Olivier Reynaud ◢◣◥  ◢

The Startup Tech Stack 2024 by Ollie Forsyth Huge startup tech map packed with ressources to build ventures from the ground up👇 Row 1 👀 Product: Support in making products better Security / KYC: Customer onboarding and compliance Marketing: Website builders, data collecting and more Fintech / Insurance: Payment providers, expense management and insurance Row 2 🎯 Collaboration and project management tools HR: Employee onboarding and payroll Fundraising: Cap table management and investor reporting Analytics: Product analytics Row 3 🚀 Customer Service: Customer support Cloud: Cloud providers Sales: Closing deals faster Employee Benefits: Giving your team great benefits Brand: Design platforms Row 4 🏁 Productivity: Tools to save you time Data: Data & analytics CRM: Customer relationship management tools Automations: Automations for your startup Legal: Sign docs quickly 🛎 What to do next 1. Tag a founder who might find this useful 2. Tag a company that you are missing #letsbuild #venturebuilding #startup #techstack #prototyping #mvp

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💡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞! 🌍 Fundraising is hard, but finding the right investors doesn’t have to be. This guide is your shortcut to 5000+ VCs, angels, and family offices across:  • 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: US, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and MENA.  • 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: SaaS, Web3, ClimateTech, DeepTech, and more.  • 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: Pre-seed angels, fund-of-funds, and diversity-focused investors. What you’ll get:  • Verified global VC lists, tailored by stage and geography.  • Specialized directories like AI angels, accelerators, and niche family offices.  • Tools to focus your outreach and scale smarter. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dtdyuUqP

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The most important fundraising KPI: 1st pitch → 2nd meeting conversion rate Is yours low? (< 30-50%) Something is wrong. Here's how to diagnose your issue and fix it: There are two types of potential problems... 1️⃣ Investor targeting 2️⃣ Pitching 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: The most common issue is targeting the wrong investors. Usually you're reaching out to investors that focus on a different stage or industry. Do some research on the investors that didn't convert to a second meeting. The most important resource: their portfolio page. Ignore the "about" section, or their blog. That's mostly about marketing to potential investors in their fund. Instead, look at what they've actually invested in and the stage at which they invested (Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, etc.) Remember: trust the portfolio, not the thesis. __ The other main issue is unclear outbound messaging. Investors think you do one thing (industry, business model, tech, etc.) but you actually do something else. I recommend sending your outbound email template to 5+ friends that don't know anything about your startup. Ask them: • What kinds of customers do you think we serve? • What benefits do you think we provide for them? • What product features do you think we have? • What technologies do you think we use? If more 20% of your friends answer these questions incorrectly, you need to write new outreach emails. 𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆: The most common issue is just that your pitch is weak. Usually because you aren't telling a story. You're just sharing disconnected data. The best pitches are stories that foreshadow the only possible outcome: your startup's tremendous success. It feels inevitable. The easiest test to figure out if you're telling a story: try connecting the main idea of each of your slides with "but," "so" or one of their synonyms. If the natural link between slides is "and" or if you can move the order around, you don't have a story. Chronology matters in storytelling. Go back to the drawing board and try to write your inevitable success story. __ Maybe your overall pitch isn't weak. But VCs may still be spotting a red flag when you pitch. It turns them off right away. If you think this might be your issue, it's important to start asking questions. Most pitches have time for you to ask questions at the end. Here's my go-to to diagnose this issue: "What would you need to see in order to get excited about investing in <<STARTUP>>?" If they tell you a primary KPI that you need to improve, then you've probably identified the issue. The other possibility: They try to avoid giving you a specific answer. If they're evading your question, you NEED to dig in to get to the bottom of it. Your fundraising success may depend on it. —— Was this helpful? 👍 like and ♻️ repost it to help other founders!

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The Ultimate Cheat Sheet collection for SaaS leaders & Founders - by Vencha, Included #VC & Notion Capital Here you have 15 cheat sheets on marketing, sales, fundraising, pitch decks and more: 💵 How to price and package your software ? 🎢 The 5 prospect stages 🚀How fundable is your company? 💸 Leadership transitions at different stages of business growth 🎯 SaaS monetisation in 8 steps 🕹️ Identifying your market: TAM, SAM & SOM demystified 🛠️ How to skyrocket SaaS sales? ⚖️ The ICP Grid, goal setting and how to prioritize ? #Fintech #saas #CheatSheet #isaphr #isapone #isapsolutions #starthubagency #isapinvestments www.isap.group www.isap.one www.isap.hr www.isap.agency www.isap.investments iSAP Solutions ltd iSAP ONE iSAP.HR StartHub.Agency iSAP Group Investments ltd Tino Herold

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What B2C founders and marketers can learn from 13 articles since my newsletter launched ✍️: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 📊 How to properly calculate MAU 🧮 How Uber segments 161M+ customers 💡 How to quantify health of your business 🔍 How to be data obsessed not driven ✨ How to create magical UX with data 🌱 How to build an experimentation culture  🎯 How to pick the right Northstar metric 🚀 The 5 ways to measure Marketing ROI 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 📈 8 startup marketing lessons from 5 years at Uber 💼 The coolest job I've ever had and the $145 Billion mistake 💸 How Uber cut $25M in Ads 𝗢𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 🛍️ Why you shouldn't do Black Friday 🤝 When to join Marketing at a startup I'm starting to plan content for Q1 2025. Any specific requests?  What do you want to see more / less of?  Let me know below 👇 #startups #marketing P.S. To check out my newsletter, click "View my newsletter" at the top of this post

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VCs and Moats: A Founder’s Journey Through the Fog.... Sam : “This is terrible, Deepseek is copying our O3 model and search. We have no moat!” VCs: “Here, don’t cry – you got $6.6B and a valuation of $157B.” Me, trying to raise $2M pre-seed: “I’m fundraising for a product that already has 6 paying customers…” VCs, in perfect unison: “Where’s your moat? What happens if Google / Microsoft / OpenAI wants to build this?” 🤪 So, to all the scrappy founders out there. Dream. Stay persistent. Because one day, when you’re raising $6.6B, you can say, “What’s a moat?” And the VCs? They’ll write the check anyway. (in your dreams 😂) Happy Sunday! #LeadingEdge #startups #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #fundraising ---- 👉 Follow me, Robin Jose, for daily insights on AI, leadership, and technology. ❤️ Like and share if you found this valuable!

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Sam Altman was the President of YC. Startup advice given at YC: - Launch right away - Launch 1st version you’re embarrassed about - Raise very little capital up front - Don’t take big R&D risk - Find PMF quickly, with ‘something’ Versus how he launched OpenAI: - Raised 1B dollars of capital before any PMF - Took 4 to 5 years after launch to release - Didn’t talk to users upon release Moral of the story? Be careful of textbook advice, no matter who it came from. Prioritise finding smart people with solid analytical skills, instead. Then, make educated bets together.

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𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝘀. 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵? I see more and more early-stage founders willfully choosing bootstrapping/profitability over fundraising. Why is that? Adam Robinson recently shared about his remarkable journey from 0-$1M ARR in 16 weeks. This made me rethink the whole speed/stability paradigm of raising vs. bootstrapping. From my personal angle, I’ve tried both - Early on in Trendemon, we raised some initial capital and had to revert to profitability after I failed to secure our next round. That really sucked for the first couple of years (yes, years) but it also forced us to take a hard look at our unit economics and efficiency. Here a few learnings and questions I’d ask myself if I were at that crossroad again: CAC is King ========= VC capital can create some serious distortions in reality. It’s their model, I get it, but for many otherwise good companies, it can also be destructive. Focusing on growth over retention or CAC creates a very hungry yet inefficient animal. When there’s lots of money in the system (Hey 2020/21) all seems fine but as we entered the Hunger Game years of 2022-4, those VC-backed startups started dying in droves. Meanwhile, scrappy, efficient startups who have experience with starvation, thrive. Building s$%! is cheaper, GTM is faster ============================= Today, shipping new saas products is cheaper and easier than ever before. Validation and monetization can happen in weeks instead of months or years. In the past, raising capital was needed because unless you had 10 FT developers and inhouse GTM teams, it was virtually impossible to start let alone scale. Leveraging content, social and partnerships enable even very small teams to capture market share over their more well funded, mature rivals. Which path may be right for you and your company? I’d ask this: 𝗠𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲  Is your field highly competitive and rapidly growing, with only a few survivors making it big? Or does it allow for many players, most of whom won’t exceed tens of millions in revenue? What are the barriers to entry? If not very high, more proof/traction will probably be needed before you could raise. Is there a supportive VC ecosystem for your space? Do you have access to it? 𝗠𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 & 𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺  What are you personally willing to endure and for how long? How about your family/partners/co-founders? Why are you in this? What’s your endgame? Is it about building or exiting? Are there mentors/support networks you can access? Your most valuable resource is time. Deciding whether to spend it fundraising or building > selling will impact your company’s outcome the most. This decision isn’t permanent. Don’t be afraid to switch modes if circumstances change or if you still believe in your vision despite investor rejections, and as with anything, enjoy the ride, even when it's hell :)

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Is Blockchain Losing to AI? During my podcast with Pierre Samaties, I asked a provocative question: 👉 “How much are you using crypto apps daily compared to generative AI?” Pierre’s answer was brutally honest: 👉 “Close to zero.” Here’s why this matters👇 Blockchain Adoption Problem Despite the hype, real-world blockchain apps that people use daily are still extremely limited. Pierre pointed out that his own daily crypto use boils down to: 1️⃣ OpenChat – A fully decentralized WhatsApp/Telegram alternative on Internet Computer (ICP), where you can even send Bitcoin. 2️⃣ DEXs – For trading. 3️⃣ ICP Wallet – A next-gen wallet offering network custody. But beyond these? Not much else. Compare this to generative AI, where Pierre says: 👉 “I use AI as a copilot - it’s better than an analyst. Once you know how to structure tasks and review output, it becomes an indispensable tool.” Why This Gap Exists: 1️⃣ Limited Real-World Applications While AI offers immediate, tangible use cases (e.g., content generation, task automation), blockchain is still struggling to build apps with mass-market appeal. 2️⃣ Complexity vs. Usability AI tools have become intuitive and user-friendly. Blockchain apps? Often too complex for mainstream users. What Needs to Change? 1️⃣ Focus on Utility The industry needs apps that solve real-world problems—not just speculative trading platforms. 2️⃣ Seamless User Experience Blockchain apps must reach the same level of usability as AI tools like ChatGPT. 3️⃣ Education and Awareness The average user doesn’t understand blockchain’s potential beyond crypto. That must change. Projects like OpenChat on ICP show what’s possible - a decentralized app competing with centralized giants like WhatsApp. But the gap between blockchain and AI adoption is undeniable. The question is: 👉 Can blockchain catch up, or will AI leave it in the dust? 📹 Watch the clip where Pierre shares his perspective on this critical issue. Big thanks to Pierre Samaties for joining me and my colleague Demetrios Zamboglou Zamboglou on the podcast! 🔗 Full podcast link is in comments! 👉 What do you think? Can blockchain achieve the same mass adoption as AI? Let’s discuss in the comments👇 Follow 👉 Anton Golub & share ♻️ with your network to spark the conversation!

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Addicted 2 Success : How to Optimize Your Pop Up Form to Maximize Conversions https://ift.tt/t0ENhuR Tracking and improving your conversion rates is an excellent way to boost your business strategy, leading to a significant increase in the ROI indexes. With a proper approach and the correct marketing tools, your business can turn each of your visitors into a potential lead that will bring profit to your platform. But what is this mysterious way of boosting your sales? As you know, everything ingenious is simple, that’s why in today’s article, we will discuss pop-up ads, which represent an efficient marketing tool for any modern digital company. What Is A Pop-Up Ad? A pop-up ad is a promotional and advertising technique that can be used to turn platform visitors into leads, test your marketing hypothesis, and boost relations with the audience. Despite their notorious reputation, pop-up ads are considered rather annoying than useful. We cannot agree with this statement. The choice of the correct pop up ad template and its proper implementation in your business will lead to a significant boost in your conversion rates. So, what exactly will the pop-up ad do for your business? Let’s find out together.  How Do Pop-Up Ad Templates Help Your Business?  Proper use of the pop-up ad in direct interaction with your audience is an indispensable tool for your company. Regardless of the niche you work in or the services you provide to customers, pop-up ads are a great way to evolve your marketing approaches and boost sales. For example, an average pop-up conversion rate is equal to 11.04%. But the truth is that with the necessary modifications and knowledge of your audience, the limit for the increase in conversion rate is boundless. Let’s define the other benefits of adding pop-ups to your brand’s platform today. Quick Conversions The first and foremost reason for the pop-up ad implementation is its ability to turn a regular visitor into a constant customer. Companies can underestimate the influence of these advertisement tools, preferring to spend a budget on new features or complex marketing campaigns when the proper pop-up ad template can create a feeling of urgency in their customers, leading to immediate profit. Testing New Strategies Adding pop to your company’s marketing agenda is also a great way to test new approaches to customer relations. A simple A/B test using two different pop-up ads will help you understand what works better regarding relationships with your potential leads. With minimal financial investments, such a simple test will bring more benefits than you can imagine. Great Options for Customization Pop-ups come in a wide variety of types and modifications, which means that your marketing team can adjust them according to your current needs. With proper implementation, a pop-up ad can become a great addition to any internal process.  Scaling Opportunities Let’s not underestimate the good old “out of mouth” marketin...

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📣 PITCH YOUR STARTUP TO INVESTORS IN THE COMMENTS ON LINKEDIN 📣 It’s Venture Pitch Sunday again and I’m calling all founders who are raising capital to join 🚀 Are you a STARTUP FOUNDER looking to raise funding from VENTURE CAPITAL 💵 ? In this new initiative I call #VenturePitchSunday I host every Sunday this new LinkedIn VC thread where you can pitch your startup to investors in the comments of this post and for investors to see what is out here on the LinkedIn platform and reach out if a startup is a fit to their investment thesis. ………… How does it work? Use the comments of this post to participate. STARTUPS: 1️⃣ STARTUP IDEA 💡 - In a short 1-2 sentences, share what is the name of your startup 🚀, what problem are you solving 🧠, and what is the solution you are offering 👷🏻‍♂️ 2️⃣ CAPITAL - In 1-2 sentences, share what is your ask? How much are you raising 💵 in this round? And what is your stage 🧗🏼? 3️⃣ TEAM - TAG your Co-founders, founding team 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 and existing investors 💸. ………….. INVESTORS: Go through the thread of startup pitches in the comments and see if any startup fits to what you are looking 👀 in your investment thesis m. If you are curious to learn more comment and show your interest, then connect with the team and keep exploring in DMs and emails. If you prefer to keep it private DM me and I will do the introductions. Good Luck 🤞 #venturecapital #startups #raisingcapital #entrepreneurs #investors #pitch #dealflow

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How to Guerrilla Marketing Guide : (You can copy this example 👇 ) 1. Start with your ICP: "Brogrammer at Tech Startup" 2. Analize it's cultural habits: Follows YC, works at wework, uses Mac, loves Peter Thiel, Drinks Flat White, reads Product Market Fit Newsletter 3. Hack its attention with a meme that shows that you know them (see in the picture) 4. Then, include your product in that meme so that when it's the only one that they don't recognize they immediately go look for it. 5. See the growth happen 🔥 If you are a founder and recognized yourself in this meme, please share and go look for the Product Market Fit Newsletter right away 🤯

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How to Calculate Terminal ARR For Startups With A Simple Formula

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🚀 Exciting news! La Growth Machine can now help you contact warm leads more effectively using 𝟭𝟬𝟬+ 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 directly from Common Room !! 🎯 This collaboration allows us to supercharge your GTM strategy by leveraging an increasing list of buying signals, helping you identify the real people and accounts behind every signal. Now, reaching the right person with the right message at the perfect moment is easier than ever! 📈 Let’s take action at scale together! #LeadGeneration #SalesAutomation #GTM #MarketingTech

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Excellent chart! A common wrong assumption about VC investments in Europe, that they are in close relation with country size, population or GDP. This map clearly shows fundamental differences amongst similar sized countries... Whether one likes it or not, there MUST be a hub impact (preferred locations), existing network benefits as well as big disadvantages for any fragmentation...

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Top 10 pre-seed to Series A funding rounds of the week: ⚫ E-Commerce ⚫ 🔶 1. Velou, a startup using AI to help e-commerce retailers optimize their product catalogs by automatically enriching product data, raised a $5 million seed extension round. → Investors: FUSE → Founded by: Sadee Gamhewa ⚫ Storage ⚫ 🔶 2. Pickommerce AI Robotics, a startup developing a warehouse "pick and pack" robotic systems, raised a $3.4 million round. → Investors: IL Ventures and others → Founded by: Kfir Nissim, Amir Shapiro, and Elon Rimon ⚫ Cybersecurity ⚫ 🔶 3. Hydden, an AI-powered platform helping security teams continuously monitor user accounts and permissions across on-premise and cloud systems, raised a $4.4 million seed round. → Investors: Access Venture Partners and others → Founded by: Jai D. and Paul Harper 🔶 4. C/side, a newly founded startup that provides security software that monitors and protects websites from attacks delivered through third-party JavaScript code, raised a $6 million seed round. → Investors: Uncork Capital and others → Founded by: Simon Wijckmans 🔶 5. Patchstack, a startup providing cybersecurity tools for WordPress websites in order to help developers and businesses detect, patch, and prevent security vulnerabilities, raised a $5 million Series A round. → Investors: Karma Ventures and others → Founded by: Oliver Sild and Dave J. ⚫ Electronics ⚫ 🔶 6. Cybord, a startup whose platform uses visual analytics during the electronic component manufacturing process to ensure that components are not counterfeit, defective, or out of specification, raised a $8.7 million Series A round. → Investors: Capri Ventures and others → Founded by: Eyal Weiss, Ph.D. ⚫ Data Processing ⚫ 🔶 7. DeltaStream, a platform that enables companies to process and analyze data instantly without the need for storing it, raised a $15 million Series A round. → Investors: NEA, Galaxy Interactive, and Sanabil Investments → Founded by: Hojjat Jafarpour ⚫ Social Media ⚫ 🔶 8. Pie (pie.org), an app that allows users to discover local events and create AI-curated activity groups, raised a $11.5 million Series A round. → Investors: Forerunner Ventures and others → Founded by: Andy Dunn ⚫ Education ⚫ 🔶 9. Brisk Teaching, a startup whose browser extension provides AI-powered tools to help teachers, raised a $5 million seed round led. → Investors: Owl Ventures and others → Founded by: Arman Jaffer ⚫ Consumer Research ⚫ 🔶 10. Knit, a startup using AI to speed up the consumer research process, raised a $9 million seed round. → Investors: Revolution Rise of the Rest and others → Founded by: Aneesh Dhawan ⚜⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ PS: If you're new here, I'm Ivelina, head of content at doola and founder of EverythingStartups. #startups #funding #venturecapital #fundraising

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SaaS Founders : Avoid The Build In Public Trap Give me the next 5 minutes and I will show you how to transform your Build in Public strategy into a powerful growth engine. Comment "Playbook" below and start growing your SaaS business faster in just 24 hours.

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What's THE best SaaS metric to follow user engagement ? 🤔 👉I can understand the best option will depend on each use case and objective. And a great inspiration for that is Equals' SaaS metrics guide which I highly receommend to check ! ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ewZK8Bei BUT what 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 can help find a metric that best fits our use case ? 👉We are developping an AI coach that guides startups' teams to maximise their growth efficiency. Daily usage means people express their best self, which turns into optimum performance for the startup. Maybe we could use 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 (DAUY/MAU) or Equals' 𝘼3𝙭7 (https://lnkd.in/eDJ3GE8N) BUT how to go 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 and develop a metric that specifically fit our use case ? Bobby, Ben ? 🙏 Ideas and comments welcomed ! Thanks ! #AI #saas #metrics #performance

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