Starting a startup completely changed the trajectory of my life Before: – 22 years old – $100k in debt – Skinny-fat – Hacker house After: – 25 years old – $350k in debt – Just fat – Homeless Here’s what I did after:

People ask me how I reached an eight-figure net worth after only 5 years in tech: Year 1 - $65K (1st job) Year 2 - $72K (asked for raise) Year 3 - $137K (switched jobs) Year 4 - $35.67M (lawsuit payout from Google commuter bus hitting me) Year 5 - $146K (promotion)

If you’re in SF, be careful out there. I had two licenses of Microsoft Teams in my car, and someone broke in and left two more

Best $100 I ever spent - wish me luck

Big companies: $30K per year for this SaaS tool??! Not happening. We'll just assign 17 of our $350K/yr engineers and build it in house in 19 months.

When a VC accidentally turns on their camera during your pitch

How to save $1.8M on your .com • try[startup].com • get[startup].com • join[startup].com • use[startup].com • [startup]hq. com What else?

“Do you talk to users?” “I am the user”

Startup life: 2:04pm: I think we're going out of business 2:30pm: (customer demo goes well) 2:33pm: I'm pretty sure we're going to IPO next year

pretty wild

You never truly understand a • Failed launch • Cofounder breakup • Key hire backing out • Round falling apart • Acquisition falling through Until it happens to you Being a founder humbles you when it's your turn — all part of the journey

Startup founder with $0 revenue on twitter

NEVER share your startup ideas. I did, and it easily cost me over $1 billion. The year was 1993, and I was catching up with my good friend Jensen Huang The coffee maker had just burnt our coffee, and I remarked “Dang, I wish these things could think for themselves” Fast-forward 30 years…he obviously stole my idea and built NVIDIA. Now I look like a fool, and I’m out billions. Sure, I learned my lesson - everyone I talk to, at all, for any reason, now signs an ironclad NDA. Don’t make my mistake.

*some personal news* Got to marry the love of my life last month!! ☺️❤️❤️

OKRs are too complicated. Why don't we just set a KPI and do whatever it takes to hit it?

Don't start a startup because it’s trendy to be an entrepreneur. Start a startup because you really, deeply are passionate about cold plunges, listening to VC podcasts at 8x speed, and subscribing to AI newsletters.

No revenue No hockey stick growth No customers Just you, $100M in funding from Softbank in 2021, a low burn rate, and your seventh pivot this year

Today, I’m thrilled to share that @fondocom has raised a $7M seed round to accelerate our mission of putting accounting on autopilot for startups. With Fondo, startups don’t need to worry about tax penalties, financial statement errors, or missing out on up to $500k in tax credits. Onboard in minutes then set & forget — taxes are filed on time, timely and accurate financial reporting is delivered, and cash back tax credits from the IRS (up to $500k per year) are claimed and received. Over 1,000 startups trust us to put their bookkeeping, taxes, and tax credits on autopilot and starting today any startup can try Fondo for $1: fondo.info/494Le3l We are very grateful for our supporters in this round. The round is led by @moneyforward (@rakeemrakeem, @Yosuke0630) with participation from @ycombinator (@gustaf, @mwseibel, @daltonc, @arnavsahu341), @foolventures (Maggie Dorn, @TMFWillSommers, Abigail Malin), @nextcoastVP (@mikesmerklo, Michael Maloney, @KaitDeBernardo), @twentytwovc (Katey Caldwell), @a16z scout fund (@theo, @wwshaef), @IndexVentures scout fund (@nitzanshapira), @costanoavc scout fund (@iamtoddjohnson), @1121vc (@itsmikerose), @rhobusiness (@everettcookny), @Capchase debt (@miguelflarrea) and angels including @CraigJamalLewis, @ChrisJBakke, @james406, @jshchnz, @gpcastle12, @LorenBrill, @Austen, @hpatel, @MattDoka, @jundoima, @iamjasonlevin, @daviddotwalker, @doubleshdw , @RTorenberg021, @danikalyon, @bisla, & others.

Please bring back vine @elonmusk @nicholasmegalis 🙏

𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧: Last month @fondocom crossed $6M ARR — and we're profitable! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰’𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺. 𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗦𝗢 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧? At Fondo we are building the all-in-one accounting platform for startups -- helping 1,000+ of them put bookkeeping, taxes, and tax credits on autopilot. Our customers rely on us for a mission critical function of their business, and it’s important to continue to serve them indefinitely. To achieve $6M ARR and profitability in this market means that: 𝘈𝘵 𝘍𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 own 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺. 𝗙𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗔𝗧 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗠𝗨𝗖𝗛 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗣𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟 ($𝟭.𝟮𝗠 𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗗) The Fondo team has repeatedly exceeded top quartile growth benchmarks year over year, without raising too much VC. I’m proud about what we’ve accomplished together. This is only the beginning. We are at the starting line and excited for what’s next! 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 @posthog, @james406, @chrisjbakke, @emergetools, @jshchnz, @pingdotgg, @t3dotgg and others for giving us the opportunity to support you -- this is our lifeblood and has made this possible. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 @brian2346, @dylsphillips, @dianeemccormack, @ali_ghanimati @stefan415, @UK1999, @luccalipisky, @BrandonCorrell1, @brennanp, & others for your ambition, ingenuity, work ethic, and obsession with solving our customers’ problems. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 & 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: @ycombinator, @gustaf @mwseibe, @TransmediaCap, @ChrisRedlitz, @peterboboff, @gmovp, @erikford, @jediknights, @NewDoVenture, @Liquid2V, @Capchase 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: @mandelaSH, @MrStartup, @parthbhakta, @Markgee, @_chrisyang, @kevinverse, @amyludlum, @Robbie, @jasonmustian, @AllanTYoung, @juhapaananen, @pariarajai, @marcotrombetti, @andresbarreto, @chrisamccoy, @gpcastle12, @jundoima, @Tbobx, & @keyvanfirouzi 🫡 𝗚𝗢𝗗𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗧, 𝗬𝗢𝗨’𝗩𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦. Any founders who need help with ⤵ • 𝗨𝗽𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 October 15th (all Delaware C Corps legally required to file — there’s still time to get up to $500k back from the IRS if you filed an extension) • 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 $𝟱𝟬𝟬/𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 from the new BOI filing requirement due within 90 days of incorporation • 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 (get your runway, P&L, and BS when you need it for investor updates/requests, 409a valuations, planning, and survival) Get an instant quote or schedule a call here — we’d love to support you: app.tryfondo.com/onboarding

Me: “So how’d you get into VC?” VC: ▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။၊|။|||။|||။၊| 45:37

I'm thrilled to announce that @fondocom has raised a $3 million pre-seed round to support our vision axios.com/pro/fintech-deals/…

Year 6 - $1.5K (start @fondocom & file Delaware Franchise Tax for startups for $1 tryfondo.com/1 — due in 12 days)

Met a founder who didn't have enough cash to make the next payroll (~$100k) To stay alive, he had to be creative So he asked ChatGPT to build him a startup that does $100k in profit with zero errors, and used that profit to pay his employees A lot of entrepreneurship is about finding a way to stay alive to fight another day

The codebase after pivoting 4 times in 18 months:

VCs: You're given $10 million, but you can’t post anywhere on the internet that you’re proud to announce that you’re humbled and grateful for the opportunity to have $10 million. Do you take it?

Grateful to welcome our baby girl into the world She’s our dream come true ❤️

First time founders: I'm going to fix healthcare worldwide. Second time founders: I'm going to fix healthcare in the US. Third time founders: I'm going to write a paid newsletter about people fixing healthcare and make $2M per year.

Running a startup in the span of one hour

VCs after the founder they ghosted gets into YC W25

It's been 6 years since our @ycombinator Demo Day We were not hot and raised ~$625k (ty @Liquid2V @ChrisRedlitz @erikford @gpcastle12 @parthbhakta @jundoima @stefan415 @Tbobx @ali_ghanimati @keyvanfirouzi for being our 1st checks) We had some good growth. And then less than 2 years in, the worst case scenario happened. The market changed and revenue fell off a cliff. We lost line of sight on cash and had $40k left. We decided to do a hard pivot instead of being acquihired. @fondocom was born 🌅👨🏻‍🍼 4 years, $12M+ revenue, 2000+ gut punches, 1000+ customers (ty @james406 @thesamparr @AdamRy_n @bballerika @jijosunny @rubenharris for being the 1st to trust us) later and it was the right decision. W24 founders: YC doesn’t end after Demo Day (ty @gustaf for always taking my calls). It's just the beginning of a long road with the community at your side. You will be as successful as you want to be despite how much you raise. Some things that have helped me on the journey so far: 🦾 Become an expert at your domain and help your ICP with all your might 🪳 Be scrappy af and expect + maneuver the gut punches ⚒️ Become obsessed with solving your customers’ problems 🚢 Keep going — find momentum and always push forward 💙 Work with believers (ty @dianeemccormack @brian2346 @dylsphillips @brennanp @luccalipisky & my Fondolorian fam) Your journey as a founder will be very difficult, but now you have one of the best founder communities in the world supporting you. Don’t forget to use Bookface 🧡

AWS every time a startup announces a new fundraising round

She said yes!!

I miss the days of 2021 when I’d ask a founder who led their round and they’d say: “Oh we raised $40M from Edward Norton, the Chainsmokers, Martha Stewart, and Jake from State Farm.”

Met a VC today who said the only reason @fondocom has gotten the opportunity to serve 1,000+ founders is because we “are selling to our friends at YC” First off, I wish I had 1,000 friends. Second, we have worked incredibly hard to win the business of 1,000+ incredible founders. Proud of us. If you’re reading this, fuck you.

YC is leading the SF is back charge! No better place to start your startup.

Good ways to raise capital: Sequoia Accel A16Z Khosla Greylock The best way to raise capital: Customers

"Oh, you're a founder? That's so fun!" Reality:

Your main priorities as CEO of a startup • keep the company alive • keep the company alive • keep the company alive • keep the company alive • keep the company alive

YC W24 startups are building something people want 🦾 @ycombinator alumni companies are supporting them for everything from data analytics & database management to financial management & equity planning Here are the Top YC Companies used by the YC W24 Batch 🚀 1. @brexHQ (73%+) 2. @pulley (70%+) 3. @posthog (53%+) 4. @fondocom (33%+) 5. @supabase (30%+)

Visiting the office of your friend who just closed a $25M Series A:

Want to build a successful company? Doing YC will change the trajectory of your life Before YC: @fondocom had 0 users After YC: 1,000+ customers, $10M+ ARR If you are applying and want feedback on your application I’d love to help

Time management is critical for building a successful company As a founder your time is usually split up as 50% sales 50% marketing 50% product 50% support 50% recruiting 50% accounting 50% scrolling on X 50% on everything else

Some people work better in an office around others. Some people work better remote / at home. Some people (me) work better at the Grand Wailea resort in Maui next to the “no kids allowed” pool with an unlimited room service allowance. There are no right or wrong answers here.

When a VC says they can’t see how you’ll build a $1B+ company but would love to stay in touch

A startup dies when founders lose passion for the problem Start with a problem you genuinely want to solve for the long haul

Signing up for a SaaS with 15 ‘trusted by’ logos on their website and the founder immediately posts “First paying customer 🙏”

> Cofounder quit > Product hunt launch got 0 sign ups > One of your investors is asking for their money back because they don’t like your pivot But you won’t give up Just keep going, founder

We’re PlaneJacket — and we’re building jackets for planes. There are 28,674 aircraft on planet earth alone. Every time they fly, they get cold. At $25,000 per flight per day this is a $261B opportunity. ⤵️ nitter.app/rahsh33m/status/177811…

“We just don’t see you going from $0 to $100M ARR in 24 months”

SF founder budget in 2024: Groceries: $200/mo Doordash: $20,000/mo Rent: $3,800/mo Renewing .ai domains: $23,955/mo Utilities: $475/mo

ANNOUNCEMENT: We finally did it Years of negotiation One perfect domain @fondocom is now fondo.com 100x easier to find us, log in, and get your taxes filed — with up to $500k back from the IRS ⏰ 9 days left to file (October 15) Comment “FONDO.COM” for FREE AirPods when you sign up for the upcoming tax deadline by Friday

The best series A firm just dropped @daltonc and @paultoo leading your A after application and interview Terms: 10% ownership 5 companies per cycle Incredible

Building a startup is lonely Most of your friends can't relate Founder communities can have a profound impact on your journey 👇

Day in the life of a founder ✨

Founders working from December 25 to January 3

Great to catch up with old friends at @ycombinator alumni demo day Congrats to all the S25 founders 🫡

If this gets 100 likes @elonmusk and @ChrisJBakke will bring back vine

Founders today have to run their company, hire great people, co-host three podcasts, run 5 newsletters, share edgy memes daily, try to avoid getting blocked by their lead investors, and remember to pay their taxes.

Founders who want to increase their valuation by 20% spend $20,000 on a designer for their pitch deck. Founders who want to increase their valuation by 700% spend $9 on a .ai domain. Choose wisely.

Lamborghini was a tractor company Samsung was a grocery store LG was a facial cream IKEA was a pen All great companies have humble beginnings Please keep going

153 YC S25 startups $150M+ capital invested (so far) $3B+ in enterprise value We’re so back

People ask me how I reached an eight-figure net worth after only 5 years in tech: Year 1 - $65K (1st job) Year 2 - $72K (asked for raise) Year 3 - $137K (switched jobs) Year 4 - $35.67M (lawsuit payout from Waymo hitting me) Year 5 - $146K (promotion)

New year, new office setup Dad mode 👨🏻‍🍼

I just had lunch with a founder, and they were doing all the wrong things. On paper, everything looked great. - Growing 40% MoM - Fat margins - Just hired a founding engineer who was first 50 at Airbnb But then I started asking them hard questions. “How many podcasts are you doing a week?” Zero. “How long are your cold plunges every morning?” They don’t cold plunge at ALL. “What’s your AI strategy?” They didn’t even NEED to use AI. Unfortunately, this startup is going to zero. Sad to see a story like this. Founders are prioritizing all the wrong things.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How it started How it’s going

“I want to be respectful of your time so before we set up a time to meet Who else is investing in this round?”

Running a startup over a 3 hour period:

Love me a good hanbāgā

Work with @instinct_inc Go into debt if you have to

In college, I wanted to be a founder. But I took a job as an accountant at Deloitte so I could pay rent in SF. I spent 80+ hour weeks there for $50k/yr salary. But, during those hours I mostly thought about startup ideas. In college, I started an online tutoring business called UniverCity Tutors that (sort of) resembled the one @brian_armstrong started before Coinbase 😅 So while studying for my CPA at Deloitte, I was going to hackathons to build with/meet similar folks — my team finished 1st in one of them. That was when my startup journey began. I left to work on that company. Keep in mind, I still wasn't 'technical' per se, so my role was largely numbers-focused. We went out to raise funding, and that's when it happened: After introducing ourselves and our product, one VC asked me point blank, "So what are you going to do? Accounting?" Man, that stung. It wasn't what he said, but how he said it. He wasn't wrong, either — there wasn't much value for me to add to the company. And honestly, it's probably why my co-founder fired me from that company. I'll always look back at that moment as the day I realized I need to be a builder. I didn't check the boxes and to them, I probably never would — it was a gut punch and felt like it came with no remorse. That's when I invested in learning how to code and ship web apps and decided I never wanted to depend on VCs in order to succeed. But for the record and with a huge caveat to this story, we have wonderful investors at @fondocom. (We initially planned on growing Fondo without outside capital — getting to 1,000+ customers and $6M ARR before considering VC funding. After building trust and deepening relationships with our investors over time, accepting their investment felt right.) So are all VCs and investors evil? Not at all, and we're grateful for that.

Your startup probably needs to "launch" about 15 times before anyone pays attention. Just keep building and putting yourself out there.

Being a founder seems great on the outside. What you don't see: - Long hours - Taking huge risks - Being told 'no' countless times - Sleepless nights - $6,298 in monthly costs from holding 152 domains you'll never use It's not all glamorous.

Being a startup founder At 4:05pm when you have a great idea, and at 4:08pm when you think about the idea more

Excited to be back here today

Anyone need an Airchat invite? @nikitabier (interim ceo) gave me 50 invites Comment below or DM me

Best AI assistant I’ve ever experienced And I’ve pretty much tried them all

Congratulations to all the @ycombinator W24 companies who have already been accepted! I still remember when @daltonc called me at 9pm on Halloween! 🥳🙏 I also remember the multiple times I was rejected — if you were rejected don’t give up 💪 👉 Great advice from @MaxMusing on how to prepare for your interview: basedash.com/blog/everything…

What VCs think founders do to get their first 100 customers: ask friends to sign up. What founders actually do:

Answer: $19,829

Building a company around a problem you don't care about leads to burnout Pick something you’re excited to solve

"I missed the button to have my bonus go to my bank account and instead Google deposited it to my 401(k)...so I thought might as well YOLO it all." That move helped @kevinxu turn $35k into $10M+ Legendary Now he's building @alpha_ai to create the next million millionaires Origin story on @Fondocom @startupgpod 00:15 Intro: @kevinxu, @alpha_ai origin story 01:28 Stanford→YC S13 (double interview); pivoting 06:11 Stripe→Google/Youtube 09:00 @wallstreetbets: memes, learning in public 12:26 $35K 401k start (missed toggle opt-out) 14:53 Early pandemic plays APT/CODX, floor+catalyst 17:33 Chasing pops, @Chewy-era stories; exits 20:11 $GME 'almost': "1 month before the squeeze" 23:33 $1M swings; , detachment, “sell the screenshot” 25:10 Big 5 $BGFV → $10M; earnings coin flips 27:15 @AfterHour_HQ prototype 30:50 Building @alpha_ai: "your AI money friend" 35:05 Startup finance stack (@brexHQ, @fondocom) 36:10 Attention Maxxing in 2025 for startups

Coinbase alone will likely return ~$1B / ~140x the fund 😱

One of the best days of the year Good luck X25 founders🫡

The W23 batch is the best I’ve ever seen out of YC. This age of AI is going to change everything. SF is back!

Happy @fondocom family 🥹❤️ Thank you for the baby swag @ChrisRedlitz & @thebev 🙌

The best solo founder community in the world 🙏 @solofounders @julianweisser

Founders: I promise you, you will learn more about your customer by: - Talking to them instead of reading their comments - Releasing an update instead of waiting for the "perfect time" - Launching your startup instead of reading another book about startups Action always wins.

Today I’m excited to announce that yesterday we announced the acquisition of the dot com for an undisclosed amount Back to work

I love alumni demo day 🧡 Congrats to the @ycombinator W24 batch -- I am blown away by your companies and ambition! So fired up after watching @garrytan @mwseibel @daltonc @harjtaggar and others give us a sneak peak of the future of YC in San Francisco 🦾🥳

Vacations for founders don’t fix burnout Address what’s wrong You’ll feel better

There are 850+ AI companies backed by @ycombinator & San Francisco is the #1 place where they are being built. Proud to see @fondocom listed as a Top 100 AI startup in SF 🙏🫡 Congrats to our friends at @OpenAI, @checkr, @Cruise, @Kraftful, @useMotion & everyone else on the list!

Startups are: 10% luck 20% skill 15% concentrated power of will 5% pleasure 50% pain and 100% reason to buy a .ai domain

A $7M seed round, grew to 1,200+ customers, and teams stepping up. I am grateful that 2024 was an incredible year for @fondocom 3 major wins to share: 1. Raised our $7M Seed round People close to me know I wanted to build Fondo without VCs. We had >1000 customers before we ever took a check. With that said, we got to know our lead investor well over the course of 9 months, then met some other great investors. We felt like it was the best decision after discussing it as a team. 2. Grew to over 1,200 customers The infrastructure we set in the first 4 years of business got put to use in the last 12 months. We nailed product and got creative in ways that attracted customers—our $1 campaign was a great lever to pull here. Customers also used to come solely from our founder networks. Last year, we got social to work (namely going viral a few times 😅) and saw the real business impact it can have if done right. If you can't tell by reading this post, we're investing more here this year. 3. Our team stepped up big time We have 3 core values at Fondo: Growth, Delight, and Be a Pro. Our team truly embodies these values more each quarter. "Growth" is about having a growth mindset, always sharpening our skills, and helping our customers grow. "Delight" is about going above and beyond, which our teams do daily. And "Be a Pro" centers on each person taking accountability. Our team is why Fondo was able to be successful in 2024. We learned a lot in 2024 that will help us continue to grow in 2025 and I'm so excited to be kicking it off with a strong start!

Building a startup from nothing is really hard Give yourself some credit

What you think you need to become a VC: - Partner at a top fund - Angel investor in a unicorn - Interviews on 20VC and All-in What you actually need to become a VC: - Patagonia vest - $700 podcast mic - $50k checks for “non-traditional founders” who went to Stanford, worked at Stripe, and just created an AI startup That’s literally it.

Running a startup is like owning a jet ski. It looks pretty cool, but something is always broken and it's really expensive to run.

How founders start startups: Buy lots of books about startups. Read all of them. Take lots of notes. Start their company. Realize the books didn't help and they should have just started sooner. You learn by doing.

Prediction: There are at least 25 unicorns in the @ycombinator W24 batch Comment below and tag your startup so we can follow & support you 🦾🧡

I’m old enough to remember when every startup website site looked like this