2/ Companies who talk about innovation in HR and other functions more than they talk about innovating on the product Gimmicky isht like this is never a good sign
4/ Mid- to later-stage company and the about us page is all about their investors That's ok at the early stages but eventually you gotta build some shit for customers If you're bragging about your investors at Series B, C, the actual biz model is fundraising
5/ Where the revenue/raised ratio is totally f^cked aka low This is co revenue / total raised Esp problematic as companies get more mature The best companies are machines at turning $ raised into revenue at some point Bit more here
Replying to @asanwal
Some SaaS revenue/raise ratios of cos (anonymized) who've raised in last 3 months. Collaboration software = 0.25-0.37x Research & data analytics = 0.28x Biz Intelligence = 0.12x Some comparison points Domo pre-IPO = 0.16x Tableau (at IPO) = 8.51x Frothy out there or rational?
6/ Media articles where the co's revenue projections keep changing In 2020, they said they'd do $25M in revenue to a journalist In 2021, tell other journo they did $15M in 2020 and are expecting $50M in 2021 Beware of team good at storytelling but who stink at actual delivery
7/ Early stage founders (Seed/Series A) lecturing others on how to build a business vs actually talking about their business Personal brand building founders trying to be 'gurus' are almost always a total dumpster fire
8/ Founders that rush into raising $ to build a co in a hot space to become player no 10 These folks aren't actually motivated by the problem they're solving. They just see an opportunity for a quick flip They'll get bored when the momentum dies and then they'll pivot to web3
9/ Related - worth understanding this also when evaluating a startup offer
10000% There are going to be a ton of folks whose options are dead money cuz the 409a is very close to preferred share price AND the preferred share price is just too damn high If joining a startup, heed this advice
10/ Related - more tips on how to ruin your startup
Your startup has more than 5 people Here's 18 things you can do in 2022 to screw it up Want your startup to end 2022 weaker than when you started? Follow these tips 🧵 (ya, I know)
11/ early-stage founders talking on Twitter about their work-life balance and routines to avoid burn out If you have a choice to take equity in startup A where founder is grinding and startup B where founder isn’t, all else being equal, bet on A
12/ 🚩 mid-stage+ startup that tries to solve a product-market fit problem by moving upmarket Their logic - “it’s not working here. Let’s go after whales to make up for our isht revenue” Different client, different needs + same crap product = your equity is 💩
13/ If you're at a seed/Series A company and the founder has been tweeting non-stop about being at F1 Miami, your equity is likely in the toilet Sorry In good news, at least he's having fun BTW, if he comes back with some nonsense about F1 being great for fundraising, just lol
14/ If you need to grow revenue by 500%+ just to get to your last round's valuation, odds are your equity won't be worth much aka it's 💩 This passage from
@a16z's excellent "Navigating a Downturn" is sobering AF Going from $20M to $133M ARR is NO JOKE! future.a16z.com/framework-valu…
15/ I found this surprising & sobering Heard founder of $20B market cap VC-backed company on a podcast reveal that < 5 ppl at co made more than $10M at time of IPO (outside of founders) Number that made single-digit millions was <10
17/ If the media describes the founder of the startup you work at as: "the next Steve Jobs" OR "the next Warren Buffett" OR "the next Elon Musk" your equity is NGMI silly self-masturbatory branding = 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
18/ If the media fixates about and regularly talks about the founder's clothing choices, unique hair/appearance, what they drive, the home they live in, etc Your equity is probably worth 💩
19/ If the startup you work at is headquartered in a Caribbean tax haven,🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 The Bahamas. The British Virgin Islands. Dominica. Nevis. Anguilla. Costa Rica. Belize. Barbados. investopedia.com/articles/perso…
