Did you hear the news? Fossil fuels and deep sea oil rigs are all the rage these days when it comes to ESG investing. Forget doubling down on electric vehicles, renewable energy, solar etc… All we have to do to save the world is invest in Environmentally, Socially, Governance responsible companies…like Exxon. It looks like the entire climate change problem will solve itself. If you didn’t catch the dripping sarcasm, you probably haven’t been watching the news much (or just too much Hannity). In case you missed it, the S&P 500 (the gold standard of public market investing) recently dropped ..read more

The world is going to hell in a handbasket. Temperatures are rising, extreme weather events too, and we all know what will happen if warming exceeds the 1.5C “safe-ish” threshold set by innumerable climate experts to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Thankfully, although much of the world has simply failed to react and continues with “business as usual” when it comes to consumption, commerce, energy etc…, many startups and entrepreneurs have decided to take matters into their own hands rather than wait for “governments to solve the problem.” It is a good thing too, because regardless ..read more

It is common knowledge these days that climate change is real and that the dangerously fast warming threatening our world is due to greenhouse gas emissions – man made emissions… and yes Fox News, that is in fact a fact. The signs are all around us. Thankfully, the world is FINALLY waking up to the risks and realities of climate change, even as we march (sprint?) headlong toward the 1.5C goal/limit scientists have set for humanity to avoid the truly catastrophic effects of increased warming. Whether we succeed in curbing this seemingly unstoppable rise in global temperatures set to kick off ma ..read more

Investing in startups is an outlier sport. You’re either average – which generally means below the public markets – or you’re extraordinary. You either invest in the great companies that make up 95% of venture returns, or you don’t. The problem is, to get into the very best companies – the Googles, the Airbnbs, the WhatsApps of the world, you need to be early. And you need to be fast. The best companies have venture capitalists clamoring over one another to throw money at the founders and invest. And as an angel investor, you can’t compete with that. You can’t compete with Sequoia’s $15M Serie ..read more

If you are reading this blog, you know that venture capital is a power law game. Venture investors invest in ten companies hoping one returns the losses of the other nine many times over.  And they have to because so many startups and small businesses fail. But to really understand the implications and motivations of venture capital, you need to first get your head around the concept of carry – the upside that VCs have when investing in startups. As a quick refresher: most VC firms operate on a 2/20 principle: 2% management fees, 20% carry. This dates back to the days of ocean voyages and ..read more

I was recently advising a client in an incredibly competitive industry – think hundreds of millions raised, huge players in every major market, multi-billion dollar valuations… Suffice it to say, it’s a pretty crowded space they’re trying to break into. To make matters worse, they weren’t all that differentiated… their USP was weak. Which was the first thing I pointed out. As a founder, if you can’t explain in 10s why you’re totally different from the competition, you’re toast. You’re not going to get meetings, you’re not going to get traction, you’re going to be lost in a sea of similar. My b ..read more

If you are reading this, you’re probably a startup founder. And if you’re a founder, you probably have big hopes and dreams – aspirations of what you want your business to be and what you want to create in the world. Whether it is a pure profit play like the next photo sharing app or selling a billion iPhone dongles or something more mission-driven like curing cancer or social media that doesn’t make kids suicidal (hint hint Zuck), there is a long way to go from your rough napkins sketches and early prototypes that define every startup venture to achieving that goal. The question is: How? How ..read more

Welcome to Startupland, the world of wild rides, IPOs and exits, heartbreak and highly caffeinated coding frenzies, all while struggling to stay alive, build a business, beat the competition and be able to afford more than Ramen. Amidst all of this chaos, this is probably your first startup rodeo and you’re learning everything as you race along. Hence this startup glossary, a list of basic startup, fundraising and venture capital terminology designed to help sure up your weak spots and help you hold your own when having high stakes conversations – like speaking to potential investors, acquirer ..read more

Influencer marketing is one of my favorite promotional strategies. Nothing beats a tried and true recommendation from someone you know, like and respect. And that’s what influencers are – at least the ones that don’t whore themselves out to the highest bidder and flaunt any and every product on Instagram… The truth about influencer marketing is that it can be THE most powerful marketing channel to grow your business (outside of customer word of mouth, of course, which you can engineer with these 9 product hacks). But it only works if you do it right. First of all, DON’T pay for product recomme ..read more

Are you an ex-operator, tech professional or other high net worth individual interested in diversifying your portfolio and investing in high-growth tech startups looking to change the world? If so, I have great news. After years on pause following the shutdown of The Syndicate podcast (my old podcast where I interviewed 100s of the world’s top VCs and angel investors) and investor SPV group thanks to some personal issues that pulled me away from angel investing, I’m relaunching The Syndicate angel group for angels and aspiring angel investors to interested in investing in high-growth, game cha ..read more