Ryan Perlowin’s Post

Pleasure being with xdeck these days, and share a couple of hands-on insights (at least, I hope so) how investors think about the fundraising process in general: Not all startups are venture cases, and that's okay (and deserves much more respect and public attention) 🌟 If you (want to) raise though, (1) make sure to be prepared upfront, (2) start with whom you know and jump through the network with warm introductions, and (3) focus on the one 'yes' you need, not the many 'no's you will receive during the process. And whenever I can help on getting those points right, let me know :)

🚨 Attention, startup fam: Lightship Capital Fund 1 has officially left the chat. 💸 We’ve made our final investment, and it’s been an incredible ride supporting game-changing founders. Now, before you hit me with “Hey, I’ve got the perfect deal for you,” let me stop you right there: I am not deploying capital right now. Fund 2? Coming Q2. Until then, this bag is zipped up tighter than a founder’s pitch deck before Demo Day. 😏 I like to keep it honest—I’m not the VC who’ll waste your time meeting just to meet. If you’ve got something great, we take requests at lightship.capital. The DMs? Honestly, the worst place to get lost. You have no idea how many requests I get here on LinkedIn. Catch me in Q2 2025 when we’re ready to roll again. Until then, I’m cheering y’all on from the sidelines or a lighthouse. ✨ Happy holidays! ❄️

This Christmas, venture capitalists aren’t just gifting money—they’re creating futures. Venture capital is about more than chasing unicorns—it’s about fueling innovation, supporting visionary founders, and creating opportunities for long-term wealth. This holiday season, think beyond the presents under the tree and consider how investing in startups can transform not just your future, but the future of entire industries. Ready to start investing in tomorrow’s biggest ideas? Learn more about venture capital here: 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/efxczeGS. #VentureCapital #StartupInvestment #InnovateAndGrow #BusinessOpportunities #FinancialFreedom #HolidayInvesting

How can a community be your biggest asset in tech? Kurt Walker from VentureHaus explores the pivotal role of the community in building tech platforms. From different forms of capital to the invaluable human element, discover the essentials for nurturing your business's growth. Unlock the power of community in tech. Dive into this episode for a fresh perspective on building your platform with purpose.▶️ Venture Capital Fundraising and Ecosystem Building. https://brnw.ch/21wJbPI #broadcastyourauthority #venturecapital #VCInsights #CapitalRaising #BeyondPitching #TechCommunity #FounderFunding #StartupAI #StartupMVP #AIContent #FoundersCommunity #AIGuidance

This is something that a lot of founders get wrong about fundraising. I’ve heard it more often recently. ‘We are probably not right for a VC, so I am just going to raise from angels’ The reality is that most angels are still looking for venture scale returns. Startups always exist in the high risk part of an investment portfolio. So to make it worthwhile for an investor, the potential for return has to be much greater than can be achieved in publicly traded stocks and shares. It’s not impossible to find angels who will want to back you and your mission - even if you aren’t aiming for venture scale. You just have to think more carefully about your targeting. I will cover this in more detail in an upcoming edition of our newsletter - THE ROLLERCOASTER

Tech founder's journey for Pack to the Future™ Investor's on my list so far: 50 No's from investors: 7 Interested investors: 7 Progressed conversations: 30 Term sheets/offers: -1 This week's update on the investor front is a tough one. I decided to build my SaaS platform publicly and for the last month, that's revolved around a pre-seed fundraising round. The absolute raw truth is that fundraising is hard! The harsher truth is that trying to raise for a pre-revenue brand is almost impossible. The gut wrenching part this week though isn't the mixed messaging from VC's. In fact, I've got no doubt that I've got a list of investors that genuinely WILL back my idea when I meet their criteria. I've had amazing conversations and this past month has taught me a LOT about the landscape of building with venture backing. The actual gut wrenching part was not aligning with an Angel offer that was on the table. I had the opportunity for $400,000 right now, in pre-revenue funding. That was then to be followed on by an additional tranche of $200,000-$400,000 to accelerate the GTM in a few months time. I couldn't make it work though. The deal fell over. The numbers were not where I needed them to be. The percentage I would've had to give up was too great for being so early and I would've cut myself short from future scaling and fundraising. The investors themselves are a great bunch of guys, we just couldn't align everyone's needs. The negotiations stalled out. My encouragement for founders this week, know your worth, know your numbers and know where your fulcrum point is. It's not over for me fundraising wise, there's still some amazing opportunities for closing out, I've got many irons in the fire still. I look forward to updating you next week :) *Last years' Halloween video for an accurate depiction on how I feel right now...

Join for free 1,000s of investors & startups on Zoom at the Early-Stage Virtual Conf on Jan 30. I've signed up with our startup – Midrash- an insuretech focused on Social Products Distribution MIDRASH INSURANCE & RISK CONSULTANTS Read these VC stories at the bottom of the PDF, starting on page 2, to explore the core motivations of investors based on experience attracting hundreds of Family Offices, Funds of Funds, VC & PE funds, Angel syndicates to virtual events. And then: 1. Register for the event for free: https://inniches.com/es 2. Like and comment to receive the list with 128 investor contacts & 100 TechCrunch pitch deck teardowns. @Max Pog’s team will send it to you via DM or a connection request. 3. Max will gift 100+ books & cakes to participants of the event. Repost to increase your chances

I have always appreciated the Startup Grind format. In Seattle, it is one of the places where you can find a diverse set of founders, seekers and Investors all in the same audience. This time, I am the one on stage talking about Angel Investing. Getting Angel Investment. Being an Angel Investor. And all the things in between. We are in the midst of our 26th cohort of new Angel Investors in the Seattle Angel Conference. And we are doing the 6th Trans-Atlantic Angel Conference. Ever wonder how different regions think about investing? Have you ever looked at any of the data sets around the success and failure of Angel investment? Those are likely topics to come up in the conversation at Startup Grind next week. BTW, did you know that 15% of US households are qualified by Federal Law to do Angel Investing.... Let's talk more about that at Startup Grind. Robert Green , Yoko Okano , Minda Brusse, Kristann Orton, Jessie Zhou , Sudheer B., Hale Yildiz

I began the day with a bunch of work anniversary congratulations. While always really nice, Teal Canvas' birthday is in October. She's an opal, or a tourmaline. And if you know what a tourmaline is, you're a smarter person than I am. Then I realized that this was an On Deck anniversary. If you aren't familiar, On Deck helps founders in all stages of their growth, from ideation, to finding a co-founder, to raising. I was fortunate enough to be included in an On Deck cohort three years ago when Teal Canvas was just a baby. Although it was a bit of a different program at the time, the mission remains the same. I was an outlier at On Deck. Many of the founders were looking to build the next unicorn. Most were raising, either through VC or angels. They were trying to solve the next financial, education, tech, etc etc etc problems. And here I was, a founder of this little art focused start up. We were, and remain, self funded. A unicorn? We were happy with a stuffed animal rhino. We were just looking to be creative, help artists, and build freedom for ourselves (freedom is our north star, I would love to talk about this in a later post). But what I found at On Deck was a community of people that made founding a start up a little less scary. Here are my benefits... 1) It gave me a community of people who could be a sounding board for ideas. 2) It gave me a collective of specialities, from technical, to go to market, to financial to ask questions of. No one is more of service in this way than Jordan Crawford. Now that is a unicorn. 3) It allowed me to be of service as I could open my own greater community to make relavent introductions 4) And most importantly, it gave me a few life long friends (who I've never met in real life, soon soon soon). Looking at you Muhammad Lila Boris Korsunsky Ishwar Nagar Boris Korsunsky Dexter Ligot-Gordon. In its current form, On Deck is a one week live sprint in SF for founders to do all the things. If you are interested, check them out. https://www.beondeck.com/