Stableton’s Post

A founder's ability to hone in on their ICP and build value and solve a problem for a very specific customer segment is crucial. 🎯 One insight I took away from Parker Gilbert's journey building his company Numeric is not only their ability to do this effectively, but to elect to work with a focused customer segment where the value of the partnership compounds over time (i.e go-to-market, integration). 🥞 For Numeric that's incredible finance customers and partners like Mercury, Plaid, Wealthfront, Betterment. 💜 Not to mention the traction that led to raising their $10M round from top firms like Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures, and 8VC. 💸 🚀 🎙 🎙 Check out the entire interview with Parker here: https://bit.ly/numeric-br

Founders - 30 investor meetings and no deal? Here’s how one founder kept going—and won. I recently worked with a founder who launched their raise with 30 investor meetings right out of the gate. The initial response was positive—but not enough to close a deal. Instead of slowing down, this founder doubled down. Over weeks three to five, they added 20 more meetings, pushing their total to 50. And then... it happened. A term sheet came through from one of those later conversations—a deal that might never have surfaced if they’d stopped after the first wave. The takeaway? Persistence pays off. The founders who close rounds are often the ones who face the most rejection—but keep going anyway. Keep the momentum alive. Don’t stop after the first round.

In a good fundraising environment, Q4 is typically the most active quarter for closing rounds. Both anecdotal evidence and hard data I've come across recently indicate the fundraising environment is improving, so I'm optimistic about Q4 '24. If you are raising capital for your startup and you are fortunate enough to get a term sheet for a priced round, it is essential you understand terms so you can effectively negotiate. Most of the terms can be divided into two categories: Economic Terms and Control Terms. Economic Terms focus on how money gets distributed, especially during exits or liquidation events. This includes pre-money valuation, liquidation preferences, dividends, and anti-dilution provisions. Control Terms determine who makes decisions—covering voting rights, board structure, protective provisions, and management roles. Founders should balance these two carefully. Over-focusing on valuation without paying attention to control can leave you sidelined in future decisions about your company! For more information on terms and how to negotiate them, and some great tips from a dozen VCs, check out "A Founder's Guide to Negotiating VC Term Sheets" in the "Featured" section of my LinkedIn profile. And thanks to Carta and Peter Walker for the chart below. Follow Peter for more great data and insights. ⚖️ #StartupStrategy #FounderTips

Many of you might disagree, But if you’re an early-stage founder building a pitch deck… Skip the exit strategy slide. Investors back founders, not just businesses. They want to know you’re in it for the long run—not planning your exit. Talking exits too soon can make your vision seem small. Show them the vision, not the finish line. Thoughts? Let me know if you have another uncommon tip. (We'll test it) --- I help founders get in front of investors, and part of that is ensuring they consider each aspect of their pitch. Don't waste that meeting. B Found, Raise Fast. 🤪 Follow and I'll rant more on your feed (Daily, I promise)

Founders 🚀: If you’re still in the hunt for last-minute funding before the end of the year, there’s good news—many VCs are still deploying capital before Q1 kicks off. 💸 I’m seeing a lot of opportunities for founders to connect with investors like 2048 VC’s 🧬 🤖 ⚙️ Alex Iskold and others who are actively taking meetings or finalizing deals before the year closes. That said, your pitch deck needs to be airtight. If you need a fast turnaround to get your deck polished and ready, I’m offering last-minute deck updates all day today for half the price. 🔹 Limited spots available—don’t wait! DM me to secure your spot and end the year with momentum. 🦋 Let’s get you funded. 🎯

Raising a pre-seed/seed round? Not having a network of investors won't stop great deals from getting done this month if I have anything to say about it. Doing my next experiment for 30.311 hours (ends 10/11, 8 pm ET): -Email deck+blurb+traction+round size+your LinkedIn link+company HQ location to mike@mikemaccombie.com, hard deadline tomorrow. -Title must be *exactly*: "30.311-hour experiment" and must include all the above elements for consideration. -I’ll share at least the top 3 companies w/ 50+ VCs next week. -Last time I did this, I got 58 investor intros for the founders I shared. -And in the last 6 months I know of at least $3.5M invested in companies I shared.

Just checked out Carta's report on founder equity dilution—super insightful! 📊 It’s like a roadmap showing exactly where and how chunks of ownership can slip away. From investor rounds to co-founders, advisors, and employees, it's all laid out. 💼📉 #StartupLife #FounderStruggles #EquityMatters

Raising a pre-seed/seed round? Not having a network of investors, or investors being on summer vacation won't stop great deals from getting done if I have anything to say about it. Doing my next experiment for 28.25 hours (ends 6/22, 5 pm ET): -Email deck+blurb+traction+round size to mike@mikemaccombie.com, hard deadline tomorrow. -Title must be *exactly*: "28.25-hour experiment" -I’ll share at least the top 3 companies w/ 50+ VCs next week. -Last time I did this, I got 15 investor intros for founders I shared. -And in the last 6 months I know of at least $1.5M invested in companies I shared. Results will vary, but it works :)

Raising a pre-seed/seed round? Not having a network of investors, or investors being on summer vacation in August won't stop great deals from getting done if I have anything to say about it. Doing my next experiment for 29.467 hours (ends 8/9, 6 pm ET): -Email deck+blurb+traction+round size to mike@mikemaccombie.com, hard deadline tomorrow. -Title must be *exactly*: "29.467-hour experiment" -I’ll share at least the top 3 companies w/ 50+ VCs next week. -Last time I did this, I got 27 investor intros for founders I shared. -And in the last 6 months I know of at least $2.8M invested in companies I shared.

What do many of the top VC outcomes have in common? They are marketplaces! The Yonder Ventures syndicate will be sharing a new deal shortly. If you want to see what we are investing in be sure to join the fun! Join here ➡️ http://yonder.vc