Brian Nichols’ Post

👼🏽 investing is the best way to make the jump from operator to VC. But what specific steps can you take to make the transition? On Wednesday June 12, I'm sitting down with Angel Squad founder Brian Nichols to share tactical advice on my journey from operator -> angel -> fractional Hustle Fund team member -> FT investor. We'll also talk about what we're building for angel investors with the Hustle Fund venture fellowship. In addition to reviewing 100s of companies, fellows are building the fellowship and path from operator -> angel investor -> VC alongside us: 🌱 Dee Zheng helped us source and track a climate tech company that we committed to last week 🌍 Benjamin Bimanywaruhanga supports our diligence process for companies in Africa, and has started supporting another VC on the continent 💸 Shankarsun Sahu and Leon Jon have reviewed 100s of fintech deals and are helping us map the market 🌎 Tony Cueva Bravo has helped us go deeper on LatAm 🧠 Aaisha Bhuiyan now leads deal reviews to share investment team perspective with our 2,000 member strong angel community 🚀 Sandy Naidu is working on something very exciting... And that's just a small preview of the amazing work that fellows including Dimple Kochikar, Francisco Guerrero, Jonathan Kennell, Alice Qinhua Zhou, Chloe Liu, Peter Liu, Alexa Murray, Xaviera Ho, CFA, Kyle Sonlin 🌴 are doing. Join us: https://lu.ma/ts5yq31k

Bootstrapping => Angels round Initially, we were bootstrapping Assisterr since the end of 2022 as I thought it would be too complicated to handle small checks from angels while we were not ready for VC money at that time. Only last month I start accepting checks from amazing angels all around the world: Miami, Denver, London, New York, SF, Barcelona (in progress😉) and I found that angel’s money is much more than just $$$. Angels are not VCs, they invest personal & limited resources in founders they believe in and like. It’s a kind of sympathy you have for people you know little but want them to succeed. Yesterday, I met Eathan - Head of DevRel at Particle Network and one of our earliest supporters who was providing feedback on a product, then was our early user and finally joined us as an angel after the ETH Denver⚡️ Long story short: don’t try to skip any steps of your founder's journey as you might miss amazing people as well and end up with just pragmatic VC money.

Running a startup is lonely. As the co-founder and managing partner at Bonfire Ventures and Double M ($1B AUM), I’ve invested in over 100 companies, with notable seed investments in Trade Desk (IPO, $40B market cap), Scopely (sold for $5B), Figment (valued at $1.5B), and many others.  I'm getting lots of DMs from talented founders and aspiring VCs seeking guidance on fundraising and product market fit. So, I've opened up 5 exclusive 1:1 mentorship slots on @Intro. 50% of the proceeds will go to charity. What can we cover together? ✔️ Fundraising from VCs ✔️ Feedback on your pitch ✔️ Advice on selling your company ✔️ How to start and manage a VC fund Disclaimer - only book time if you are interested in no BS advice Honored to be alongside world-class Experts like @Andrew Chen (partner at a16z), @Eric Futoran (founder of Scopely) & @Katelin Holloway (founding partner at 776 Ventures). Comment “interested” and secure your spot now: intro.co/markmullen

“I’m not accredited.” “I don’t know how to invest.” “I don’t have connections.” Don’t let this stop you from becoming an angel investor. Here’s how👇 Apply to Hustle Fund’s Angel Squad, where you will: 1️⃣ Learn the approach that the Hustle Fund team developed from reviewing 40k+ deals 2️⃣ Invest as little as $1k after seeing live pitches from top Hustle Fund portfolio companies 3️⃣ Network with other members at events and get matched 1:1 based on shared interests I personally love the welcoming community, the insights I’m gaining from the resource library and events, and the curated network of aspiring and current investors. Join me in this community that’s been featured in The New York Times and TechCrunch: https://lnkd.in/g3G7V3Pq. Here’s to making angel investing more accessible!🎉 Elizabeth Yin, Shiyan K., Eric Bahn, Haley Bryant, Brian Nichols, Jamie Melzer, Kera DeMars, Chloe Tan, Janel Spilker, Shaun Heng, Kate Shepherd, Raphael Milo, Jennifer Morris, George Z., Patrick Reyes, Jason W., Jessica Shaw, Nicole Simpson, Elaine Littlejohn Lamsus, Sue Chu, Zack Bujazia, Max Harris, Tucker McKay, Anna Claire Howard, Janel Loi #angelinvesting #startups #founders #investors #community

You can now book time to chat with Mark Mullen! Suggested topics: ✔️ Fundraising from VCs ✔️ Feedback on your pitch ✔️ Advice on selling your company ✔️ How to start and manage a VC fund Disclaimer - only book time if you are interested in no BS advice

As someone who has always led 33 Sticks as a fully self-funded venture, navigating the world of fundraising for a startup i'm currently working with has been quite the eye-opener. The process often feels like an "exclusive members-only club" that clearly i do not know the secret handshake to enter. i've tried to introduce the opportunity to financially affluent friends but i've consistently received a "Pass," which i've learned is the polite investor's way of saying "No." To those experienced in this space, i have a couple questions: 1. Beyond learning from lots of rejections, what are effective ways to learn the ins and outs of raising capital? 2. How can you differentiate between legitimate opportunities and those that aren't? i've encountered everything from sole proprietors calling themselves holding companies to angel networks and large banks. How do you know who's good and who isn't? Any advice or resources you can share would be greatly appreciated. Please & Thank You 🙏🏼

If you’re an angel investor contemplating on whether you should attend Camp Hustle. Here’s why: 🚀 Highly interesting people 🚀 Getting consistent, high-quality deal flow is one of the biggest challenges of being an early-stage angel investor. A great way to do this is to be around a high-density group of highly interesting people. At Camp Hustle, you never know who you'd end up having a coffee with by the brunch table, or what cool new thing you're gonna learn about. Some attendees even ended up partnering on deals together post-Camp Hustle in years past. 🚀 Learn about running a syndicate 🚀 Running a successful syndicate is so much more than just bringing good deals to a group of your investor friends. If you have questions like... ✅ How do you get investors to join your group? ✅ What kind of deal flow pipeline needs to be in place before starting a syndicate? ✅ How do you creatively find + market companies to get the syndicate excited? Brian Nichols (Founder of Angel Squad) will dive deep into this topic at a bonfire session. He’s the best person to answer all your burning questions. 🚀 Connect with VCs, LPs, and new friends 🚀 Other than walking away from Camp Hustle with new friends, expanding your network is critical if you... ✅ Are looking to expand your deal flow ✅ Could use an industry expert to bounce off thoughts on a deal ✅ Wanna stay current with latest trends - and where to look for the next cool thing ✅ Might consider making the switch into VC one day ✅ Or, have dreams of starting your own fund... Expand your network of VCs, LPs, family offices, and angels at Camp Hustle — who knows what doors will open because of it? I haven't even shared info on our angel investor happy hour, the fun walks and tournaments we have planned, or what bad*ss operators and investors you'll be rubbing shoulders with during these few days. Get your tickets before prices go up on May 1: camphustle.co

There’s never been a better time to launch a fund. Regulatory changes are making it easier for more people to become LPs… and AI, no-code tools, and access to information has led to more entrepreneurs starting more companies. It’s also never been harder to launch a fund. With so many new funds popping up every day, competition for LP capital is fierce. That’s why we host a pitch event at Camp Hustle every year. The pitch event is a chance for fund managers and syndicate leads to get in front of ~200 investors and, well, pitch. Here’s how it works: fund managers and syndicate leads submit their names for a chance to pitch by filling out a form. On May 15th at Camp Hustle, we pull 10 names out of a hat (literally, a hat) to see who’s gonna pitch. It’s decided randomly, so there’s no biases and no bribing with baby hippos to get picked. The only caveat is that you have to a) be a Camp Hustle attendee and b) present at the time names are selected in order to qualify. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Someone said pitching at Camp Hustle actually kickstarted his fund. Funny story… someone who didn’t get selected to pitch said that just the chance to pitch forced him to dial-in his story in advance of Camp Hustle, which made his conversations at the event more lucrative. So. If you're about to start your first fund, looking for new LPs, or are a syndicate lead looking for co-investors, you should be on the Camp Hustle website grabbing your ticket and getting yourself to pitch at Camp Hustle. Learn more about Camp Hustle: https://www.camphustle.co/ If you're already coming, you can apply to pitch your fund here: https://lnkd.in/gG2-wD-w PS. in addition to the pitch event, we’re also planning a bunch of breakout sessions on fundraising. Just sayin…

Our Founder and CEO, Arnav Mishra, recently took centre stage at a tech founder panel discussion at TTT Studios, where entrepreneurs shared their invaluable insights on fundraising. Arnav discussed how DYNE continues to redefine venture capital engagement and shared the story of when he invited six venture capitalists to a single room simultaneously for one meeting. He also drew on his experiences in India and Canada and highlighted the divergent approaches to scaling a business. He explained that the traditional Indian business method is similar to building a mansion with 100% ownership. In contrast, the Canadian approach is like constructing a skyscraper with multiple stakeholders on the cap table. The panel, featuring other seasoned entrepreneurs, talked about their own fundraising experiences during a Q&A session: -Kristine Steuart, Co-founder and former CEO of Allocadia, an Uptempo company, urged founders to focus on building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and gaining traction before seeking capital. -James Clift, founder of Durable, emphasized the significance of timing, momentum, and understanding investors' expectations for growth. -Mehrsa Raeiszadeh, COO and Co-founder of MintList, shared her experience on maintaining balance as a founder and building a robust support system. -Daniel Shalinsky, CEO and Co-founder of Withe, provided strategic insights into the actual work involved in fundraising, stressing the importance of building relationships and aligning with investors' objectives. The panel discussion illuminated the evolving venture capital landscape and offered practical advice for entrepreneurs navigating the fundraising journey. A special thanks to William Johnson for the feature. For further information on DYNE and fundraising, please get in touch with us.

If I were to raise money from a VC again as a first-time founder, I would… … not raise too early. … have initial traction. … have my key team in place. … be very clear about the problem I am solving. … have figured out GTM and know exactly how to sell. … know my ICP and potential market. … make sure I am a VC case that can scale. … have a crystal clear 10 page no bullshit teaser deck. … under-promise and over-deliver (no more crazy hockey sticks). … not accept unfavorable terms (> 1x LP etc). … try to understand if "value creation" is more than marketing to my VC partner. … not spray and pray, but target relevant VCs with industry knowledge. … have a clear ask and timeline for raising. What’s missing? 🤔 ____________________________ Sharing my experience as an entrepreneur and angel investor. Investing in early stage B2B SaaS startups. Happy to connect 👋