Brannon Santos’ Post

What a wild first week inside the Techstars accelerator!! Being able to access proven systems, frameworks and workshops that deep dive into what it actually means to build out your; 👉 Elevator pitch 👉 Identifying your *actual* customer 👉 Assumptions, hypotheses & experiments 👉 Financial modelling (the make or breaker of any biz!) 👉 OKRs vs KPIs & how to set them effectively 👉 Customer discovery... CRITICAL! I've learned *so* much over the past 5 years by interviewing brilliant humans on Female Startup Club - but this has been on another level mind-blowing. And it's only week 1 😋 I'm gonna share a bunch of stuff that's useful for other founders as we go through the next 13 weeks - if you want to be on the receiving end, drop your email in the comments 🫶

This is an incredible time to be building a startup. If you are in LA, NYC, Toronto, or Vancouver (or want to watch Italy virtually) over the coming couple of weeks, come see and meet these amazing pre-seed startups! #startups #demoday #vc #investment #investors

Techstars Demo Day Countdown 4 days🚀: (Our Team, Our Dream) The Galilei Learning (Techstars 24') team is in full-on beast mode. After three months of turning ambitious ideas into reality, it all comes down to this moment: Demo Day. This isn’t just about showcasing a product—it’s about the people behind it. The dream team, led by me, Simón Duque Echeverri (CPO), and Andrés Motavita (CTO), has poured a decade of collective experience into transforming how QSR teams train, perform, and thrive. Our mission? Transform work by making duties feel like hobbies. 🎮 💚 If you’re a VC, mentor, startup veteran, or just an innovation enthusiast, we’d love your feedback on how we’re presenting this vision. The stakes are sky-high, and every insight counts. Let’s make this the most unforgettable pitch of Techstars Miami ‘24. 🌴 Know someone who should hear about this? Share the love!

It's been a little while since I last posted here. I know. I know. It's not the way to build up a "thought leadership persona" or "LinkedIn Top Voice", but hey, I've been busy. Busy building after a pivot, speaking to customers, and having conversations for our first institutional fundraising round, which feels a lot different than the 'friends and family' angel raise that I got used to. I realized that as I prep, the most helpful and most honest feedback I've gotten about the actual pitch deck and presentation has been from other founders or *operational* folks in the tech ecosystem, like marcom leaders, sales geniuses, public speaking experts, etc. Of course there's all of these "share your pitch to a panel of investors" meetups here in Tel Aviv, but often, I realized as an audience member at lots of these events, we founders don't really walk away with 'tachlis' (the Hebrew version of 'get shit done') action items... But when I pitched to other founders or smart friends in general, I really got a lot of really good and super helpful critique – not just about how I am framing Folio itself, but about how fast/slow I spoke, how I stood, how wordy my slides were, how defensive I got when answering questions, etc. So, thanks to the amazing support of the Intel Ignite team, Alon Leibovich, Maya Zimerman, and Amit Gorin, where myself and my team are currently working from and where the event will be hosted, and to Nevo Network, a network that I'm part of for Olim in tech and are providing the snacks, I'm excited to invite Israel-based early-stage founders to a "Founders for Founders" practice pitch night in two weeks, on August 28th, that I'm co-hosting with two early-stage founder friends Matias Sigal and Joel Liurner. If you're a founder looking to get *real feedback* on your pitch without the stress of impressing investors or decision makers in the room or you're a founder that's pitched in the past, a marketer that knows words, a communicator that knows how to stand, or tech-lover that simply wants to meet others and support the founder ecosystem from the inside, please join us! For pitchers:  - 7 founders will be chosen to pitch - each one will have the option to have their pitch recorded on video and shared with them after - in addition to opening each pitch up to 3 public feedback responses, every audience member will get a "scorecard" to fill and space to give written feedback for each pitcher For audience members: - willing to give real feedback - not an investor - wanting to drink, snack, mingle, and learn The pitch-slots are going fast, so if you want to pitch, get in on it! See you there! ❤️🚀

Are you a startup founder in Tel Aviv? You won’t want to miss the exciting event happening on August 28th, organized by the incredible entrepreneurs Fay Goldstein and Joel Liurner. I’m happy to be helping them put this together! About the Event: Whether you’re a founder seeking genuine feedback on your pitch without the pressure of impressing investors or decision-makers, or you’ve pitched before, this event is for you. It’s also perfect for marketers with a way with words, communicators skilled in presentation, tech enthusiasts eager to connect, or anyone who wants to support the startup ecosystem from the inside. For Founders Who Want to Pitch: - 7 founders will be selected to pitch. - Each founder can opt to have their pitch recorded and shared with them afterward. - In addition to receiving up to 3 public feedback responses during the event, every audience member will complete a "scorecard" and provide written feedback for each pitch. For Audience Members: - Willing to provide honest feedback. - Not an investor. - Ready to enjoy drinks, snacks, mingling, and learning. Pitch slots are filling up fast, so if you want to participate, don’t wait! Register here:https://lu.ma/ln4gzyh6 Nevo Network

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 “𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭” 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩. 🤔 The question: 'Is it the right time for us to join an accelerator?' should be among the first ones to discuss within the team when thinking about appyling to Techstars or any accelerator! And questions such as "Shouldn’t we have more MRR, more traction, or a bigger team first?" will definitely pop up. Every startup’s journey is unique and the truth is, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer 🪄 What matters most is the readiness to accelerate your company's growth, wherever you are today. 🎥 Hear from our alumni founders on where they were when they joined us and what their goals were, and why timing was less about being “perfect” and more about being ready to accelerate. - Featuring: Benedek Hermán, Carolina Gianardi, Caterina Vertefeuille, Evgeny Klochikhin, Francesco Semeraro, Zsofia Toth

Calling all accelerator/incubator managing directors, program managers and accelerator team staff... Join us at New York tech week, for an Accelerators Brunch hosted by Mercury. This exclusive Michelin star brunch with Chef Camila Rinaldi is your opportunity to meet your peers, network and foster meaningful connections which could lead to those all important partnerships that drive the accelerator/incubator ecosystem! Hosted by my colleagues Anand Deshpande & Madeleine Vecchione, this promises to be a unique and special event, not to be missed! Register via the link in the comments! #startupaccelerator #startupincubator #NYtechweek

Why should You attend Founders Festival? What’s in it for you? Here’s the short answer I get asked this all the time: “Why do you attend so many tech conferences?” Whether you’re a student, early in your career, or already a manager, you always have a lot to take from these events. You gonna get inspirations from left and right You gonna get to see what problems are being solved You gonna get to know what is going on in the industry You gonna get to see what are the new technologies out there At Bits & Pretzels, I met startups in every phase: from product discovery to scaling. Had some amazing conversations with founders and got to see how they position their products to solve problems. As a Product Manager, this helps me broaden my perspective, challenge my thinking, and find new ways to create value. The best part? You get to meet all the major players under one roof. So if you ever get the chance to attend, do it—it’s worth every minute.

One of the most rewarding things for me is having the opportunity to share what I have learned with others, and since moving to Cambridge five years ago I have had the privilege of advising UK startups in the Deeptech Labs VC fund and accelerator. I really like what CEO and fellow Qualcomm alum Miles Kirby and his team are doing to fund and prepare seed-stage startups for Series A funding and longer term success. #startup #deeptech #payitforward

Fresh out of 3 days at Techcrunch Disrupt in SF - the largest business event to attend since the pandemic, and here are some thoughts. As someone on both sides and in the middle of the startup-investor game, I had a neutral badge for the first day, and enjoyed the possibility to start (or not start) a conversation with anyone I wished. Then, to get in a designated zone, I had to replace it with an investor badge. Color green. At that moment, everything changed. I was not able to sit down and write a message on my laptop, or to have a longer, meaningful conversation with someone (something I mostly do) as other people were interrupting. What were the interruptions about? Well, all the same. We do this and you can invest. Or - what do you invest in? And then, without waiting for an answer, the "We do this and you can invest" followed. Sometimes, it felt funny, sometimes - frustrating, but in most cases - confusing. Is that what the founders are being taught to do? I can't recall suggesting such an approach to anyone at Alchemist Accelerator where I've had opportunity to mentor, coach and judge for years, or when attending a business school or exec training, or when developing a new venture and supporting its team. Even with an elevator pitch - you start with something else when you open your mouth, and you allow the other party to open it, too. Could that be the lack of training, mentoring and education? Or is that what the world is leaning to - pure transaction instead of a human interaction, why, and whom and how. Or a LinkedIn invite note brought to the real world, after the pandemic. I'm curious if any investor in my network has ever invested after such a start. Recalling Ashton Kutcher's note during the conference panel. "It is not your deck what we are seeking!" I would add that it is not your solution that the world has always awaited. Especially if it is just another "same but better" solution the majority of the founders have. Or would have, with an investor's money. Cheers to TechCrunch for another quality and well-attended event. Been great to catch up and make new acquaintances. The picture: my escape during the event - the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts park.