Turns out that running one startup is a lot harder than advising 1000 startups.
Aaron Harris
4,520 posts
Aaron Harris
@harris
Building better fundraises with founders at Magid and Co.
theventurecodex.com
Aaron Harris is a Registered Rep...
- Across the ~30 unicorns I’ve funded, there’s only one common founder trait: optimism.
- Every time I get to see the @sequoia process I’m reminded of what “great” looks like. The truth it isn’t complicated. Some notes: 1. Make the calls you say you will 2. Schedule the meetings you say you will on time 3. If you ask for the data room, actually look at the data room
- It is much easier to advise 1000 companies than build 1.
- If a "pre-seed" is 1.5m on 10, and a "seed" is 5-7 on 20-30, can we all just agree to hit "reset" and go back to "seed" and "Series A"?
- After a year back at operating, I'm realizing that most of the specific operating advice I gave founders in my last few years at YC was...stale.
- Jewish friends in Brooklyn are being told to avoid going into the street on Saturday because of a "Flood Brooklyn for Gaza" protest. In 2023. In America. In Brooklyn. Here's a thought @ericadamsfornyc and @NYPDCT - stop the dangerous protest instead of telling Jews to hide in
- It has become terrifyingly clear to me that everyone I look up to is making it up as they go along.
- Zuck is doing a great job demonstrating that cash and liquid stock can be a hell of a lot more compelling than paper valuations and infrequent tenders.
- The strongest predictor of founder success may just be a willingness to look stupid.
- The losers in the IPO drought are employees – not investors who have other bets and management fees and not founders who can get loans and secondaries. The basic agreement at the heart of “going to work at a startup” is broken.
- Every time I watch a founder run their Series A like a real auction, I’m reminded what control looks like. The mechanics aren’t rocket science. Some notes: 1. Build a long list—40+ funds—before the first meeting 2. Time first‑meetings inside a 2 week window 3. Share the deck,
- One of the games VCs play on founders is to convince them that founders need to fundraise on the VC time table. “Oh, we need 4 weeks.” “Oh, we have meetings on Monday mornings and you must wait for that.” “Oh, we need to see you today because something.” “Oh, it is too late or
- There’s no secret whisper network VCs use to discover a deal is hot. Founders who have a hot hand just…act differently. They speak differently, respond to diligence questions differently, negotiate differently. Some founders do this naturally. Some founders learn it.
