Portland Seed Fund的动态

?? #MTW DAY THREE!!! ?? ?? WOW, this past week has been such a wonderful experience connecting with the state-wide ecosystem! ?? Nowadays, more than ever, we appreciate the opportunities to come together in person. This week is such a gift! Let's hop into it... ? My day three started with Raising Millions in Michigan as a Black Woman - Crystal Brown Karissma Yve Tessa Flippin - Confidence is earned through knowledge - Stop waiting for people to give you permission to break the status quo - No might just be 'not now' - Fail fast, count the loss, cut the fat - Master your story telling - Remember, the investor is pitching you, too ?? Then onto Our Fantastic Future: How We Can Supercharge Michigan's Innovative Ecosystem Britany Affolter-Caine Cindy Warner Martin Dober Justin O. Ben Marchionna A valuable discussion on what's missing in the state to support startups... - Help the founders get more shots on goal - Support the capital spectrum in MI - Finding early adopters - an early adopter program/fund - Priority setting, piloting opportunities, and policy improvements - Hold each other accountable for making equitable opportunities for everyone ?? Off To The State of Venture Capital in Michigan and Beyond adrian fortino Ben Bernstein Tim Streit Monica Wheat - "I don't care about the good news. I want to be the first person you call when s**t hits the fan" (one of my top three quotes of the week) - Tell the story + be engaging + be easy to understand... not all VCs are industry experts - The first point of value/speed of realized value is an important KPI - Know what Cost of Acquisition and Burn Ratio is - Get to revenue fast... avoid the freemium trap - Willingness to pay is an indicator of product-market-fit Founder Red Flags: - lack of conciseness - know your elevator pitch - lack of practicality - be practical - bias toward actions - do the thing! ?? The most exciting of the day was the Michigan Founders Fund Venture Together Pitch Competition Rishi Moudgil Khalilah Burt Gaston Erika Block Eric Wimbley This was a unique format, where startup founders come together to pitch a joint business venture to contribute to people, places, and the planet - recognizing the importance of collaboration in making an impact. Congratulations to this phenomenal team for taking home first place! Reciprocity Apps - Chris Powers Farmish - Terra Osman Pluck.eco - Chening Duker Strut - Jameson Detweiler #MTW #Tech #Innovation #Connect #Network #Ecosystem

Sometimes aspiring VCs ask me how to break in The most common answer I offer is community When I learned that BLCK VC wanted to hear more about my story for their community spotlight series during #EarthMonth, it felt full circle. Before I joined the team at Azolla Ventures, I liked to believe I had some of the “ingredients” needed to be successful in VC I knew the sector I was passionate about, I knew what my skill set was (and more importantly where my gaps were), and I was starting to understand why a career in VC would make sense for my long term objectives The problem. I didn’t have a deep personal relationship anyone in VC. Not until I participated in the BLCK VC Breaking into Venture Program (I would highly recommend folks take a look). Organizations like BLCK VC are fundamentally changing the investor landscape and bringing more exceptional investors into the game BLCK VC, as I am sure is true for many others, accelerated my path into VC. Thank you Pen, Naima and many others that u have met along the way for being a part of my journey. Learn more about my why below

Pre-seed fundraising can be daunting, especially when it's your first time. In my experience, founders often stumble on these common issues: vague financial projections, missing market research, or failing to establish strong investor relationships early on. Let's chat about how to overcome these hurdles and set a strong foundation! #founders #startups

I am absolutely thrilled to shared that Consensus has raised $11.5M in Series A funding led by Union Square Ventures! Alongside USV is an amazing group of investors joining the round like Nat Friedman & Daniel Gross (NFDG), Kevin Carter (Night Capital), lead seed investor Draper Associates and more. Scientific research is the most valuable source of knowledge humans have ever created. Yet - there is no easy way to search and consume it. We have built Consensus to change this and have been humbled by the over 2 million users who have used Consensus since launching our product. We want to create a world where expert knowledge is within reach of everyone. A world where scientists can get back to doing real science, not searching, and one where a generation of citizen scientists can be created via easier access to real research. This is one of the many reasons we are so excited to partner with USV. In the current USV fund thesis is a call to invest in opportunities that broaden access to knowledge. On top of that, they have been writing about and investing in the "splintering of search" long before anybody knew what an LLM was. It would truly be hard to find a better partner for us at Consensus than USV. We are also happy to share that Jared Hecht will be joining our Board of Directors. I want to give the BIGGEST possible shoutout to the entire Consensus team. Without you, we would be nowhere and it is a pleasure to work with such an incredibly talented, passionate and kind group of people. I cannot wait to keep building together: Megan Van Welie, Brett Nebeker, Chris Varano, Jimmy Longley, Ali Farid, Namrata Kundu, Sarah R. Wakeman and Pablo Garcés. I'll save my full sappy co-founder post for another day or another medium - but, working every day with my best friend Christian Salem has been the greatest professional experience of my life. Lastly, a shoutout to the previous seed investors who have doubled down on us not mentioned above like Alumni Ventures, Billy Draper (Path Ventures), Marc McCabe (Nomad Capital), and Nathaniel Manning. Consensus is just getting started ?? Onward.

In a capitalist world and territory where businesses are developed, the most important thing is to understand its financial system. And a fundamental part of the system that ends up creating wealth and maximizing the future opportunity cost is the knowledge of how you are going to value your businesses. How would say Warren Buffet; “Business owners and investors alike must understand that accounting numbers are the beginning, not the end, of business valuation”. Thank you A. Cameron McKenzie-Hertell and Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA) Unlock Capital Emmanuel Loubriel, CPA, CIMA?, Esq. for a powerful presentation of business valuation!????????????

I'm excited to say that Tundra Angels just closed on our 20th portfolio company! ?? In July 2020, six local angel investors joined a concept called "Tundra Angels." No investments made. Just a vision for the future, seeded by the Greater Green Bay Chamber. I'm excited that those six investors have now become 55 investors, with 20 startups in our portfolio, and the common denominator of doing it all in Wisconsin! Octane Coffee, COnovate, Inc., .Pyran Inc., Immuto Scientific, huupe, Nurse Disrupted, Inc., Blue Line Battery, Sequoir, Holos, Inc., DropCap Inc., Isomark Health Inc, Child Health Imprints CHIL USA Inc, Upwardli, Pivotal Healthcare, Pilot Project Brewing, Returns On Demand, Midwest Games, Intrnls, EVEN, and Cylerity The founders of these companies are the real heroes of the story. Amazing impact stories across industries and markets. We are privileged to represent them to the market! Also, grateful for our awesome angel groups and VC firms that co-invest with us. Way too many to list, but we are thrilled to a trusted partner alongside you. Lastly, grateful for our 55 member/investors who are the fabric of everything that we do. Tundra Angels is very much all of them even though I'm the one who is often waving my hand ??. We are having a ton of fun! For this Saturday's newsletter post, I'll be writing about my investor observations and lessons learned after investing in 20 companies. Should be fun! Lastly, I can't believe at some point we'll look back and think, "Remember when it was only 20?!" Crazy! Let's goooo!! ??

What an awesome evening to discuss the dreaded elevator pitch and a huge applause for our founders who were willing to be vulnerable and receive feedback real-time in front of an audience. Great job to Jeremy Kimmel, Dylan Lew, EIT, and Olivia Suchko for your amazing pitches filled with passion and expertise. Can’t wait to see them again in the fall at 3 Rivers Venture Fair ???? A few takeaways from the panel included: ???? limit your description of the problem space. VCs are very familiar with problem spaces and it isn’t necessary to commit precious time over-explaining the need ???? when promoting the management team, go beyond the roles and include any tangible successes and outcomes they’ve had (individually or collectively). This builds credibility ???? always include mention of any IP ???? connect your market TAM, SAM and SOM. Hearing a TAM of $10B does nothing alone. Expand by explaining what portion of the TAM you can service and your GTM entry points ???? always include numbers to support your statements. For example instead of “we are cheaper than the current solution”, provide the amount or percentage savings and why that matters to the buyer.

Another edition of VCs Doing Work: Slauson & Co. ??Congrats to raising $100M for your second fund continuing your mission to make a difference!?? Wait... What and who is Slauson and Co? Slauson & Co. is a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology investments, founded by Austin Clements and Ajay Relan. The firm's mission centers on economic inclusion and democratizing access to entrepreneurship for underrepresented founders. Slauson & Co. primarily invests in: Preseed and seed SMB Tech (tools supporting small and medium businesses) Consumer technology The firm typically writes checks between $500,000 and $2 million, aiming to lead most rounds. Since its launch in 2020, Slauson & Co. has made significant strides: Raised a $75 million Fund I, exceeding its initial $50 million target Backed 38 companies, with a majority led by people of color and at least half by women Recently closed a $100 million Fund II, demonstrating continued investor interest in their inclusive approach The firm has garnered support from prominent investors and organizations, including: PayPal Ron Conway (veteran technology investor) Ashton Kutcher will.i.am True Capital Management Alpaca VC Slauson & Co. is just getting started! If you think you have a startup that fits their thesis and stage, reach out! #diversity #inclusion #venturecapital #consumer #smb Brittany Crockett #longla #losangeles #celebration #vcsdoingwork

I spoke with an angel investor who turned down becoming a VC for a role in partnerships. So, why did he do it? To Anand Deshpande, Strategic Partnerships at Mercury and angel investor, the "climb the ladder to VC" playbook is gone. Anand realized he could have more impact on the startup community by combining a strategic role at Mercury with angel investing. Furthermore, he also believes that this allows his impact to be distributed beyond Silicon Valley, throughout an entrepreneurial landscape that does not just include tech startups. His role in Partnerships allows him to have the ability to impact a nationwide landscape. As he told me: "Someone coding in rural Louisiana should have the same shot as someone in San Francisco." And Mercury helps makes this possible for the Louisiana coder in a way that a VC likely could not. So, what are the measurable benefits of working in partnerships rather than VC? Freedom to prioritize impact over pure investment returns. As he put it: "You get to employ other outcomes as measurements much more freely." This conversation definitely changed my perspective on success in the world of technology and entrepreneurship. Thank you to Anand Deshpande for sitting down for a wonderful interview with me and the Coeus Collective team at the NGEN Trailblazers Conference in NYC!

Raising capital might seem like a founder’s job, but the truth? It’s the team behind the vision that drives everything. Every pitch, every conversation with an investor stems from the foundation of what the team has built and the potential they bring. Seed capital isn’t just funding; it’s trust in the team to execute, adapt, and deliver. For us, that trust is earned daily through commitment, focus, and a shared vision. To fellow founders: Build a team worth betting on. That’s where it all begins. Have a great weekend! #Teamwork #SeedFunding #FoundersLife #StartupLessons