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Colin Gardiner Profile
Colin Gardiner

@ColinGardiner

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991
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794
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Marketplace geek. GP of @yonderventures Podcast: @wannabe_Angels Former @Outdoorsy @Tripping @ancestry @justanswer

Austin TX
Joined January 2010
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Relaunching my personal website, it's going to be bigger and better. If you like startup and marketplace content and maybe a podcast, you should sign up. Launch post coming soon so get in now 👇
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
5 months
I have three dad friends at school dropoff. We fist bump and banter. I have no idea what their names are. My wife is shocked. Its a guy thing to be friends and not know their name right?
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Let's see how the @chatgpttrader from @JoinAutopilot_ does! Is mailbox money achievable?
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
VC: Who are your investors? Bootstrapped Founder: Visa, Amex...
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
7 months
First-Time Founder: I cant share my idea because someone will steal it. Please sign an NDA. Repeat Founder: I need to tell everyone about this idea to validate it and get them to help me. Execution is everything and its HARD! Best to do it with other people!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
7 months
Where did all the angel investors go? Angel investor participation has apparently been dropping in venture deals for years. Data from @PitchBook /NVCA showing deal and dollar amounts declining. What do we think is driving it? h/t @jaydimonte for sharing
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
6 months
If you are asked by an investor what your revenue is, the answer typically should start with a number.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
6 months
@nickgraynews Classic dude move. Forgets to text. 😂 Keep them coming!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Who is building a marketplace? I want to learn about it! Introduce yourself below or tag a friend!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
6 months
Got on a call where I thought I was pitching an LP and then they started pitching me a startup.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
5 months
@andrewglynch Bro 1, Bro 2 and Bro 3
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
@TaraViswanathan Hire them for a project with specific deliverables and tell him to shoot his shot.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Founders keep cold emailing 🫡
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
@kariLOU88 Warm cheese sticks are gross though. Speaking as a parent who has eaten A LOT of them.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
7 months
@Jason If its outside of Texas they should pay you to eat it. 😜
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Marketplace founders your GMV is not your “revenue.”
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
10 months
I think @mercury is magic. Took less than an hour to get setup and approved for multi-member LLC. Account already funded too. 👏 Great stuff @immad !
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 month
@brickywhat We moved to Austin at the beginning of 2018. The day before we left, our car window got smashed, and nothing was in the car. It felt apropos to leave.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
5 months
@ScottSmithNY Totally just shake hands like its the first time you met
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
@anothercohen Put it on the business credit card
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
11 months
Startup Pitch Deck Drinking Game Drink when someone says or pitch deck says… - Disruptive - $0 CAC - 1% marketshare What else should we add? 🍻
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Made it to 1k 🎉
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Investor updates… Monthly until you raise a seed round. Quarterly after your seed round. What do you think?
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
What to Look for in an Angel Investor? If you're an founder/entrepreneur seeking funding, finding the right angel investor can be a game-changer. They can be a catalyst for your fundraising round. Here are some things to look for 👇
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
50% of pre-seed angel checks are <$25K As of March 2023, the median check size is $30K, according to @cartainc
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Angel investing is so addicting. I just want to make more $ so I can invest more. 🤷‍♂️ .01% of founders is still a ton of people/companies!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
I think the design of the @AngelList fund products is under appreciated. What once seemed so complicated is so accessible now. Software at its finest.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
@HarryStebbings D2C is a channel it is not a business
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
@kariLOU88 Unfortunately also true
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
What if the biggest barrier to success for startups isn't a lack of funding or resources, but rather the inability to effectively navigate the complex and often contradictory advice given by mentors, founders, operators, investors, and industry experts?
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
6 months
Founders keep fundraising EVEN if you have any a term sheet, acquisition offer, etc. Just had a portco lose a lead at the 11th hour. Time kills deals and it's not done until then money hits the bank account.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
5 months
@TheTruthfulSEO Bros 4 lyfe now but wouldn't ever know if it was there birthday.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
@Jason Austin would be great
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
This never gets old at all!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
@darrenmarble I don’t know look at those views. Feels like the universe is telling us something.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
3 months
@WizLikeWizard And here I am thinking I need to get a real logo
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Marketplaces in the 0 to 1 phase… I would rather see transactions and an excel sheet than a built product with no transactions. PMF is transactions and therefore liquidity begets traction. Customers don’t want a cool website with no or non-liquid inventory.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
The wait is finally over. We have teased it enough... 🥁 @TheRideshareGuy and I are excited to share a podcast we have been working on called...
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
This table is the Holy Grail for marketplace fundraising. I share it with founders all the time to help set expectations. @fabricegrinda and @FjLabs put this table together in 2021, but it is still highly relevant though discounting the valuations a smidge.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
6 months
First angel check written for the year. Fun to do things totally outside of the scope of the fund. Don't expect to do many of them.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
I keep seeing startups say “we are profitable” and then a second later say they have x months runway. Big difference in being unit economic profitable and being cash flow profitable.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
8 months
Announcement #1 for 2024 I’m happy to share the public launch of Longtail! We have been in a not so secret beta with a select group of stellar customers. I am even more excited to be partnering with longtime colleague @c1if_ on this venture who is the real SEO 🧠 behind
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Episode 7 is live! 🔥 “The people who write the $1k, $2k check are the most helpful at supporting the founder[s]” - Brian Nichols ( @b_nicks11 ) on how smaller angel checks can be the most impactful for founders.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
The startup community is full of brilliant, driven, and inspiring people. But it's also full of egos, hype, and BS. Learn to tell the difference.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Marketplace founders! All that matters early stage is getting liquidity and therefore transactions. Beautiful product is cool and all but show me the GMV. Marketplaces enable distribution (supply) and discovery (demand) if the marketplace isn't feeling pulled by either of
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
If you want to be on my Austin Startup List please like this Tweet. Also please retweet to increase visibility 🙏
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Question @agazdecki have you ever thought about putting @microacquire for sale on your own marketplace?
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
@MartinGTobias 👋 Investing through as a syndicate typically $25-100k with heavy focus on marketplaces, platforms and vertical SaaS.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Seems like a lot of marketplaces I am meeting are based in Austin None in Miami...
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Rebrand coffee shops as the next WeWork charge low subscription fee for sitting at specific tables.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Startup life: where you work 80 hours a week to avoid working a 9-5 job
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Automatically adding sales people to my newsletter that cold email me. You spam me I spam you 🫡 Unintended positive is that they seem to comment and share the content presumably to get in my good graces.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
The first deal is complete for Yonder Ventures! We snuck this in right before the end of the year and couldn't be more excited. Whether you are selling a product or service or syndicating investments in promising startups, the first one is always special!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Excited to be one of the early LPs!
@Yoroomie
Yoroomie
1 year
I’m excited to share some big news. Today we’re announcing Marketplace Capital ( @marketplacevc ), which is our new $10M venture fund for backing early stage marketplaces. Here’s more about it & why I’m so excited:
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
5 months
@PGEgan And you likely never hangout outside of that setting. It is pretty wild.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
How to build a 200+ person syndicate in less than 6 months. 👇
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 months
@sweatystartup But where do you dump it…
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
6 months
I don't get why founders keep flocking to a vertical and think they are going to make a better mouse trap than the other 20-30 companies trying to do the same thing. I would feel most comfortable finding something that is overlooked.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 months
In case anyone was worried we are still in the early days of software adoption. This is Costco.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
6 months
Turns out you get a lot more deal flow when you write checks.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
5 months
While my fellow dad bros are here you should look at buying one of these for your kids. 👇 Invente by my wife and hopefully puts the kids through college.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
@anothercohen “Always Half Full” over here
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
@gokulr My experience is typically the opposite. I am a bigger fan of fractional talent if can't get FTE.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
🚨Marketplace valuation and fundraising table! I get asked daily by marketplaces about which valuations they should raise at.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
5 months
I never thought I'd call myself a VC… but then I learned about @sydecario . When I started investing in startups, I did so to invest in friends' companies and to learn about how other early-stage companies were building (and hopefully take some tips for the companies I was
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
@justingordon212 Already active! Mostly investing in marketplaces, platforms, fintechs, and insurtechs through . Syndicate focused on mostly companies I advise.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
5 months
@LpWhisperer These are my best friends
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
11 months
Nothing feels better than making great investor <> founder matches. @AmberIllig getting lots of great callouts today in my DMs! 👏 If you want to hear more about her and @TheCouncilCap checkout the @wannabe_Angels Angels episode link. cc: @brickywhat
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
13 days
@alexiskold I personally don’t see how that is a good indicator. The order of the slide doesn’t change the team composition/background at all. I understand the point about “why should I listen to you” though and it makes sense.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
For my SEOs out there enjoying the end of the year
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
7 months
One of the best parts about pre-seed investing is getting a text like this from a founder. Huge milestone in my book. Even more sweet when the team does it with minimal funding and a super lean team. World is their oyster.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Marketplace investor sentiment chart
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
7 months
Questions I would ask investors before getting a term sheet: - What is your ownership targets? - Do you reserve for follow-on and if so how much is typically reserved? - What % of your term sheets are accepted and completed? - What is avg valuation for signed term sheets? - What
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
9 months
When I see a marketplace with great unit economics, organic growth loops and strong network effects.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Reminder to support your friends’ business ventures because one day you will need them to do the same.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Marketplaces... Q: Chicken or the Egg? A: Who cares fake one of them
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
4 months
11 amazing calls on @useintro already! All five-star reviews as well. Today, I had the privilege of helping a marketplace founder trying to plan their Pre-Seed round by offering a structured way to go about doing it. My 3 takeaways from this call: 1) Not everyone knows what
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
33.3333333% of my syndicated deals came from inbound Twitter DM. Turns out amazing deal flow is right here and you just need compelling content. What are you waiting for?
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Angel investing: where you pretend to be a millionaire and invest in startups that are probably going to fail, but hey, at least you get to call yourself an 'Angel' on your X profile. 💸
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
The CEO of a big company just subscribed to my newsletter LFG!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
7 months
Hot Take: Most people who want to angel invest shouldn't and should just allocate to funds. At least to start. Access to quality and breadth of deal flow is low, check sizes aren't big enough and portfolio size is a challenge. Get some exposure from LPing in funds and then
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Founders your next round should give you at least 18 months if not 24 months of runway. Need to be close to default alive unless stellar metrics allow for different strategy.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
I was so impressed with the @AngelList syndicate product I had to launch my own. If you want to invest in great early stage marketplaces. Come join the fun!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
(🧵 on fundraising for a startup) Fundraising is a crucial step for startups. Here are four core principles to remember that can help you succeed.👇
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Having worked at the Fed I learned intimately that everything is about trust hence FDIC. Fundamentals are a meme. Words are cheap. Not passing judgment but need a notable figure to step in and backstop.
@msuster
Mark Suster
2 years
1/ More in the VC community need to speak out publicly to quell the panic about @SVB_Financial ... I believe their CEO when he says they are solvent and not in violation of any banking ratios & goal was to raise & strengthen balance sheet
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
I love helping startups but also humbling to get this recognition! Thank you @Techstars ! Specifically @iamamoslee @CarolineTosbath
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
First customer signed for new product. Feels real good.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Who are the startup founders to know/follow in Austin?
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
7 months
I don’t see why this is such a wildly unpopular opinion. If you don’t wanna do a model don’t do a model. I do think the exercise of building even a basic one is valuable and can save a lot of heartache. You wouldn't build a product without talking to customers and I don't
@jefielding
Jenny Fielding
7 months
Financial models are back! For years founders rolled their eyes when I asked them to take me thru the model…. ‘I mean we have one, but we are pre-seed so it doesn’t mean anything’ Yikes noooo.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Its been a busy week with @yonderventures and @sydecario
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
This never gets old at all!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Why do marketplaces have super big gross revenue numbers but make so little net revenue? Something seems fishy… Love or hate them, marketplaces differ from other businesses because they facilitate transactions.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Start with a niche! For marketplaces, it is essential to constrain to stay ruthlessly focused and to build liquidity for a specific use case. This is point #1 in my latest post, "Building Liquidity in Your Labor Marketplace."
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Weekend starting off right.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
10 months
Marketplaces are harder than SaaS. There I said it! Agree or disagree 👇
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
It’s not much but thank you to my 800 followers. Next stop 1k. 🫡
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Early-stage marketplace valuations 👇 If I had to break down valuations for marketplaces in the pre-seed/seed market, here is what I see pre-money:
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
You know what doesn't get old? Helping a startup and being there when the customers finally start paying. Love it every single time. It gets me going.
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
9 months
@shl If you are a marketplace like @gumroad then @yonderventures is also writing checks!
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
2 years
Rough morning… My son lost his Pokémon card binder. Turns out he left it on the playground on Friday afternoon. My wife ran over and checked to see if it was there. It was gone… My son was heartbroken. I said all the normal conciliatory phrases but also told him have
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@ColinGardiner
Colin Gardiner
1 year
Angel investor/advisor dopamine hit Living for those shout outs!
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