AI Automation Startup Achieves 326% YoY Growth
Solid AI automation startup listed on @acquiredotcom. Mind blowing 326% YoY growth! 🤯 > $2.9M TTM revenue > $961K TTM profit > 5000+ customers > Inc. 5000 ranked > $10M prior valuation Check it out here: https://t.co/YNOfwS36HJ https://t.co/6mEIjy6Wf5
Your Biggest Customer Is Your Biggest Vulnerability
While many think having a "largest customer" is an asset, it's actually a company's biggest weakness. If you can feel a single customer leave, you're in a delicate spot. If you have a customer you can't afford to lose, you're...
Deel Secures $300M Funding, Valued Over $17B
Today @Bouazizalex announced that @deel have raised $300M at a $17BN+ valuation. He only did one podcast to announce the round and discuss the last 12 months. 20VC… coming on Monday 👇 https://t.co/n4ezdUmA5A
Unlock Existing ChatGPT Auth, Not New Sign‑In Layer
Huge if true. Wrote a bunch about the Sign in with ChatGPT opportunity back in April. “Today, there’s no secure way to link a ChatGPT account to another tool. No OAuth. No scoped tokens. No way to persist context responsibly. What’s needed...
AI-Powered SaaStr Instantly Confirms Fund Fit
With the next version of SaaStr AI VC, you won't wonder if you are a fit for any given fund anymore We'll just tell you. Right there, right now. https://t.co/ONomUsL4kw
Funding General Intuition to Advance AI Spatial-Temporal Reasoning
Super excited about funding @PimDeWitte on this exciting journey towards AI understanding the physical world !
Tech Deals Surge: Meta, Goldman, SoftBank Drive 2025 Venture Landscape
The only podcast you have to listen to every week. No politics. Just tech. - Thinking Machines Co-Founder Joins Meta for $3.5BN - Goldman Sachs Acquires Industry Ventures for $665M - Softbank Borrows $5BN Against ARM Holding to Invest More Into OpenAI. Spotify 👉 https://t.co/FMWC2UfrVG Youtube...
Y Combinator and A16z Dominate VC Under Stellar Leadership
Two brands in VC that are crushing right now more than any other: 1. @ycombinator: Under @garrytan leadership. Another level achieved. 👏 @t_blom is one of the greatest early stage investors right now. 2. @a16z: @martin_casado is a true OG....
Early Product Versions Mislead; Deel’s Massive Evolution Proves It
Deel added $300M in funding at a $17.3B valuation. When investing in early stage, it's a trap to judge v1 of a product. The co has evolved a ton since we invested. Here's @Bouazizalex's intro to Deel on Product Hunt, six years...
Outrageous Optimism Is Essential for Founders' Success
Huge honor being featured by @bigthink this week. We talked about why “outrageous optimism” is a required skillset for founders. Startups are built by people who believe just enough to keep going when everything says stop. When the odds are 1000...
Good Cofounder Beats Solo, Bad Cofounder Hurts
Good cofounder > no cofounder > bad cofounder. This may seem obvious but a lot of people don't seem to grasp it.
Acquired.com Launches New Seller Insights and Analytics
New seller insights and analytics coming soon to @acquiredotcom! https://t.co/V2mQKaoOFj
Product Fit and Partnership: Keys to Seed Success
Two reasons why 99% of seed stage companies don’t make it to Series A: 1. They don’t build something people want. 2. Co-Founder breakup. Avoid these two and you are the 1%.
Boss Talk Returns, New Episodes Now Live
Boss talk is back: https://t.co/RJR1ph1oAS
Trust Intuition, Even when It Defies Explanation
This part in this piece on @JoshuaKushner really rings true to me. I'm a gut-driven, intuition-first person, so I know exactly what he's saying here: --- “My deepest insecurity is that I have these intuitions about things that I cannot explain to...
Unsexy Plumbing Profits While Others Chase Shiny Trends
"Boring" businesses print money while everyone is distracted chasing the next shiny thing. The unsexy plumbing always delivers.
AI Takes 20 of Top 30 Secondary Spots
Just seen @SetterVC's latest report on the most in-demand secondaries for private companies in Q3: Top 3 Risers in the Top 30: 1. @canva up 8 places to #12 2. @CrusoeAI up 7 places to #11 3. @AnthropicAI up 2 places to #1 and...
Sequoia’s Roelof Botha on Leadership, Decision-Making, Tech Outlook
This week's Uncapped guest was @roelofbotha, who runs Sequoia. We talked about his psychology leading the firm, how Sequoia makes decisions, and his views on the state of technology markets today. Unsurprisingly, I learned a ton. Hope you enjoy listening. https://t.co/07mb26KEBC
Minority Funding Still Means Investor Decision Power
Founders are often interested in minority transactions for one reason: Control. In a founder's mind, if they retain majority ownership in the company, then they'll fully control the strategic direction of the company, even if they give up a seat...
Founders Must Preserve Their Core Story Amid Metrics
Every company starts with a story that’s truer than the product. Over time, the product gets attention, the story gets diluted, and the truth that built it gets buried under metrics. The founder’s real job is to keep digging it...
10‑Year Founder Vesting Cuts Co‑Founder Conflicts in Half
If all founders started off with 10-year vesting, I suspect this would reduce and minimize like 50% of co-founder issues * It forces you to have the tough conversation up front * It protects the ones that stay from the ones that quit *...
Unreasonable Optimism: Why Top Founders Always Win
The best founders are optimistic to the point of being completely unreasonable and that’s exactly why they win.
Founder’s Playlist Curation Reveals Product‑Market Fit Signals
IC follow-up #28: "Please evaluate the founder's Spotify playlist curation process as it relates to finding product market fit."
From SaaS to AI: Keynote Tour & Meetups
Just finished keynoting at Canvas by Miro . My talk was all about transforming your company from SaaS to AI, and what a great crowd both IRL and online. Thanks to Andrey for the invite My next few events (if...
Uncovering Who's Profiting Most From the AI Boom
"Who exactly is making money in AI?" with @HarryStebbings @rodriscoll + me https://t.co/DzkGrW3qMu
Existing Investors Face 90% Dilution After OpenAI’s Shift
10% for all existing investors together for OpenAI feels like brutal dilution Even if the IRR and absolute gains are still epic
OURA Secures $900M Funding, Hits $11B Valuation
It's official for OURA: • $11B valuation • New $900M in funding led by Fidelity Hard-earned success for a team that's on track for $1B in revenue this year, 2x'ing for the 2nd year in a row. The vision and execution from @ouraring...
Europe’s Top Founders Champion Browsers for AI Agents
Europe has some of the best young founders in the world. They are hungrier, they are more ambitious and they are more talented than ever. Charles is one of the best of the best. LFG Europe 🚀
Seeking Early-Stage Investors to Meet 5+ Founders Weekly
New experiment: Looking for early-stage investors that meet with 5+ founders/week. Reply here if you want to try the beta and I’ll DM you. :)
Battery‑Free Human Cooling Tech Secures $4.35M Seed
Always inspiring to see a founder step out to tackle a new challenge: from lab to commercialization; to realize a personal vision that could have global impact for our warming planet. Very happy that Granite Asia is on this exciting...
Protect Your Core: Focus Beats Equal‑Weight Distribution
Every business has one thing that makes everything else possible. Find it, and protect it with your life. The mistake most founders make is trying to give everything equal weight. Focus feels unfair because it is. But nothing compounds until...
Strong M&A Offers in Frothy Markets Rarely Improve Later
There are many good reasons to say “No” to a strong M&A offer. Many of our top leaders in tech had multiple M&A offers on the way at a small fraction of their current value. Ross Perot famously offered to buy...
Founders Seek Control, Not Risk, Through Environment Creation
The myth is that founders chase risk. In truth, they chase control. The kind that only comes from creating the environment where their instincts can prove themselves. The rest is just entropy management dressed up as leadership.
AI Analyzer Instantly Scores Your Pitch Deck's Funding Odds
Don't go into fundraising ... in the dark Try the NEW SaaStr AI Pitch Deck Analyzer Find out in seconds: - Where you stand - Odds of getting funded - Where to improve your deck ...
Build Revenue First, Then Aim for Acquisition, Not VC
The smart move for founders isn't to raise venture capital, it's to build to a few million in revenue, and get acquired for a life changing amount.
Atlassian's CEO Champions Bold AI, Design over Data
So @Atlassian is on a fricking tear. In the last few months they have spent $1.6BN on M&A. - DX Labs: $1BN - The Broswer Company: $610M - Cycle: Undisclosed I think @mcannonbrookes is one of the most exceptional leaders in technology. The man has...
Vercel and Supabase: Lucrative Pre‑AI Infrastructure Essentials
Sometimes, the most straightforward, on-trend deals are the most lucrative. Vercel and Supabase, pre-AI infrastructure components, have become essential for building next-gen apps, riding the wave of growth. https://t.co/6tI8ChhNfe
Unreasonable Men Propel Change Beyond Boundaries
" All progress depends on the unreasonable man because the unreasonable man is the one who doesn't believe in boundaries and makes changes. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. But reasonable men live within boundaries. You need unreasonable men to...
Founders Panic as Rivals Fundraise at Half ARR
Founders when they see competitors raising another round at half the ARR: https://t.co/bVyXFoWmI0
Investor Updates Overdue? Pick a Funny Excuse Today
It’s October 12 If you haven’t gotten your investor updates out yet, that’s pretty bad, so do it today and blame: - A Solar Flare - Exhaustion From 12 Months of Straight 996 - The Fractional CFO You Hired Off LinkedIn - Spam Filters - Being...
Pre‑IPO Investing Goes Public, Yet US Blocks It
This feels like the future of pre-IPO startup investing @joinrepublic. $HOOD is doing this in public markets, but not currently allowed in the US. https://t.co/qimPUZinyA
Key Questions to Diagnose Slowing Growth
"5 Questions to Ask When Growth Slows" https://t.co/hUTsdByjy0 https://t.co/Az0LupLabj
From DM Chats to $5B Valuation: Supabase’s Rise
supabase cto knows from dms in 2020 to 5bn valuation https://t.co/JgWT9AJfsW
Automated $9M E‑commerce Portfolio Generates $2M Profit
This one’s a machine. Automated, profitable, lean at scale. New on @acquiredotcom: 2-site SMM ecom portfolio doing $9M TTM revenue and $2M profit. > 1M lifetime customers > $9M TTM revenue > $2.04M profit > 15% YoY growth Full listing: https://t.co/bdyQOrGZh5 https://t.co/Yl8iTRsvzV
AI-Powered Dealflow Tool Launching Soon for VCs
Coming soon: AI Dealflow for VCs from https://t.co/iXj7ZJdxfx https://t.co/3uAYV5Z4pn
Tackle Uncertainty to Unlock Creative Solutions
Sometimes, uncertain tasks are just as hard as certain ones. Work on the problems where there is more uncertainty –– that's where creativity is unleashed. @drfeifei's advice for Founders at the @Mastersofscale Summit. https://t.co/WyhhrayVbT