May 20, 2020Member-onlyStrapi raises $10M led by Index Ventures for open source CMSThe ways in which you create, manage and deploy content are evolving at high speed; one of the companies at the forefront of this movement is open source darling Strapi (1M downloads on npm, 25K stars on GitHub, 400+ contributors, 13K commits etc). The company has just raised a solid…Open Source3 min readOpen Source3 min read
May 16, 2020Clubhouse, Hype & StartupsClubhouse blew up within VC circles a few weeks ago. Invite-only and with reportedly only 5,000 users, it is already being hyped as the next Twitter or Snapchat. On trend and on theme, Clubhouse leverages the last unused social channel (voice) at a time when people are tired of seeing…Clubhouse3 min readClubhouse3 min read
May 14, 2020Member-onlyStartup founders to VCs: Level Up!Yesterday I asked a simple question on Twitter: “if you could make the “venture capital product” a better experience for founders — what would you change?” Boy, was I in for a treat. Bryan Birsic’s comment gave me a clue” “I think I need a whiskey for this one ;)”…Founders8 min readFounders8 min read
Published inMarker·Apr 17, 2020Member-onlyThe VC Barbarians Are ComingThe economic crisis could mean a resurgence of convoluted term sheets that leave founders with nothing — I hate complicated terms in venture investments. Value is created by backing exceptional companies that return your fund, not by wordsmithing aggressive legal agreements. …Startup8 min readStartup8 min read
Apr 3, 2020Developing leaders in a time of crisisYour staff members are working from home and you’re adapting to running your business in distributed mode. You need new leaders around you like never before. Here’s some thoughts on how you can enable that. Most of your startup team members will fall into the camp of individual contributors, especially…Leadership3 min readLeadership3 min read
Mar 25, 2020Confused — are VCs open for business?Entrepreneurs would be forgiven to be confused by the mixed messages they are getting right from the venture world, with emphatic declarations of “we are open for business” combined with fast evaporating meeting schedules. The answer of course is, it depends. Any VC with a fresh pool of capital will…Venture Capital2 min readVenture Capital2 min read
Feb 24, 2020Yes, we have a brand too.A look at our purpose in life and the values we want to live by. — Recently I dropped a post about the need for startups to invest more in their brands. VCs as usual would do well to heed their own advice, so I wanted to share the process we’ve been through with Stride. …5 min read5 min read
Feb 21, 2020Startups — invest in your brand!When you start a company, life’s hard but it’s also, in some ways, easy. Small teams running hard to get a product to market, seamless communications, real-time feedback loops. As companies grow, complexity increases. As you hire more people, you’re changing the DNA of your company in subtle ways as…Startup4 min readStartup4 min read
Jan 2, 2020Find yourself — a few concepts that helped meIf life is a beautiful arc of experiences, from birth through death, most of us seem to spend most of it stumbling forward, trying to make sense of the beautiful gift we were given. …Self Improvement4 min readSelf Improvement4 min read
Oct 2, 2019Backing Impala — the universal hotel APIAh! Online travel! The most penetrated e-commerce segment, yet still so full of opportunities. So innovative and yet so broken. I think of some of the massive game changers in recent years and how much road has already been covered. From the early days of Expedia and its wizard packaging…Travel4 min readTravel4 min read
