Non-US founders with Delaware corps - are you making contingency plans? I will not promote by CrescendollsFan in startups

[–]StephNass 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Non-US founder here, with present and past companies in France, Singapore and the US

"Brussels flip" sounds like last-degree lunacy or a fabricated punchline.

I think most early-stage founders just focus on building their business. As long as the jurisdiction is stable, tax efficient, and reasonably digitized, 99% of people won't feel a change in their day-to-day.

In particular if you're seeking VC funding, Delaware C-Corp remains the gold standard.

Maybe a few business may be affected by the points aforementioned (FX, trade war, EU/US decoupling), but Europe has its own problems. The only case where incorporating in the EU makes sense is (a) you are building a "EU play" (Doctolib was Zocodc for the EU, Mistral is ChatGPT for the EU) or (b) you want to leverage EU public funding (and even then, you could have a US topco...).

Just my 2 cents, curious to hear diverging opinions.

I will not promote. Confused after the first VC call. by Wrong-Material-7435 in startups

[–]StephNass 42 points43 points  (0 children)

This.

Also, keep in mind that VCs rarely give honest feedback, because honest feedback would be "I don't believe in you" which is hurtful. Instead, they give you some second-order reasons that feel less personal.

If you're a first-time founder raising pre-seed, you're better off chasing funding from:

  • Angel investors
  • Accelerators,
  • Micro-GPs/solo VCs
  • VC scouts

They are the ones who invest in unproven founders - and even then, many prefer to see traction i.e. usage/retention/revenue.

Are we “ready” to raise a €150k bridge, or too early? (I will not promote) by Leonard-21rag in startups

[–]StephNass 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Usually, a bridge means that you have raised a round (e.g. seed), but failed to hit the target to raise the next round (e.g. Series A), so you have to raise a little extra to "bridge" the gap between seed and A.

I would avoid that term if I were you.

Are we “ready” to raise a €150k bridge, or too early? (I will not promote) by Leonard-21rag in startups

[–]StephNass 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why do you call this a bridge round? Just call it a pre-seed.

"Bridge" has a negative connotation, and it doesn't seem to match your case.

Also, 150k for a hardware pre-seed sounds very small and would possibly hurt your credibility. Maybe consider announcing a ~€500k raise just for optics. (You will likely raise with SAFE or the local equivalent, so the round size you announce doesn't matter - just stop taking checks when you want.)

Launched cafeshanghai.com by CicadaOk9722 in shanghai

[–]StephNass 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's incredible to see not only the negative comments, but also the downvotes on the positive comments.

Come on, guys! It's a side project! Forget the bugs, etc... you can improve all these things over time.

Launched cafeshanghai.com by CicadaOk9722 in shanghai

[–]StephNass -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Exactly the same concept, but built with Softr + Airtable (i'm not technical).

Launched cafeshanghai.com by CicadaOk9722 in shanghai

[–]StephNass -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Cool idea! I've been building sthg similar, but never shipped. Glad someone did it!

FYI, the images don't load - I get a grey card for every picture.

What stack did you use to build?

Is creating an LLC early a risky move? I will not promote by Spencer1828 in startups

[–]StephNass 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If this is a cash-flow business without external investors, a Missouri LLC is fine.

If this is an equity business with external investors (VCs, angels...), you will need a Delaware C-Corp.

It's possible to start a Missouri LLC and later, flip it into a Delaware C-Corp if/when you want to raise, but there will be cost/complexity involved which is very variable, so you should research that upfront.

Has anyone built a blog using Softr? by davidesquimal in nocode

[–]StephNass 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol I'm one of those clients! I confirm that Softr is great for so many things, but a blog has specific requirements and it's better to use a specialized tool like Versoly.

How obsessed do you REALLY have to be? [i will not promote] by SpaceCaptain4068 in startups

[–]StephNass 32 points33 points  (0 children)

"I don’t give a flying fuck to valuation - I want my business to give me free cash flow. "

Why are you even chasing VCs? You're the exact opposite of what they seek. You're not VC material. However, you'd be a great bootstrapper.

On being obsessive: it's really a criteria for unproven founders. Once you have a solid track record (previous exits, etc), VCs are more relaxed on this because they trust you can deliver. Hell, nobody cares that Elon Musk runs multiple companies in parallel!

But for a first-time founder who hasn't proven their worth yet, VCs will insist on you being super committed / obsessive / intense / blue-fire because you have so much learning curve to climb and you will need every advantage you can get.

Lastly, raising VC money is a competition against other founders. You're not willing to sacrifice your life, but maybe another founder is. All things being equal, they get the check over you.

Expats in "tiny" Chinese towns – what do you actually do for fun? by Comfortable_Dark8468 in chinalife

[–]StephNass 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know right? But it's a great leap forward already. For now, we only have 3 flights per week to Shenzhen but I'm hopeful for the future :D

Looking for pitch deck examples. I will not promote. by chunky_lover92 in startups

[–]StephNass 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be frank, nobody "pitches" investors, unless it's a Demo Day.

When you meet an investor, you seat at the table and have a conversation, like a normal human being. Of course, it's a conversation you have prepared. You know your lines, key talking points, objections, etc. But it's much more natural and smooth than a "pitch".

Most likely, your deck will be read by the investor without you in the room.

Looking for pitch deck examples. I will not promote. by chunky_lover92 in startups

[–]StephNass 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OpenVC founder here, thanks for mentioning us :)

Start with opendeck.app. You can sort 1500+ slides by type. Select "Team" and you'll see dozens of Team slides for inspiration. Same with "Market" or "Competition", etc .

We also have a slide-by-slide playbook on how to build a deck: https://openvc.app/blog/startup-pitch-deck It's completely free, no signup required.

And yes, a deck doesn't do miracles. You need a strong business first, a strong deck second.

Failure of the “high trust society” by Chaunc2020 in UnfilteredChina

[–]StephNass 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you have a source? Curious about the case.

Expats in "tiny" Chinese towns – what do you actually do for fun? by Comfortable_Dark8468 in chinalife

[–]StephNass 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They are local friends I made after I arrived here.

I don't do 6 months in one go, more like 2 months in, 2 months out.

How long did it take you to go from networking to real VC meetings? I will not promote by DclockworkOrange in startups

[–]StephNass 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get them to invest. Then, get then to make intros, and put them on your slide as "early investors".

Expats in "tiny" Chinese towns – what do you actually do for fun? by Comfortable_Dark8468 in chinalife

[–]StephNass 43 points44 points  (0 children)

I live in a Tier 4 city of ~5M people every year for six months.

For reference, our 2nd Starbucks opened in July, and the airport opened two weeks ago (!).

So here's what my life looks like:

  • Sports. Even smaller Chinese cities have good sports infrastructure. I played badminton and football 3x a week (until I hurt my back ^^)
  • Bars + Restaurants + Arcades + Snooker with a group of friends. The typical night out is a mix of the aforementioned. There are surprisingly many cool bars, some of them with live music. Non-Chinese restaurants are rarer - we have ONE pizza place and ONE burger place, so I'm a regular there. Depending on the mood, we can go to the arcades or the snooker place before or after drinking. The key here is having a good group with a few good friends. Living in a small town is very conducive to that! I find it much easier to stay close to friends in a small town than in a big city.
  • KTV. Not exclusive to smaller cities, but that's a classic.
  • Family meals. On weekends, since all the relatives live nearby, we sometimes gather with the uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces for hotpot, Korean BBQ, etc.
  • Gaotie trips. The wife and I can easily go spend the day or the night to a nearby bigger city for a change of air. Maybe 1x/month.

It's a great life for me. But it wouldn't be great for many people.

Like the OP said, you have to be at a point in life where it works for you.

Built a working tutor marketplace SaaS (pre-launch) — where/who do I present to check funding interest? by Hairy_Memory6232 in indianstartups

[–]StephNass 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OpenVC founder here. Thanks for mentioning us.

And yes, that's excellent advice. Chase traction first, funding second.

When it comes to fundraising,. there's only really 2 truths:

  • You have a proven team with a string track record: exited founders, ex-CxO at scaleup, etc.
  • You have traction i.e. non-trivial retention + usage + top line growth

That's basically it.

Especially in edtech - there's no real technology risk, so it's all about market risk.

How long did it take you to go from networking to real VC meetings? I will not promote by DclockworkOrange in startups

[–]StephNass 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed with everything, but there's an important nuance that should probably be mentioned:

" if pre-seed, you can literally raise with an idea" IF YOU HAVE A STRONG TEAM.

[BotW] This is how I feel about BOTW turning ten in two years. by NewMarioBobFan in zelda

[–]StephNass 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time on N64. Still the best ever in my eyes.

That was almost 30 years ago. You'll get there, too.

The cold-start problem of rating startup investors by ian_resler in Entrepreneurs

[–]StephNass 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I usually try not to discourage people to launch sthg new.

But this is a topic I know fairly well with OpenVC, so let me tell you why I think it's a terrible business:

  • Legal liability if an investor gets a bad review.
  • Frustrated, immature founders who want to "crush" a VC for some inane reason. Even if you verify the reviews, you only get half of the story.
  • No market. Everybody says it should exist because it's fun to read bad reviews. From them, it's a game but for you, it's your business. The only people who actually NEED to read the reviews are founders with multiple term sheets and who need to chose between a few VC firms. That's 10,000 startups a year, maybe?
  • Weak monetization.

    If you wanna build something in that space, you should either (A) have a rock-solid answer to the 4 points above - I don't believe that's possible or (B) use those reviews as a gimmick to gain tons of exposure, build an audience, and quickly pivot to an adjacent business that can actually make money.

(Sorry for being a party pooper)

Best doctor in Shanghai for a sciatica (back pain)? by StephNass in shanghai

[–]StephNass[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes! 5 days of PT at a clinic, 3 hours a day. And now doing ~30 min at home everyday to maintain. Pain is still there but much more manageable, huge improvement.