVZ If you know anyone that we should meet, send me their details! Cameron Elise Ben Andrew Robin Joseph Adelaide James Olivia Lucinda Raghav Jesse Christie Mohamed Tom Amee Pablo Haya Loong Hon Joshua Benjamin Megan Harry Denzil Matthew Diana Daniel Tom Deanna Justin Amar Lilly Stone Thomas

114

4 Comments

As we dive into 2024, the Series A fundraising landscape is becoming increasingly daunting. Investment standards are soaring, and fewer startups are making the cut. Series A investors are finding many seed stage companies too premature. The median valuation jump from seed to Series A skyrocketed from $19.5 million in Q1 2022 to $28.7 million in Q1 2024. Investors now demand stronger revenue performance, targeting $2 million to $3 million in ARR, up from $1 million to $2 million. Alarmingly, only 12% of Q1 2022 seed startups secured Series A funding within two years, down from 31.8% in Q1 2020. #venture #earlystage #seedtoseriesa #seed #seriesa #inspireglobalventures https://lnkd.in/gW4bkcNy

6

🎉 🎉HUGE congratulations to the whole Infinity Ventures team on raising $184M Fund II! To all my fellow Commerce/Fintech entrepreneurs out there - This team is the real deal and exactly who you want to have in your corner when you're building, and preparing for scale. They have helped Team Vizit tremendously. Can't wait to see all the new faces and big ideas at next year's Founder summit! 📈 🚀 Jay Ganatra Jeremy Jonker Mario Ruiz Levi King Samantha Klingelhofer Check out the story below 👇 #commerce #ai #fintech #vc #venturecapital #digitalcommerce

61

2 Comments

Do you know any companies that are stuck or going through a rough time? At Palm Venture Studios, we believe some companies close that don't deserve to. Our mission is to identify these hidden gems and provide the support they need to thrive. We specialize in investing in and scaling companies, leveraging our expertise to turn challenges into opportunities. If you know a company in need of a lifeline or a fresh new chapter, let's connect and explore how we can help. #BusinessGrowth #Investing #CompanyTurnaround #Founders

27

1 Comment

Fascinating US venture data. Worth a read. The big take aways I noted relate to the pre-seed and seed level investment that appear to be the most active. In the US this looks like good value investing as high valuations remain for later rounds. So investment in pktential and better rewards is a smart play. In Europe it is different (and not good) in that investment at earlier stages is generally not encouraged and focuses on less risky but less rewarding later stage entities. We do not have the same mindset - and punish risk takers. A lot of credit goes to #enterpriseireland and other semi- state organisations who pretty much alone are supporting the early stage entrepreneurs. This is the pipeline for great companies and needs nurturing. Recent tax changes mean that Angel investing hopefully will step up to fill a big gap. The other part of the EI strategy that is also praiseworthy is the focus on promoting inorganic (m&a) growth for later stage companies: this is the best way to grow huge companies that we really want to foster. Anyone who watched the Smurfit program recently on television will see what I mean. Bravo Leo and team!

19

2 Comments

🚀 Venture debt covenants might sound like a small part of the deal, but they carry huge implications for your startup’s future. 📈 You need to be strategic in your negotiations to avoid any pitfalls down the road. It’s all about setting yourself up for success, not stress. Dive into more details in the original Kruze Consulting post. The link is in the 1st comment. 👇

1

How do you bridge the investment gap when traditional routes aren't cutting it? Advanced subscription agreements might be your answer. These agreements are emerging as a strategic tool for founders looking to secure funding while maintaining operational flexibility. They allow businesses to attract investors without the heavy burdens of equity stakes right out of the gate. This approach isn’t just about securing cash; it’s about creating a sustainable growth narrative that appeals to savvy investors. Founders should be considering how these models can be adapted to their own ventures. What strategies are you employing to meet your funding needs? Share your thoughts and let's spark a discussion. https://lnkd.in/eDxnhRnX

1

Earlier this week we introduced how generative AI will reshape the retail and SMB banking journey, and the opportunities that it presents for both startups and incumbents at each stage. Today, we’re looking at the first two stages: 1️⃣ Customer Acquisition 2️⃣ Onboarding & Underwriting These initial interactions so important because they shape everything that follows. But despite decades of digital transformation and billions invested in technology—these early touchpoints remain costly for banks, frustrating for customers, and ineffective at building lasting relationships. Here, we look at how startups and incumbents can use generative AI at this crucial juncture. Consistent across both is leveraging data to create better, seamless, and more personalized experiences for customers. Read here: https://lnkd.in/gjEAkRxV

28

2 Comments

I recently sat down with a group of Forum Ventures founders about to go out to fundraise and the topic of SAFE rounds came up. The context focused on the pros/cons of raising a priced vs a SAFE round and the conversation notably shifted toward the dilution implications of a SAFE round. Founders are keenly aware of the top line dilution of any funding round - ie selling 20% of their startup for $3M at a $15M cap - but very few fully grasp the implications of doing a SAFE round vs a priced round. The universal standard for institutional VC investors is a post money SAFE. This document essentially outlines ownership that an investor will have in a startup just prior to the execution of a priced round. Most importantly though, it is structured so that an investor in that SAFE will not be diluted by subsequent SAFE's that are issued. This is where founder education around the implications of this structure are not fully appreciated. In a situation where a founder continues to stack subsequent SAFEs, they don't actually convert until the first priced round and the net dilution they are taking is actually more than they realize. Here is a practical example - take a situation where a founder has already sold 15% of their business on a post money SAFE in a pre-seed round, and is now choosing to sell another 20% in a seed round. If the founder opts to raise this money on SAFEs, the dilution of that additional 20% will come entirely from common equity holders- meaning they will now own 65%. If SAFE holders were also diluted by that round, as they would be in a priced round, the founder would own 68%. This dynamic becomes more dramatic the more capital a founder raises on SAFEs. Note - this is a high level example and does not include an option pool carve out or other round nuances. Almost universally, when a founder raises their first priced round, there is some degree of sticker shock at the outright dilution on their cap table, particularly when options pools are factored in. This pain is even more acute when a founder has raised a fair amount of capital on SAFEs along the way. There are certainly benefits to raising SAFE round, mainly cash in hand 6-8 weeks faster and not having to decide on board seats too early, but I encourage all of our founders to run through cap table modeling and correctly account for the implications of SAFE rounds before they make fundraising decisions.

55

1 Comment

CACs - Q1. Where will they go next? Q2. Is now a great time to start to get more aggressive in your growth strategy? The biggest driver for many businesses, especially in consumer, is their ability to acquire high-quality customers affordably. At Goodwater, with a special call out to Ross Boberg, Erin Kitchell and Adam Levinson - we analyse our internal data and track the change in CACs month to month, indexed to Jan 2018 to help our portfolio companies understand their performance and market trends (See chart below). How it works: We adjust the index by the median change in CAC each month. For example, if the median change in CAC was 1% from Jan to Feb, the index would move from 100 to 101. A couple key observations & questions that jump out at me: 1. CACs have come back from the post-Covid bubble (this is well known). However the interesting implication is that now might be a good time for companies to start to grow again especially in consumer where there are less dollars floating around chasing the same customers. Things look to have levelled off and we arent finding new lows. 2. CAC trends also mirror the general valuation cycle. A rapid drop at the beginning of Covid, a steep increase in 2021 when Cash was cheap. Peaking in Dec 2021 then falling and levelling at pre-covid levels. Now we are seeing some good rounds being completed by high quality companies makes me wonder if we might be close to seeing the valuation bottom? Agree / Disagree - any other thoughts? #marketing #growthstrategy

24

That's why it's often very difficult to recognize new leaders – their ideas go beyond the conventional frameworks we're accustomed to. Keep your mind open. Don't let yesterday's templates define your future. #Leadership, #Innovation, #OpenMind, #FutureThinking, #venturethinking,   https://lnkd.in/eASPGsuu

4

What fintech has 5 million customers and will originate $10 billion in loans this year? The work Renaud Laplanche has done with his latest company is woefully under covered. so..spoiler it's Upgrade, Inc. not sure why. Renaud is a legend. He's the founder of LendingClub, a pioneer in online lending, which he took public in 2014. In 2016, he was forced out, but got right back at it, founding Upgrade. Upgrade is the only neobank to have nailed banking and lending. Again, they will originate $10 billion in loans this year. Renaud is pretty unassuming when you talk to him, but it you look at what he's built it's clear he's not sitting still. If you're curious how he went from LendingClub to Upgrade, you can check out my interview here. We cover how Upgrade has innovated across - product (the OneCard is both credit + debit) - distribution (rigorous experimentation across many of channels) - capital markets (this is the most underappreciated aspect of the business since they have sourced very low cost capital from Credit Unions in a unique arrangement) and more. https://lnkd.in/gjj4CmjQ

141

3 Comments

Insightful breakdown from my great Partner Omri Amirav-Drory on the simple factors that really separate the top 1% of investors from the rest, and how more operators should become investors! https://lnkd.in/gEiZdT2h

16

3 Comments

What do you do when you don’t want to raise venture funding, or don’t have the option? Jive got started in 2001—my first day with the founders was September 11. We had no other choice but to bootstrap, which we did for five years. Eventually, we reached a crucible moment: We could stay independent and bootstrapped, or we could ride the social software trend to something much larger—but we’d have to raise money. I spoke with Lighter Capital CEO Melissa Widner about what it took to take Jive from a small open-source project to an IPO-ready SaaS business, and how it shaped my ideas on when and how to fund startups to optimize success. It’s not about funding versus bootstrapping, but about when and how much. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gDQSmuFy #Entrepreneurship #Startups #VC #IPO #Reignition

37

4 Comments