Pete Larkin’s Post

Calling all tech founders! 📣 Are you a UK tech founder planning to raise VC funding? Join us for our next Founder Breakfast Briefing where we’ll show you exactly how VenturePath can accelerate your fundraising journey. 🗓 Date: Wednesday 18 September ⏰ Time: 8.30 - 10am 📍 Location: Holborn, London Start your morning with a powerful session designed specifically for founders like you. Here's what to expect: → Introductions - Connect with fellow tech founders and the VenturePath team. → VenturePath Overview - Learn how we've successfully secured £650M+ in Series A-B funding for UK tech companies  → Ask Us Anything - Get your burning questions answered, and understand the true value VenturePath brings to your business. When you register, a member of the team will be in touch to kickstart the conversation before the event. This is your chance to experience the VenturePath proposition firsthand and get tailored insights into the fundraising journey. Spaces are limited, so don't miss out! Register your interest today with the link in the comments below. 

𝗛𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🦄 Big news dropping! We're beyond stoked to introduce Backable Ventures - your new go-to squad for crushing your fundraising game! We're all about helping underrepresented founders level up their fundraising game and build those connections that actually matter. No more stuffy boardrooms or gatekeeping here - we're flipping the script. ✨𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀✨  Get ready to hang out with some seriously amazing folks: • Founders who've been there, done that, and scaled to the moon • Active investors who know exactly what makes a startup pop  • Angel investors dropping those golden nuggets of wisdom  • Industry veterans sharing the real deal on what works (and what doesn't!) We're starting a straight-up movement here! Our mission? To level the playing field, change the narrative, and help exceptional founders fundraise successfully — and who knows, we might even make fundraising fun along the way!

Yesterday, we partnered with nextNYC and Charlie O'Donnell for How I Raised My Seed, a round panel discussion with the founders at BoldVoice, Infield, and Compyl. Our biggest takeaways for founders trying to raise? ✔ Filter out investors by asking the right questions. What’s your check size? What kind of companies do you fund? What industries? ✔ When negotiating your term sheet, take as much money as you can possibly get. It might seem tempting to minimize your funding to give away less equity, but consider this - everything may take 2x as long and costs 3x more than you expect. ✔ It’s all about networking. Leverage everyone you can think of - friends, family, college roommate - no one is off the list. Once you get more comfortable having these conversations, you will be able to identify potential investors from those who may not be suitable. ✔ Don't get boxed in by traditional labels. Fundraising stages are subjective. They're less about intrinsic meaning and more about articulating a startup's growth plans to potential investors. Pre-seed, Seed, Series A, B, C, call it what you need to reflect your company's unique milestones and strategic goals. ✔ No one knows your story better than you! As a founder, own your narrative and stay true to what got you started. Look out for more takes from NYC founders like Allison Pike.🗽 ❤️

Here's a very quick update for our future potential investors! KreiosLabs just surpassed $8.5k in ARR this month! While April's growth was slower than anticipated, we saw a strong rebound in May and hopefully it continues from here. I recently attended the Raid the Fridge event hosted by Kickstarter Ventures that featured Expedock Cofounders Jig Y. and Jeff Tan. My two main takeaways from the talk are: 1. I'm simply not working hard enough 2. Go global And guess what? That's exactly what we will do for the next few months - work harder and go global. Stay tuned for our next update!

Hey startup founders, need help with your pitch deck? We are stoked to announce our super useful event in partnership with Launch Deck where you will have a unique opportunity to have your pitch deck reviewed. 💥What Investors Want to See in Your Deck - Startup Fundraising Guide Date: Feb 22, 2024 Time: 17:30-20:00 Location: Haos Community Space Register: https://shorturl.at/fjsuJ Join us to delve deeper into what over 100 VCs, Angel Investors, and Accelerators want to see in your pitch deck. 🔍What to Expect: - Get real-world advice and strategies to take your pitch deck from good to stellar - Learn the key elements that make your pitch stand out in a crowded market - Discover advanced content and design tips to enhance your presentation - Participate in a hands-on pitch deck review for practical insights - Engage in a comprehensive Q&A session for personalized advice - Network with fellow founders and industry experts 🔥You have a unique opportunity to get your deck reviewed by Launch Deck founders - don’t forget to submit it via the registration form.🔥

Difference between VC-backed/bootstrapped startups is the conservation of founder energy. Chasing VC depletes. Building Community & sharing upside with everyone who helps you build & grow replenishes. Audience=>Community=>Earn-gated Collaboration=> MVP =>Cashflow=>Community VC.

What a fun evening discussing everything Angel investor related 🙌🏼 A huge thanks to Rupa, Scott, and Marla for joining me and a room full of early-stage founders to answer all the difficult questions surrounding angel investing. My three big takeaways 👇🏼 1️⃣ Anyone can be an Angel investor. Cheque size and value are not linked, so never discount a highly relevant individual because of their cheque size. 2️⃣ Prepare, prepare, and prepare. Start your conversations with angels and have your materials ready long before you need capital. 3️⃣ Fundraising can be all-consuming, but if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The commitments only count when the money is received. A huge thank you to Sebastian and the team at Google Cloud for hosting us last night. If you missed out on this event and want to come along to the next one, keep an eye out for a big announcement next week 🙌🏼 #founders #angels #investment #startup

Jed Tan is going global. I'm excited for more stories like this. Keep the fire alive, we need more young dreamers to rally around your story! Jed literally just proved the spectators wrong that "there's no tech talent and entrepreneurs in Manila" 🤣 🤣 🤣 I havent' been in the local scene for years because we were busy grinding but I'm shocked at this change in language from investors. "VC's" now love to call entrepreneurs, dreamers, and visionaries with the derogatory term of "operators". 🙄🙄🙄 "Operators" vs "Spectators" is harmful language and reflective of subconcious #crabmentality . To even debate this dichotomy is a farce. I will pick a fight with anyone who uses the word "operator" to puff themselves up because of their inability to execute & deliver results themselves. My younger brother, Jeremy Young, helped me realize that the real language should be: "Kings" and "Kingmakers" - allies who shape the future together. Both are capital & time allocators, both are operators that drive ROI, both are visionaries, both are dreamers. We have different roles and emphasis but a shared mission. Cheering your story on, Jed! I'm confident your SaaS first approach will surpass ours earlier and much faster! #carryingcrabs

How can you ensure the first go to market hire is a winner for a small 10 person team just figuring out their product ? I’ve witnessed too much weight put on the shoulders of the first GTM hire (VP Sales, VP Marketing, CCO / CRO) when there isn’t realistic expectations and alignment from the Board and Founders.

We've done nearly 60 episodes of CLIMB now, and without a doubt, this chat with Nate Williams was one of my favorite and not to be missed: https://spoti.fi/3qe8hXq Over the course of our hour together, we chatted about the ways start-ups screw up customer discovery, different traits exhibited by 2x founders (and if 1x founders can learn these), and feedback from LPs on how funds should think about raising in 2024. In this clip, Nate breaks down why lack of sales is a way bigger problem for a startup than an unfinished product. He also speaks about why one of your first 10 hires needs to be a GTM expert. Thanks to Annie Le and the Union Labs Ventures team for helping make this happen and my immense gratitude to Nate for sharing his time and learnings. Learn first hand from someone who has done growth, sales and is now building a leading VC fund to support climate and industrial automation founders: