Main Street Summit’s Post

The LinkedIN message was titled - “Holy Shit”. August. Nine months ago. I was on holidays at our cabin, had just woken up, and looked at my phone. I almost brushed it off as spam. One of the benefits of #buildinginpublic and sharing a vision is that you set yourself up for random discovery. Chris LeDoux is the co-founder of Crafty Apes - one of the most successful VFX studios in the industry. Over thirteen years he helped lead them to eight offices, a global footprint and their hands in episodic and feature film projects on every level. He swears a lot, Alaska-born and proud, speaks his mind, and carries a big personality. He also happens to be ridiculously passionate about technology, innovation, AI, ML, startups, and thinking about the world in ways that most of us are too busy to slow down and grasp. Chris had discovered one of my LinkedIN posts where I had talked about time, fear-based vs rational decision making, and everything that was wrong with the way we approach time-based problem solving. “You are building or have built exactly what I’ve been pontificating about for a minute. I would love to discuss. Let me know if you have time to jump on a call. Thanks! Chris” A week later, Chris hopped a plane from Atlanta to Vancouver and we bunkered down in a weWork for the day to shop talk whatifi, the multiverse, and our vision for the technology. Since then, Chris and I have talked for hours about vectors. Node based networks. The flow of data and #decisionmaking. The role that AI can play in the future. Breaking every action down into component pieces and then re-assembling them together into cause-and-effect relationships to map out the future. And a bit of #VFX. He’s also happens to be an active angel investor. And he just invested in whatifi. Thanks Chris! Creating something new in the world is risky. There is an opportunity cost. It takes time, energy, discipline, and most importantly, capital. If you are trying to really build something innovative - it takes a team - and that team costs money. Super grateful to be working with Chris as we continue to raise our pre-seed financing round. The lesson? Check your spam.

Our Y Combinator partners, Tom Blomfield and Tyler Bosmeny, recently asked a group of founders in our batch about their driving force behind starting a company. Here are the key reasons shared by the founders: 1. Didn't fit into the corporate culture. 2. Wanted to showcase their capabilities to the world. 3. Recognized the significant technological shift with AI and believed it's the perfect time to build — a moment that may not come again. If these reasons resonate with you, it's a clear sign – start building! 🚀

🚈 #TrainofThought: Convenience Really enjoying my current read, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. It’s been challenging my assumptions of time management (and existentialism) as I know it. Something I read this morning resonated with the work I do. The concept of convenience culture. “The venture capitalist and Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, has observed that we often “don’t even realize something is broken until someone else shows us a better way”. But the other reason we might not realize some everyday process is broken is that it isn’t broken to begin with – and that inconvenience involved, which might look like brokenness from the outside, in fact embodies something human.” It got me thinking… ▪️How much of what we build today is designed to enrich the human experience, not diminish it? ▪️Convenience often stars as the key offering of modern solutions, but at whose/what cost? ▪️ What have we lost, as a result of convenience? ▪️What are some solutions today that ease the pains, but preserve the human experience?

How fast can I get to market? This is a question I hear from founders and business leaders alike. Speed is a competitive advantage in this market. That's why Airwallex has invested in ready-made financial solutions for platforms and marketplaces - making it easy for them to embed financial technology into their existing products at speed. We're partnering with Square Peg to host an exclusive roundtable breakfast on July 3 in Melbourne. With insights from Airwallex's Global SVP of Product, Shannon Scott, and Square Peg's Principal Investor, Lucy Tan - I'd love to invite my network to be part of an incredible discussion on the most effective financial models for scalable growth. Here are some of the questions that will be covered: 🏁 In today's competitive environment, speed to market is everything.... how can founders leverage embedded finance in their product roadmap? ⺽ Scalable growth is dependent on graduating from SaaS to monetised transactions, true or false? Why? 📈Square Peg has a history of backing payments founders early in their journey... what makes this space so interesting to a VC? Has that interest shifted with changing market dynamics? Spaces are strictly limited, link in comments 😊

🚀 Did you catch our GrowthQ Q2 Virtual Summit? If not, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! 🌟 Our event featured Christopher Nelson, Founder of Tech Equity and Money University, who shared his wisdom on achieving financial independence through tech equity and company due diligence. Key Takeaways: 🔹 Trading Time/Talent for Equity: Understand that you are the asset being exchanged. Position yourself well by quantifying your value and impact, and manage your equity like a living asset. 🔹 Valuable Equity: Seek public or liquid equity that is growing and can be traded. Avoid chasing very early-stage startups due to high risk. 🔹 Building Investing Skills: Set clear financial goals, learn to evaluate and value equity opportunities, and have an exit strategy for each equity position. 🔹 Evaluating Companies: Assess product/buyer dynamics, customer sentiment, leadership quality, financials, and equity quality. 🔔 If you missed it, you can watch the full event on our website. 📺: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gg9fvbtH #GrowthQ #VirtualSummit #FinancialIndependence #TechEquity #CompanyDueDiligence #InvestInYourFuture

The LinkedIN message was titled - “Holy Shit”. August. Nine months ago. I was on holidays at our cabin, had just woken up, and looked at my phone. I almost brushed it off as spam. One of the benefits of hashtag #buildinginpublic and sharing a vision is that you set yourself up for random discovery. Chris LeDoux is the co-founder of Crafty Apes - one of the most successful VFX studios in the industry. Over thirteen years he helped lead them to eight offices, a global footprint and their hands in episodic and feature film projects on every level. He swears a lot, Alaska-born and proud, speaks his mind, and carries a big personality. He also happens to be ridiculously passionate about technology, innovation, AI, ML, startups, and thinking about the world in ways that most of us are too busy to slow down and grasp. Chris had discovered one of my LinkedIN posts where I had talked about time, fear-based vs rational decision making, and everything that was wrong with the way we approach time-based problem solving. “You are building or have built exactly what I’ve been pontificating about for a minute. I would love to discuss. Let me know if you have time to jump on a call. Thanks! Chris” A week later, Chris hopped a plane from Atlanta to Vancouver and we bunkered down in a weWork for the day to shop talk whatifi, the multiverse, and our vision for the technology. Since then, Chris and I have talked for hours about vectors. Node based networks. The flow of data and hashtag #decisionmaking. The role that AI can play in the future. Breaking every action down into component pieces and then re-assembling them together into cause-and-effect relationships to map out the future. And a bit of hashtag #VFX. He’s also happens to be an active angel investor. And he just invested in whatifi. Thanks Chris! Creating something new in the world is risky. There is an opportunity cost. It takes time, energy, discipline, and most importantly, capital. If you are trying to really build something innovative - it takes a team - and that team costs money. Super grateful to be working with Chris as we continue to raise our pre-seed financing round. The lesson? Check your spam.

Extremely excited about all of our upcoming events, but especially for this one: the first edition of our 📚 𝗩𝗖 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆. I'm counting down the days. See you there? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁? Attend a crash course to learn all the ins and outs about funding, different stages, and practical implications for People and Culture leaders and their departments. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿? People professionals working closely with a founder/CEO or CFO. Particularly in environments where funding or investments are a key source of the organization’s finances. Or, if you just want to become generally better strategic partners to the business! 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁? In just one afternoon you’ll learn all this and more… • 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀 - who is involved and what do all those tricky words mean (“Runway”? “Term sheets”??) • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 - what happens before, during and after an investment round? • 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 - what types are there, who are the key players and what are they really looking for? • 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 - what are the different phases of start/scale-ups? How do VCs change the future of the business and support companies to get better?   • 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗥 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 - What is expected from you vs your founder/CEO? How can you help prepare a company for an investment round, and what critical data could you already be collecting to get ahead? • 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗤&𝗔, 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 - ask us anything! 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀. You'll learn exactly what to expect next time your company is preparing for - or going into - a funding round, and be able to join the conversation and make a real informed impact. 🎟️ Get your 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗗 ticket here: https://lnkd.in/e3RY-kdy 🗓️ March 21st 🕐 13:00 - 16:30 CET 📍Amsterdam / Personio office, van Diemenstraat

Dear Companies, Forget execs, brainstorming sessions, and chasing that next million-dollar idea. Hold on to your hats, because the real game-changer for your company is hiding in plain sight: your people! Here's the deal: companies thrive when everyone feels like they're part of the team, not just a cog in the machine. Imagine a place where everyone, from the CEO on down to the mailroom crew, feels like their voice matters. Sounds easy, right? Maybe for a tiny startup, but things get trickier as companies grow. Here's the challenge: can you make any one person in a room of 100 (or even 1000!) feel like they're the MVP? By ditching the stuffy suits and building a culture of high fives and respect, you'll not only keep your crew happy, but you'll also unlock a treasure trove of innovation and success. Think of it like a soccer team. My daughter plays, and when she misses a goal, her teammate cheers her on. That's the kind of support that makes everyone shine! So ditch the formality and create a company where everyone feels valued, just like my daughter on the field. What do you think is this too idealistic? Anyone doing this?

"I would plan my day around Quiet Box locations." This comment was left by the CEO of a tech company on our most recent post about launching Quiet Box in Milwaukee. It made my day 🤯 In the same day, two more VC firms replied to us with "Cool idea, but not venture scalable" as to why they wouldn't schedule a meeting with our team about potential investment. Safe to say, this did not make my day. Y Combinator always shares about building products that people want. From a customer perspective, it seems like we're onto something. Unfortunately there's a list of about 100 VC firms who don't think so 👎🏼 Of course, there's a high expense to build our initial network of Quiet Box locations, which makes it harder to reach venture scale. But I think the potential upside of selling "all access" memberships to our meeting space network could be exponential -- especially to company's with a remote workforce. Who knows...But our team is more and more committed to build a world where we are not bound by our work location! We'll continue bootstrapping and growing the number of Quiet Box locations around the US. In the meantime, I'm keeping the receipts and we'll see how this ages in 10 years 🧾

A few big shifts will drive more founders and investors to pursue profit-sharing models in 2024 and beyond. There’s a culture shift in tech toward profit-generating businesses. There’s a tech shift that enables talent to build more with less. There’s a regulatory shift that makes exits challenging. // https://bit.ly/3TWeEee Totally agree here.