STARTRADER’s Post

VCs seeing founders in the holy merch 🔥 They say this hoodie alone increases your odds of getting a term sheet by 37%. Goodwill, Menlo Park, you’re welcome. _____ Enjoy this? Follow Kevin Jurovich for daily startup & VC insights and the occasional meme. ✌️

Had lots of fun even though I arrived late to the Antler Portfolio Showcase. The concentrated and time-efficient dose of investor-sentiment was comforting. It was also fun to hear the pitches that I made it in time for. Detailed version: Start-ups have struggled a lot lately (since Corona - if they are still living or just a zombie) Companies that are not cashflow positive yet growing are just tougher to raise capital for. During this "WINTER" most investors that I know have focused on "their existing" portfolio. Making sure their "old bets"/companies survive. At this event all the investors that I spoke to were genuinely looking for new cases. That to me is a data point that I will over emphasise its importance and conclude that Spring is coming! If you are a startup - just keep on surviving. Capital is coming :)

The Two Rules That Separate Winners From Losers  ANTLER, the billion-dollar investor, swears by two rules:  1. No single-founder companies.    2. All founders must be full-time.  Why? The data doesn't lie.  Companies with one founder crumble under the weight of the journey. It’s brutal, lonely, and unforgiving.  And if your startup is just a "side hustle," the odds of failure skyrocket.  ANTLER's statistics of failed ventures prove it.  In the wild, a lone wolf doesn’t survive. A pack thrives. Together, they hunt. Together, they win.  Here’s the question you need to ask yourself:    Who are the three people you’d trust with your life?  Because those are the people you need on your team.  Success isn’t a solo game. It’s a team sport.  Now, look around—are you building a pack or walking alone?  Choose wisely.

Who you know in your earlier days of starting up is very much compounding relationships. They as an angel/investor fund you. You as an angel/investor fund them. You are part of a HIGH trust network. All your word-of-mouth needs are sorted/set. Be good with people in your early 'Startup' circle and keep it compounding.

Interestingly, PACASO is essentially a real estate/mortgage broker, but unlike a broker, it includes the underlying value of the assets it transacts as revenue. This is technically OK because it takes ownership of the property before it sells it, but PACASO still makes almost all its money from brokerage fees. If CBRE had done this, it would have recorded something like $155 billion in revenue instead of $2.8 billion in 2023. From an investor perspective, it's better to use the adjusted gross revenue found on page 41 of the SEC filing, which is $29M, $53M, and $13M million in ’21, ’22, and ’23, respectively. A $1.5 billion valuation is a 118x revenue multiple for a business with a negative 76% revenue growth rate. This is one where you need to read the filing. There are several things to note.

I met Ben Huffman in March 2020…days before COVID took over. I left that meeting (the last in person meeting I had for years!) so excited that I ended up becoming an Advisor and Investor in his company, Contra. He laid out a vision for the future where more high-caliber professionals would be able to be in control of their day to day work, and he would build the platform to make it happen. At the end of the year, I joined Hustle Fund to create Angel Squad, and coincidentally they also had invested in Contra. A few months after launching Angel Squad, Contra became one of our first investments! Fast forward to today and Contra is one of our breakout companies. They’ve 10x’d revenue over the past year, while reducing burn by 50%. How? The combination of leveraging the experts from the Contra platform and AI-powered workflows. There was a lot of talk about “the future of work” when COVID hit…and I’m convinced that the Contra team is building a company that represents that change. I asked Ben if he’d be willing to go into more detail to share specifics and he agreed. If you work as a startup founder or operator, I highly recommend making an effort to attend this Thursday. As an investor, it’ll also teach you what to look for in startups to evaluate if they are building efficiently. RSVP below to come, or for the recording ⬇️

Some shareholders of a16z-backed Divvy Homes may not see a dime from $1B sale The recent news of the $1 billion acquisition of Divvy Homes has sparked considerable discussion in the startup and proptech communities. However, it's an unfortunate reality that not all shareholders will see a profit from this sale. Divvy Homes, known for its rent-to-own model, raised over $700 million from notable investors, including Andreessen Horowitz

Angel investing got your attention? Ready to make the jump to LP investor and truly diversify your portfolio? This Fall, we're hosting a LIVE session to help you get started! Whether you're new to Angel investing or looking to level up, there's something for you (and it's more affordable than you might think!). ➡️ Sign up & learn more: https://buff.ly/3Z7oxsg #angelinvesting #venturecapital #startup

Sweat Equity Deserves Kudos — How to Create Recognition Programs That Acknowledge the Hard Work of Startup Founders Recognizing founders' sweat equity with tailored, responsive programs boosts morale and loyalty while driving startup success by nurturing a culture of appreciation. https://lnkd.in/gbqSMZn3

Raising a pre-seed round? Thinking about starting something new? Daniel Dart (Rock Yard Ventures), Natan Reddy (25madison), Rosie Bradbury (PitchBook) and I are hosting a breakfast to chat through any and all top of mind things to keep in mind at the earliest stages of your journey. 🚀 Link in the comments 🚀 #preseed #earlystage #venturecapital #earlystagestartups #nyctech