Rockman Law’s Post

“Venture capital is a game of outliers - and you can be one of them. Outlier returns come only from outlier founders.” If you’ve been following the #TWOPERCENT hashtag earlier this week, you would have learned that founding teams that include women returned a 35% higher ROI…despite only receiving 2% of funding (and that number drops to 0.1% for Black and Latino founders). So…how can you “win” the game of being an outlier? Having a solid product / game / experience, community, metrics, team and network helps…but as Linas mentioned, good storytelling will absolutely help sell your idea. (Of course it would help if we could diversify the VC decision-makers; empowering women to generate wealth or bootstrap their way to success - but that’s a story for another time!) Comment on your thoughts! 💭

NVIDIA CEO & Co-founder is right on. Finding great people in business is not about corporate politics. It’s about mastering your craft in your specific segment in business. In startups, the reason there’s such a high failure rate is because there’s not very many people who have built their whole career on commercialization effectiveness. For example; the majority of sales people can’t sell….(however they’re phenomenal it show and tell). The majority of people in marketing do not create high attention getting marketing campaigns….(they don’t create the product or company to be a red umbrella and a black umbrella world). Leadership is at an all-time high in ineffectiveness. There are example after example after example of people with authority in leadership positions who are not exercising highly effective leadership skills. When it comes to startups… A company is either effective and has high rates of customer adoption of the products and services they offer… or…..they are not! We have to stop lying to ourselves that it is OK to have moderate effectiveness in business. #startups #startupcompanies #founders #entrepreneuers #startupcompany #entrepreneur #medtech #medicaldevice #innovation

I’m excited to share my new role with Alumni Ventures as a Venture Scout on their U.S Strategic Tech Fund.   I will be tapping into my personal current networks, and building out new relationships, specifically targeting critical country-level competencies within energy ⚡, productivity 📈, health💛, security🔐, or anything that could appear on a Congressional Budget.   Why the U.S Strategic Tech Fund 📣 Impact:💥Beyond defense, national interest extends to food, critical infrastructure and resources, supply chains, energy, data and information, the environment, healthcare, and the economy.   Government Tailwinds: 🇺🇸 In 2022, the “CHIPS and Science” act, provided ~$52B in subsidies for U.S. semiconductor production to support U.S. scientific research to better compete with China.   Widening Market:🗺The global energy security market was valued at $15B in 2021 and is projected to reach $42B by 2031, with a CAGR of 10.5%.   It’s a privilege to work alongside Pete Mathias and Drew W. on tech and startups that truly excite me. Shout out and thanks to the all in all network for their keynote events.   If you or someone you know fits this thesis, I would love to chat! #AlumniVentures #VentureCapital #Robotics #AdvancedManufacturing #Startups

Nailed it! NVIDIA co-founder & CEO Jensen Huang when asked for advice on business plans and raising venture capital at Stanford: “VCs don’t invest in business plans… They invest in great people. And so the question is: do they trust you? Your reputation matters. Your history matters” - Jensen Huang He later revealed that Sequoia’s first check into NVIDIA came, in part, because he’d previously done standout work with Andy Bechtolsheim (Sun’s founder). But what if you don’t have that track record yet? That’s where world-class storytelling comes in. You’ve got to paint a future so compelling, so tangible, that VCs have no choice but to believe in you and your vision. Because let’s face it: venture capital is a game of outliers - and you can be one of them. Outlier returns come only from outlier founders. P.S. for more interesting stuff, check out 🔔linas.substack.com🔔, it's the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Technology. For founders, builders, and leaders.

Could you have handled the early days of the Internet? You hear about this brand new thing called "the Internet." A friend of yours from Seattle has moved down to Silicon Valley and tells you millions of dollars are being thrown at ideas. No need even for a business plan, just get a few Stanford school friends together and go looking for money in something that is cutely referred to as "seed" capital. Plant the seeds for the magic money tree no less. A new ecosystem is born! Venture Capitalists, a term previously unknown outside of a very few select niches begin to collect and invest hundreds of millions of dollars from all around the world. This quickly becomes hundreds of Billions, today Trillions. How well do you know the "Early Days of the Internet?" Quiz attached in the photo below. When you look forward into the future, where are you experimenting with new technologies, exploring entirely new business models, and incorporating Bold Growth into your Strategy? Strategy is Mastery. Fun fact you can share in the comments: What was your very first computer that you connected online with? Mine was an Atari 800 XL with acoustic coupler modem (model 830) that boasted a rocking 300 bps.

 📊 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲'𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐩 5 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 1𝐐 2024 🚀 1️⃣ Anthropic's 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐃 round on 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 27𝐭𝐡 secured a substantial $2.8 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧, with a 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 $18.4 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. Amazon led the charge, with the deal commanding 19.1% of the total funding in Silicon Valley for the quarter. 2️⃣ Generate 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 obtained $1.5 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 in an 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 on 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 31𝐬𝐭, with support from significant investors like AustralianSuper and California CALIFORNIA STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM, comprising 10.4% of total funding. 3️⃣ Anthropic's 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐃 round on 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 22𝐧𝐝 secured a substantial $750 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧, partnering with Menlo Ventures for this funding round. 4️⃣ Figure made headlines with a noteworthy $675 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐁 round on 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 23𝐫𝐝, attracting investment from M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund, OpenAI 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝, and Intel Capital. 5️⃣ Lambda successfully closed a $320 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂 round on 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 15𝐭𝐡, with a consortium of investors including the US Innovative Technology 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝, 1517 Fund, Bloomberg Beta, Crescent Cove Advisors LP, and Gradient Ventures. #SiliconValley #VC #FundingNews #Q12204 #QuarterlyReview #Investment #Tech #EquityDeals

Sequoia Capital invested early in Google, Nvidia, and Apple. Can Roelof Botha keep the legendary venture capital firm ahead in the AI future?  Sequoia distributed more than $43 billion to its investors over the past five years, including $10 billion in 2023. The base of investors in Sequoia’s primary fund grew slightly from 2022 to 2023, from 354 to 358. More than 25% of the overall market capitalization of the Nasdaq—more than $7 trillion, as of mid-July—is composed of Sequoia-backed companies. Botha scored so high on an aptitude exam that the district brought in a psychologist for an assessment—and to make sure he wasn’t cheating. In college, he picked one of the most grueling majors, actuarial science—and earned the best undergraduate grade point average in the history of the University of Cape Town. Botha doesn’t curse, saying that profanity is a “sloppy” way of expressing yourself.  Last year, 60% of Sequoia’s new investments were AI-focused; in 2024 so far, it’s made at least 10 such investments. https://lnkd.in/eiM4HNuG

Nailed it! NVIDIA co-founder & CEO Jensen Huang when asked for advice on business plans and raising venture capital at Stanford: “VCs don’t invest in business plans… They invest in great people. And so the question is: do they trust you? Your reputation matters. Your history matters” - Jensen Huang He later revealed that Sequoia’s first check into #NVIDIA came, in part, because he’d previously done standout work with Andy Bechtolsheim (Sun’s founder). But what if you don’t have that track record yet? That’s where world-class storytelling comes in. You’ve got to paint a future so compelling, so tangible, that VCs have no choice but to believe in you and your vision. Because let’s face it: venture capital is a game of outliers - and you can be one of them. Outlier returns come only from outlier founders.