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The week before Thanksgiving, I met with 12 AI startups. All had impressive tech. 11 of them will fail. Here's why... TLDR: Most AI startups are building features, not companies. Here's the pattern that separates winners from losers. The Trap: Every day, another founder shows me their "AI-powered solution." Their eyes light up as they demo their GPT-4 integration. Then I ask one question that makes the room go quiet: "What happens when OpenAI (Meta, or Google) releases this as a feature next month?" The uncomfortable truth: The Feature Fallacy Your entire product can be replicated with a few prompts. That's not a moat. The "AI-Washing" Problem "We use AI" isn't a value proposition. It's table stakes. The Data Desert Without unique training data, you're building on sand. But here's where it gets interesting... Last month, I invested in an AI startup that broke all the "rules." They showed me: - A proprietary data set no one else had - A specific problem that costs companies millions - A solution that gets better with every user The Lesson: The winners aren't building "AI companies." They're building companies that solve massive problems and happen to use AI. Want to know how they're doing it? Stay tuned for next week, when I break down one of my recent AI investments. #VentureCapital #AI #Startups

All-In-One Fundraising Resources For Founders... Here's everything that worked for founders who actually raised money. Includes templates, tips, and tricks for closing a successful funding round.... 👇 💫 Check out my free newsletter and Join 66000+ founders and investors : https://lnkd.in/dFyTK7RW . #startups #funding #founders #venurecapital #founder #investors #fund #vc #startuptips #fundraising

Founder preparing to close a fundraising round in December 2024... #startups #founders #venturecapital

Book Your Spot - Free Webinar on "How To Pitch To Investors" The Tigger of Manchester Angels - David Levine has roped me into being on his wildly successful "Deck Roast" webinar I'm beside myself with excitement to share what's going on behind those ice cold eyes of the VC or Angel when reviewing your deck(s) 👀 1pm UK time - December 5th - Get in while slots are free If you want the link - Type "Roast" in comments & David will get it to you Thanks to our sponsors - Rubén D. , Jimmy Acton , Richard Blundell 💙

Why Startups Fail to Secure #Funding?🤔 In our article, we break down the common pitfalls founders face and explore how to overcome them. Ready to refine your pitch and increase your chances of success? 📈 Read the full article here https://lnkd.in/dFEhWpjx Mariia Mikhaleva, Marton Medveczky, Oz Hassine, Persia Georgiadou, CFA #startups #founders #venturecapital #growthdebt #secondary

Founders always ask us how to optimise a seed fundraising deck. Here’s what our internal data shows: - References to "milestones" and “advisors” in the deck were both strong negative predictors. - Decks explicitly mentioning tax benefits like SEIS were half as likely to raise. Beware of signalling risk. - Decks that quantified cost or time savings were 50% more likely to raise. Painkiller better than vitamin. - Mentioning customer lifetime values (LTVs) significantly increases your chances of raising. - References to unit economics was also a strong positive predictor. - Highlighting recent industry shifts almost doubles your chance of raising. “Why now?” is a key question investors have. - Longer decks weren’t more likely to raise. Don’t waste time putting a 35-page novel together.

Too much reading / watching / listening …. Not enough action… Too many of you are stressing about life in your own head or dreaming about how it can be instead of “acting.” Lack of action is stopping you! stop thinking, ,, stop strategizing, .. stop debating. Go do.

The Most Lucrative Angel Bets in Startup Startup History 👇 1. Amazon (Jeff Bezos): - Angel Investor: Nick Hanauer - Investment: $40,000 in 1995 - Return: Hanauer's investment was worth billions when Amazon went public in 1997 and continued to grow exponentially. 2. PayPal (Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and others): - Angel Investor: Elon Musk - Investment: $180,000 in 2000 - Return: PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002, yielding significant returns for early investors like Musk. 3. Snapchat (Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown): - Angel Investor: Jeremy Liew - Investment: $485,000 in 2012 - Return: Liew's investment was worth an estimated $1.1 billion when Snap Inc. went public in 2017. 4. Alibaba (Jack Ma): - Angel Investor: Masayoshi Son (SoftBank) - Investment: $20 million in 2000 - Return: Son's investment was worth over $50 billion when Alibaba went public in 2014. 5. Spotify (Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon): - Angel Investor: Shakil Khan - Investment: Early personal investment - Return: Khan's early investment saw significant returns, with Spotify valued at $29.5 billion during its 2018 direct listing. 6. LinkedIn (Reid Hoffman): - Angel Investor: Josh Kopelman - Investment: Early seed round investment - Return: LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion in 2016, providing substantial returns for early investors like Kopelman. 7. Tesla (Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning): - Angel Investor: Elon Musk - Investment: $6.5 million in 2004 - Return: Musk's initial investment grew exponentially as Tesla's market cap surpassed $1 trillion in 2021.

I just watched a video that hit me hard. Eric Schmidt, former CEO, dropping truth bombs about founders. Here's the kicker: "The great founders are frugal." Schmidt says he cringes at startups with: - Beautiful offices - Really nice chairs - Fancy perks Why? Because true founders understand: Money is a tool, not a toy Resources are for growth, not comfort Success comes from sacrifice, not luxury The most successful? They often start with $0 salary. Tough pill to swallow? Maybe. But that's the founder's life. If you're not ready for it, you might not be ready to found. Are you willing to be frugal for your dream? Or do you need that ergonomic chair to "think big"? 🤷♂️ #VenchaVideosforFounders / Video # Zero Find us at Vencha 💛

Index Ventures Announces $2.3B in New Funds Index Ventures has made an announcement of $2.3B in new funds to fuel the growth of tech startups globally. This impressive fundraising feat includes $800 million for venture investments and $1.5 billion for growth and late-stage companies, demonstrating the firm’s unwavering commitment to nurturing innovation at all stages. “We’re in a really fortunate situation where our funds were raised in a few weeks from existing LPs mainly, and we’re really oversubscribed,” said Nina Achadjian, a partner based in San Francisco. A Strategic and Intentional Approach 🎯 Unlike many VC firms that are struggling in the current market, Index Ventures has carefully calibrated its fund sizes to align with market realities. While this fundraise is slightly smaller compared to their previous efforts—$900 million for Index Ventures XI and $2 billion for Index Ventures Growth VI in 2021—it’s a strategic move. “We had a bottom-up approach and looked at the sizes of growth rounds happening right now and where the opportunities in venture lie,” Achadjian explained. AI: The New Frontier for Innovation 🤖 A significant portion of Index Ventures’ new fund will target AI-driven startups, a sector they believe holds immense potential for transformative innovation. The firm has already backed notable AI-driven companies like Glean.ai and Harvey, positioning itself at the forefront of this technological wave. “I think at this moment, there’s a real reckoning of the foundation models,”Achadjian noted, pointing to the consolidation in the AI space and the vast opportunities that lie ahead. Shardul Shah, a partner based in New York, added that AI is opening up new investment opportunities in traditionally non-tech industries like manufacturing, drug discovery, and legal services. A Legacy of Success and a Global Reach 🌐 Founded in 1972, Index Ventures has a storied history of backing some of the most successful tech companies, including Figma, Revolut, Roblox, Scale AI, and Wiz. With a global strategy and offices in San Francisco, London, and New York, Index Ventures invests across 24 tech ecosystems, maintaining a unified team approach. “The best may be yet to come in the AI space,” Achadjian added, highlighting the firm's optimism and strategic foresight. With 108 unicorns, 23 decacorns, and 57 companies that have gone public, Index Ventures remains a dominant force in venture capital. Their strategic focus on AI and other tech innovations ensures that they are well-positioned to lead the next wave of groundbreaking startups. ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #fund and increase the international pool of LPs?   🤝Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   ▶ For inquiries and free consultations on how G+QUANT can assist, use this form https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VentureCapital #TechStartups #IndexVentures #AI #Innovation #TechInvestment #InvestmentOpportunities #TechEcosystem