We understand most early-stage founders don’t have time or money for fancy investor conferences because they’re too busy putting every minute & dollar into building a great product for raving customers.
If you’re this founder, we want to hear from you!
@lolitataub
💁🏽♀️Investor type: angel syndicate
🔮Thesis: infrastructure software
(no med/health/bio/climate)
🌱Stage: Seed, Series A
💸Check-size: $100k
🙌🏽Leads or follows: follows
🌎Geo: Canada & USA
✉️Contact: link in bio
As deal heat creeps back into markets, investors must stay grounded in a core set of beliefs & values.
At Allied, our core investment values have not wavered, outlined in every investor presentation & investment decision since Day 1 of the firm:
To build a world-class organization, you have to choose world-class partners.
We’re proud to partner with the best-in-class team at
@AngelList
for all of our SPV formation & back-office admin.
Their ability to continuously innovate & elevate the game is truly exceptional👏
@AngelList
We use this feature quite often at
@AlliedVC
and it's been fantastic when working with fellow investors & emerging venture scouts. Thank you
@AngelList
! 👏
We are very excited to share that
@RoundlyX
has raised a new $2M round of financing to further expand operations. Congratulations to the entire team at RoundlyX! Thank you for letting us be a part of your story 🚀🚀
Thanks to our friends at
@hockeystickco
and the
@calgaryeconomic
for the shoutout in the Q1 Calgary Tech Report.
Catch the latest news from the Calgary tech ecosystem…
It's critical that founders & employees understand the basics of VC fundraising given its impact on compensation.
If you're unfamiliar with vesting cliffs, full ratchet dilution, drag along & liquidation preferences, read:
1) Secrets of Sand Hill Road
2) Venture Deals
The most effective way to ask an investor for an intro:
- build a spreadsheet of the individual VCs you want to connect with
- column 2: link to their LinkedIn
- column 3: a related investment of theirs
- attach a short blurb they can forward
You'll 10x your intros 🚀
Thrilled to share that
@Roqad_official
has raised a $7M Series A investment round! Thank you to our new investors:
@dnx_jp
,
@aperiamventures
, and
@OCAVentures
... 🚀This milestone is a testament to the hard work of all our Roq-stars over the years. Let's celebrate then onward
If you previously raised money on SAFEs and are now looking to do your first equity raise in 2023, a term you'll likely hear from investors is "SAFE Overhang"
What is it and why is it important to understand? Let's dive in 👇
How do we create a stronger tech ecosystem?
It's not only about investing in startups, accelerators & incubators. We must complete the ecosystem by moving more VC funding *into* the city. We can do this by investing into local emerging fund managers
Fundraising = rocket fuel 🚀
🚨Buyout Accepted🚨
@InvestVint
has agreed to sell the 'Bowmore Cask Collection' for $120,166🥃
The cask was initially offered to investors for $94,000 on 9/29/21.
The sale results in a 29.54% ROI or 35.49% annualized (net of fees and taxes)
Who we choose to partner with has an immense impact on our overall success.
Congrats to the team at
@AngelList
on a stellar year, and thank you for being such a great partner 👏
Being an angel investor is pretty awesome:
Waking up each morning to a 1-on-1 education from founders who are experts in their field.
It's like seeing the future before it happens.
As angel investors, it’s essential to recognize that some VCs don’t have the same incentives as you.
Most play the AUM (Assets Under Management) game, and you must understand how that impacts their decision-making
Here’s how it works:
Angel investing often gets a bad rep for generating mediocre returns. But only because most new angels start out doing it wrong.
Our mission is to change that.
After millions$ invested into dozens of companies, here are 4 of the most common mistakes we've seen from new angels👇
There’s a major shift that’s happened in early-stage financing.
Just a few years ago, the funding market was white hot. Investors were writing checks after just a few screening calls (sometimes only 1!) and a quick peek into the data room.
Now, tighter economic conditions have
Founder Q&A: "I'm considering a SAFE vs. priced round. What are the pros & cons of each?"
If you're a startup founder yet to raise a Series A, the SAFE is an attractive option, but there are some intricacies you should be aware of.
Here are the Top Pros & Cons of each...
Today I attended a startup’s ‘board meeting’ in London but the thing is, this startup doesn’t have an official BOD. Instead, they invite a rotating group of current and potential investors, mentors and super-fans to attend these quarterly meetings where they discuss strategy and
It's been a long journey to get
@zensports
up and running in the US, but today I'm beyond thrilled to announce that
@KeyStarCorp
has officially received a sports betting license to begin operating ZenSports in Tennessee! Go-live date is set for early June
@justingordon212
Our
@LauraLenz
gets a lot of love for her metrics hot sheet - might not be the same for everyone, but these are the ones she prioritizes as an investor.
📣Introducing the all-new
#AlliedVP
Scout Program – Unlocking a New Way to Invest in Startups...
Know a great founder raising their Seed or Series A? We want to know!
Learn more & get started 👇
Incredible number of companies are hiring on
@FoundersBeta
Get in touch if you're exploring new opportunities in marketing, sales, product, software, and more. 👋🏻
Location: Canada & USA 🇨🇦🇺🇸
🎉Today we're thrilled to announce more than $1M+ invested into tech startups!
Thank you founders for choosing to partner with us as you build world-class companies, and to all those investors, friends & advisors who continue to support our mission.
Every founder should prioritize basic media training.
None of us are naturally born public speakers, yet the ability to sell, captivate, persuade, and inspire others is critical to startup success.
First-time founders focus on product
Multi-time founders focus on distribution
Sales & distribution is the critical unlock for every business
Distribution is 👑
The narrative in tech doesn't always have to be about raising VC and going big or going home. There are lots of successful teams out there bootstrapping great capital efficient businesses.
Seeing several of our
#fintech
and
#insurtech
companies wrap up successful early-stage fundraises. Magic number of investors talked to for them all before closing out the round was 100-120 different firms...
1) Make sure your cap table is up-to-date and reflects the company's current ownership structure.
Use cap table software like LTSE, Carta or Shareworks to streamline the process.👇
was asked by a founder to share my Series A tracker so I'm outsourcing it - Firm names are who I researched, I suggest you do your own research around the right partners. But this should help you track and manage your fundraise process.
Glad the
@theallinpod
&
@DavidSacks
covered venture debt in the last ep. It definitely is something founders get wrong too often. I was a venture debt lender in 99/00.
For founders, here is a quick primer:
10) The Ask: "We're raising $500k on a $5M post-money cap SAFE with a 20% discount. This will get us to 50 paying customers and $250k ARR in 12 months."
Focus on key growth metrics & traction milestones, like MoM customer acquisitions, user volume, revenue growth, CAC, etc.
The Rule of 30: pitch at least 30 investors before deciding whether or not to continue fundraising.
If you consistently hear the same message, it's time to reassess the pitch. Remember, it only takes one key investor to believe in you and get the ball rolling.
Lots of companies at $10m ARR never hit $100m ARR
But I don't personally know any with 80%+ growth and 100%+ NRR at $10m that didn't get there eventually
If that's you at $10m ARR .. Go Long
To the founders grinding it out this holiday season, we’re open for business and want to hear from you!
We’re actively investing throughout November & December. No beaches, cocktail parties or ski trips. If you’re working, we’re working.
Hit us up👉
Fundraising over the holidays is tough, so reach out to VCs *before* the holiday break and schedule meetings for the new year. Get on their radar and start the relationship-building process as early as possible to hit the ground running in 2023.
Founders remember: VCs have to make the spreadsheet math work, you have to make the business math work. You might be on the same cap table, but your goals are very different.
As a startup ecosystem, we should spend more time celebrating milestones, like new key hires & customer growth, instead of only focusing on funding rounds.
Customers don't care about how much money a company has raised, its valuation, or how many employees it has.
Customers only care about themselves, and how your product makes their lives happier & easier.
"Investor updates" is a misnomer for early stage startups.
You write them to attract new investors, not just update the current ones.
So, write them even if you don't have investors yet and you're writing into the void.
Make room for angel investors. We've seen angels with $1k checks open doors to funding rounds worth millions $
Early angels can be your biggest supporters & cheerleaders. You often can't afford to hire them, yet they'll pay you to help.
People like to talk about the importance of "vision," but ultimately running a startup is like doing science: you have to follow the truth wherever it leads. Vision is only valuable insofar as it predicts where you'll find truth.
@neofinancial
Learn the basics of personal finance & investing as early in life as possible. This knowledge will continue to compound and pay dividends for decades.
Most successful entrepreneurs don't start by raising VC funding. They sell real solutions to real customers for real money.
Build a great product with raving customers, and when it's time to scale, investors will find you.