CEO & co-founder of @join_ef
San Francisco
- Tweets 6,317
- Following 1,729
- Followers 14,806
- Likes 4,271
Pinned Tweet
How @join_ef now works:
1. We find you in Europe, India or the US.
2. We select you based on your founder potential.
3. You join one of our programmes in London, Paris, Bangalore or SF.
4. If not already in SF, we help you re-locate to San Francisco to raise your seed round
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We've created a new stage of Venture Capital - Talent Investing. We've just closed a $115m fund to expand our model so we can invest in 2,000+ individuals worldwide. Very excited for what's next for @join_ef
techcrunch.com/2019/02/19/a-…
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We’ve raised a $158m Series C from an alliance of the world’s best founders, including @patrickc @collision @reidhoffman @ClemensSara @natfriedman @taavet. We’ll be bringing @join_ef's unique teambuilding methodology to even more exceptional individuals around the world
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I'm becoming CEO of @join_ef and @matthewclifford will lead our work on EF's AI thesis full-time.
We've worked closely together for a decade on almost every aspect of the business. Our role titles will change, but our working relationship won’t.🧵
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This is the most incredible job (I'm biased of course...)
We are looking for a new CEO for @CodeFirstGirls to continue growing our mission of getting more women into technology careers through free coding education linkedin.com/jobs/view/11627…
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.@matthewclifford and I are heading to @join_ef's first demo day in San Francisco. Looking forward to seeing so many of EF friends and supporters today!
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I asked @elonmusk what we can do to get more technologists to become founders. He said "They need to realise that it's not a one shot attempt. Founding is something you do again and again during your career."
Thank you to @RishiSunak for hosting
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I founded @join_ef when I was 25. I wasn't 'ready', it wasn't a 'good' idea and it wasn't the 'perfect' time. There is no right time to found a startup, so even if you don't feel ready check out @join_ef to see if we can help you take the leap this #InternationalWomenDay
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I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to figure out how to help founders from Europe raise in the Bay Area. Here’s what I’ve learnt:
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Surreal to see our book in the flesh! Here are some of the counter-intuitive themes we cover in How to Be a Founder about the earliest stages of founding a company…
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I've updated my list of best books by or about female leaders medium.com/entrepreneur-firs…
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'Bumped' into @lrastegar this morning @IndexVentures to listen to the amazing Sarah Friar. Building businesses, building babies 💪
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Delighted to announce @benedictevans has joined the @join_ef team - looking forward to working together! techcrunch.com/2020/05/19/be…
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Fun to host lunch today for @reidhoffman and the next generation of European founders 😁
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Excited to announce our raise from @GreylockVC @Mosaic_VC @foundersfund #lakestar w. @reidhoffman joining our board techcrunch.com/2017/09/11/ef…
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Becoming a founder was the best career move I ever made.
This #IWD2020 let's encourage more women to take the plunge into entrepreneurship >>
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How my fantastic cofounder @matthewclifford became Britain’s most powerful tech adviser. politico.eu/article/matt-cli…
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I announced the launch of our San Francisco Hub this morning on @business and @CarolineHydeTV. Thanks for having me!
We're now relocating our companies to SF once they've formed in London, Paris, Bangalore and New York. An exciting next chapter for them and @join_ef.
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Finding a cofounder isn’t like dating. At @join_ef we’ve helped thousands of individuals find their cofounder and go on to raise from the world's best investors. This is what we’ve learnt🤓:
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Amali grew @CodeFirstGirls from a handful of courses to teaching 10,000 women to code for free. She has had one of the most significant impacts on gender diversity in UK tech. A massive thank you from me and the thousands of women whose careers you've changed 🤩🤩🤩
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Wow. Mega fundraising day for @join_ef alum. @papercupai closes £8m, @proportunity_uk closes £7.5m, @candulabs closes £5.5m and @meet_cleo closes £44m. Massive congrats to all the founders!
techcrunch.com/2020/12/10/cl…
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"We'll be teaching more women to code each year than the whole university system" @amali_d CEO of @CodeFirstGirls on then #CFG2020 campaign
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I asked @elonmusk what advice he had for first time founders
"If you don’t succeed with your first startup it shouldn’t be a catastrophic career ending thing. It should be that you gave it a good shot and now try again."
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88 of the @join_ef team, from six locations, joined us for our Global Retreat in Lisbon this week. Our goal is to transform the lives of the most impactful people and I'm so proud of the kick-ass team that are making that happen.
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Massive congratulations to my exceptional cofounder @matthewclifford! A great choice by the King :)
Great honour to be awarded a CBE by the King today for services to AI. Getting the Summit and AI Safety Institute off the ground has been a huge collective effort; I’m so grateful to the incredible team that made them happen (and congrats to @demishassabis and @soundboy!)
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It's not often @matthewclifford and I get to be in the same room anymore. And in fact we won't be again for a while as I'm back off to San Francisco next week until the summer!
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I remember how daunting this goal seemed in 2017 - 20,000 young women taught to code, for FREE, by 2020. We have smashed that goal!
Other amazing stats:
+ 50% from BAME backgrounds
+ In 2020 alone @CodeFirstGirls taught >3x women to code than the entire UK uni undergrad system
In 2017 we promised to teach 20,000 women to code for free by the end of 2020. We're excited to announce that we have smashed our goal! Alongside @BankofAmerica @GoldmanSachs @KKR_Co @thetrainline @OVHcloud, we're building a coalition who are leading the charge to gender equity.
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Building a startup is a creative problem, working in a corporate is an optimisation problem. Working in a corporate doesn't train you to become a founder medium.com/entrepreneur-firs…
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Talent Investing is about funding individuals, rather than companies, regardless of whether they have a team or an idea. This is a new stage of VC and we believe it's going to be game changing @join_ef medium.com/@Alicebentinck/fu…
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Founders from our @join_ef London, Paris, Berlin, Singapore, Bangalore and Toronto sites all together in San Francisco tonight ❤️
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Five female founders from 14 companies at #efsg2 demo day! One pitching by video as she gave birth yesterday 💪💪💪 #femalefoundersftw
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A third of the teams pitching @joinef Demo Day in San Francisco on Wednesday have either a female founding CEO or CTO. We're not where we need to be, but we're heading in the right direction.
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The @join_ef team circa 2013. Ten years on the debate continues as to whether @zoejerv or @raccrompton can claim they were our first employee...
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My thoughts on what big corps can learn from how startups build their teams. Thanks @McKinseyDigital for the interview mckinsey.com/business-functi…
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Super excited to announce we are opening in Berlin!
techcrunch.com/2018/01/17/ef…
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What a night! Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate ten years since @join_ef's first demo day. Here's to the next ten!
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Glorious day in San Francisco. Excited to welcome founders from Europe and Asia to the new @join_ef office on Monday
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The @efldn team are some of the most insanely ambitious AND totally lovely people I know. It's a rare combo. Thank you for my wedding send off!
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Amazing to collect my MBE today alongside my fantastic cofounder @matthewclifford - such an honour!
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Really impressed by the quality of @join_ef teams I'm seeing @joinstationf . The talent in Paris is a wonderful combination of insanely technically skilled and insanely ambitious
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So pleased and surprised to be given an MBE! Delighted to be alongside my fantastic partners @matthewclifford @wendytanwhite from @efLDN
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It's Sunday and the @join_ef office in San Francisco is packed. I can see @matthewclifford helping a founder fine tune their pitch, @ClarityCareAI on the phone to an investor and a bunch of founders being grilled in mock investor meetings. 3 days until demo day!
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Six years ago @AlexDalyac and Razvan Ranca had just left university. They met for the first time on @join_ef and started working on using deep learning to disrupt the insurance industry. Today they are our first unicorn.
joinef.com/the-story-of-trac…
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Amazing to see so many of our incredible alumni in London tonight. We had someone from every single cohort we’ve run in London there tonight!
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I'm lucky enough to have an amazing cofounder (@matthewclifford) and to have spent most of my career thinking about how to build the perfect co-founding team. Here's me and Matt talking about everything we have learnt @join_ef with @reidhoffman greylock.com/successful-cofo…
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We just kicked off our W23 cohorts in New York, London, Paris and Bangalore. Our cohorts are carefully curated groups of individuals at the very start of their founder journey. This week they’re testing potential cofounders. Here’s what we know about this process...🧵
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Biodegradable polyester? Not just a pipedream. This team is going to have an enormous impact on the world - congrats @fabricnano @gaarons @FerdyRandisi on the recent raise from @atomico and @EmmaWatson
fortune.com/2021/06/30/emma-…
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Who knew reading out loud for 8 hours with no mistakes was so hard?? Recording the audio book for @matthewclifford and my new book How to Be a Founder amazon.co.uk/How-Be-Founder-…
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Excited for investment committees with our third Singapore cohort today - batteries, quantum computing, lidar, AI and crypto all on the list for today. An amazing set of companies - all of whom joined as individuals without ideas just 12 weeks ago :)
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Come work with me! I'm looking for a Product Manager to work on @join_ef's unique way of turning people into startups. Come work on the cutting edge of Talent Investing!
jobs.lever.co/joinefnow/8582…
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Yesterday we announced our recent raise from @GreylockVC et al, here are my thoughts on where we are with @efLDN medium.com/entrepreneur-firs…
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"A lot of effing money" Chortle. Thanks for the write up @sohear.
This is a massive moment for EF and show of support for the Talent Investor model we created. techcrunch.com/2019/02/19/a-…
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Good to see the gov highlighting the need for more women in tech and celebrating the tech talent charter @CodeFirstGirls #ukdigitalstrategy
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Congrats to @meet_cleo (ef5) on their $2m funding round - incredible progress in a very short amount of time techcrunch.com/2017/07/26/em…
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For the first time in 3 years, the full @join_ef team is together in Portugal! Such an incredible feeling to meet many of them for the first time in person 🥳
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I spoke today @SlushHQ about how to develop an idea from scratch. I talked about how to go about finding a 'Secret' by:
1. Using your Edge
2. Speaking to customers relentlessly
3. Creating a behaviour explosion
(thread with details)
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Join Entrepreneur First and find your cofounder, then head to the Bay Area to build and scale
We’re launching a new hub in San Francisco. From now on, startups across our global sites will be invited to relocate to San Francisco after funding from our Investment Committee. Read more here: joinef.com/posts/launching-o…
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When @matthewcllifford and I founded @codefirstgirls we could never have guessed how impactful the organisation would become. @anna_brailsford has taken it to the next level and I'm so excited to see it scale sifted.eu/articles/code-firs…
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We are #MovingForward - it's time all VCs created and published their D&I and harassment reporting policies wired.co.uk/article/movingfo… #IWD
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We're looking for someone to lead @join_ef US investor relations 🇺🇸. Based in the US, building and maintaining our network out here. A fun and intense role for someone mid career - no prior network needed. Drop me a DM if interested.
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New framework from @sequoia and EF alum @zefi on PMF - Love this table
sequoiacap.com/article/pmf-f…
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Sad and heart warming to say goodbye to two of @join_ef's founding team today.@raccrompton and @AnneMarieDroste have built so much of what Entrepreneur First is today and I'm so proud to have had them as colleagues and now friends. Can't wait to see what they do with their lives!
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Epic start to @join_ef in San Francisco - so great to see so many EF alum, friends and founders at our new office. Thank you to @reidhoffman for kicking it off!
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It's @join_ef Demo Day! At 3pm PST we have 32 teams pitching >100 of Silicon Valley's top partner level investors in San Francisco. Can't wait.
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I did an AMA today with some future founders and one asked about work-life balance. There is no work life balance as a founder, but that's a feature not a bug. You should found something that you're not just willing to commit all your waking hours to, but desperate to do so.
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1/ When we started @join_ef back in 2011, we had a vision for what the world’s most ambitious people should do with their lives. 8 years on, that vision is becoming a reality with talented people like Poonkodi Sampath choosing to become tech entrepreneurs. Here’s her story:
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Recording the next episode of the How to Be a Founder podcast this morning with my little special guest in tow - I'm pretty sure this is a blink, not a catnap... 🙄 Check out episode 1 here open.spotify.com/episode/4pD…
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Last year, @join_ef became the most active investor in Europe. 51 deals in total!
blog.dealroom.co/wp-content/…
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Inspiring @CodeFirstGirls Board meeting with the wonderful @amali_d! On target to teach 20,000 women to code, for free, by 2020 💪. 90 courses now up and running across the UK.
codefirstgirls.org.uk/
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Great to spend the afternoon with our friend and investor @reidhoffman @join_ef HQ where he met our team, cohort and alumni - a founder's ambition should be "mildly irritating", something our cohort aspires to!
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My very first @neoplants dropped off by co-founder @lionel_mora! This plant removes 30x more toxins than a normal house plant 🪴🪴🪴 neoplants.com/product/neo-px
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@CodeFirstGirls has taught 10,000 women to code, for free, through our in person, part time courses! We're on track for 20,000 by the end of 2020. A massive thank you to all our team, volunteers and community for helping us reach this milestone 🙌🙌🙌 codefirstgirls.org.uk
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There's tonnes of advice available once you have a team and idea...but less so on how to actually get to that stage. @matthewclifford and I have written a book on everything we've learnt about that pre-team pre-idea stage having worked with 3,000+ founders linktr.ee/howtobeafounder
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Great to see @TheSTStyle featuring female entrepreneurs today. Thank you for including me! thetimes.co.uk/article/style…
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From a @join_ef alum yesterday "there are only three times when you make the important friends in your life - at school, at uni and at EF. I didn't think I'd make so many new friends as an adult" 🤗
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Thank you @Entrepreneur for the write up on @join_EF and our model of Talent Investing in Asia entrepreneur.com/article/332…
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Entrepreneur First is coming to Canada! Applications for our Toronto programme open now 👌
"In the new year, we're looking forward to opening our seventh site on our third content." - @matthewclifford announcing our newest @join_ef site in Toronto. Applications are open now. #EFEUR12
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Could you be a Talent Investor?
This is what we do @join_EF and we're hiring now. Read this thread to see if you have the intrinsics we're looking for…
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Thanks for the piece @businessinsider!
businessinsider.com/entrepre…
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6. To read more on raising from the US, read here alicebentinck.com/raising-in… or apply to @join_ef where we now take the companies built through EF to SF for a 3 month fundraising programme
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Doing Investment Committe @join_ef this week and the teams that stand out are able to talk in depth about 1-2 customers. Rather than hand waving that they have 10 LOIs, they can talk about Bill, what he cares about, what he worries about and what kind of coffee he drinks
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