Fouad Hamaidouch’s Post

Nomen est omen 😅 Reminded me today of my early marketing stunts and some wild logo designs. Founders, please choose your baby's name wisely! I know this is a emotional topic but please check if someone has older rights, if the name/domain works internationally and definitely invest in a professional designer. How did you come up with your company name? Happy Monday ____________________________ Sharing my experiences as an entrepreneur and angel investor. Investing in early stage B2B SaaS startups. Happy to connect 👋

This guy turned a $100M shorts brand into an even bigger software startup. Preston 🩳 Rutherford met his co-founders at Stanford where they bonded over their love of colorful retro short-shorts. When they later met up at a 4th of July party, they designed their own shorts to wear to the beach. The nickname for them? Chubbies Shorts. Inspired to turn them into a business, the founders looked to unlock virality though college campuses. They sent Chubbies shorts to fraternity presidents in exchange for humorous content. It unlocked a formula for Chubbies’ growth that was powered almost entirely by memes and UGC content (years before such content became standard fare for consumer brands). After raising money from investors like Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph, Chubbies executed an expansion strategy into swimwear and sweaters. A decade after launch, Chubbies was doing $50M a year in revenue and got acquired for a 9-figure sum by Solo Brands (NYSE: DTC). But instead of retiring to the beach in his Chubbies, Preston still had an ace up his sleeve. Before seling, the team had built an internal software tool to manage returns. Since roughly a 1/5 of e-commerce purchases get sent back, it’s a major pain point for businesses. That's why Preston spun out Loop as it’s own company after selling Chubbies. So far Loop has raised $115M from investors like Shopify and is reportedly at tens of millions in revenue. -- Follow Michael Sikand for more business stories. #ecommerce #dtc #marketing #startups #saas

The journey of any startup is learning how to respond to market needs - right?

I rarely share podcast episodes here. But this one is a MUST listen to both INVESTORS and founders operating in bricks&mortar hospitality & retail technology. So many true, real, no BS points Dax Harry Stebbings. 👏🏼 Be bold enough to operate with a sales strategy and approach that many VCs won’t understand or approve but that works wonders in that space and builds this amazing, sticky, powerful model that most platforms in the space can’t crack or are afraid to (because it doesn’t tick some boxes you read/hear about from the tech/VC experts) 🚀 A growth trajectory that changes and originally is not on the typical VC path but then, once the “cockroach”, groundwork is done you’re in an exciting and unique position to scale with a product market fit that’s hard to beat - PMF and growth not achieved due to endless millions raised but a real PMF that makes thing sticky, powering your product-led growth 👊🏼 Stay super close to your customers. No matter how big you become, but especially in the first 5-10 years literally speak to them DAILY. Not many manage to make it work for hospitality or retail SMEs, it’s one of the hardest group to find PMF with. But once you nail it - you’re like a constantly growing massive mountain 🏔️ - sky is limit & no one can’t move you no matter what. Don’t build businesses to please an investor’s thesis/POV which you’re currently talking to or following on LinkedIn. Build a business together with your ICP customers and bring them the most value you possibly can. The rest will follow. Even the ticked boxes that you read so much about.

❔ Do you keep developing free products as a startup? It's impossible to build a sustainable brand without knowing how to sell the product and who the target buyer is. Angelina Zaitseva, the Creative Lead at Bolder, shares her vision on how dangerous getting stuck in the "free" zone may be. ❕ Startups that don't charge for their work fail to build a sustainable business model. Working virtually for free devalues how your product is perceived. Here at Bolder, we know just the right way to find your worth and charge for it accordingly. With our strategic branding solutions, your brand will never get stuck in the vicious cycle of "never the right time". ✔️ Let's hear it from Angelina!

I stayed up coding until 4am so many nights for two years when I started Lightspeed Commerce — to me, this is part of the entrepreneur journey. Had a blast reflecting on those early years and discussing the challenges and opportunities of navigating a tech startup with Harry Stebbings from 20VC. Some takeaways: - Achieving strong product-market fit requires an iterative, customer-centric approach — especially with early users. Lightspeed wouldn’t have achieved profitability if we weren’t so close to our customers. - Companies can take different paths to scale, each with its trade-offs — some bootstrap profitably for years before taking VC funding. Sometimes you need the slow-burn process to create something truly phenomenal. - Founders must be willing to adapt their sales and distribution strategies as the business matures, especially after going public. If you’re a founder or entrepreneur, I think this episode will provide lots of value. Thank you to Harry and the team at 20VC for having me. Links to the interview in the comments 👇

Boom! and just like that I've sold my first start-up - John Wixx - The World's Baddest All-Natural Bug Repellent, product IP + lifetime royalties! From what I can say, the brand name will be dissolved once all current inventory is sold. Sad 😭 but totally understand. CPG was a fun and interesting sector, wasn't the intention initially, but as I had a problem, solved it and knew it would help others, I was able to turn it into a business. I'm sure I'll definitely be back in the CPG space sometime soon. Next chapter? Well I've been solo developing a new tech startup in the shadows, the MVP/Beta release has been completed, with 500+ DAU (testers and life long users, who without them, I wouldn't of been able to get the platform to where it is today). Once I finish seeding the last of the content I have, I will be opening the platform up to the next phase of users. With that said, I will be releasing a Term Sheet for funding by the first week of June, and the plan is to open the doors for upto 2,000 more users beginning next week. What is the product/platform you might ask? 🤔 Stay tuned, Monday May 20th I will be making a post right here!

Struggling to get Coldplay tickets? 🎟️ Don’t worry, you’re not alone. With the way things are going, it’s easier to raise funding for your startup than land a seat at the concert! But let’s be real – who needs to belt out Fix You in a crowd of 50,000 when you could be pitching to investors who actually want to fix your balance sheet? 💸 Here's the deal: It’s all about using the right methods, strategies, and having a killer team backing you up. While some people are refreshing Ticketmaster like it’s a full-time job, you could be hitting refresh on your bank balance after a successful funding round. 😉 Coldplay may be here for one night, but your startup? That’s a long-term gig. So, gear up, rock your pitch deck, and maybe next time you’ll be the one handing out tickets...to your IPO. 🚀 #StartupHustle #FundingFever #ColdplayCanWait #InvestInYourDreams

When I was building StackCommerce, you had two choices: you were either a bootstrapper or an all-in venture-backed company. I chose a different path. Here's what I did: When I sought initial funding, I wanted the connections, social proof, and security that came with having investors on board. But instead of going down that path, I focused on profitability—not because I didn’t want to grow, but because I wanted sustainable growth. Enter “Seed-strapping” - I term I coined a few years back. It’s about taking that initial seed funding, getting profitable, and never raising again. This approach isn’t for every business model, but for capital-efficient companies, it can lead to sustainable growth without overfunding pressure. It’s a strategy that challenges the traditional ‘raise or fail’ mindset. 🚀 If you want to know if seed-strapping the right path for your business, check out the clip and we’d love to invest in you at OpenSky Ventures. What do you believe will drive the highest ROI - raising rocketship $$$ or slower, efficient growth?

Embark on an entrepreneurial journey without Stepping into a Bubble? 🚀✨ Whether you're leveraging a fresh idea or enhancing an innovative one, it's all about how you align your strategy with the intricate dance of go-to-market dynamics. Let's turn those startup dreams into a reality with smart, captivating tactics that pave the way for revenue growth while amplifying your personal brand amidst a sea of aspiring changemakers. 💼🌟