Eric Hutchinson

After the first deep dive discussion w/ founders I often hear a comment "I wish I had heard about this alternative [to all-in must-become-a-unicorn] way to build a startup earlier as I have wasted years in pursuing the wrong thing". Our mission is that no founder would ever need to say that again as it is such a waste. Us preaching the gospel 1:1 just doesn't scale, hence we use mass media to multiply our efforts - that's how Gorillacast came to be. The 1st episode is out, featuring yours truly. "How can you know what food you like unless you taste everything" said a chef. How can founders make informed choices about the best strategy for them to follow unless they know of all alternatives? This might not be of interest to you but pls spread the word so that the founders who should hear it can find it. I have a dream!

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As a B2B-focused seed-stage venture capitalist (and one with a Product Marketing background), I spend a ton of my time with my portfolio companies on identifying the characteristics of their ideal first customers. While much of this obviously differs company to company, I've realized that there are certain key questions it's useful for any B2B customer to answer when determining who is (or isn't!) a good customer fit in the earliest days of company building. Some of these include: - Will they provide me regular feedback? - Will they give me logo rights? - Do they have "taste"? - Are they willing and able to pay (now, or in the future)? I also included a few tips on tactically how to reach out, and common pitfalls to avoid. Would love to hear what you think! Anything that resonated, or anything else I've missed you'd take into account when searching for your first 10 customers?

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Looking forward to discussing how changing demographics and culture norms are affecting investment opportunities in longevity, health and well-being at The Care Summit today Alongside Cake Ventures' Monique Woodard, Ziegler's Dan Hermann, Oak HC/FT's Billy Deitch and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Jennifer Edwards, we’ll dive into the trends shaping how we are investing in the space: - Last year marked one of the most significant social and economic moments in modern times: The number of older adults—those aged 50 and over- surpassed the number of children under the age of 15 for the first time. - In 2020 the 50 plus population contributed $45 trillion to global GDP, or 34% of the total. That equates to about 3x the revenue of the world’s 100 highest- earning companies in 2020. - The U.S. population grew by 24.5 million from 2010 to 2022, and Hispanics accounted for 53% of this increase – a greater share than any other racial or ethnic group. - Women around the world and across all ages drive 64% of consumer spending

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This could be a big year for M&A. As a consumer health investor, I had a lot to say about the Walmart news last week. Thanks to Modern Retail and Modern Healthcare for featuring my perspective. The bottom line is that I expect to see more retailers learning their lesson and doing more “buy” than build. This could be a boon for the digital health sector, as I expect we’ll see a lot more buy-ups of high-quality clinic businesses with a loyal patient population already onboarded. This is not the end of retail health care, it’s just the end of a specific strategy that was never setup for success. https://lnkd.in/gbCQqYHi https://lnkd.in/guKNHUkE

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This week Mikal Ventures brings you a 4-week breakdown of the non-US capital market with an emphasis on the Mikal verticals. Over the 4-week period ending May 29, a total of 1,545 new companies were added, with 101,688 companies included in the non-US Health Tech, Med Tech, Fin Tech, AI Tech, and Ed Tech verticals. The non-US AI Tech saw the greatest percentage growth in new companies for the period, weighing in at a notable 27%, nearly two times the overall vertical average of 15%. The non-US Heath Tech vertical led the group in transactions. Non-US Med Tech vertical lead in both SEC Filings and news articles. Mikal Ventures publishes these stats on a rolling 4-week basis to provide a perspective on how the verticals and new startups move through time. We hope you find them informative and thought-provoking. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

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Great time on the Embracing Erosion podcast w/Devon O'Rourke! We talked about: 🚀 How to scale a company from concept to 9-figure exit 🔄 How to break away from the traditional consulting model and apply product approaches ⏩ Why it’s important to iterate quickly and often with messaging 💸📈What signals are important to pay attention to when investing in startups and much more!

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Ever since we launched SHAKTI, every quarter we write a letter to our LPs = Each letter includes an update on the portfolios, the GP's (our) view on the zeitgeist, an interview with a portfolio CEO and an interview with a TITAN = So far, we have 16 such letters = it's been on our "to do" list to share these publicly (i am lazy) = then Google comes along to save lazy people like me (thank you NotebookLLM) = here's a 10 min podcast summarizing our journey since Dec/2020 with the 16 LP letters as source = if you wanted to know what we are about, this is a pretty good place to start = https://lnkd.in/db7K2TrT cc SHAKTI

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Market and business corrections can be uncomfortable, but they are needed to allow them to heal and reset. We're seeing signs that the private market went through its trough and is moving forward. As part of that process, some companies are taking flat and down rounds to get them to their next stage. It's an economic reality that might look negative on paper but in reality, it makes sense. In this short video conversation, I share my perspective on this trend and what we've seen from investors and startups so far in 2024.

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💡 What’s the best tech stack for my consumer brand? I get this question a lot, especially as we head into BFCM prep and code freezes. 📅 Whether you’re getting organized or just curious about the tech behind your favorite DTC brands, we’ve got you covered. At HSR, we’ve done the heavy lifting and identified the must-have components for an early-stage tech stack that every founder should know before the most critical quarter of the year. 📈 Ready to power up your business for Q4 and unlock the secret tools? 🚀 👇 Dive in here: https://lnkd.in/ga6BQQXS #DTC #TechStack #BFCM #BusinessGrowth #Scalability #Entrepreneurship #ConsumerBrand

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