Atlanta Ventures’ Post

Are you ready to learn how to succeed as a Founder's Associate? 🚀 After reading numerous articles about the role, I felt there was still a gap in understanding what it actually takes to excel. To find that out, I interviewed some of the brightest and most driven FAs making waves in London. 🌊 A big shoutout to David Ola from Nostos Genomics, Stephanie Leung from Stackfix, Felix Fernandez from Otto and Ines de Lestapis from Fertifa. 🙏 PS: If you are a generalist looking for a social space where the best operators meet and have fun, check out Operators & Friends. 💙 #startups #founders #founderassociates #venturecapital

Day 2 of fundraising in public: Whilst I didn't get locked outside my office like yesterday, of course my demo failed during an investor pitch. Going from selling an enterprise solution to a startup MVP REALLY taught me how to roll with the punches. If only you knew how many times my co-founders were using rhetora on the backend simulating a functioning product... Nevertheless, we persevered and setup a second meeting 💪 5 investor meetings booked: - 4 VCs we never spoke to earlier. - 1 angel Results: - 1 'too early', but referring us to pre-seed investors - 2 VCs progressing to second meeting - 1 VC pitching us to investment committee - 1 angel introducing us to their syndicates This is a little abnormally positive in my experience, usually you get a bit more push back. However it could be because we are so much more prepared for our second round than we were for our first. To prepare for our round, our investors at Techstars suggested I write up a 70 page document outlining every aspect of our business: problem, solution, market, unique insight, competition, traction and team. I spent 1 month purely preparing to fundraise, writing out 10 pages per aspect of the business allowed us to rethink some of our strategies. Now, there are almost no questions which could catch me off guard. Yesterday I mentioned the need to improve on answering our GTM strategy and I spoke to my co-founder Mazen AlMalki who gave me the best advice. Mazen had reminded me that we are a very early stage startup and that the scalability of our GTM strategy isn't something we are going to be right about. I was reminded... Luka, we do rigorous GTM experiments on weekly bases for that very reason. So I'm confident in our team, we'll figure out the best repeatable GTM strategy. and I'll hone down on that answer. I know I promised I'll tell you more about how I was able to book 13 meetings in 2 days but this post is already long enough. Until tomorrow! ps. I'm not a blogger so I didn't take a photo from yesterday, so here is one from our Techstar Demo Day! #fundraiseinpublic

If you're in venture capital, what are you doing beyond the investment to truly enable and support your portfolio companies? Your job doesn't end with the investment and going to board meetings every three months while providing advice just might not be enough to truly make an impact. Founder enablement is just as important and especially if you’re investing in brilliant first-time founders, accelerating skill sets around marketing, sales, operations, etc. doesn’t come without intentional support. I’ve been lucky enough to work with many venture folks who understand this and truly step up to the plate even after they’ve invested in the round. But I also have heard of others who are dormant when it comes to enablement and move on after closing the deal. So I'd love to learn from all of you venture professionals. What are you doing to support your portfolio companies? And if you're a founder, which VC partner or team has truly supported you and been by your side? Calling out a few here who have been very involved in helping their founders find the right sales support system and who I’m grateful to as they’ve generously opened-up their founder network: Lan Xuezhao, ChenLi Wang, Sara Adler, Arian Agrawal, Adriana Roche, Aditya Agarwal, Loren Straub, Linda Lee, Dan Landau, Mary McKinley, Arpan Punyani, Lauren Lee #founderenablement #venturecapital #techsales

Much has been written about the trials and tribulations of investor-founder relationships -- and after several decades spent helping founders navigate these challenges, I think a better up-front understanding of the dos and don'ts would go a long way. Fortunately, Charlie O'Donnell has brought a group together to discuss that this Thursday. Join us at the link below. Propeller Industries

I'm proud to be representing Btomorrow Ventures and BAT in London on Thursday, 22nd February at Crafty Counsel's High Growth and Venture Capital Day. I will be speaking on a panel alongside some fantastic lawyers in the VC space, Alex Haskell, Legal Director at Salesforce Ventures and Shawn Atkinson, Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. 💡 💡 💡 We will explore how and why major companies move into the direction of corporate investments in startups and scaleups and the impact this has across the venture capital market. With the current climate driving financial returns as more of a focus than ever, corporate venture is becoming increasingly important. But what are the advantages? The downsides? Are corporate investors any different to traditional VCs these days? Hear both sides and stories from a market that has been expanding over the last decade. 💡 💡 💡 Our discussion sits alongside a whole range of content planned, exploring real stories of deal terms, funding structures, and down rounds, as well as addressing topics such as brand protection in the high-growth context, broken cap tables, founder stories, and more. The High Growth and VC Day with Crafty Counsel provides a platform for in-house lawyers from Europe’s leading scaleups and their investors to share, collaborate, discuss, and plan for the coming year after a turbulent 2023. To find out more, please click here: https://lnkd.in/emDMuESk I look forward to seeing you there! #corporateventure #venturecapital #craftycounsel 🚀 🚀 🚀

I take regular meetings with my founders pretty seriously. I push for goalsetting, usually by way of a financial model, a comparison of performance against that, and a discussion of what we're going to do going forward--and I don't care if it's a pre-seed round or if you just raised your A. I've gotten pushback over the years that it's overkill, that financial models are BS, or that prep for a meeting is a waste of a founder's limited time. What do you think? I set out to ask some experts what they think--and how to make these meetings efficient and productive. Join me next Thursday as I talk with: 💰 Melody Koh from NextView Ventures, who co-invested with me in Ten Little 📊 Chris Fenster who runs Propeller Industries and has seen and prepared, along with his team and tech, more financials in more board meetings than perhaps anyone 👨💻 Matt Blumberg of Bolster--a veteran founder who literally wrote a book on startup boards along with Brad Feld (https://lnkd.in/eNZfHbyX) and built a company that matches CEOs with executives, mentors, and board members without the hassle of traditional talent sourcing. RSVP: https://lnkd.in/ePFeRQYv

Envision the day when investors don't just show interest but eagerly compete for your start-ups' products. That's our mission, and we can make that happen. What We Offer: 🚀 Customized Training: Equipping your start-ups with the knowledge to navigate the challenging startup landscape. 🤝 Networking Opportunities: Access to potential collaborators and like-minded individuals. 👥 Expert Mentorship: Partnering with seasoned professionals for invaluable insights. 💼 Investor Access: Opening doors to passionate investors who believe in your vision. Addressing the Challenge: We understand the hurdles of steering purpose-driven ventures toward investment readiness. Together, we'll turn aspirations into remarkable achievements. Ready to embark on a journey of shared growth and innovation? Connect with us https://lnkd.in/gNg9EiFH today and let's start this incredible path together! #AcceleratorSuccess #IgniteInnovation #ThriveTogether

Tomorrow, I will be announcing the launch of my latest venture. A business which has been founded due to 3 key elements. 1. My insight/analytics background with last exit from SingleView - Part of Awin a marketing analytics platform. 2. My Entrepreneur in Residence work over the past few years at Exchange at Department really surprising me at how much I enjoy helping businesses. 3. The desire to quantify the difference between businesses I was investing in and what it was that drove me to do so. Point three led me to an old industry friend who has had several tech exits and was looking for a new project, along came two of my previous Advisory Board members and we started to build our MVP. What we are launching will be of huge value to investors and founders alike. Most importantly we're going to have a blast doing it. I couldn't ask for more, those that already know what I am referring to, you know how excited I am for the disruption we are bringing, as you can see from my new headshot... Those that don't, keep your eyes peeled for my announcement tomorrow. *Apologies to my wife who I promised I wouldn't start another business... #NewBusiness #MVP #Tech

Discover the strategy that separates thriving tech startups from the rest: Customer Obsession! 🌟 Dive into Glenn Butcher's insights on why truly understanding your customer's needs isn't just important, it's everything. Are you ready to align your vision with your customer's reality? Let's explore the key to achieving unparalleled success! Activate your FREE CapitalHQ Starter account now and streamline your capital raising journey: https://buff.ly/3PSqW4o Gain access to powerful tools and resources to simplify your fundraising efforts and align your vision with your customer's reality. Steve Torso #StartupSuccess #CustomerFirst #TechInnovation

Every round needs a lead investor. At Sightbox, we know how important it is to have the right partners on board. That's why we love partnering with VCs. Building a compelling brand doesn’t just make sense, it’s generates value. At Sightbox we help VCs and their startups refresh, rebuild, or rethink their brand, from strategy to experience. We know that a strong brand can make all the difference in a crowded market. If you're a VC looking to take your portfolio companies to the next level, let's get to work. Let's build brands that stand out. https://sightbox.co/vcs/