Social•Feb 20, 2026
Envisioning the Next Generation of Frontier AI Labs
Thinking a bunch about frontier AI labs and what a new kind of lab might look like.
By Hiten Shah
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Beyond VCs: Early Startups Can Secure $250K+ Checks
VCs aren’t the only INVESTORS that can write you a $250K+ check. If you’re EARLY, start targeting these people: - Family offices - Angel investors (owners, doctors, lawyers, etc.) - Corporate balance sheet investors
By Sherrard Harrington
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Thrive Secures $10B, Benchmark Lands Altman Deal
Big Wins for Two of Venture's Most Envied Firms: $10 Billion for Thrive & an Altman for Benchmark https://lnkd.in/eeuCamvv
By Eric Newcomer
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Transparency with Investors Fuels Trust and Ongoing Support
Keep your existing investors updated with your progress. Transparency builds trust and can lead to further support and referrals. Regular updates show your commitment and keep investors engaged in your journey. 🤝
By Gale Wilkinson
Social•Feb 20, 2026
2026: First SAFE to Convert at 20% Premium
Calling it now: 2026 will bring the first SAFE that converts at a 20% PREMIUM to the next round. We’ve officially reached that part of the cycle.
By Josh Kopelman
Social•Feb 20, 2026
EU Deep‑Tech Startups Secure €467M, Boosting Women Leaders
61 EU start-ups secured €467M from the European Innovation Council. Out of 121 finalists, 61 won grants and equity, and 85% received blended finance. The EIC Fund often attracts 3x more private capital, and 28% of selected companies have women in top...
By Ask Dr. Brown
Social•Feb 20, 2026
VC Valuations Driven by Fund Size, Not Market Reality
Most VC's price startups based primarily on their fund size, which drive their comfortable check size and target ownership. They then try to convince founders that a certain round size and valuation is "market" for their type of company and...
By Rob Go
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Fintech Team @Fintechaaron Gains On‑Chain Momentum
This is a team to watch. I have to say, after some initial skepticism, the drive and vision of @fintechaaron and the @rhythmic_io team won me over. Financial services are coming onchain. Excited for @thefintechfund to invest alongside @dragonfly_xyz and @deptvc. 🚀 https://t.co/YWI00yxELS
By Nik Milanovic
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Founders Mistake Product Flaws for Growth Issues
lesson from 20+ years working in startups: most founders don’t have a growth problem. they have a product problem disguised as a growth problem
By Andrew Chen
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Altesa Secures $75M for Lung Drug, Led by Ex‑Trump Official
Altesa, run by former Trump official, raises $75M for well-traveled lung drug https://t.co/bUx5dcvNJy by @gwendolynawu #biotech #startups
By Ben Fidler
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Technical Founder‑Led Pre‑AI Software Firms Are Grossly Undervalued
Scaled pre-AI software companies led by technical founders that are still very engaged in the business are probably some of the most undervalued companies in the world right now
By Turner Novak
Social•Feb 19, 2026
YC Backs 20% of $5B+ Startups Since 2012
New @ThePeelPod with @GarryTan YC has invested in 20% of all startups worth $5B+ started since 2012. We talked for 83 minutes on the past, present, and future of YC. Thanks @numeral and @FlexSuperApp for sponsoring this one Timestamps: 0:05 Moving from Winnipeg to...
By Turner Novak
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Master SPV Terms: Build Trust & Clear Fee Communication
Chatting all things SPVs today with @JuliaGKrieger and the @sydecario team. Join us in a few hours as we discuss: - How LPs evaluate SPV terms - What builds trust (vs raises red flags) - How managers communicate fees clearly and credibly. -...
By Dave Sachse
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Momentum.io Showcases Enterprise AI's True Work System
Congratulations to Santiago Suarez Ordoñez , Ashley Wilson , Moiz Virani , and the entire Momentum.io team. It’s been a privilege to support you on this journey. Momentum embodied several themes we consistently look for in native AI companies: --> Replacing the...
By Mark Roberge
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Entrepreneurial Mindset Now Essential for Venture Capital Success
Thrive just announced a new $10B fund. “[early on] a very prominent endowment passed on Thrive because they thought I was too much of an entrepreneur.” — @JoshuaKushner via @patrick_oshag’s pod I’m biased but believe an entrepreneurial mindset is increasingly important in...
By Ryan Hoover
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Finalizing Top 100 Biotech VCs, Join 2026 Webinar
We're wrapping up the fact checking process for our annual Top 100 biotech VCs list and prepping for our companion webinar on VC investing in 2026. If this is a topic near and dear to your heart, be sure to...
By John Carroll
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Ebay Sale Sparked Creation of Twitch and Cruise
From tomorrow's @ThePeelPod with @garrytan: A startup in the very first YC batch sold itself on Ebay. This got the attention of Kyle Vogt, who ended up joining them to start their next company, Twitch. Kyle then went on to then...
By Turner Novak
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Growth Hack 2026: Let AI Agents Recommend You
the best growth hack in 2026 will be to build something so good that AI agents recommend it to users Not word of mouth… word of agent
By Andrew Chen
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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.....
By Ryan Allis
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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...
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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?
By Mike Maples Jr.
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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.
By Paul Graham
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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...
By Michael Eisenberg
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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. :)
By Ryan Hoover
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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....
By Jarrid Tingle
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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...
By Henri Pierre-Jacques
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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
By Tor “SolarFred” Valenza
Social•Feb 18, 2026
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...
By Ethan Gach
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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...
By Jason Cohen
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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
By Garry Tan
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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.
By Arianna Simpson
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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.
By Blake Scholl
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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...
By Chamath Palihapitiya
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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...
By Sally Ward-Foxton
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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...
By Data Chaz
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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...
By Jack Altman
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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
By Nathan Benaich
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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....
By Peter B. de Selding
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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...
By Seth Bannon
Social•Feb 17, 2026
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
By Michael Lyon
Social•Feb 16, 2026
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...
By Arianna Simpson
Social•Feb 16, 2026
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...
By Jason Fried
Social•Feb 16, 2026
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.
By Turner Novak
Social•Feb 16, 2026
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.
By rich_toad
Social•Feb 15, 2026
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...
By Nicole DeTommaso
Social•Feb 15, 2026
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...
By Ashley Mayer
Social•Feb 14, 2026
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...
By Michael Seibel
Social•Feb 14, 2026
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
By Turner Novak
Social•Feb 14, 2026
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
By Garry Tan
Social•Feb 14, 2026
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
By Bill Gurley