So make sure you know the investor will support you and not leave you on read once the docs are signed!
As the DeFi bull market continues, some brutally honest tips for new founders fundraising in crypto.
👇
Equity/ownership is a force. Getting it in the hands of the right people generously will drive alignment and execution.
— Joey Santoro (@Joey__Santoro) January 21, 2021
It is a joyful and serious responsibility \U0001f332
So make sure you know the investor will support you and not leave you on read once the docs are signed!
You wouldn't hire someone just because they are influencers on Twitter- you do your reference checks and find evidence of value add from other companies the investor has invested in.
Many investors will promise you the world when they're trying to get on your cap table.
Talk to founders they backed to see how much of it is bullshit. Ask them about how the investor was there for them during hard times.
Sure, it's great validation, but optimize for fit, not vanity.
However, I do think many well-known VCs are good actors, especially those with roots in successful trad VCs. They have a rep for a reason!
e.g. if you're raising a $500K round and you approach a $500M fund and offer them $250K, do you expect the fund to be economically incentivized to spare much resources on you?
Size correctly, but *don't* give away too much.
They reckon - hey, if everything is trading at $100M+ and you're raising at $10M, that's an easy 10x for me.
e.g. They get in at $10M val but locked for 2 years, market trades at $100M, so they flip it for $60M.
You should also rely on your other investors to find out who these funds are, and encourage your peers to blacklist them from all future raises. Help clean up the space.
So check to see what the fund mandate of your investor is!
However - a massive caveat here...
In fact, liquid funds can often do things that VC fund structures typically don't allow, esp in DeFi - e.g. providing liquidity on your platform on day 1.
But for every bad actor there is an investor who stakes their reputation, career, and personal capital to push the space forward.
If raising a venture round, remember that the relationship *begins* at the finalization of the docs.
Investor update calls are not sales pitches - it doesn't have to all be rosy. We're already sold on the vision. Now we want to know what you're struggling with, so we can help.
Ask yourself what you need from investors besides capital, and verify whether they have done this, then hold them accountable.
More from Finance
Here’s what "financial wellness" means to me
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
2/ Mindset
Humans are programmed to think short-term
Evolutionary, thinking short-term makes sense. It helps with survival.
Financial wellness is all about training yourself to develop a long-term mindset
Not easy -- it takes practice
3/ Mindset
If you join the right tribes, you can’t help but improve
My favs:
@AffordAnything
@ChooseFiFI
FinTwit
@MicroCapClub
@themotleyfoolFool
@visualizevalue
Twitter / Podcasts / Blogs / YouTube -- when used correctly -- are amazing
1/ YouTube is an AMAZING resource when used properly (Thread)
— Brian Feroldi (@BrianFeroldi) November 7, 2020
Here are my favorite YouTube channels:
Top 5:
Mark Rober - @MarkRober
Real Engineering
Smarter Every Day - @smartereveryday
Stuff Made Here - @stuffmadehere
Wintegartan - @wintergatan
More \U0001f447\U0001f447\U0001f447\U0001f447\U0001f447
4/ Mindset
Educate yourself - constantly!
Especially about:
1⃣Money
2⃣Relationships
3⃣Health
These 3 categories have an outsized influence on all areas of your life
Books
1/ Book recommendations (thread)
— Brian Feroldi (@BrianFeroldi) November 20, 2020
Start Here:
Choose FI
Richest Man in Babylon
Millionaire Next Door
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
The Wealthy Barber
\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f
5/ Career
In the beginning, focus on growing your income
Do more than what is expected
Become a lynchpin
Find a career that you ENJOY (<- important!) that also has high-income potential
Start a side hustle (<- important!)
Build your talent
Boosting your salary is a great way to turbo-charge wealth building
— Brian Feroldi (@BrianFeroldi) November 1, 2020
Here's the good news: Your salary is negotiable!@themotleyfool and @ChooseFi have some AMAZING free resources for scoring a big raise:
Use them!
\U0001f447\U0001f447\U0001f447
For @MacroPoloChina I analyzed last year's ministerial-level promotions to posts in Beijing
TLDR: Ties to Xi Jinping—or a Xi ally—are very helpful! (1/14)
https://t.co/kO2A0Efyq2
Seven politicians were promoted to ministerial-level positions in central Party agencies last year
All are likely to feature on the next Central Committee selected at the 2022 Party Congress
Some could make the CCP's elite 25-person Politburo (2/14)
https://t.co/kO2A0Efyq2
Likeliest for the Politburo is Meng Xiangfeng, new Executive Deputy Director of the CCP General Office
He would replace Xi ally Ding Xuexiang as CCP chief-of-staff if Ding is promoted further in 2022
Meng worked under Xi allies Cai Qi in Hangzhou and Chen Xi in Liaoning (3/14)
Less likely for the Politburo but still important is Jiang Jinquan, new Director of the CCP Policy Research Office
He replaces 5th-ranked leader Wang Huning who led the Party's brains trust for 18 years
Wang remains prominent and will be <68 in 2022, so he'll stay around (4/14)
Other notable central Party promotions include Li Shulei and Liang Yanshun, who both assisted Xi when he led the Central Party School from 2007-2012
Li is a political conservative who is said to be quite close with Xi, even drafting his 2014 speech on culture and art (5/14)