Nucleus Capital’s Post

Startups are built by generalists and scaled by high performing teams of specialists Keep your team as lean as possible

"In today's fast-paced business environment, cross-functional collaboration has become a main ingredient for companies experiencing rapid growth… or rapid change! Exactly like typical tech startups building a capable and strong team as they grow, both contexts present significant challenges......" Read how cross-functional team collaboration contributes to achieving strategic goals, addressing performance gaps, and ultimately retaining top talent in organizations undergoing hyper-growth. Full Article > https://lnkd.in/gNSaqaew #CrossFunctional #TechStartups #StrategicGoals #YRTech #Markham

Hi everyone! As last week I wrote about disruption in established companies, I thought it was very convenient to write this week about Venture builders and how they can help more traditional companies disrupt! Hope you enjoy it! Let me know opinions in comments!

It's Raining Exits! "In our last edition summarizing December 2023 we noted a dip in deal volume but an increase in the proportion of exits. We hypothesized that this trend of increased exits would continue through 2024 as the fundraising environment continues to be challenging and startups reach the end of their runway. We even anticipated a potential 'flood' of exits. However, we didn't expect to see 35 deals, 13 exits, and over $1.6 billion in Agetech transactions in just the first month! What a start to 2024!" - Agetech News Nº 36

Recently, I worked with a couple of late-stage medtech startups that were looking to expand their international presence. I love the positive spirit and the mindset of changing the rules of the game, bringing something that benefits the lives of thousands of people… you can only put 110% of yourself into the effort. Everyone who’s ever worked in the corporate world knows that enthusiasm is often not in the “Google page 1” of the things you’ll find in the office. In a startup, enthusiasm is the driving force. Everyone is excited to do what they’re doing. My mission is to carry the startup enthusiasm even to future established employers. I will carry that energy into the office with me. After all, positive energy is infectious. #StartupEnergy #Medtech #Innovation #CorporateCulture #PositiveEnergy

I’ve seen 1,000+ founders in my time at Innosphere Ventures. Here are the 3 most common mistakes I observe: #1. Not doing proper customer discovery When companies don’t do this, the failure rate is astronomically high and lack of market is the second most cited reason a startup failed. The good news is that there is a proper methodology that works… it just takes time and the time commitment. #2 Not preparing the business for capital This takes on many forms: - Not having a complete management team and a “fundable” CEO - Not thinking through the go-to-market strategy and greatly undershooting the cost of GTM - Not differentiating between early funding, growth capital, and traditional credit Each of these will prohibit you from raising capital. Investors do not give you this input. Not having sufficient capital is the single biggest risk factor cited by startups. #3 Not having expertise in building the team This is especially true of technical founders. Most founders tend to hire people like themselves. For technical founders, this usually means hiring others with technical backgrounds. Often, they don’t yet understand and value what a complete team looks like and how this translates to being fundable Those are the three broad areas of problems I tend to see. What makes your list?

Missed it yesterday? No worries - Impact/100 2024 is live and here to stay. These 100 startups are taking on the world’s biggest challenges and driving change that could impact billions of lives. If you’re looking for better role models, don’t just watch from the sidelines - dive into the list and get inspired at norrsken.org/impact100 . #impact100

None of this is ever promised. As I write this in my office on a Monday afternoon, I'm reminded of when my office was just my bedroom. My desk was two steps from my bed. The office, as you see in this photo, was just right outside, and it didn't even have a door. My story in Prometheus has been a constant stream of "this is the most important pitch/demo/meeting of your career". We won some. We lost some. In any case, we were happy to just buy a couple tables and some chairs with the money we made from a successful pitch back then. Now, as Kevin Ryan Atutubo, A Frederick S. and I are faced with what is "the most important demo of our careers" with our first subsidiary in WARP Technologies and Innovations Inc., I reminisce on our journey and how we started. WARP was the first venture we invested into after Prometheus had cemented itself as the award-winning marketing agency it is today. I think about all the challenges and losses we had to endure and the time we spent perfecting our systems. I think about the people that have come and gone. I think about the dreams and the goals we held onto as we struggled to get to this point. None of this is ever promised. And that's what makes this process so beautiful. #innovation #TechStartUp #StartupGrind #Bootstrapping