Why we decided to invest $10,000 in one startup at a TRILLION dollar valuation.

Last year, we got about $1,000 in commitments for a startup experiment. HeadyFoods won our first contest and received the funds in exchange for .0001% equity. It was a billion dollar valuation for doing customer development.

MARCH 2017: (Trilvalchal is over, but we have other, non traditional opportunities for founders to get funding, here. I encourage you to read below, all of our offers have the same general goal — bribe entrepreneurs to learn, while providing an opportunity to those who are being ignored by the global ecosystem)

This year we are raising the stakes. We are raising $10,000 for one team (we have $5,000 in firm pledges from international superstars) and we plan on giving it to one team at a TRILLION dollar valuation, the only catch is that they will have to work hard and show some discipline. 64 teams will enter. They will go through a tournament of leanstartup challenges and one will get $10,000 in cash, mentoring from David J Bland, Mike Fishbein, Daniel M. Harrison and more, as well as non cash prizes like $1,200 in credit from OneNine.

Here’s why we are investing $10,000 in one #leanstartup at a TRILLION dollar valuation!

1. Leanstartup is the most intelligent, important and necessary thing to happen to innovation in a long long time. It is also a bit like the kid who asked the teacher for homework at the end of class when the teacher forgot to give it. Whenever I teach or mentor, I try to keep it real, knowing fully that testing a hypothesis, and starting with the problem not the solution were not the things that got my heart racing… bottom line, we are trying to have a little fun! (and dare I say it, trick entrepreneurs into learning:).
2. To continue to address the question of equality in tech, startups, and life. I think the problem is clear, but I do not know the solution. The trilvalchal is going to be one way we can experiment with ways to improve representation. It is not just about applications and representation but changing the whole ecosystem to be more fair (and as a result, more valuable). I think the entries in the tournament are going to be blind to judges — we will work this out before we start (cc Melissa Perri is in charge of this experiment).
3. To emphasize learning over scale in early stage investing. Don’t know your market size right now? No problem… We want to accelerate learning while we decelerate waste. Blitzlearning before blitzscaling.
4. To be polarizing. I always struggle with this one… I try not to be contrarian for the sake of being contrarian… but I also agree with the fact that if you try and please everyone, you end up pleasing no one. Guy Kawasaki says “Don’t be afraid to polarize people” and in this case it is so true. Some of the people I respect most in this space, think the trilvalchal is the dumbest thing they have ever heard of. Others think it is brilliant. They are both probably right. Paul Graham has another saying about getting 1 yes and 9 no’s rather than 10 maybes. Ask for forgiveness not for permission!
5. Speaking of forgiveness… we want to put into practice and act on the rest of the principles we espouse and teach to our mentees… Be aggressive with experimentation, with the following rules… Don’t be a jerk, if you are experimenting on someone — make sure to leave them somewhere IN BETWEEN better off than they were before they knew of you and as good as you promised them, don’t do anything that you wouldn’t want on the front page of the NYT.
6. Because it’s no crazier to give one #leanstartup team 10k at a billion dollar valuation than it is to give a regular team 100k at a 1m valuation on just an idea/vision.
7. It is a two sided market… whenever I mentor, these are always the most fun puzzles to solve. What is the riskiest assumption? Which side feels more pain? What are the dependencies?
8. To test a few hypotheses of our own about leanstartup (watch this space).
9. To identify and bring together other like minded folks in the space… (this has been validated already — so fun!)
10. To continue to keep HeadyFoods in the spotlight — they were champs last year and were the epitome of an early adopter. They earned the right. Traffic for the sake of traffic is a vanity metric — but we want to help them keep learning:)
11. To find 100–1000 new problems to solve in all corners of the world (along with the entrepreneurs to solve them). I just got back from Istanbul, Burak’s event inspires me every year. Watch this space.
12. To find out who made this video (and thank them)
13. To promote the mentors, sponsors and investors who see that our crazy idea that looks like a random gimmick, is a carefully constructed symphony designed to solve the biggest problems in startups and the world. Thanks so far to eamonncarey Obaid Ahmed Burak Buyukdemir Wissam Otaky Daan Weddepohl Steven H. Seggie
14. To promote the milvalchal — where we invest in all startups who do 100 customer development interviews…
15. To see just how far one team can go with $10,000 when they are testing the right things, the right way!

Apply now for $10,000 in mentorsourced funding.