LAUNCH

Founders from around the world kicked off the New Year, connecting at their local Founder Fridays meetups. Founders meet monthly to share challenges, exchange insights, and support each other's growth. ✨ January Host Highlights ✨ Amar Flora (Klaviss) in Palo Alto Scott Catron (Panga) in Philadelphia Georges Colbert (Albatroz.AI) in Austin Niosha Kayhani (Opus Duo) in San Diego Thom Kozik (Eventual) in Los Angeles Founder Fridays will return on February 7th for more meaningful conversations. We would love for you to attend or host - sign up today at https://lnkd.in/gizjKrYb #FounderFridays Jason Calacanis Founder University River Platform Company

Building in public is one of the most important strategies for early-stage founders. Yesterday, we hosted Presh Dineshkumar during our Accelerator session to share his expertise. Here's what we learned 👇 Building in public is all about sharing your startup journey on social platforms Why it matters: ✅ People are curious about “how it’s made” ✅ Attracts potential customers ✅ Free marketing How to get started: 1️⃣ Be present on key platforms: X, LinkedIn, IG, TikTok, YouTube, etc 2️⃣ Find where your audience hangs out 3️⃣ Pick 1–2 platforms & post consistently 4️⃣ Maximize visibility with a public profile, clear bio, and pinned posts Some helpful tools Presh Dineshkumar uses for GoPolar and SunSeek: ✍️ Content Ideation: ChatGPT, Claude, xAI 🤖 AI Assistants: sintra.ai 🎥 Content Creation: Rotato, Screen Studio, Typefully 🤝 Lead Generation: Layerpath, LeadIQ, Mixmax To put these lessons into action, our cohort is kicking off a 30-day social challenge to post on socials once a day! 💪 David Edward / Abacus Dan Fritz / BRXai Caylee Shea Harrington / Hookhub Keyana Sapp / Indigo AI Paul Davis / InviteJet Buddhika Madduma / LayerNext Christopher Tung / Nerd Crawler Sergie Poe / Orchestra Luke Belbina / Pod Engine Michael Acquaviva / Prandtl Dynamics Inc. Mariano Apodaca / Prosperous AI Thank you to our partners Fenwick & West and Silicon Valley Bank for their support! 🙏

LA33 started the year strong with an incredible investor session, and seven companies earned top investor votes! 💪 Key questions from our investors: ✅ What is your go-to-market strategy? ✅ What does the competitive landscape look like? ✅ How will you differentiate your product? ✅ What are the pain points with current solutions? ✅ How did you choose your pricing model? 🙏 Thank you to our investors for your participation and questions Ainhoa ("Noa") Maiz, Anisha S., Anthony Ridgley, Bryce Johnson, Jennifer Abele, John Goettee, Maxime Bucaille, Megan Ruan, Steve Hasty, Suzanne Xie, Xavier Friel 💥 And, of course, a shoutout to our companies David Edward / Abacus Dan Fritz / BRXai Caylee Shea Harrington / Hookhub Keyana Sapp / Indigo AI Paul Davis / InviteJet Buddhika Madduma / LayerNext Christopher Tung / Nerd Crawler Sergie Poe / Orchestra Luke Belbina / Pod Engine Michael Acquaviva / Prandtl Dynamics Inc. Mariano Apodaca / Prosperous AI Thank you to our partners Fenwick & West and Silicon Valley Bank for helping us put on this great content for founders! 🚀

✨ Founder Fridays are happening tomorrow! ✨ Start 2025 on the right foot with Founder Fridays, happening tomorrow, January 3rd. On the first Friday of every month, founders from around the world gather to 💡 Address challenges 🤝 Exchange advice ✨ Build supportive communities This month’s discussion topics 1️⃣ What is the biggest challenge you’re currently facing? 2️⃣ How do you make your customers feel valued? Interested in joining? 👉 Find a meetup near you or apply to host: https://lnkd.in/gdrT8RWm #FounderFridays @Founder University @This Week in Startups @Jason Calacanis 

Last week, founders came together for Founder Fridays—a monthly meetup series run by founders, for founders, powered by This Week in Startups. In pods of 6-8, founders met to 💡 Troubleshoot challenges 🤝 Share advice ✨ Hold each other accountable December Host Highlights ✨ Niosha Kayhani (Opus Duo) in San Diego Naial Casanovas Mack (DropUpp Inc.) & John Tokarowski (Allocations Inc) in Philly Georges Colbert (Albatroz.AI) in Austin Kassidy Gerhardi (Cobra) in Calgary Paloma Lecheta, Nima Kaz & Francine Cabral (Founder Haus) in Floripa Sebastian Mourra (Alphana) in Miami Thom Kozik (Eventual) & Paolo Shamoon (TradeUp) in LA Scott Catron (Panga) & Michael Olorunninwo (GradientFI) in Palo Alto Renny Chan (Convo) in Amsterdam A huge thank you to our incredible hosts for making it happen! 🌍 Next meetups are on January 3rd Join or host a meetup at founderfridays.tech #FounderFridays Jason Calacanis Founder University River Platform Company

While Miami chases art... We're chasing product-market fit. Founder Fridays Miami - Art Basel edition! 🌴 Even with Miami's art week chaos, our founder community showed up strong. Today's highlights: - GTM strategy deep-dives - Finding your perfect market niche - Real talk about product pivots - AI implementation wins (87% support automation!) Key takeaway on GTM: The riches are in the niches. Watched founders have breakthrough moments identifying their ideal customer segments and value props. Sometimes you have to think smaller to grow bigger. Product horror stories had us all nodding (and laughing). Important reminder: those vocal customer complaints? Often signals pointing to your next big improvement. Founders aren't just creating AI companies - we're implementing it to supercharge our existing businesses. Case in point: automating 87% of customer support messages. The future isn't just about building AI, it's about using it. Best moment: Catching up with founders from past meetups and seeing their progress. Nothing beats celebrating wins and learning from setbacks together. This community keeps growing stronger. Whether you're pre-revenue or scaling up, there's always something to learn and someone ready to help. Huge thanks to Daniel Lowe for co-hosting, and to Jason Calacanis, LAUNCH, This Week in Startups for powering these incredible founder sessions. Next Founder Fridays Miami is coming up on 1/3. Start your 2025 right - Drop a comment for details! 🚀

🔥 That's a wrap on Day 2 of Startup Tuneup! Here’s what went down in the afternoon: Zak Kidd of AskHumans shared his tips on B2B sales: 💎 Uncover hidden gems: good ideas buried in bureaucracy or unshared can be game-changers ✍🏻Track EVERYTHING: processes you can measure are processes you can improve 🏅Founders OWN early sales—don’t delegate 💰Warm intros? Your conversion goldmine. Craig Zingerline simplified early-stage startup success: 🚀 Validate your product & customers early 📈 Nail channel fit before expanding 🧐 Cut through the noise; focus on what’s real ❤️ Obsess over talking to customers 🛠️ Build a problem-solution-offer matrix Andre L. discussed data rooms & diligence red flags: ✅ Prepare your data room early! Use tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, or DocSend. 📂 Must-haves: company docs, P&L, bank & CC statements, articles of incorporation, cap table ❌ Red flags: personal expenses on biz accounts, cash accounting, stagnant revenue, services businesses, low runway, contracts that do not match Bianca Veltri explained customer discovery: 🤝 Find your ICP if you want to reach product market fit ✅ Do: get on face-to-face calls, engage with online communities, LISTEN to your customer challenges, map out 2-3 customer personas, create an MVP to validate your hypothesis, refine your product using customer feedback ❌ Don’t: Rely on surveys/polls, ask your family or friends, turn calls into sales pitches, cater to everyone, build a fully featured product, ignore or dismiss feedback 🤝🏻 Thanks to our partners Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Paddle for helping us put on great content for founders over the last two days! For those who joined us, let us know what your favorite session was in the comments👇

🚀 Startup Tuneup Day 2 is in full swing! Here are the highlights from this morning: Michael Savino shared insights on accounting... the way investors want to see it. Some tidbits: 📝 Track founder expenses from the start. ✅ Start accounting the day you incorporate; build a chart of accounts with your accountant. 🔥 Accrual accounting > cash accounting. 📈 P&L shows performance over time; a balance sheet captures a moment in time. 🎯 Understand EBITDA—it’s a key valuation metric. ⚖️ For marketplaces, GMV take is the true revenue. Amanda Greenberg of Balloon on Customer Advisory Boards: 🤔 What are they? A select group of customers providing product feedback and guidance. 🌟 Why have one? Supercharge your feedback loop, build deep relationships turn customers into advocates, and learn what truly matters to them. 📋 How to start: Invite key customers, set clear meeting cadence and goals, and bear hug them! 🐻 💼 Stump the Lawyer with Jonathan Chan of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He emphasizes: ✅ Lock in IP agreements early to avoid funding headaches later. ✅Most early funding happens via convertible securities like SAFEs. ✅Raising from friends and family? Ensure they are accredited investors. 🎤 Jason Calacanis and Muema stopped in to judge 12 founder pitches! Some key questions asked to founders: Who are your competitors? What's your MOAT? Revenue—how much, and how fast are you growing? Pricing model: one-time, monthly, or annual? 🙏 Big thanks to our partners Paddle and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for helping us deliver this content for founders! What was your biggest takeaway from this morning? Drop your thoughts below ⬇️ Stay tuned—more to come this afternoon! 🚀

What a day! Our afternoon lineup of Day 1 of Startup Tuneup was just as exciting as the AM 👀 Here’s what went down ⬇️ Gaurav Vohra of Superhuman shared a framework for mastering marketing channel strategies. To build an effective channel strategy, ask yourself: ⏰ Where do your customers spend their time? 💡 Where do you hold an unfair advantage? Combining these answers can uncover novel ways to scale. More on this framework here: https://lnkd.in/gkzY8SK8 Our own Michael Savino and Kelly Schricker judged 16 incredible startup pitches. Key feedback for founders: 💻 Show the product in action 📍 Clearly state where you are in the startup lifecycle (credibility counts!) 🗣 Be concise when answering questions—it opens up room for more 📊 Build your TAM bottom-up, not top-down 💰 Be transparent: differentiate free users from paying customers 🚀 Focus more on traction and less on the problem Congrats to the top startups chosen as #1 or #2 picks today! Rebecca DeGraw from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati gave founders tactical tips for negotiating term sheets, touching on: 💰 Valuation: pre-money vs. post-money, founder dilution, option pool 💧 Liquidation Preference: understanding what’s standard 🛠️ Board Composition: how many seats do investors get? ⚖️ Stockholder Votes & Control: veto rights on major decisions 🔐 Investor Rights: pro rata, information, side letters Kelly Schricker capped off the day with practical gems on salary and commission structures: 🚀 Founders, don’t delegate sales until you’ve nailed a repeatable process. 🎯 Understand your playbook: High vs. low volume? High vs. low ACV? 💸 Base salaries should be livable but keep commissions motivating. Who gets a commission? ✅ AEs & Sales Managers ⚖️ SDRs (sometimes) ❌ CSMs (rarely) 🙏  A huge thank you to our partners, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Paddle, for helping us deliver such valuable content for founders. If you caught the sessions, what was your biggest takeaway? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Stay tuned for more incredible content tomorrow! https://lnkd.in/dGXBEPjJ

🚀 Our morning lineup for Day 1 of Startup Tuneup was incredible! We learned a lot… Andrew Davies of Paddle shared insights on scaling product-led growth internationally. Takeaways: 📊 Whether your strategy is Product-Led, Marketing-Led, or Sales-Led, each requires unique approaches to acquisition, monetization, and retention. 💰 Pricing isn’t just a number—it’s a growth lever. Ask yourself: What’s the best proxy for your pricing? 🤔 Jacqui Deegan shared a 12-point checklist for founders to nail their investor conversations: 1️⃣ Product: What problem does it solve? Show, don’t tell. 2️⃣ Design: Is it where it needs to be? 3️⃣ Market: Bottom-up TAM, ICP, capture plan. 4️⃣ GTM: How will you find, reach & win customers? 5️⃣ Biz model: How do you make $$$? 6️⃣ Traction: Show growth. Be clear: who is a user vs. a customer? 7️⃣ Team: Why you? Your experience, wins, & founder history. 8️⃣ Competition: Understand it. What’s your MOAT? 9️⃣ Fundraising: Past raises, current ask, use of funds. 🔟 Communication: Build credibility. Answer questions directly. 1️⃣1️⃣ Roadmap: What’s your 2.0 & 3.0? How will you hit $100M? 1️⃣2️⃣ You: What’s your unfair advantage? Why now? (Read Angel by Jason Calacanis). Raechel Lambert shared honest lessons and surprises from her first fundraising journey. Key takeaways for founders: 📚 Read Venture Deals. 🎯 Align with investor theses. 🔎 Use Crunchbase to research stages. ⚡ Momentum drives everything—investors are emotional. 📈 Early-stage VCs prioritize TAM, founder experience, traction, and product velocity. Pro tips: ✅ Operationalize outreach & follow-ups—it gets overwhelming. ✅ Pack your pipeline until SAFEs are signed & money is wired. ✅ The best investors will make intros. Andre L. shared insights on applying for Accelerators. What to consider before applying: 1️⃣ Research their focus and alumni success. 2️⃣ Highlight your team’s unique value. 3️⃣ Assess the deal (investment vs. fees). 4️⃣ Align with your startup’s goals. 💡 Pro Tip: Talk to alumni for unfiltered insights. 🔥 Scott Bair shared multiple strategies on how to build a killer brand. Some things to consider: Colors = Emotions: Pick wisely. Searchable Names: Make it memorable and easy to find. Purpose-Driven: Know your why beyond profit. UX/UI Tip: White space > clutter. Logo: Scalable and timeless. 🙏 Huge thanks to Paddle and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for helping us put on this great content for founders! What was your biggest takeaway from this morning’s sessions? Share your thoughts in the comments! 👇 Stay tuned for our afternoon speakers 👀 https://lnkd.in/dGXBEPjJ