Best of Bootstrapping: Pre-Seed Fundraising is a Low Probability Game

For our Seed Capital series of podcasts, I’ve interviewed hundreds of investors, especially micro-VCs and angels who play an important role in the early-stage game. The toughest round of funding an entrepreneur will seek to raise is Pre-seed. How do you increase your odds? Pre-seed has the lowest probability of success. Over 99% of the

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Best of Bootstrapping: Positioning Drives Velocity

VCs are salivating over ultralight startups right now. The stigma around solo entrepreneurs will vanish soon. Positioning will remain key to achieving Velocity. And Velocity will continue to drive Fundability. Are you trying to raise money for your startup and getting rejections? It’s worth understanding WHY. VCs are looking for Velocity. Their goal is to

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680th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Mark Phillips, 11 Tribes Ventures

Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner at 11 Tribes Ventures, discusses a non-Unicorn chasing investment thesis.

2025 Resolution: Make VCs Pursue YOU to Fund Your Startup

Please post this on your wall in 2025: “Startups: Do NOT Go to VCs as Beggars. Go as Kings.” This is the 1Mby1M mantra and it works. Over 99% of founders chase funding before they are fundable.

The Startup Velocity Question: VC Portfolios

As discussed, the Venture Capital model looks for hyper growth startups that grow at an exponential pace. Companies that can go from 0 to $100M in revenue in 5-7 years. Hyper Growth is not a natural state of business. Most businesses grow at a linear pace at best.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Sergey Jakimov, Co-Founder and Partner at LongeVC (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: There is the opportunity for gene editing before a baby is born. Then there is the opportunity for gene editing later in life. Sergey Jakimov: There is a huge ethical component. If you leave that aside, what makes total sense is identifying potential life-threatening diseases or disabilities with DNA-driven factors for unborn babies

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1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Sergey Jakimov, Co-Founder and Partner at LongeVC (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Are you looking for something in this DNA testing and sequencing area that you haven’t found yet? Sergey Jakimov: I would be looking for a merge between DNA sequencing capacity and actionable insights based on that. I would be looking at the comprehensive model where the company offers you DNA sequencing and a

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1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Sergey Jakimov, Co-Founder and Partner at LongeVC (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s switch gears to another category. Pick another category where there is a heavy computer science element. Sergey Jakimov: Another interesting one is digital health. If we’re talking longevity, it’s of course aging clocks and all sorts of consumer-facing risk calculators. That’s another very interesting angle of how we taught algorithms to work

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