Ted Murphy

And my second investment at defy is in 🐶 zeroETL puppies 🐶... I mean PuppyGraph, which is all the beauty of a graph database, none of the data migration or continuous upkeep of a graph database. Sounds like magic? So are puppies 🐶 . Puppygraph is NOT a graph or a database. It is graph analytics engine that answers graph questions on your existing data warehouses, whether that is a Databricks datalake, Google BigQuery or postgres. Compared to SQL, it's faster, handles way more complexity, scales and has almost no upkeep. How did I get to conviction? 1. Tailwinds - 🌊 Lakehouses 🌊 have helped enterprises put all their data in one place, enabling Puppygraph to unlock insights previously unavailable. - 📚 LLMs! 📚AI and RAG cannot easily traverse fragmented data. Puppygraph's Graph RAG unlocks insights with their Knowledge Graph and spoonfeeds to the LLMs. 2. 👯 Team 👯 We have graph experts from Google, LinkedIn, Databricks, Tigergraph, and Instacart who are uniquely able to build this solution. 3. 💸 Customers 💸 . My alma mater Coinbase is a proud user. The feedback from my former colleagues was off the charts! A blockchain is very much a graph database and Puppygraph tracks down fraudulent transactions that go through mixers and helps identify patterns. Huge congrats to Weimo Liu Danfeng Xu Lei Huang Zhenni Wu Gary Hagmueller, defy.vc is proud to be an investor!!

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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

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Alternative Resources for founders, geared for startups with generous free tiers: 1) Papermark - Docsend alternative. 2) Tally - Typeform alternative. 3) Cal.com, Inc. - Calendly alternative. 4) Supabase - Firebase Alternative. 5) Sender.net - Mailchimp Alternative. What else are people using and loving in the founders stack?

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Up to series A, all that TAM, SAM, SOM stuff in pitch decks is 💩. Sure, put it in the doc if you must. Lots (and lots) of advice says you should. But I challenge you to find any VC that gives it any more than 3 seconds of attention. Or thinks it is anything other than a work of fiction. And I guarantee none of them has had their investment decision influenced by it. So, whether you put it in or not, don’t spend too much time on it and focus your attention and impact on other things. Such as team, mission, metrics. Pretty much anything else in the pitch deck templates!! #founders #startups #vcfunding

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Did you know that YC founders get a secret weapon… and it’s not what you think. “Bookface” is YC’s internal social network. It was needed because YC had funded larger batches and the hardest part of a community is knowing who is in it and who you can trust and ask for help. On the platform, founders share real methods and advice that would break if it were shared widely It’s secret knowledge shared with a trust-first community - answering 80% of the questions a founder can have about building and selling a product, be it to clients, candidates or investors. Before the platform, if you had a B2B startup, you had to reach out cold to potential customers. Now there are over 1000 YC companies you can sell your service to and all of their contact information is in Bookface. As a result, YC alumni companies are often over 50% of your new sales during YC. It’s superpowers like this that make YC deals so attractive compared to the norm. You are investing in a founder with a 10x network already!

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It's simple. More functionality = more power. The Ray-Ban Meta upgrades with enhanced AI functionality mean that power management and seamless charging experiences become increasingly important for all smart glasses and wearables. Learn more in the #ProofPoints video below.

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We could honestly share insane stories like this every single day. As a Branding guy, it shocks me how few executives pay attention to this critical aspect of their company's success or failure. This one may make the Hall of Fame one day. #branding #Domains #VCs

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“Founders can be blinded by ambition” shared a CMO from a Series C start-up, “so occasionally you need to ground them with a ‘meanwhile on Reality Ranch’ response.” Marveling at this CMO’s chutzpah, my mind exploded with questions. The first question is, “Do ambitious founders need to visit Reality Ranch, and if so under what circumstances? Steve Jobs famously used a “reality distortion field” to bend the company, shareholders, and Apple products to his vision. That worked out well for shareholders though it didn’t make Jobs a model boss. Legendary founder Ted Turner (CNN, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT, etc.) knew he was on the right track the more “experts” told him he was delusional and a victim of “magical thinking.” Successful founders are visionary. They have to be. Unfortunately, they are also rare. Your more typical founder easily confuses ambition with vision. They also confuse ambition with leadership. Such was the case for our Reality Ranch-resident CMO. Their CEO had led the company to $50 million in ARR by personally driving product development and being the lead salesperson. They identified a niche, filled an unmet need, raised tons of VC funding, and then hit a wall. No amount of wishful thinking could help them cross the proverbial chasm. This founder hadn’t built an enduring company. They launched a product. Now back to our daring CMO. Was trying to ground this ambitious CEO in reality an effective play? It depends. In this case, it felt right because the CEO had just requested that the CMO increase the inbound pipeline by 30% while cutting the budget by an equal percentage. As I covered in an earlier post, CMOs are not miracle workers. No amount of distorted reality could fill the delta between the upward goal and the downward budget. I asked former FBI hostage negotiator and bestselling author Chris Voss (Never Split the Difference), how he would respond to such a request from a CEO. His first suggestion was to say, “Do you want me to fail?” This reframes the CEO’s request as a fruitless exercise and connects the CEO with the undesired outcome. Visionary or not, most CEOs do not want their employees to fail. Reframing challenging requests is a skill, that all leaders, especially CMOs need to hone. Voss talks about this at length in his book. He successfully stalled various kidnapper demands for large sums of money in 24 hours by asking, “How am I supposed to do that?” While the CMOs listening to Voss and my conversation admired this response, they didn’t think it would be effective with their CEO. They imagined that conversation going down like this: CMO responds to a crazy request from the CEO, with, “How am I supposed to do that?”  The CEO says, “That’s your problem, figure it out, or I’ll find someone who can.” When times are tough, it can get ugly. Fast. Finding the right words to move your CEO from an untenable position, isn’t easy. What words have you used to bring a boss back from the brink? 

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From documentaries to selling his first SaaS company - here’s how he did it. Jordan started DropFunnels out of frustration.  He was promoting a new documentary–and it became a full-time job. He learned:  ↳ Launching a small business is hard.  ↳ It takes 5 different software tools  ↳ Those tools don’t work well together He decided to streamline the process with 1 platform: DropFunnels Jordan’s strategy? Sell the product before building it. Here’s what he did: 1/ Launched a Facebook group of founders with similar problems  2/ Gave that community free sales funnel templates  3/ Got feedback from users in real-time  4/ Recruited developers from the group  5/ Sold DropFunnels to his community (at a locked rate for life)  6/ Used that profit to build out the company COVID struck, everyone was selling things online and DropFunnels snowballed. Jordan’s business was thriving, but he was itching to build the next thing—so he decided to pursue an acquisition with us. After a competitive process, we found the right buyer who had a plan to keep the company growing without Jordan needing to stick around. Now, Jordan is building Revatto, a tool that’s already reducing churn by 50-70% for his clients & growing 70-90% month-over-month. Jordan’s new goal? A 9-figure exit for Revatto.  Our new goal? Help him achieve that exit. Thanks again for trusting our team Jordan Mederich – cannot wait to see what you build 💪

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VENTURE STUDIO MYTH:  “Cofounders have less of a stake in the game.” Let’s fact-check. … I look forward to hearing your insights and comments. 😀 False Industry Perception… 🔻 Cofounders get diluted too much and may leave  🔻 Cofounders are not incentivized to remain dedicated 🔻 Cofounders don’t receive a fair reward Venture Studio Facts ✅ Studios grind it out to exit, including fundraising ✅ Studios carry the most risk - investing, building, and launching ✅ Cofounders invest no capital, they are rewarded for growth ✅ Studios are established, experienced startup experts ✅ Founders are 30% more likely to succeed (compared to traditional startups*) - Global Startup Studio Network #venturestudio #startup #myth Nobody Studios

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I think this is a good short one for builders on pricing, sticking to the original principles of what you want to solve for, getting to learn from NOs and more. Then this one - "Building a business is, frankly, an emotional roller coaster. There are moments when you feel super smart, and moments when you feel super dumb." Well said. By the co-founders of Warby Parker, the OG of internet d2c brands. #startups #mission #vision #build

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DDOA with Marshall Davis Jones, Founder - MindBodySpeak - S4E6 - Aug24 I recently had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Marshall Davis Jones, the founder of MindBodySpeak, and author of Tonal Influence™ to discuss a really interesting topic: "How to Elevate Leadership and Master Communication using Tonal Influence!" If you want to learn how to communicate effectively and with impact, this video is a must-watch! Marshall works with corporate executives, sales teams, and industry leaders at companies such as Google, SAP, Square, Wired Magazine, and Microsoft. His work guides others to unlock the behaviours that enhance how they present and how they are perceived. He's shared stages alongside Simon Sinek, Will.I.Am, Jack Dorsey (Twitter / Square), Brian Collins (COLLINS Agency) and Slava Rubin (IndieGoGo). When you hear Marshall speak, you realise how his techniques win negotiations, de-escalate conflicts, and acquire business relationships across multiple industries. He sits on multiple advisory boards for tech companies as an expert on human vocal performance and affective presence. While writing and speaking globally, he has played a narrative consultant role for two documentaries and contributes to innovation design and research centers, including Proctor & Gamble. He's been tapped to support law enforcement (San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), ATF), military personnel (Special Forces), and even former hostage negotiator and New York Times best-selling author Chris Voss. Marshall was awarded recognition (Most Important People of African Descent, Class of 2022) via the United Nations. Besides having his poems flown into space by NASA, you can find him playing himself in Ray Ramano’s directorial debut Somewhere In Queens. But most of all, you will find yourself mesmerised by his presence, and by the way he shares his thoughts and insights. It is hypnotic. As someone who speaks often (and sometimes too often 😉) I learned so much from this session. Thank you Marshall! #effectivecommunication #tonalinfluence #voice #voicecoach #voicecoaching #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipcoaching #DDOA https://lnkd.in/eEnRJM3p

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How to Think About VC _______ I stumbled upon this podcast by Heidi Roizen of Threshold Ventures. It’s a great primer for founders who aren’t familiar with how VC works. Here are three things from this episode that I wish every founder who pitched PHX Ventures knew: 1. "Venture capital is a hits business – and in order to attract VC money, your startup needs to have the potential to be that hit. That usually means not only are you addressing a large market, but you have a credible and compelling plan to dominate that market." 2. "It turns out that the VC model is not a good fit for the vast majority of startups – and in fact, more than 99% of US startups build their businesses without VC money." 3. "It’s only a good deal – for both the VCs and the entrepreneurs – if the money invested is used to capture and hopefully dominate a large market. And it’s usually some type of business that wouldn't have been able to do so without the venture capital."

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At SIERRA Ventures, we invest in Seed/A companies and tend to refer deals that are too early for us to our Pre-Seed and accelerator network. I pulled this for a friend and thought I would share. Let me know what I missed or if any information needs to be corrected. I would also love to hear about the founders' experiences with these accelerators. Y Combinator (YC) Funding Provided: $500,000 Equity Taken: 7% Additional Notes: YC provides $125,000 for 7% equity, and an additional $375,000 in an uncapped SAFE with a Most Favored Nation (MFN) clause. Techstars Funding Provided: $120,000 Equity Taken: 6-9% Additional Notes: Techstars provides $20,000 in funding in exchange for 6% equity and offers an optional $100,000 convertible note. PearX by Pear VC Funding Provided: $250k-$2m Equity Taken: 10% Additional Notes: PearX is a startup program by Pear VC. I have personal experience with Pear, and Mar Hershenson and Pejman Nozad  are top-notch humans (and investors). Forum Ventures Funding Provided: $100,000 Equity Taken: 7% Additional Notes: Forum Ventures focuses on B2B SaaS startups and offers mentorship and networking opportunities. 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups) Funding Provided: $150,000 Equity Taken: 6% LAUNCH Accelerator Funding Provided: $100,000 Equity Taken: 6% Additional Notes: Founded by the self-proclaimed World's Greatest Moderator, Jason Calacanis ;) The ideal stage for our Accelerator is pre-Series A with some traction AngelPad Funding Provided: $120,000 Equity Taken: 7% Additional Notes: AngelPad is known for its hands-on approach, with a strong focus on product-market fit. Program based in NYC and San Francisco. Strictly VC called them the “Anti-Y Combinator“ MassChallenge Funding Provided: Up to $500,000 (equity-free) Equity Taken: 0% Additional Notes: MassChallenge offers equity-free funding and focuses on supporting early-stage startups through mentorship and networking. Plug and Play Tech Center Funding Provided: Varies (usually $25,000-$500,000) Equity Taken: 1-5% Additional Notes: Plug and Play offers sector-specific accelerators and a large corporate partner network. SOSV Funding Provided: $250,000 to $500,000 Equity Taken: 7-10% Additional Notes: SOSV is a global venture capital firm that operates several accelerator programs, including HAX (hardware), IndieBio (biotech), Chinaccelerator (cross-border internet), and MOX (mobile). Berkeley SkyDeck Funding Provided: Up to $200,000 Equity Taken: 5% Additional Notes: Berkeley SkyDeck is a startup accelerator affiliated with UC Berkeley. It offers up to $200,000 in funding, mentorship from a network of UC Berkeley alumni and faculty, and access to a global investor network. Antler Funding Provided: up to $500k Equity Taken: $200k for 8%, $300k follow on What did I miss?

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So much of good design hinges on this one word. John Maeda defines simplicity in 10 laws, and his work is aimed at guiding design, technology, and business toward greater simplicity. Here they are: 1. Reduce: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction. 2. Organize: Organization makes a system of many appear fewer. 3. Time: Savings in time feel like simplicity. 4. Learn: Knowledge makes everything simpler. 5. Differences: Simplicity and complexity need each other. 6. Context: What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral. 7. Emotion: More emotions are better than less. 8. Trust: In simplicity, we trust. 9. Failure: Some things can never be made simple. 10. The One: Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. These laws are designed to balance simplicity and complexity in a way that maximizes user experience without compromising functionality or depth. #designer #graphic #webdesigner

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Science-fiction is inherently speculative. Author George #Orwell of ‘#1984’ predicted concepts such as doublethink, little earbuds and society’s obsession with the black mirror screens that dominate our lives — and according to the BBC, novelist and short story author JG Ballard, of “High-Rise” and “Crash” fame, has predicted the current tool and cultural fixation of #GenerativeAI in the modern society — only he didn’t just speculate them within a story, he is actually one of the first use-cases of a generative AI used in a creative context — Ballard was so fascinated with the growing technological advancement of computers that he used one to compose poems, essentially the precursor to what we have now with ChatGPT. Today, the debate about the creative use of generative AI and its value on creative industries is an extremely fraught and controversial topic, but if controlled in a space that doesn’t replace human labor or try to equate itself to traditional art forms, it is interesting to see what computers can do and how they are creatively limited in comparison. Ballard’s two poems, The Yellow Back Novels and Machine Gun City are generated, and both include notes on how Ballard achieved producing them. Regardless of quality (Ballard himself probably wouldn’t describe these two poems as his best work), it is interesting to see primitive versions of the technology that we utilize on the daily today, and how these moral conversations that concern them would continuously evolve.

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How to pitch: The company has zero traction —> “We’re early” You only have 2 customers —> “We’re working with design partners” You currently have no revenue but hoping some pipeline finally closes —> “we’re on track to exit this year at $3M ARR” You’re in the natural kill zone of a FAANG —> “We view them as partners rather than competitors” There’s no way the tech can actually work —>“We’re manifesting the future” And of course: One of your developers uses Co-Pilot to write some front end code —> “We’re an AI company”

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Harry Stebbings, SPOT ON! Could not agree more. When we started FutureLabs Ventures 7 years ago, we were very clear that our mission was to create a 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐂, one that could truly make a difference to our portfolio companies. And very much like you mentioned, we focused on creating "Assets/platforms" that were centered on: 𝟏. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 (creating market access platforms) 𝟐. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 (avoiding hiring mistakes that are very costly for early-stage ventures ) 𝟑. 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 (skin in the game, aligned incentives) The same as you mentioned, albeit slightly different order as we'd like to think #3 is a consequence of #1 and #2 (and probably the least difficult to deliver). For many VCs it's a number game, 5 in 100. We are proving, in a small scale = 34 ventures, that it may not always need to be, as half of our portfolio have become regional/international companies... 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤? 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐕𝐂𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥)? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐂𝐬?  Feel free to comment below #Entrepreneurship, #Ventures_Made_Possible, 20VC, FutureLabs Ventures

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