Happy Friday.
And hello from Indianapolis this week. Next up, Des Moines. And then Port Huron, MI. Come say hello.
I’m giving away an DJI Phantom 4 for free. Enter here to win (it takes less than 10 seconds, I checked).
1. “On the off chance he actually is planning to back out, what would happen?” [Link] [Tweet]
Ugh.
2. “Don’t be so fast to look elsewhere to build your company” [Link] [Tweet]
If I’ve learned anything on the tech tour this year, it’s not that interesting companies really can start (and grow) anywhere — I already knew that. The more interesting observation is that most cities lack the functional expertise that smart founders need.
In other words, most of the startup mentors / advisors aren’t very good (and worse, they’re often selling their own stuff to the founders).
3. “there are now so many accelerators that it’s ‘buyer beware’.” [Link] [Tweet]
Accelerators are the modern day business schools and founders ought to treat them the same way: apply to all the best ones, take the best offer you can get and be sure to understand what exactly you’re getting in return.
4. “It was never by design — I was always gunning for a regular full-time job but they never arrived.” [Link] [Tweet]
I met Semil a couple of times when I was living in Silicon Valley and he’s always struck me as someone that was going to figure things out. Love that hustle.
5. “Real entrepreneurship is not risky.” [Link] [Tweet]
In contrast, I’ve never met James but I imagine he talks exactly the way he writes. Punchy and straightforward.
6. “What’s important is that we didn’t hire a marketer, but a sales guy first.” [Link] [Tweet]
If you’re currently running a company and planning to make any hires this year, just hang on a minute: most founders overvalue engineers and undervalue sales. But, you’re not most founders. Get it?
7. “I wish more LPs would blog to help VCs and entrepreneurs understand them better.” [Link] [Tweet]
It’s nice to see some transparency on the LP side of the equation. Understanding how LPs (and, by extension, GPs) think is a great way for founders and investors to align their interests.
8. “Modern-society is also littered with over-networkers and over-introducers and professional conference attendees.” [Link] [Tweet]
The best people, unsurprisingly, tend to be the most protective of their networks. Protect your network and only make introductions when you have no doubt that both parties will benefit.
9. “it’s very important to note that this valuation philosophy is entirely based on growth.” [Link] [Tweet]
Despite what local investors outside of the Valley think, early stage valuations are pretty much normalized across the country. It’s the later stage rounds where things get trickier. (AngelList posts valuation data here.)
10. “there is no downside for entrepreneurs to using AngelList” [Link] [Tweet]
If you’re thinking about raising money (or, from the other side of the table, thinking about investing in companies), you owe it to yourself to get on AngelList (and follow me here). In the best case, you’ll use the platform to raise money. In the worst case, you’ll see all the other important companies in your industry as they raise money. Either way, you win.
While we’re talking about it: stop connecting with people on LinkedIn. If you’re in the tech industry, you’re better off connecting with people on AngelList.
Firehose
You can get the full stream of the things I read, it’s all on Twitter — follow me: @paulsingh. Sometimes I write stuff too. You can always find me (and the rest of the Results Junkies community) in Slack, apply to join.
Have a great weekend!
-P