Darrel Frater ✝️’s Post

Founders, working on a Sunday...I see you. 👀 If you are planning to really go for it, build on your existing growth and create a world-class venture-backed business, drop me a note, connect (with a message) or comment below. In my 'day job' at VenturePath (backed by White Horse Capital) our team and I have worked on over 80 Series A-B deals, raising £650m+ for 80+ founders. We've developed methodology to reduce founders' time and risk when raising venture capital, and (I think) perfected the approach. One of the tools we use are our Venture Sprints, 24 hours (not consecutive! 😴) to get your business ready for VCs with real feedback from investors themselves, before "going live". Our next Venture Sprint is our 9th and kicks off in October. It might be just what you need to move from 1>10. Interested? We have a briefing call on Wednesday you might want to attend. Have a great Sunday, hopefully with some time for you, beyond work and LinkedIn...

I've had the incredible privilege of investing in some of the most exciting tech companies to come out of New York City in the past few years. I'm especially proud of the AI companies I've backed, even before it was considered trendy. But for every hit there’s been plenty of misses. 3 things I wish I knew before I became a VC: 1. It's not just about the technology - it's about the people. The founders and the team are everything. 2. Failure is a part of the game. Not every investment will be a home run, and that's okay. 3. Relationships matter more than anything. Building trust within the ecosystem is key. Looking back, there were times when I focused too much on the product and not enough on the people behind it. There were times when I took failure personally, instead of seeing it as a learning opportunity. And there were times when I neglected the importance of relationships. But that's the thing about life - you're always learning, always growing. And I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned along the way.

The best thing that can happen to a founder is to become a VC. Let me tell you 5 reasons why: - This is the only way to understand how VCs think and how they make decisions. - This is the fastest way to build a network among VCs because they try their best not to hang out with founders whenever they can. - This helps you get outside of your bubble and see how other founders build their companies. - This helps you to learn a lot about so many different markets and business models that you can't imagine - And listen - it could be a ton of fun, at least sometimes:) Oh, and we at Geek Ventures are looking for a new team member who was a founder before (what a lucky coincidence), so drop me a line if you want to apply. Or, if you want to learn more on this topic, feel free to reach out via the Intro link in the header of my profile😎

Happy Friday! 💡A few highlights from today’s The Early newsletter: -New open VC roles from Primary Venture Partners, Obvious Ventures and more 🤗 -GenZ side hustles (24-year-olds making more than their full-time income with a passion project?) 😱 -Growing optimism in VC deployment - are the markets improving? 👀 Check out this week’s newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ggGwQGmK #vc #hiring #earlycareer #news

What are the differences between Seed to Series A? Truth is, it can be confusing. Especially when you see multi raises at the same funding stage. I asked Akshat from Moonfire (founder turned VC) what he sees as the difference between these 2 key stages. And it comes down to 2 things. 1. Predictability 2. Performance. And these are some of the key difference that makes a Series A business stand out: - When you put $100 into a channel or motion - you see a return - You ensure predictability with a playbook and repeatable revenue - You have a clear understanding of product motion Ultimately, Series A businesses have moved from a team of early founding hires. To having built out playbook with predictability, net dollar retention and are increasing the overall trajectory of the business.

How SuccessFul Founders Get Deals Funded in 10 Steps. Ever wondered why some founders raise and other's don't? 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝟭𝟬 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀  1. Build a list of 150+ Ideal investor targets       2. Architect & time your funding round with precision       3. Design an uber attractive Investment Offer       4. Build an army of savvy introduction partners       5. Tease 150+ investors with 1 page deal summaries       6. Take care that 75% commit to "consider joining"       7. Open your 1st partial round with great terms at once       8. Run 30 > 30 high quality minute meetings       9. Send weekly updated that displays traction, news      10. Get commitments for date x at terms y     𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱: • aren't having enough investors in pipeline • waste time reaching investors that will not invest • overwhelm with complex decks • aren't running a proper process • run meetings without structure • etc.    𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: “𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁.” If you planning a fundraise...and want to demand success. Hit the notification 🛎️ & follow Stay tuned for Tomorrow I will launch my best, biggest, wildest offer Stay tuned Sven Milder ⚡️

I’ve consistently heard from founders who’ve had life-changing exits, sometimes $1B+, that the experience is surprisingly “anti-climactic.” As if they’ve completed the campaign in a video game—and now feel lost, wandering aimlessly without a purpose. It’s made me reflect: If the thing most founders dream of achieving isn’t all it’s hyped up to be, what can I change today to make the process as enjoyable and fulfilling as possible? – Who do I want to spend my days around? – What’s the ideal environment I want to create? – How can I be having more fun in my work? — & so on... This shift has transformed my day-to-day. It helped me stop waiting for some distant reward—knowing the real reward's already within reach.

People ask why we don’t lead Series A rounds for our portfolio companies. Simple: it would change how we work with founders. After leading the seed, we’re aligned and focused on building trust and transparency. Competing to lead the next round would shift that dynamic.

Love the variety of my days these days...but there’s never enough time. It’s nice to reflect & appreciate what we experienced and accomplished vs. focus on what we didn't get done! More fulfilling going into the weekend haha. Hope you can do the same! Not that you need to see my list, but in case you're interested in what a day in my life looks like these days, here goes! - Emails & follow ups from a day of in-person meetings yesterday - Met with 3 new founders, working on companies varying from fertility to energy optimization, to creative expression! - Met with 2 LPs with super diverse backgrounds, including one in automotive which was great given my family's auto businesses - Subject matter expert call on an investment I'm considering - Chatted with two founders I mentor / invested in, sharing feedback on a big announcement post and discussed an investment offer one received - Made 6 introductions between founders, mentors, customers, and investors - Did some planning for our upcoming EDGE Club founder meetups in CT, one of which is focused on bringing founders & funders together - Checked on the contractors at my recently purchased home (first time home owner!) and saw some awesome progress 👷♀️ 🏡 Hope you have a great weekend!

Crazy statistic here... For every 100 people who reach out asking if they can send our firms deal flow there are only 1 person who reaches out about investing in our deal flow. Why is it that people want to share deals but they don't want to personally get involved in those deals and actually make some money the legal way instead of trying to get subscription fees, referral fees and equity, which those last 2 aren't legal unless licensed? I know it's scary to put yourself in a leadership position and actually run other people's capital for them, but you're basically doing all of the hard work of the job of a capital allocator without any of the upside. Go get into some of those VC training programs like VC labs or venture university or join an angel group to learn the basics so you can actually go run deals for yourself. It's really not all that difficult and it's a hell of a lot easier than it was just a decade ago, so go try it and get over that "what if" as you may just by psyching yourself out.