Michael Lustig

Next week is NY Tech Week, and on Wednesday, I'll be co-hosting TechWalk at 2 PM in Central Park. More details here: https://lnkd.in/eFey-aBd I look forward to connecting and chatting about the dynamic world of early-stage startup investing, go-to-market strategies, and the venture capital ecosystem. As a Venture Fellow at Fordham Angel Fund (FAF), I bring hands-on experience evaluating startups, conducting market analysis, and developing go-to-market strategies. Let's discuss founder due diligence, growth hacking techniques, and the nuances of crafting effective term sheets. I'm also passionate about discussing programs like Vencapital and Venture Cooperative that support minorities and women breaking into VC. Additionally, I'd love to share insights on content creation and storytelling from my experience hosting a YouTube podcast. If you're interested in personal branding, networking, or leveraging LinkedIn for career growth, let's connect! Join me for a walk and chat about the global business landscape, embracing diversity, and adapting to new environments. See you there! #NYTechWeek #TechWalk #Startups #VentureCapital #ContentCreation #PersonalBranding #Networking #GlobalBusiness #DiversityInVC

78

5 Comments

Meaningful work at the intersection of climate-smart ag and the next-era value creation for industry with International Fresh Produce Association. Cool to be part of this journey. Follow for #climatesmart and #sustainablity #innovation in #food and #freshproduce to drive value back to the #farm while meeting #consumerdemand for mindfulness in #environment, #sustainabilty, and #regenerativeag coupled with industry's need for clear paths for #marketaccess and #compliance with #carbon #esg #supplychain #claims

9

1 Comment

📈 Post-WWII economic growth in the U.S. was fueled by aligning veterans' skills with the market's needs, thanks to the GI Bill. Today, we're facing a similar opportunity to supercharge the economy while closing the growing gap in skills such as generative AI. 🛠 But the solution won't be more degrees, credentials, and upskilling courses alone. Switching from an over reliance on traditional degrees and creds to solutions that scale access to professional experience for those coming out of college (or skipping entirely) is key. 🔄 Generative AI has the potential to ignite an economic boom, but only if we equip graduates with the right skills through actual experience. ✨ Unlike the GI Bill era, companies today aren’t creating enough opportunities for young people to get hands-on learning in emerging fields. ❓ Why aren’t they more widespread? 😖 Most companies struggle with the high administrative burden of managing internships, apprenticeships, co-ops, etc. which is why available internships have been on the decline and apprenticeship adoption is slow. 💨 Higher education is slow to adapt to rapidly changing market needs. 🏢 The focus on academic credentials over practical experience has created a mismatch between what graduates know and what employers need. Read more👇 in Part 12 of "The Case for Inventing a New Form of Work Experience: the Externship" titled The Economic Power of Professional Experience. And learn about some recent statistics in Gen AI skills from Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Deloitte along with how Extern is addressing this problem head on through a new, scalable approach. 📖 #EconomicGrowth #WorkExperience #GenAI #FutureReadySkills #Externships

29

3 Comments

With all the leaked news on OpenAI's funding, I think the SEC should investigate. It seems obvious they are attempting to exploit media to create an auction process, trigger FOMO in elephant investors, and drive up valuations. At least in one case here it didn't work - Apple is backing out. Wise move by Apple IMO -- they lack the cloud or chip revenue to recycle investments in OpenAI, without which it makes little sense to me. It seems that it's all about raising capital all the time with OpenAI. Examples: 1) First leaked news about the offering. 2) Leaked news about the valuations. 3) Leaked news about who the interested investors were (apparent attempt to attract others). 4) Announced plans to significantly raise pricing (several wild numbers floated -- apparently to overcome investor concerns about sustainability, without scrutiny on churn). 5) CFO statement that closing was imminent (before Apple pulled out). 6) Leaked revenue and partial costs that was missing critical information that distorted the financial picture. I have no idea who leaked some of this to the media as several stories did not name sources, but it has the appearance of a choreographed effort to hype investment and valuation without providing details. This has been the pattern all along with OpenAI. I also don't know what type of offering it is, but with some types this would be illegal behavior. Of course investors should perform their own due diligence, but if most investors did that well Big Techs wouldn't have spiked by $10 trillion in valuations based on LLM hype. I'm all but certain investors don't have even a decent understanding of what they are investing in. The exceptions are the companies investing for strategic purposes -- like Microsoft and Nvidia. They know what they are doing. If other investors take the majority of the round, these two may get all of their investment back in the form of cloud and chip spend from OpenAI.

34

7 Comments

Big update! After months of hard work and dedication, I'm thrilled to announce that Deep Fission is officially emerging from stealth mode. We're on a mission to revolutionize the energy sector by doing something that at first sounds crazy - placing a light-water nuclear reactor in a borehole a mile underground. Upon closer examination, you may recognize that by doing this you can create clean and very safe nuclear power while also removing most of the cost. And we get to use an existing supply chain and standard low-enriched fuel! Today marks a significant milestone in Deep Fission’s journey. We've secured $4 million in pre-seed funding, which is a testament to the incredible team at Deep Fission and our commitment to creating a more sustainable and resilient energy future. A huge thank you to our investors who believe in our mission and to everyone who has supported us along the way. It’s been a joy to share this journey with my family, particularly my husband and my two children who get a front seat view at all the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. And, of course, my co-founder and father, Richard Muller (third time building a company together!). The future of energy is bright, and we're just getting started. Take a look at our story in Axios today by Alan Neuhauser. For more details, check out our press release (link below), visit our website (www.deepfission.com) or DMs are always open. #DeepFission #NuclearEnergy #EnergyInnovation #Sustainability #Startups #StealthMode

188

44 Comments

✨ exploring Something New in Deep Tech? ✨ putting out a bat signal for talent ... researchers, founders, and experienced operators thinking about starting— or open to joining a new *deeply technical* startup 🦇🔦 We are hosting a dinner for you next week! Same playbook as usual — highly curated, 22-24 people, totally off the record. This one: co-hosted with James Palmer at Blackbird, Angus Blair at Outset Ventures, and Denis Simonov (PhD) at Index. Scientific & Technical Recruitment and Consulting. So, what is a "deep tech startup"? GREAT question... there's no strict definition. Broadly, it includes a wide range of startups tackling the most challenging problems in the world, building transformative technologies... think hardware + embedded software, biotechnology and life sciences, energy, manufacturing, space. These companies are hard enough to start and scale without adding "access to highly specialised talent" to the list of challenges... founders often have specific requirements, have to contend with a large talent gaps in the market, particularly here in NZ. Meanwhile, experienced operators and job-seekers looking to get into the space often don't have great visibility into who needs what. Our goal is to bring together three groups of people: 1). Researchers: Individuals pursuing or holding advanced academic degrees, actively engaged in research across various disciplines. 2). Seasoned Operators: Professionals with extensive experience in product design and development, engineering for scale, and expanding startups into international markets. Driven, ambitious, and eager for the next challenge. 3). Founders: Entrepreneurs who are well along the path of building and scaling a deep-tech venture, seeking to hire and mentor the next wave of innovators. Sound like you, want to come? Know someone we should invite? Hit me via DM for an invite, or apply at somethingnew.nz 👈

44

9 Comments

Recently we watched a fantastic panel with leaders in the transportation space, including Jimmy Douglas the CEO at PLUG, for the Climatebase Fellowship. Given that Jimmy also spent years at Tesla I messaged him trying to understand where we're at with automated vehicles (AVs) and safety. To my surprise Jimmy told me that the data exists to show that AVs are already safer than cars driven by humans and that the sector is simply dealing with a perception issue. I was left wondering if this is the case and what could be causing the issue. Jean-Francois Belanger just did a 6.5 minute feature on the national news CBC on driverless taxis in San Francisco. While the companies behind the taxis claim these AVs are safer than those driven by humans, no where in this piece did Belanger ever show a comparison between human drivers and AVs. This seems like the most important thing that's needed in this kind of story. If AVs are indeed safer, this gap in reporting could be what's holding the sector back. https://lnkd.in/g-RjPbVA

1

1 Comment

🥁 Drum-rolls Please🥁 Introducing our first shiny new Micro-SaaS from Raissd Labs ✨ 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 ✨ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗧𝗙)? ATF, is an all-in-one fundraising tool to, 🥸 Identify the right investors in less than 5 mins 📈 Get pitch ready in less than 30 mins 😎 Capture investor attention and make impactful first impressions 💸 Get funding ready with comprehensive guidance and resources. ⚡ Boost your fundraising chances by 10X Sounds too good to be true? Why don’t you try it for yourself? 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗧𝗙 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹! 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀! Here is a secret 🤫- All our Beta users get 6 months of free access to the ATF tool Join our waitlist now! Link in the first comment #Fundraising #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #EarlyStageStartups #StartupFunding#Waitlist #ProductLaunch #EarlyAccess

14

3 Comments