Marcin Lewandowski’s Post

Here's some advice you don't usually get: don't raise TOO MUCH for your startup. Thom Kozik reflects on his last decade as a mentor at Founder Institute and his current efforts with preEmptive Technologies Corp. at Cohort 7 of Founder University. He shared why he believes you shouldn't raise more money than you need. What's your take on fundraising, checks that startups pursue, and the potential negative impact of raising too much? ---- This is just a clip from the episode of the Danny Li Podcast, where we learn from founders and their stories. To watch the full episode, please follow the link I left in the comments. #startups #fundraising #vc #venturecapital

Meet Carmen Alfonso Rico 🍫 one of the coolest VCs turned Angel Investor at Cocoa 🍫 and one of my favorite humans on the planet 🤩 🎙 In the latest episode of EU-Startups Podcast, we go to the Cocoa Startup School where Carmen delivers a masterclass on fundraising. We also spill the beans on Carmen’s background and cultural influences, the story behind Cocoa and the chocolate making process, and the concept of in-house VC. Some takeaways: 🎯 Fundraising is like a B2B sales and dating process that requires building momentum and maintaining transparency 🎯 The round equation framework can help founders make strategic decisions aligned with their long-term vision 🎯 Honesty, personal fit, and the ability to grow into a valuation are crucial in securing funding 🎯 Optimizing for top-line valuation should be balanced with minimizing dilution and considering the complexity of the round 🎯 Founders should approach fundraising with common sense, apply hassle, and think of it as a long-term relationship Check it out now: https://lnkd.in/ewfZDPEZ #founder #startup #fundraising #venturecapital #vc #investing

“The truth is, when you're given too much money, you’d want to accelerate, which is fair, but then, you become sloppy because it's human psychology that when you receive a lot of money, you spend it. We can see this in lottery winners where they often spend the money unproductively and they end up in a situation where it's better off than where they were in the first place, but it's not uncommon for them to squander a large chunk of it. That's also what happens to a lot of management teams. It's not because they are sloppy or lazy, but because the VC boards are egging them on because they’d rather have a 50% higher chance of you becoming a billion-dollar company and take on the other half of the 50% chance that you go to zero. So they want to push you to high risk, high reward. If you are smart and creative with the funds that you have, you’ll figure out a way to squeeze out efficiency. The growth may not be as high and you may not be able to achieve that billion-dollar outcome within 10 years as much, but you're able to reduce the floor risk of the company.” - Jeremy Au 区汉辉, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://lnkd.in/gbHBmqCC   Nonton, dengar atau baca wawasan lengkapnya di https://lnkd.in/g9rZyB7d 观看、收听或阅读全文，请访问 https://lnkd.in/gQrsFijZ #Bootstrap #Startups #Fundraising #2x2Matrix #VentureCapitalist #VC #BRAVEpodcast

“The truth is, when you're given too much money, you’d want to accelerate, which is fair, but then, you become sloppy because it's human psychology that when you receive a lot of money, you spend it. We can see this in lottery winners where they often spend the money unproductively and they end up in a situation where it's better off than where they were in the first place, but it's not uncommon for them to squander a large chunk of it. That's also what happens to a lot of management teams. It's not because they are sloppy or lazy, but because the VC boards are egging them on because they’d rather have a 50% higher chance of you becoming a billion-dollar company and take on the other half of the 50% chance that you go to zero. So they want to push you to high risk, high reward. If you are smart and creative with the funds that you have, you’ll figure out a way to squeeze out efficiency. The growth may not be as high and you may not be able to achieve that billion-dollar outcome within 10 years as much, but you're able to reduce the floor risk of the company.” - Jeremy Au 区汉辉, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://lnkd.in/gqE3Jrce   Nonton, dengar atau baca wawasan lengkapnya di https://lnkd.in/gNKeyT5d 观看、收听或阅读全文，请访问 https://lnkd.in/g9Nvk2gh #Bootstrap #Startups #Fundraising #2x2Matrix #VentureCapitalist #VC #BRAVEpodcast

Getting into Y Combinator and building a unicorn (not to mention two) is not easy. Tom Blomfield knows more about it than possibly anybody. In his recent appearance on the 20VC podcast, Tom shared his thoughts on how great founders show signs of exceptionalism early on. This perspective strongly resonates with our vision at ETA Technologies. If these signs can be identified and presented in a sophisticated as well as quantified format, it can significantly aid in discovering the next unicorn founders. After all, investors always invest in people. #startups #venturecapital #fundraising https://lnkd.in/gaF-7zed

If you're not doing anything about climate change then what are you doing? Join the conversation with Renaud Visage who shares his journey from Co-founder and CTO of Eventbrite to Founding Partner at Slate Venture Capital. We're talking all things fundraising, scaling startups, navigating hard challenges along the way and backing the future Climate Tech leaders. Tune in for some good time and inspiration on EU-Startups Podcast. Link to full episode in the comments.👇 #startups #founders #vc #venturecapital

Blackbird is today Australia's biggest and most successful venture capital firm, having invested early in Canva, with over a billion dollars under management. But it wasn't easy getting there. "It took 2 years and 522 meetings to raise that first ($29M) fund. For every five meetings, only one said yes," co-founder Niki Scevak recalls. 🤯 What Niki learned is invaluable: "In any kind of fundraising, whether you're a VC raising a fund or a startup raising a round of capital, it's more about surfacing a believer than convincing someone." 💡 Check out the full conversation in episode 427 of the Future Squared podcast. 🎧✨ #Podcast #VentureCapital #Startup #Entrepreneurship #BlackbirdVC #Fundraising #Inspiration #Success #Perseverance

Let’s find the fun in fundraising! 🎯 Always a huge pleasure and much fun to chat with Silvan Krähenbühl and Laurent Decrue - tomorrow, it will be for the fifth and final Swisspreneur x Holycode™ webinar! We’ll dive into the investor perspective: 💡 How to size your funding rounds—balancing cash needs, dilution, and valuation. 💡 What investors look for when deciding to join a round. 💡 And more practical insights for entrepreneurs navigating fundraising! 📅 November 19th at 12pm CET 📍 Streaming live on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook Don’t miss this opportunity to sharpen your fundraising strategy—see you there! #Entrepreneurship #Fundraising #Swisspreneur #Startups #Innovation DART Ventures

And now, for the fifth and last Swisspreneur x Holycode™ webinar... let's talk about the investor perspective! What are the right round sizes for different businesses in terms of money need, dilution, valuation, etc? What is an investor looking at when thinking about joining the round? All this and more in next week's chat with Holycode co-founder Laurent Decrue and DART Ventures founder Arijana Walcott. Join us on November 19th at 12pm CET on LinkedIn, Youtube or Facebook! And sign up for the event to get reminders. - #swisspreneur #entrepreneur #podcast #startup #webinar #investor #fundraising #holycode #dartventures #dartlabs

Happy Monday! Investment is definitely on a lot of radars at the moment, and it's something I am asked about a lot. So we did a podcast episode all about what we raised, when, how, and why.  And how you can approach it to. I was scared AF of capital raising, which was one of the reasons I first went the equity crowdfunding route all those years ago. Definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made! You can catch it on Season one, Episode five - Understanding Investment Options.  #investment #capitalraising #startups #startup #entrepreneur #founder #womeninbusiness