M13’s Post

Investor relations isn't just about schmoozing at cocktail parties; it's a complex dance of trust and timing. So, how well do you know your steps? What's your go-to move for winning trust? 🕺💃🏻💼 #InvestorRelations #Startup #Founder #Founderama

This Thursday, I am thrilled to host the 60th consecutive SUM Ventures + Band of Angels LA meeting on Zoom. As our monthly investor meetings celebrate their 5th anniversary, we have a special presentation: the Talented Mr. Roto, Matthew Berry, will present his startup, Fantasy Life. I'm excited for our group to hear Matthew's inspiring story and learn more about the future of fantasy sports. Matthew isn't the only incredible presenter joining us on Thursday; we are fortunate to have three other remarkable founders as well. Thursday, July 18th Agenda (Pacific Standard Time): 5:00-5:15 | Opening Remarks & Portfolio Updates 5:15-5:35 | Matthew Berry's Fantasy Life - Matthew Berry 5:35-5:55 | Mozee - Shawn T. 5:55-6:15 I Nexus-MD Inc - Michael Thompson 6:15-6:35 | GridMatrix - Nicholas D'Andre 6:35-6:55 | Discussion Our monthly meetings have been instrumental in helping numerous startups showcase their ideas, secure funding, and set themselves on a path to success. Since our inception, we've deployed $10.5M across 32 companies. Many thanks to our team and strategic partners: Douglas Elliman Real Estate(Dan Sachar), Siemens (Carlos Ortiz), Distillery (Andrey Kudievskiy), Quantiva™ (Tammo Mueller), Uptech Studio (Adam Korman), Grafted (Jackson Yomogida), The Good CFO (Vincent T. Nguyen), Elizabeth Spears, Stender Sweeney, Ken Borkan, John K. Paglia, Ph.D., CFA, CPA, Carter Russ, William Shapiro, MD, MBA Frank Mastrangelo, Peter Mansfield, Darren Eng, Sonja Markova, Gadiel Morantes, Peter J., Amanda H., Hunter B., and Pepperdine Most Fundable Companies List (Amy Wood) for their unwavering support in our portfolio founders' journey to success. At SUM Ventures, we believe that by working with founders from their earliest stages, we can become more informed investors and ultimately generate better returns for our LPs. We're not just about investing; we're about building a supportive community of investors where knowledge is shared freely. Let's make a difference together. If you'd like an invitation to the event, please reach out to me. #startups #angelfunding #invest #VC #pitch #founder

It's easy to lose sight of the big vision when your head is in the details. But remembering it really matters as the company scales -- both in the direction you grow, and how you sell your idea to investors. Check out our General Partner Joe Merrill’s video to learn how keeping your vision as big as Texas is as easy as getting your kids excited about going to Disneyland! 🪄 #vision #startups #disneyland #venturecapital #founders

GenZ founder traits that are rare to find! 1) Discipline. The ability to focus on one goal and go deep early on. To understand that more is not always better. 2) Trusting your team. GenZ founders often fail to delegate or build teams that are smarter than them. Great founders know otherwise and are secure with their abilities. 3) Scrappy early on, structured later on. Founders who can ship fast internally and also learn the art of compartmentalising are special. At 2am VC we’re extremely bullish on our rock star GenZ founders. Thank you for everything! #startups #venturecapital #founder

In the spirit of #buildinginpublic, I want to share the ReFounders thesis and model in detail. This is our playbook. We've decided to do this for two main reasons: 1. To offer venture-backed DTC founders and investors the option to adopt our approach instead of exiting. Our goal is to empower purpose-driven businesses to not only survive but in time to thrive. We don't need to be owners or earn money to celebrate when this happens (though of course it’s our preference). 2. To address a common question: How can we love DTC brands while acknowledging that they are often poor investments for VCs? Full piece is linked in comments. #startups #DTC #venturecapital #MandA #EmployeeOwned #employeeownership

The best founders, best employees, the best investors eventually prove their skills not through outlier outcomes, but through consistency of those outlier returns. Find those who don’t just showcase talent, but those who show persistently good outcomes. Daniel Kahneman was an outlier individual with inimitable skills and knowledge. RIP. #startups

✨ What’s the perfect recipe for a memorable evening? ✨ Take a group of ambitious founders, add a dash of experienced investors, mix in a cozy Groningen brewery, and sprinkle in some great entrepreneurial minds. What do you get? 💡 The answer is The Founder Summer Drinks event—an evening filled with great ideas, contagious laughter, and memorable connections. A big shout-out to everyone who participated and helped make this event successful! Thanks also to Ben for sharing his photos with us. FounderFuel.vc, Curiosity VC, Golden Egg Check, LUMO Labs, Founded Cheers until the next time! 🍻 #ThrowbackFriday #SummerDrinks #Founders #Investors #Startups

"You were gonna invest in Seymour at one stage. I said to you, 'Would you take VC money if you were starting your next business?' and you said, 'Fuck no! I would do everything I can to not take VC money.'" Fasie Malherbe has founded six companies and had four exits, the last one for over $200M. He's currently the CEO of Seymour Health. Follow Outsized Ventures to receive notifications as we continue to show what goes on in our dinners. #founders #startups #venturecapital #investors

Dive into Part 2 of an engaging conversation with Co-founder & CCO, Ralph Hartmeier, and Michael Lunzer from Pioneers.io. Discover insights on determining the best moment for a corporate venture to spin out, particularly with an external co-investor. 👉 Explore the pros and cons of spinning out versus maintaining ties with the corporate parent company. Find the link to view the full blogpost in the comments below. #corporateventure #spinout #startup

Missed yesterday's Kernal Dealroom event? Here's a sneak peek of Pierson Marks's Q+A session with the VCs and a look at how Kernal's introduction features work 🎥 On the investor panel we had: - Haley Bryant from Hustle Fund, - Vivek Sodera from Superhuman - Ryan Holmes from LOI Venture - Brianne Kimmel from Worklife - and Stephen O'Brien from Mantis Venture Capital Congrats again to all the founders who brought their A-game on the pitches: LJ Northington, Akshay K, Nikki Varanasi and Pierson Marks. For those interested, I'll link the full recording of the pitch event in the first comment below👇 #startups #technology #entrepreneurship