Open‑source AI SRE Auto‑creates Debugging Tools for Any Team
.@incidentfox is an open-source AI SRE that builds its own debugging tools. It learns each team’s unique systems and auto-generates the integrations it needs — no custom engineering required. Congrats on the launch @jimmyweiiiii and @LongYi1207! https://t.co/H68FjaBikx https://t.co/JWvl2EPJpN
AI Startup Nets $11B Valuation Tackling Boring Tech Issue
This AI startup is valued at $11B for solving one of the most boring problems in tech.....
Camp Hustle Blends Pitches, Niche Investing, and Wellness
What are we doing at Camp Hustle? What to expect? • An angel track with a live deal review • A VC track with a pitch clinic • A Shark Tank-style pitch event • Niche breakouts covering super specific niche investment topics • Wellness activities...
AI Sales Agent Raises $14M, Beats Human Reps
In this episode of Founder Firesides,@snowmaker talks to the founders of @simpleailab, @catheryn_li & @Zach_Kamran, who just raised a $14M seed. Simple AI gives businesses an AI sales agent that handles inbound calls end-to-end and outperforms their human reps. https://t.co/keftLeBwrc
How Many VCs Should You Pitch for Seed?
Hey founders, when you raised your seed round, how many unique VC firms did you send your pitch?
Modern Treasury: Stripe‑style API for Corporate Cash Flows
This is a big deal. It's like Stripe but for moving money in and out of companies. You just call the API and Modern Treasury does the rest.
VCs Compelled to Request Founders' Identity Forms in California
Woke California is NUTS. VCs now have to ask founders to fill out this form about how they "identify". We're not even based in Ca but because we have 2 LPs & two portcos with offices in the PRC (People's...
Seeking Weird Consumer Startups—DM Me Your Demo
I'd love to invest in more founders building something weird in consumer. If that's you, shoot me a demo or link to the product. My DMs are open. :)
Early Funding for Diverse Founders Who Dream Big
We founded Harlem Capital because the world is better when everyone is encouraged to dream big. Winners can come from everywhere but need support to reach their full potential. We invest $1.0M to $2.5M in startups before success is obvious. All Winners Welcome....
Harlem Capital: Early Funding for AI-Building Visionaries
In 2015 we started @HarlemCapital to change who gets to win. Not as a slogan, but as a standard. Ten years later, that standard has become a platform for identifying exceptional founders early and helping them build generational companies. We invest $1.0M to...
Caterpillar VC Funds ElevenEs' 1GWh LFP Factory in Serbia
Caterpillar VC backs startup ElevenEs as it builds 1GWh LFP cell factory in Serbia #energysky -- via Energy Storage News: https://t.co/lb6SNWjg1K
Wildlight Secured Multiple Funding Rounds, Stayed Silent
It is of course not at all surprising that Wildlight raised money through multiple rounds of investment. The unusual thing is that unlike many other studio startups in the last five years it never publicized the initial investment or subsequent funding...
Onshore Secures $31M Series B for AI Tax Automation
Congrats to Onshore on their $31M Series B! Onshore is building an AI-native platform that replaces manual CPA workflows with continuous, automated tax intelligence. Instead of relying on spreadsheets and fragmented documentation, Onshore automates data collection and analysis while keeping expert...
Anticipate Investor Attacks with a Rude Q&A
When I started WP Engine, I thought I was pretty good at pitching. I had sold millions of dollars of software at Smart Bear, and I’d helped other companies with their pitches and fundraising. But of course it’s different when someone...
Boston Trains AI Founders; SF Steals Them—Others Beware
Boston has the schools. SF has the companies. 21 of the Forbes AI 50 founders went to school in Boston—then left for San Francisco. If SF doesn’t learn from this cautionary tale, Austin and Miami will. https://t.co/pmYxLaYXWy
Bay Relocation Signals Founder Seriousness, Not Random Investor Bias
The hardest core founders have always moved to the Bay -- living in this area is an indication of seriousness. Investors are not drawing from a random sample.
Robinhood Ventures Backs Boom Supersonic, Democrat
Super cool to have @boomsupersonic as one of the first companies in the @RobinhoodApp Ventures fund—democratizing investor access to private companies.
AI Power, Compute, Algorithms Multiply to Shift Leverage
I have a simplified conjecture about AI progress. Your mileage may vary but here it is. f(i) = p × c × a where i=intelligence, p=power, c=compute, a=algorithms, multiplied together. This means neglecting any variable creates a ceiling and any breakthrough compounds...
Ex-Altera CEO Leads Vsora to Challenge Nvidia, AMD
Former Altera CEO Sandra Rivera has joined French AI chip startup @vsora_dsp as chair of the board. I had a chat with her about raising Vsora's profile, raising funding, and competing with Nvidia, AMD and the entire landscape of startups...
Nvidia, Khosla Invest $200M to Power Instant Multilingual AI Agents
Nvidia and Khosla just put $200M into @polyaivoice, and looking at the stats, it makes sense. They already handle 500M+ calls for giants like Marriott & PG&E. Now, you can build a 45-language agent in 5 mins just from a URL. Massive...
Joining Benchmark: Passion for Series A Venture Investing
I’m really excited to share that I’m joining Benchmark. The past two years as a full time investor have been the most rewarding of my career. I really love venture capital, which is not something I ever imagined I’d say when...
Chinese AI Firms Double, Hitting $35B—West Should Follow
china’s two ai model company minimax and zai have grown 2x in public markets in the last month they’re now $30-35b companies surely that should prompt western labs to go public already
SatelliteVu Secures $40M Funding, $8M Preorders
Thermal imaging satellite builder @satellitevu raises GBP 30M ($40.9M) in funding led by @NATOinnovation @BritishBBank @SpaceFrontier #PrestoTechHorizons, bringing total equity raise to $80M. Co has booked pre orders of $8M for HotSat-2, to be launched this yr w/ HotSat 3....
Prioritize Importance and Neglect, Expect Controversy
The only two things @alexblania asks when choosing what to work on: What will be most important? What is neglected? @MollySOShea will correct you on one thing. He doesn't like controversial things. It just so happens that important + neglected often = controversial. Proud...
Multiple Bidders Boost Leverage, Valuation, and Deal Success
A competitive sales process includes multiple buyers bidding against each other, each investing considerable time and resources to win the bid. This competition increases: * Your negotiating leverage * Your valuation * Your probability of a closed deal #founders #pathtoexit
In AI Era, VC Success Hinges on Taste
This. In a world in which AI can generate infinite everything — images, content, you name it — the key differentiator becomes curation, which requires taste to be done well. VC is the ultimate test of taste. I don’t think...
Choose the Letter: Prioritize Product Over Business Wrapper
Are you an envelope entrepreneur or a letter entrepreneur? Someone who's about the container, the business on the outside, or someone who's more focused on the letter, the product inside? You can be both, but I think most are definitely one or...
Content Drives Hiring: 10+ Hires From One Episode
Talked to a @BananaCap_ portfolio company this morning who mentioned they hired 10+ people from their @ThePeelPod episode. Insane how much value you can add for founders when you get really dialed in on content.
Analyst's Report Becomes VC Gospel, Raises Billions
This former analyst turned a single report into Silicon Valley gospel—then she raised billions to rewrite the rules of venture capital.
Deal Success Depends on Info, Not Just Quality
What no one talks about in VC: Getting a deal over the line at your firm requires WAY more than just sourcing a good deal. It requires: 1) Getting the correct information about the startup 2) Pitching that information in a compelling way Many...
CA VC Diversity Law Burdens Founders with Redundant Data Requests
I'm surprised I'm not seeing more public pushback on California's new "Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Act." It applies to *any* VC firm that does business in CA (the bar is met if you've invested in a CA-based...
AI-Powered Accounting Firm Launches Real-Time, Audit-Ready Service
.@Balance1189951 is an AI accounting firm for SMBs delivering real-time, audit-ready bookkeeping and accounting - run by AI, signed off by real accountants. Their agents pull in your financial context and automate your entire back-office finance. Congrats on the launch @mathiaslovring, @EmilMunkD,...
Disrupting Incumbents Is Harder than Hype Suggests
There is an instinct among early stage investors to talk their book like all the big tech incumbents are about to be slayed by an army of $1m ARR startups. Founders, you are smart enough to know this isn’t...
LPs Vet Stanford SPV Leader on Massive Anthropic Deal
OH in Palo Alto: LPs are REFCHECKING a Stanford SPV leader who is MOGGING Tier 1’s and FEEMAXXING at 3/30 on 9-figure DIRECT Anthropic allocations
Unrealized Gains Tax Threatens New Investments Globally
Unrealized gains tax is a mega-drag on new investments. The same reason why the California Asset Seizure Tax by SEIU-UHW is going to destroy startups is happening in the Netherlands. https://t.co/jMgP3ieI2G
Burn Rate Equals Risk; VC Burn Rates at Historic Highs
Burn rate = risk. So of course, this is true. These are the highest burn rates in history of VC. Simple fact. https://t.co/IrsIBd0qDC
AI Adoption Will Drive Multi‑Billion Dollar Subscription and Corporate Spend
AI market/TAM in midterm 1. Most employees will have a free LLM on their desktop; we are moving top team memebrs to two daisy chained Mac studios ($25k total) — easy investment 2. All major models will free for...
Curated Tech Stack Powers Modern Venture Firms
Optimal venture firm tech stack: -Fund Admin: @hanoverpark -Bank/Cards: @FlexSuperApp -CRM: @NotionHQ -Sales tax for port co’s: @numeral -Ski passes: @VailResorts -Travel: @NetJets / @FourSeasons -Everything else: @claudeai
Startups Win by Automating Every Internal Workflow
Today, startups aren't winning by hiring faster, but by automating as many internal functions as possible. In this episode of Main Function, @garrytan breaks down how tiny teams are beating companies 20x their size by building automations into every workflow, from...
Key Signals Founders Need Before Raising Next Round
$40M raised. Series A ready. Episode 232 dives into the real signals founders should look for before raising more capital 👇 https://t.co/0CcjGEIVb9 #SaaS #AI https://t.co/S1vxKwuxiB
ISL Replaces ETL: Intelligence Beats Raw Data Ingestion
Ingest Structure Learn (ISL) is the new ETL. It used to be the case that a company would try to license this kind of data as an “edge”. I’ve seen many companies in SV try to make this claim. That...
Bootstrapping Beats VC Hype for Lasting Wealth
Worst ways to build wealth - thinking a $100M valuation means you have $100M - raising money. period - adding features for 5 years instead of admitting your product sucks - telling yourself "we just need more time" at year 7 - calling yourself a...
Fintech Beats AI in European VC Valuations
While AI dominates headlines with mega-rounds, fintech is quietly leading European VC valuations. Median pre-money for fintech reached €12.4m — 29% higher than AI, and well ahead of SaaS and life sciences. In a hype-driven cycle, investors are rewarding revenue, regulation-ready models...
Pre‑PMF Funding Demands Clear Traction Over Resume
Big splashy pre-PMF rounds happen on big legible ideas and teams with social proof Don’t hate the player hate the game It doesn’t mean you can’t build a big co if you don’t have the right resume but it does mean you...
SF's VC Boom Faces Tax Hike and Lab Bans
SF is the ONLY VC hub with positive company formation growth (+24%) while every other city declines—but an 800% gross receipts tax hike and lab bans threaten to destroy what makes the city special. https://t.co/gVxAtL7zDC
AI Founders & VCs Lack Corporate Experience, Hiring Suffers
you got ai founders who have never worked at a company before getting funding from VCs who have never worked in a company before the new hires are dog shit big problem to be on the lookout for
8-Step Checklist to Nail Any VC Interview
I just put together an 8-step VC interview prep checklist to help you nail any interview... Knowing where to start can be HARD. There are many resources online that will tell you different things. My simple checklist will help you get prepared...
A16z Hiring Leaders to Shape Tech Narrative
This is the part of my job at @a16z that most gets me up in the morning: building an incredible team. We’re hiring for a lot of roles at the moment: Chief of Staff: help me run all our initiatives at...
Investing in Teams to Tackle Food & Nutrition Crisis
Food and nutrition is one of humanities biggest problems right now IMO Would love to invest in more teams working on solving this
Early-Stage Startups Don’t Need Costly Big‑4 Audits
Startups ($25M ARR? Get bids from multiple firms. You do NOT need a Big 4 audit. It does not me you are a legit company before the Big 4 did the audit. No one cares. 2nd tier firm is fine 3...
