Mercury

Here’s an update for you: You can now greenlight known vendors — like your payroll provider — by adding them to your allow list and setting a transaction limit. We’ll still flag any attempted ACH debits above the limit you set or from unauthorized vendors for you to review.

Thank you to two gracious podcast hosts for having me on recently! For all my corporate finance people jumping into annual planning, CJ Gustafson and I jammed on this topic and traded some hot takes. If you don't follow him already, he has a tremendous amount of high quality resources and content he puts out regularly for finance leaders at Mostly Metrics. https://lnkd.in/gcPYybe8 Also had the pleasure of chatting with Zack Miller on how Mercury is evolving beyond the business banking account to offer finance tools like Bill Pay and Invoicing, and even Personal Banking. His podcast Tearsheet offers great food for thought on the intersection of financial services and technology. https://lnkd.in/gzxehtz8

We’re 13 days away from SF TECH WEEK by a16z. Here are four events you shouldn't miss ?? 1. A live podcast recording with Immad Akhund and The Room Podcast (Madison McIlwain and Claudia Laurie) 2. Our accelerators brunch with Google Cloud 3. Comedy night with Alexis Gay 4. Mercury Raise’s female founders and investors brunch RSVP at the links in our comments - and see you there! ??

Our team had an incredible time connecting with founders and friends at this year’s SaaStr Annual! ?? Couldn’t make it? No worries—join us at several #SFTW events in October: https://lnkd.in/gbKCWyJ8

You’ve probably heard the old adage, “you’ve got to spend money to make money,” but at the outset of running your startup, how much you should be spending can feel foggy. Spend too much, and you’ll quickly run out of runway. Spend too little, and you’ll stifle your company’s growth. What’s the right balance? Here are a few things to keep in mind: It’s helpful to divide your expenses into two categories: essentials and nice-to-have’s. Essential expenses are required to keep the lights on. Think costs associated with employees and selling or delivering your product. Nice-to-haves are things like tools that make your employees’ jobs easier, a big brand awareness campaign, or fees associated with attending conferences or sponsoring industry events. Scenario planning will ensure you’re prepared to adapt more quickly to changes in revenue. You’ll create several “what if” scenarios, and your essential versus nice-to-have expenses will factor into these different scenarios. You might be able to ease back on nice-to-have spending if you experience a slow quarter but have contractual obligations for other expenses. Ultimately, you’ll want to tie your budget back to your goals. The spending for a product-led company will look very different than that of a sales-led organization, and so on. You should start with your vision and how you plan to get there, and the numbers should align around that vision. The healthiest budget you can create is one that has flexibility. As you grow and have more predictable revenue, you can make more long-term budget decisions. But the beauty of being a startup is that you can react to change quickly. To learn more, visit the link below ??

*This LinkedIn post is sponsored by Mercury* I’m a venture capitalist, but I still love bootstrapping and here’s why: ? You own your business ? You control your business ? When it grows and you sell it, you make more money because… durrr. You own 100% of your business. At least that's the idea. And while I love bootstrapping, it’s not easy – no investor’s money is going to save you when things melt down. Because they do. And they did for me, in 2011. I remember one holiday season at Nasty Gal when we were exploding – we were doing in revenue each month what we’d done the entire year before. That’s amazing, but sometimes moving fast means breaking things that you don’t want broken. One holiday season, our inventory system straight up broke. We outgrew it – we were selling hundreds of items that we didn’t have in stock, issuing refunds left and right. The phones were ringing off the hook. People were mad.? Sales ground to a halt, but expenses didn’t. Payroll, rent, and inventory continued to roll in every day waiting to be photographed and put online. As sexy as it is to bootstrap, it’s important to have cash in the bank. Had we not, we’d have been toast. Other people’s money is a great thing for another reason: it allows you to grow your business without giving up ownership to investors. Speaking of which, Mercury, the banking* and financial software company beloved by over 200,000 startups and small businesses, is now offering working capital loans specifically for e-commerce companies.?? I work with Mercury for my bootstrapped online membership for entrepreneurs called Business Class. They just introduced their latest product – Mercury Working Capital – AKA money you don’t have to give up part of your company for. For small to mid-size e-commerce businesses, Mercury Working Capital can help you prepare your bank account in advance of the holiday season – with no personal guarantees, flat-fee pricing, and fixed weekly payback that makes forecasting your finances simple, it's super founder friendly. Learn more and apply for Mercury Working Capital by clicking here: https://lnkd.in/gGVgSEPD *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust?; Members? FDIC. Working Capital loans provided by Mercury Technologies, Inc.

With Climate Week NYC just around the corner, we’re looking forward to engaging with innovative leaders and experts in the industry. If you're attending, you can catch us here: ?? Hard Tech Showcase on 9/24 at 4pm EDT with Activate, ARPA-E , DCVC, Foley Hoag LLP, Orion Resource Partners and Uptake Alliance More info here: https://lu.ma/zns7gi1p ?? The Climate Capital Summit on 9/25 at 9:30am EDT with Equal Ventures and Fenwick & West More info here: https://lnkd.in/gxEf8d6M #ClimateWeekNYC

Noor Siddiqui is reinventing reproduction. Growing up, Noor watched her mom lose her vision to a rare degenerative condition called retinitis pigmentosa, and wanted to do everything possible to give her own child the best chance at a healthy life. Including starting her own reproductive technology company, Orchid. Orchid offers the world’s first comprehensive whole genome report for embryos. While traditional embryo screening checks for extra or missing chromosomes, Orchid takes it a step further by scanning the entire genome. It identifies genetic errors linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, cancers, and birth defects — much like running a spellcheck on a book to catch hidden mistakes. Noor envisions a world of healthier humans — even if it means changing how we procreate. We spoke to her about this mission on Meridian. ??

Heading to SF TECH WEEK by a16z next month? We've got you covered with these must-attend events ?? 10/7: Live Podcast Recording with Immad Akhund and The Room Podcast Kick the week off with a live podcast recording hosted by The Room co-founders Madison McIlwain and Claudia Laurie. Stick around after the show for a networking reception where founders and funders can connect. ?? RSVP here: https://lu.ma/u2dhcdnx 10/9: Accelerators Brunch with Mercury and Google Cloud Join us for an exclusive brunch to meet other talented Managing Directors and Program Managers after a busy program season. (Yes, there will be mimosas ??). ?? Space is limited. RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gaSrebWh 10/10: Comedy Night with Alexis Gay Step out of your routine for a night of laughs with stand-up comedian Alexis Gay performing her hit set Unprofessional. ?? RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gCQKRhX4 10/11: Female Founders & Investors Brunch hosted by Mercury Raise with Chelcie Taylor, Abbie Strabala, and Christina Li. Join Mercury Raise as we create a dedicated space for female founders and investors to connect over brunch. Opt into curated introductions during registration to meet people aligned with your goals and take your company to the next level. ?? RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/g_C9BS_9 #SFTechWeek

Heads up founders - Y Combinator is moving to four batches per year starting 2025 ??