Gary Izunwa

Founders, If you're in the fundraising game.... You know there's a phase I like to call 'the gap.' It's that tricky period between getting a verbal nod from an investor and actually seeing the funds hit your account. Verbal commitments are great, but they don't always guarantee a closed deal. Here's how I handle this to keep things moving smoothly: Be Prepared to Act Fast: As soon as you get a verbal commitment, make the next steps as easy as possible for your investor. Any delays on your part can open the door for them to reconsider. Set Clear Deadlines: Make sure your investors know exactly when the round is closing. Setting a firm deadline for contributions helps keep everyone on schedule. Keep the Lines Open: Follow up with your investors regularly. Make sure they have all the information they need and gently remind them of the deadlines. And a little tip for peace of mind. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Hold off on the celebration until the funds are securely in your bank. That's when you know you've really crossed the finish line. ✌️ #venturecapital #vcfunding #entrepreneurship #familyoffice #raisingcapital #fundraising #growth #startups #startupcommunity #startupecosystem #startupfunding

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Are you a founder or early stage startup recruiting your next key hire? I'm shaping out a service to help startup's level up their early stage recruitment where they're not in a position to work with a recruitment professional and I'd love to test this out for free with a startup whose just about to jump into hiring (ideally hasn't already started advertising). Is this you? Do you know someone who is? I am offering this to one startup (tech or non tech) - you'll need to cover the cost of your ads, but the rest is free. Kairos Recruitment

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I’ve been interviewing candidates over the past few weeks for the Chief of Staff role at Artie (YC S23) Here are some things I do that seem to resonate well 👉 Be ready to share real examples of what they would do in the role (we have a case study that gives a good sense of real projects they would be doing) 👉 Be open with how the company is doing and what your plans are for the next 6-12 months 👉 Being vulnerable and share what you’re worried about and uncertainties that exists 👉 Admit that I don’t know the answer to tough questions like “how do you know XYZ is the right channel to target your ICP?” but provide context on how we plan to figure it out  👉 Have an interview process fully designed so candidates know what to expect 👉 Align on comp (base + equity) expectations early so there are no surprises What are other best practices I should incorporate? #interview #hiring

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Founders, take timelines on software with a pinch of salt. Whether you’re using an agency, contractors or have an in-house team. Definitely don’t hinge everything on it ! When I was 19, I took over my family’s musical instrument retailer and digitised it. I made a load of mistakes, but also learnt a lot very quickly. I spent too much money on custom code when there were off-the-shelf platforms I could have more readily used. I also trusted the timelines the development agency gave me for the launch of our platform, which was meant to be ready well in time for Christmas. In true fashion, the platform wasn’t ready in time, and we’d bought a load of stock in preparation. We had it all sitting there, and had to resort to platforms like eBay (which the suppliers didnt like us using !). Christmas is the biggest time of the year for most retailers, so it was a big blow. The business was almost gone before I could even give it a good crack. Instead, I had to do a sale in January and sold most of the stock just to survive. Two key bits of learnings here: - Don’t build custom code when there’s off the shelf available (at least not at the very start, and this was 15 years ago - that's even more the case today). - Don’t hinge everything on development timelines. It’s really hard for development teams to estimate delivery, so it's vital to have back ups in place. Don’t plan major activations around exact delivery dates, instead ensure there is some slack. Be very careful ! #softwaredevelopment #buildingtech #techproducts

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Founders, take timelines on software with a pinch of salt. Whether you’re using an agency, contractors or have an in-house team. Definitely don’t hinge everything on it ! When I was 19, I took over my family’s musical instrument retailer and digitised it. I made a load of mistakes, but also learnt a lot very quickly. I spent too much money on custom code when there were off-the-shelf platforms I could have more readily used. I also trusted the timelines the development agency gave me for the launch of our platform, which was meant to be ready well in time for Christmas. In true fashion, the platform wasn’t ready in time, and we’d bought a load of stock in preparation. We had it all sitting there, and had to resort to platforms like eBay (which the suppliers didnt like us using !). Christmas is the biggest time of the year for most retailers, so it was a big blow. The business was almost gone before I could even give it a good crack. Instead, I had to do a sale in January and sold most of the stock just to survive. Two key bits of learnings here: - Don’t build custom code when there’s off the shelf available (at least not at the very start, and this was 15 years ago - that's even more the case today). - Don’t hinge everything on development timelines. It’s really hard for development teams to estimate delivery, so it's vital to have back ups in place. Don’t plan major activations around exact delivery dates, instead ensure there is some slack. Be very careful ! #softwaredevelopment #buildingtech #techproducts

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Founders, I get it—take-home assessments can seem pretty appealing. You might think they're great because they take longer than live assessments, potentially giving you more insights into a candidate. Plus, they don't disrupt your busy schedule like a live coding session would. I've even heard some founders say, "If an engineer isn't willing to put in the time for a take-home test, they're probably not the right cultural fit for us." I hear you on all these points, and I'll admit there's some truth to them. But here's the thing—I've seen clients backed by top-tier VCs, with great reputations in the market, lose out on incredible engineers simply because other hot startups aren't asking for take-home tests. Think about it: the best engineers are already putting in crazy hours because they're super dedicated (we call them "cracked engineers"). The last thing most of them want to do is spend an extra 4 hours on a take-home test when none of their other prospects are asking for it. Sure, there'll always be exceptions to the rule. But generally speaking, we at Coastal Recruiting have noticed that companies requiring take-home assessments really struggle to close top candidates. I'm always open to being proven wrong, though. In fact, I hope that's the case with our two clients who do require take-home assessments. What do you think? Have you had different experiences with this?

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👋 Any founders currently fundraising for their tech startup? Looking to support - happy to review your investor deck and share feedback. Connect with me and drop me a message if you'd like an extra set of eyes on your pitch. I’d even be happy to introduce you to potential investors in my network. Good luck out there - I know it's really tough in the current climate. ❤️ Keep pushing forward! #fundraising #startups #founders #entrepreneurship

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10 years in and I’m having so much fun building hackajob right now 🤩 There is no doubt the last 18 months have been brutal for startups, up there with the dot com bobble and 07/08. This week the FT released data showing the number of startups going out of business hit a new high in Q2. But isn’t building a startup meant to be hard? We’re willing something into existence to solve problems in completely novel ways. I love that challenge. And for the first time since launching hackajob, there is a fundamental technology platform shift with AI & LLMs that could end up dwarfing the internet in terms of significance. I can’t express how much fun it is to be building products using the latest tech to solve problems in ways that just simply weren’t technically feasible before. And we’re only at v1 with hackajob intelligence - it’s going to get so so much better from here. Doing it whilst we’re at a decent scale makes it even more fun. We've onboarded over 300 customers in the first 4 weeks, allowing us to get daily feedback and ultimately make an even better platform for tech recruiters. The final piece of the fun puzzle? The people. It’s always about the people. It never fails to amaze me what can happen when you hire incredible people, provide an environment for them to be successful and empower them to do the best work of their career. The talent density at hackajob has never been higher. A brutally hard environment x a new tech platform shift x a phenomenal team = having a lot of fun building hackajob 💚

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Today's a big day at OneUp Sales... We're sharing a first look at our next-level reporting product for recruiters 🔥 The first step is knowing if you're doing enough activity as a business: 🤔 How many jobs have we sourced this month? 📨 How many CVs have we got out? 🤝 How many interviews have we booked? 💰 How many placements (and how much revenue) have we made? After that, it's all about efficiency and focus. 🚨 Which jobs are we not actioning fast enough? 😨 Which jobs could we lose??? 📈 Which clients are showing us the best ROI for our efforts? 🧑‍🦰 Which candidates haven't we engaged in the last year? At 3pm today, Adam Babajee-Pycroft & I are going through all of the above (and more) AND giving you eyes on what's coming! It's an overused phrase but it genuinely is going to be a gamechanger. Get yourself signed up and see you in a few hours 🔥 https://lnkd.in/ePrg9inA

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I posted previously on when to hire your first AEs, and what to look for. So presuming you’ve done this and have a few AEs in the role, how do you assess whether these AEs are doing well? A few founders I’ve spoken with have mentioned this challenge - especially because, very early on, there is so much noise amidst the signal of what is working. In this context I think it’s critical to consider input and output metrics separately. ✅ Output metrics - These are the metrics you are ultimately trying to deliver as a business. This includes things like ARR, number of new logos, maybe even usage or number of DAUs, WAUs, MAUs, etc. While these metrics are influence-able via behaviors, they are the dependent variable. You can’t just tell your early AEs to triple ARR when you're learning all about your market and target buyers; that’s not an effective management strategy. ▶ Input metrics - The activities which (presumably) drive the output metrics. This includes things like number of email sequences sent, number of calls made, number of meetings held, even number of hours spent in the office (though I do not recommend tracking that one). A pattern I’ve observed is that many early-stage founders dramatically under-goal input metrics early on. This may be because they have not run sales teams before, or because they are “anchoring” to a very different phase of the company. When you have new salespeople for the first time, every incremental metric feels like gravy; the CEO has gone from no one caring about her product, to doing five pitch meetings a week, so it can feel like stratospheric growth - which in a way, it is, on a percentage basis. But your basis for comparison should not be the zero meetings per week that you held previously, but the twenty five meetings per week you need in order to close x deals per month, at z ACV. So when in doubt, triple your input metric goal. You held 20 discovery meetings last month? Let’s do 60 next month! That said, it’s important not to overly goal the very leading indicator input metrics - for instance, the number of emails sent. Since you have hired smart, scrappy, malleable early AEs, you want them to think creatively about how to drive the earlier part of the funnel - meetings held - and that may involve fewer, more thoughtful emails, calls, or LinkedIn messages. An AE who sends 10 emails to land 2 meetings is much more effective than one who sends 100 emails to land 2 meetings; the latter is polluting your lead pool with less relevant outbound content; the former is learning how exactly to break through to prospects, and these learnings should be replicated throughout the team. You’ll learn so quickly with audacious input metrics - about the messaging and channels which work best, and critically, which AEs have more grit, hustle, and creativity in securing those meetings.

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Startups take enterprise market share & here’s why: speed. Last Friday, the founding team at Aria met for the first time & we decided we need a UX/UI whose also good at FE work. Today I threw out an offer to a candidate who met the requirements (5 days later). No 5 round interviews here, just 2 questions I ask everyone: 1) What’s your most unfair competitive advantage? 2) I hate surprises, what’s something that could go wrong with us working together & can we solve for that now rather than in 6 months time? In 3 weeks, here what I’ve accomplished: 15+ pilot customers & 6 senior team members (not FT employees, yet). Curious what the next 3 weeks will look like but we’re moving at rocket speed. If you’re interested in joining & are mission oriented + want to give back to society, dm me with a pitch on how you can create impact/value? 5% success rate but 100% effort, Abdullah

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All scaling tech start-up founders can do this one thing, which'll change the game for you when hiring. Bonus - it's freeeeeeeeeeee 🤘 Write on Linkedin about what it's like to work at your company. That simple yes. It beats the hell out of your shiny careers page when it comes to converting talent. Get every HM you have doing the same and incentivise them to do. It's a game-changer and will save you 💰 Here are 10 post ideas that hack your employer brand you could use now.... > Celebrate a colleague's work > Talk about challenges and ask for advice > Show away-days and on-sites > Fun end-of-week calls take a pic > Ask open questions to your network about building culture and get feedback > Share mistakes and how you'll approach them differently > Callout when folks advocate a company value > Heck write about your values and give examples > Share how to get a job at your Co > Share more about you Did I miss any good ones? Let me know 👇 🤘

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Founders need a different kind of engineer… We don’t find top engineers by looking where everyone else does. We look for those who think differently, solve creatively, and break through walls others avoid. And we’ve done it enough times to know success when we see it. The key is uncovering talent in unexpected places—the side projects, the untraditional backgrounds, the ones who challenge the status quo. We dig deeper, ask smarter questions, and seek out the builders who obsess over impact, not titles.  Finding the 1 in 100 is about precision. We don’t settle for good; we find the exceptional talent that drives real growth.

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Okay - I hope you're somewhere comfortable because I'm coming in HOT 🔥     I've chatted with 20+ early-stage startup founders in the last few weeks and there's a common theme that's driving me completely bonkers.   So buckle up and let me break it down for you:   🚫 You do NOT need expensive marketing UNTIL you've got a proven sales process. 🚫   Let me break this down for you: 👏 Engage your customer 👏 Customer understands what you're selling 👏 You can make sales   Until this process is dialled in, predictable, and achieved through blood, sweat, and painful tears you can keep the hell away from shiny things.   I get it. It's SO tempting to fart around with AI, pay for that expensive HubSpot subscription, and tweak your website's "About" page so they know it's you.   It's not about you.   It's about building a business that WORKS.   And here's what works: 1. Talk to more customers 2. Test your customer pitch (10, 20, 100s of times) 3. Navigate the inevitable objections and processes   Only then can you consider shiny tools (or expensive GTM teams).   I have followed what these shiny tools can do and moved millions of and millions of dollars for the world's biggest brands at the world's biggest companies... …and I am telling you:   Embrace the boring painful stuff first. Shiny tools later.   Do you know what else sucks?   Having a quiet few months and then having all of the work come at once.   So the only way you can get more of this at the moment is by subscribing to my newsletter.   You've got this 🫶🏻   #startup #gtm

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Splitting equity evenly doesn't always mean splitting it fairly. A 50/50 split might seem like the easiest choice but it could lead to big problems down the road. I’ve seen so many women founders rush into a 50/50 split, only to regret it later. When challenges arise, that "fair" decision can become a major headache. Here’s what I always recommend: 1️⃣ Have an honest conversation with your co-founder. 2️⃣ Define roles clearly—who’s full-time, who’s part-time? 3️⃣ Decide who will be the CEO. 4️⃣ Consider who had the idea and who’s building the tech. 5️⃣ Get advice from those who’ve been through it. A 50/50 split can create real tension if there’s no clear decision-maker. Don’t rush this crucial decision. In this video, I show you HOW to make a fair equity split that sets you and your co-founder up for success. _____________________ 👋🏻 Hi there, welcome! ✨ I'm Sarah. I help women founders develop winning business models, gain market traction, and secure funding through my FundHER accelerator program. As a woman founder, follow me here on LinkedIn for insights and support to help you launch, grow, and fund your startup. 

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Every Friday, I’ve decided to share one founder learning that I’ve experienced. This week’s lesson is rather unsexy. 🚨 You have to be good at doing things you hate 🚨 Whether its: 🟣 Solving technical problems because your tools are letting you down. 🟣 Collecting invoices for VAT. 🟣 Just making time to actually follow up with those conversations. As much as I want to focus on growth, strategy and roadmap - these things need to be taken care of. The key is that founders need to power through and excel at these unloved but essential tasks for a short period of time in the early days.

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After speaking to several founders last week, here are the 2 main reasons why early stage start ups fail. - They haven't hired the right founding team - They've run out of money / can't get investment. Talent and capital is 90% of your start up (in the early stages). And the reason this goes tits up? The initial strategy. Most of the time little to no research is done on the pain points your solution is trying to solve. It becomes a guessing game. A big part of this is identifying who your target audience is and speaking to them. When you think you've got enough data, go out and get bit more. you'll be thankful in the long run when you're winning. #startups #zygopeople

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Interesting report from Kitt 'Thrive not Survive'. 👩‍💼 91% of Kitt’s clients have a declared hybrid work policy 👨‍💼 78% have fixed, required in-office days 🤼 30% have team-specific policies "This means most companies once again require space for their whole team rather than a smaller space optimised for hot desking as they did at the height of remote and hybrid work environments post-COVID-19." #hybridwork #flexiblework #office #officelondon #workspace

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