CTP Energy

The Startups VCs Wish They Hadn’t Passed On ?? Every investor has a story about the one that got away—the startup they overlooked, dismissed, or just didn’t believe in. Here are seven massive companies that early VCs passed on, only to watch them turn into billion-dollar giants: 1. Airbnb – “Nobody will rent out their home to strangers” ? Rejected by: 7 of the top 10 VC firms ? Believed in by: Y Combinator (Paul Graham) ? Initial Investment: $20,000 in 2009 ? Now Worth: Over $100B market cap 2. Uber – “People won’t get into a stranger’s car” ? Passed on by: Multiple VCs in early rounds ? Spotted by: First Round Capital (Rob Hayes) ? First Check: $510,000 in 2010 ? Today’s Market Cap: $57B 3. Zoom – “The video conferencing market is too crowded” ? Turned down for: Market saturation concerns ? Backed by: WebEx and Cisco colleagues ? Early Funding: $3M from friends & family ? Now Valued At: $21B 4. Shopify – “Just another e-commerce platform” ? Overlooked as: A small niche business ? Early believers: Tobias Lütke’s family and angels ? Initial Capital: $450,000 ? Current Worth: $76B 5. Snapchat – “A disappearing photo app? No thanks” ? Rejected by: Sequoia Capital ? Recognized by: Lightspeed Venture Partners (Barry Eggers) ? First Investment: $485,000 in 2012 ? Now Valued At: $18B 6. FedEx – “Too expensive to scale” ? VCs dismissed it as: Unfeasible ? Funded by: Frederick Smith himself ? Self-Invested: $4M in 1971 ? Today’s Valuation: $41B 7. Dell – “Who wants to buy computers from a college dorm?” ? Ignored by: Institutional investors ? Funded by: Michael Dell & family ? Started With: $1,000 at age 19 ? Current Valuation: $52B What’s the lesson here? VCs get it wrong—a lot. The best founders see opportunities where others don’t, and the biggest companies are often built on ideas that seemed crazy at the time. Which of these surprises you the most? And which startup do you think investors are overlooking today that will be worth billions in the future? #startups #venturecapital #investing #founders

At current pace of technology, companies can no longer survive through purely incremental improvement, u either choose to disrupt or be disrupted.

NewSpace Finance is proud to announce its Investing in Space Program: A Certificate by Investors for Investors. This certificate program is meant to enable #investors to capture the opportunities of the #NewSpaceEconomy, providing #network, #dealflow, #frameworks, and #casestudies. Find out more below! Led by James Lesser, Andrew Aldrin, and Zaheer Ali, who are joined by special guests such as Rumbi Makanga, Greg Autry and Michael Mealling, this program will bring attendees into the heart of #spacefinance and #spaceinvesting. Material will include lectures, panel and group discussions, case studies by Starbridge Venture Capital and Seraphim Space. Join us online and/or in person to find your path to ROI in space! #newspaceeconomy #investing #newmarkets #exponentialopportunity #venturecapital #hedgefund #institutionalinvestor #familyoffice #LP #GP

Well ... I guess the cat is outa the bag:?https://lnkd.in/g8Zgyk3Y

Envisioning and fostering future Ecological Civilizations - in the plural: What is possible and achievable by 2050? And how do we get there from here, collaboratively and tangibly, in these headwinds of the future, at this crossroads of civilization? Come join five different stalwarts of the global ecosystem restoration movement - John D Liu, Aude Péronne, Sara Scherr, Michael Pilarski ("Skeeter") and Jon Schull - for a lively, informal 90-minute discussion to kickstart a short series of MasterClasses by the EcoRestoration Alliance and Global Restoration Collaborative, co-hosted and facilitated by Leonard IYAMUREMYE and Phoebe Barnard. Have a clear view of a regenerative future ahead? Come weigh in on our options to build a #regenerativeeconomy and #ecologicalcivilizations (yes, in the plural!). March 19th, 2025: 6am Vancouver, 9 am New York, 2 pm Amsterdam, 4 pm Nairobi and 9 pm Beijing. Join Zoom Meeting: https://lnkd.in/g7HJvich Rob de Laet Peter Paap Patrick Worms Peter Gubbels BLESSINGS MLOWOKA Natasha Marais Tom Miewald Peter Bulimo Melyn Abisa Rhett Ayers Butler Andrew Revkin Cecile Ndjebet Rowely "Yen" Parico Roger A. Pam Pence American Farmland Trust Global Earth Repair Foundation EcoAgriculture Partners 1000 Landscapes For 1 Billion People UNDP Midori Paxton Global Landscapes Forum Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet Liliana Karesh Allison Bencsik Katherine Bit Islamiat Raji-Adebayo, Ph.D. Raz Peleg Alon Shocron Denise Ayebare Anni Pokela Madeline Chiu ?? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??