Uroš Mićić’s Post

4 Key Lessons from Our Latest Listener Q&A❓ - We’re Back! Our listeners came through with some fantastic questions, and we’ve got the answers every founder needs to hear. Here’s what we covered: 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 #𝟭: 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 Question from Marc Orchard, CEO of Planet Startup: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟦❓ 🤖 Yaniv Bernstein: The market might be unpredictable, but your strategy shouldn’t be. Focus on raising just enough to reach your next milestone—don’t let investor demands compromise your vision. Seek out smart capital and use it wisely. 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 #𝟮: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 Question from Nishita Sikka, Senior DevOps Engineer at LinkedIn: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘝𝘗❓ 🤖 Yaniv Bernstein: Don’t stress about perfection from the start—focus on refining your brand as you gather insights from the market. Continuous improvement is key. 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 #𝟯: 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 Question from Nicholas: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘈𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦❓ Chris Saad: Founders should be asking how AI can be part of their solution. Ignoring it might mean missing out on a significant opportunity. 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 #𝟰: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 Question from Toby Tank, Partnerships at Salient: 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵❓ Yan and Chris Answer: To address this, we need smarter, more inclusive investment strategies that actively support female founders and promote diversity in the startup ecosystem. Which question would you like us to turn into a full episode—1, 2, 3, or 4? Share your pick in the comments, and we’ll drop the link to the full conversation there! #startup #entrepreneur #ai #vc #fundraising #founders

My first activity for the day: I was a guest speaker on the Venture Science podcast in San Diego, where I talked about early-stage fundraising in Silicon Valley. Here’s what we covered: Current Funding Climate: The funding scene has changed due to recent economic shifts. For new founders, it's important to clear up some myths about getting VC funding in Silicon Valley. VC Due Diligence: Understanding how VCs think is key. During due diligence, investors look at many important factors and metricks. Startups should prepare well and know the common red flags and green lights. Transparency and right fit will increase the chances of successful fundraising. Empowering Startups: Beyond having a good pitch deck, startups need to build strong relationships with investors. Knowing the key points in negotiating term sheets is also crucial. Cold outreach is not the best tool. Go out to events, pitch competitions, accelerators, try to meet investors live. AI in Fundraising: AI tools for fundraising are growing. Startups can use these tools effectively, but the human element is still very important, especially in Silicon Valley. AI will change the landscape, bringing new efficiencies and opportunities. It will affect both sides, founders and investors. Soon we will see Ai agents talk to each other and set up better quality meetings to result in deal closing. I also talked about INNOVERA.AI, a tool we’re building to solve due diligence problems, help VC's and Corporations navigate the tech landscape better and run their innovation projects with Ai empowerment. Which would also allow founders to own their data, and keep everything updated. Stay tuned for air time of our Podcast! #VentureScience #Startups #VC #Fundraising #InnoveraAI #Innovation #SiliconValley #Entrepreneurship

Will we see solo-founder startups dominating the startup landscape in 2024? 👀 Many founders and investors speculate that with the rise of advanced AI, we'll see more solo founders building valuable, highly scalable businesses. Historically, the data has been against solo founders (data from First Round Capital): 👉🏼 Teams with more than one founder outperformed solo founders by 163%. 👉🏼 Solo founders' seed valuations were 25% less than teams with more than one founder. Excluding consumer startups, the Carta data below outlines that co-founder teams still dominate later-stage investment rounds. This data doesn't account for solo founders who have raised once and decided to focus on profitable growth from the outset (likely to be the minority of solo founders, though) and solo founders who have decided to bring in a co-founder once they progress beyond the pre-seed stage. I know I couldn't have built my startup without my co-founder, but with the quality of AI tools available to most founders now, we will see a rise in the number of solo founders building valuable companies. #founders #investment #startup #vc

Found this so interesting. To co-found or not co-found was a big topic of conversation recently Female Founders Rise This is just a snapshot, and I do wonder, there is such a journey between Seed and Series C, what is actually happening with single-founder organisations - do they morph or bring on "co-founders" at a later stage (I have seen this happen). Feels like this is only a snapshot of a wider story... and more data is needed to get the full vision of what is happening. And throwing this one out there - we're seeing a rise of fractional support coming across the entire board - how does that impact the journey of a solo founder? Do you really need to find someone to be with you the whole journey when you can instead get what you need to build as you go? When it's also hard to find people you really want to stay connected with - it's like a marriage! - could this be the time soloprenuers win the race? #solopreneurs #solopreneurship #founders #startup

Founders, you can start your journey alone but data does not lie, to build a big successful company you'll ideally need 1 or 2 cofounders ! Interesting post from Sam Marchant using Carta data... #founco #startup #vc #fundraise

Let's talk about the journey of startups, especially in the deep tech arena. A recent study caught my attention, shedding light on a fascinating trend: startups in deep tech that managed to raise initial capital have a higher chance of becoming billion-dollar ventures when compared to other companies. This revelation underscores the importance of early investment in groundbreaking technologies. 💡💰 However, this journey is far from easy. The term "deep tech" is often synonymous with significant initial capital and complex innovation challenges. Yet, it's these very challenges that fuel our ambition and commitment. Another eye-opener reveals that whether in bull or bear markets, billion-dollar startups flourish regardless. This reaffirms my belief that true innovation transcends economic cycles. 📈📉 At Exovolar, we're not just navigating the present, we're redefining the future. Our vision extends beyond - from enabling personal flight to unlocking a world where progress and innovation come first. In this future, our conflicts are not cemented in differences but elevated towards shared goals. 🌎✌️ My message to fellow dreamers and innovators: Push against all odds, believe in the world you are building, speak about your vision, and never falter. The journey might be daunting, but the stars are only a flight away. Let's soar together folks! 🚀 #Exovolar #DeepTech #StartUpJourney #DreamUp

Why would an investor be more inclined to invest in a solo-founder startup, if the company was consumer-focused? Over a non-consumer focused startup? Assuming both founders equally demonstrated exceptional vision, expertise, strong track record, etc. Could this be because consumer-focused startups often prioritise understanding customer needs and preferences very early on, and this where a visionary leader can make real impact with tight resources? If that’s the case, might investors be more likely to bet on a solo founder with proven consumer insight and market understanding as it makes it easier to see the potential for rapid growth/market disruption? I’ve seen similar research in a couple of places on this very topic, just recently but struggling to find the data as to why. Emmie Faust or Female Founders Rise members, any idea why this might be the case? #fundraising #femalefounders #consumerinsights #

Dealroom, Lakestar, and Walden Catalyst made the third annual report on Deep Tech in Europe. As always, the report is exciting and voluminous. I highly recommend reading it if you are interested. Now, here's the thing that caught my eye. Several years ago, due to the boom of startups, there were many articles, films, and TV series on this topic. Thanks to them, many people now think that a casual cafe chat and a killer elevator pitch are all you need for that first round of funding. But it doesn't work that way. The volumes of pre-seed investments in the chart below show this perfectly. From my experience, you can generally get pre-seed investments only in two cases: - The startup founders had a successful exit from their previous startup. - The company already has revenue traction, although not for the current product. The chances of getting a pre-seed round are zero without this. It's hilarious (no) when you contact VCs who claim they invest in pre-seeds, and at the meeting, they tell you that they don't invest in companies that don't have sales traction. The report is linked below: https://lnkd.in/gGgPjYDE

Founders dream of creating massive exits for their companies. Only a few get there. Most startups fail. Here are the traits you need to lead your startup to a massive exit: 1: Solve a problem that you love 2: Settle in for the long haul 3: Focus on the right thing at the right time 4: Be a learning machine 5: Focus on your Super Powers Do these, and you will lead all the way to a massive outcome! If you want more tips on how to lead your company to a massive exit, join the leading newsletter for startup CEOs https://lnkd.in/gWqQBd-n

There's ONE key mistake founders often make… ☝️ …and that’s not tapping into the knowledge of board advisors Riccardo Mazzon, an #AI and tech consultant, shares how the right advisor can guide you through challenges, expose blind spots, and ultimately avoid costly mistakes that could impact your startup’s growth ✍️ Want to expand your board advisory journey? See how we can help you get started today 👉 https://lnkd.in/dQegEmyN #PortfolioCareer #AdvisoryBoard #Advisor #Founders #Startup