M13

In this season of gratitude, we’re thankful for our many speakers and partners who made this year’s events so special for our entire community. For being generous with their time and offering an expert POV on all things investing: Brad Burnham (Union Square Ventures), Sallie Krawcheck (Ellevest), Jon Korngold (Blackstone) For giving us new perspectives on old problems and inspiring our moonshots: Shane Battier, A.C. Charania (NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Jamer Hunt For their dedication to making our communities safer, more modern, and better connected: Michael Chime (Prepared), Julie Samuels (Tech:NYC), Lilita (Lili) I. (CAT Labs) For innovating new solutions in the world of AI and showing us what a better future can look like: Nami Baral (Niural), Jonathan Corbin and Sami Shalabi (Maven AGI), John Nay (Norm Ai) For teaching us the art of human storytelling, authenticity, and taking paths less traveled by: Stacy London, Casey Neistat, Dan Porter And above all, for reminding us of our most important belief at M13: that our constellation shines brighter than the sum of its stars. #BrighterTogether ?

"I absolutely love building companies. It’s the coolest thing to attempt. But building a company is very different from running a company,” says M13 partner and head of Launchpad John Tabis. Here’s how he sees it ? Being a founder is a very creative and ambiguous job. Your role is to create belief, then try to do things with the limited resources you have so you can attract more resources to that belief. Don’t do the stuff that doesn’t work; do more of the stuff that does. The job of a CEO is literally the opposite: it’s to manage processes, people, and resources against a set of priorities and goals at scale. Every company that grows enough reaches a point where the founder transitions to being the CEO. There’s no avoiding it. But it’s strange, because those two roles have very little in common.? "Personally, being a CEO was almost soul-crushing for me, because it was about micro-optimizations and day-to-day management, while I’d always lived in the world of ideas," he says. "I used to tell people, “If I could just be a founder over and over, that would be the perfect job for me.”" In a way, that's why Launchpad is such a great fit for him. He gets to be a people-to-people connection engine and support amazing human beings with that same drive to build build build. Learn more about how John supports founders and potential founders in Launchpad, how he evaluates potential business ideas, his journey founding The Bouqs Company, and more at the link in the comments. ?? : John speaking to founders, operators, and pre-seed investors at Launchpad's happy hour in LA

At M13, we see a growing market opportunity for full-stack, AI-powered solutions that bundle all the tools that service professionals need to launch, manage, and grow their business. M13 partner Anna Barber and investor Whitney Hazard view the business-in-a-box tech stack across a few different layers: - Administration: Solutions here may handle operational business tasks like payments, scheduling, simple customer communications, forms and signatures, and tax and finance. Given that the average entrepreneur spends more than a third of their workweek on small administrative tasks, the need here is huge. - Acquisition: Solutions here may offer solopreneurs tools for marketing, branding, more robust customer communications, prospecting, or sharing services on marketplaces. - Education: An even more advanced layer involves biz-in-a-box solutions that help train or upskill entrepreneurs. For example, a solution might offer a training course that teaches someone graphic design skills. It could then also help them set up their graphic design business, create their website, find clients, project manage, and manage daily operations. - Unified platform: The most advanced state for a business-in-a-box solution puts all of the above modules together, creating a cohesive system. This could allow business-in-a-box users to achieve a level of performance that would be difficult—if not impossible—to replicate if they were stitching together disparate point solutions. More at the link in the comments. #Entrepreneurship #AI #AITools

M13 partner and head of legal Win Chevapravatdumrong talked about how our M13 team is thinking about #AI investments from diligence and IP challenges to key deal terms ?

?? Tomorrow: What's the new VC playbook for pursuing new funding, especially for underrepresented founders? M13 principal Morgan Blumberg, Harlem Capital partner Gabby Cazeau, and H/L Ventures managing partner Oliver Libby are pulling back the curtain on how they pursue new investments and how underrepresented founders can get a leg up at Tech:NYC's SEEN Summit tomorrow. Learn more and join them at the link in the comments. #VentureCapital #UnderrepresentedFounders

“The reality is, even the ‘overnight successes’ are a sh*tshow most of the way." — John Tabis, M13 Partner and Head of Launchpad. Few people’s careers span both Shark Tank and Finding Nemo—but founder-turned-venture-builder John Tabis is not most people. Read how John supports and evaluates founders and companies through Launchpad, what it was like to build The Bouqs Company, his experience with mental health as a founder, and more at the link in the comments. ??: 1. John presenting his startup, The Bouqs Co, on ABC’s “Shark Tank” in 2014 (Source: CNBC / YouTube) 2. John & the M13 team with Mike Tyson in the office 3. John with Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, executive coach Golbie Kamarei, and M13 partner and head of talent Matt Hoffman on zoom for M13's mental wellness for founders event #Founders #Investors #VentureCapital

M13 portfolio company Ayble Health is partnering with Cleveland Clinic to enhance care for the clinic's GI patients through their AI-enabled digital care platform ?? Learn more about the partnership and Ayble's multidisciplinary care model for the treatment of chronic digestive diseases below. Kudos to founder Sam Jactel and the whole Ayble team on this big milestone! #GutHealth #HealthTech #AI #DigitalHealth

Thank you to the fantastic group that joined us for our Women in VC event at Olfactory NYC this week! We had a great time sharing stories, resources, and scent profiles as we mixed our own fragrances. It was wonderful to be in such a warm and inviting space on a chilly November evening. Thank you for sharing your time and expertise with us! Amy Chen Andrea Moreno Zepeda Bridget Flaherty Chloe Kataev Claire Kraemer Diana Tsinis Laura Clifford Maddy Gaiman Nour Obeidallah Rhea Advani Bobba And many thanks to our hosts, Samantha Hughes, Sarah Levine, and Emma Miller Networking truly never smelled so good. #WomenInVC

The mega-deal strikes back? Nearly half of VC funding in Q3’24 came from mega-rounds. How long can this trend continue? Are these mega-rounds distorting the true state of the market? ICYMI, M13 partner Karl Alomar got on stage at Web Summit—alongside The J Curve's Olga Maslikhova, Portage 's Hélène FALCHIER, and Crunchbase CEO jager mcconnell—to talk about just that. Here are some of his takeaways from their conversation: -After a difficult couple of years post-Covid downturn, mega deals are showing up again—mainly in AI, but also in biotech -Down rounds in later stages have been common in recent years -The distance between Series A and B rounds has never been wider—so the expectations and demand on early-stage companies is far greater -One impact of mega-deals on VC is that venture could be split into two categories, growth and early stage, with very different expectations and goals around risk and returns -Although early-stage investors (like M13) generally do not participate in mega-deals, their investments often signal the establishment of new business categories smaller companies may be building #venturecapital #earlystageinvesting #megadeals #funding

Lifeforce helps users take control of their health with regular biomarker testing and suggestions for optimizing wellness. Lifeforce Medical Director Dr. Vinita Dhir Tandon recently joined the Catt Sadler Now podcast to share why everything you think you know about menopause is probably wrong, plus how to not just survive but thrive through this stage. https://lnkd.in/e2VmHTqH #Menopause #HealthTech #WellnessTech #WomensHealth