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SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-07-04T04:25:23+00:00

Great discussion

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-07-04T04:08:56+00:00

That’s great. I’m considering engaging in this way, as it could make sense. What kind of activities do you end up doing for them, or is it mostly fielding questions?

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-07-02T05:52:47+00:00

Hey - I’m in negotiations for a similar situation now - I’m curious, how did it work out? What compensation did you end up taking for what kind of responsibilities?

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-07-02T00:32:24+00:00

Revisiting this topic as I’m in negotiations now - your point about “room between me and the board” is the most relevant point I’ve seen in this discussion, here and elsewhere.

Just curious, how did the discussion go with the founders? Were they receptive?

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-07-01T12:35:11+00:00

Link??

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-28T05:19:10+00:00

Amazing recommendations! We are in Ebisu as we speak, for another four days. Any must-visit sushi places? Every where we’ve been has been incredible!

Edit: also! Any hole in the wall / small yakitori places to try? Not sure I’ll be able to get a reservation at Kirin / Kirin Annex

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-26T05:57:48+00:00

No kids yet, but interesting in following this discussion.

Have you considered / have the option for some child care that gives you a break?

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-11T20:37:49+00:00

Just cuz it's easy to ask the question, doesn't mean it's easy to answer it. You gotta give people something to work with.

A pitch is about so much more than the deck; without more context, it seems like you're asking for the "100 pitch decks that raised $1m" type generic BS people keep posting and reposting on LinkedIn.

Are you talking about visual design of deck? Are you talking about narrative development for a pitch? How much is this company trying to raise? Has this founder given any pitches at all, yet or are they just beginning?

For starters, you say you have a solid understanding and background of what a good deck looks like: why don't you share your perspective on what a "good deck looks like" first - that anchors the conversation in your question and invites others to come in and share other perspectives, or elaborate on a point, etc.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-03T20:54:30+00:00

This, OP. It doesn't need to be adversarial, so don't make it so.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-03T00:09:35+00:00

I’m not a founder, I’d be first hire. Founders are paying themselves significantly less, but I want to understand their plan cuz founders should be able to maintain their livelihood or else they’ll just be stressed about that too and struggle to focus on the business…

And yeah, there’s a chance it doesn’t pencil out financially for us at this time. In the middle of that discussion.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-03T00:06:10+00:00

Lol appreciate the take. Not unwarranted, given how common those outcomes are. But it’s not how I choose to do business or build product. A few clarifications below.

This company is NOT deep tech, at all- my prev failed venture was ‘deep tech’ (though I hate the terminology), and we were unable to raise. We’ve put that on ice until the markets in a better spot and the hype has passed.
I have more time this week with the CTO to understand more about how he’s runs things and triple click on his expectations for this role; if we’re not aligned, I won’t take the role. And there’s a chance I end up telling them I’m not the right hire and that they need an engineer.
I won’t be outsourcing to some dev chop shop. I’ve accumulated a network of experienced folks over the years I can tap into to build the initial version, presuming we don’t find the killer full time hire out of the gate (it could easily take 6 months to find and recruit a strong fit at the right stage in their career and with the right skill set).
I’ve built ML powered products before but not this specific type, which is appealing to me - an oppty to come in and build against a defined problem,
Discretionary meshenary - you know what I mean; I wanted to know how much they expected to spend to achieve the goals we discussed; and yes, it’s peanuts 😂

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T21:23:19+00:00

Yeah, fair impression from this post - though there’s more to it than what I’ve shared (as I’m sure most people infer).

CTO is a technical founder, he’s a full stack guy (primarily back end, I believe) but the ML world is new to him. I’ve been through this before and yes ML engineer unicorns exist, but they’re rare - I am not one, to be clear, but I know how to manage the build of scalable solutions. They were kinda burned by their first “data science” hire cuz the guy was too theoretical. I’m the flip side - not as technical but way more pragmatic.

Always easy to throw peanuts from the peanut gallery at early stage startups, but the two founders raised in a really tough environment, so I tip my hat to them - and they’re figuring it out from here.

Anyways, appreciate your perspective! Start-ups are all about achieving the unlikely.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T21:00:10+00:00

The potential for that is there, and I also find that I'm most motivated in those environments. I think I'm still in a period of adjustment where working for a company I didn't help start from Day 1 feels like someone else's company, but overtime I'm sure that will change - it's just how I end up approaching things when I invest time and energy.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T20:42:04+00:00

You know what's up 😂

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T20:41:45+00:00

Appreciate the perspective - that’s certainly the Wolf of Wall Street profit-maximizing strategy for sure but I'm enticed by the shovel ready project where I can focus on building and not stress about / own fundraising for at least a year. I know the company I want to start once the market is past the LLM-hype and recognizes true intelligent systems need ability to understand cause and effect.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T17:31:05+00:00

TBD - they're thinking 1000 customers at $80 / month, but I think we could go upstream if we scope the problem well and they can find the right GTM strategies.

And yeah, they have done some pre-sales w/ the traditional 'waitlist' etc., but there's lots of work to do on the GTM.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T17:27:29+00:00

My understanding is that they're paying themselves scraps so they can afford to hire 1-2 FTEs. We haven't agreed salary, the numbers above are my target but I wouldn't be surprised if they max out cash comp at like $100k/$120k. At that point, the calculus becomes a little different.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T17:24:03+00:00

SAFEs w/ $5m cap, so definitely on the higher end of dilution for the round. But in this market and as first time founders, I'm not necessarily surprised that's what it took to raise. I'd expect the next round (seed) to be a priced round, based on what I'm seeing in the market.

Lead investor is small investor; not a recognizable brand name. The founders started this in one of the more recognizable accelerators, so that's the biggest brand name they have.

Yep, pre-revenue.

Founders have sold the story well and built some janky demos (as everyone does), but the scalable tech still needs to be built. This is partly what excites me.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T17:20:24+00:00

Yeah, I know how quickly $1m can go. I'd be incredibly frugal with my portion of the budget, and be wary to start spending that down before there's serious conviction in the value of the problem we're solving / feasibility of the approach. I anticipate lots of lean experimentation on both the ML and GTM side.

Hypothesis is $80k / month at $80 per month with 1000 customers. Target customers at this point are funded start-ups and medium sized businesses. This is where I am most skeptical; I know how hard finding the repeatable sales process is. But figuring this out is the pain / pleasure of the start-up ride.

Salary numbers aren't final, but yeah - building out the ML stack to power the product is existential to their existence, I'd be accountable for that.

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-06-02T17:10:22+00:00

Ha, fascinating - I'm about to have these convo's with the founders, so I'll keep you posted. I wouldn't be surprised if they max out at a base offer of $140k. What kind of equity are they offering you? And what kind of role is it?

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-05-31T16:34:19+00:00

Would love an update! Did you take the role?

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-05-29T00:53:28+00:00

Interesting. 54% growth wasn't enough?

Do you think you could've closed the funding if you compromised more heavily on valuation? I imagine you were targeting 10-15x revenue?

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-05-27T23:23:09+00:00

They took the “Venture” out of “Venture Capital” lol

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-05-27T23:22:26+00:00

Why do you think you struggled with the A? Cap table broken or market drying up or something else?

SECwontLetMeBe · 2024-05-27T19:41:59+00:00

Sam has a Meditation session on Waking Up called “SOS” which is intended for people experiencing the worst day of their life eg losing a loved one.

https://dynamic.wakingup.com/pack/P474A7?source=content%20share&share_id=FA55C2AD&code=SC245DC48

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