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💯 Big news from last Thursday’s workshop (300 people showed up—wild!). We teamed up with YC-alum crew at Socap.ai to launch something big: a 2-week pitching bootcamp exclusively for early-stage founders. 💸 💵 Here’s the deal—telling your story to VCs is everything. It’s the difference between a “Let’s talk” and an inbox full of crickets. 📖 For two weeks, you’ll build the most epic pitch of your life—whether you’re pitching to VCs, angels, accelerators, or customers. This isn’t just about fundraising—it’s about selling your vision. We’re giving you: ✅ The playbook—built from the trenches and over 400 pitches to investors. ✅ The right tools—battle-tested strategies to help you secure the bag 🤑. ✅ Personal guidance—including 1-on-1 sessions with me to fine-tune your pitch or talk through your YC application. 🟧 As @Y Combinator alums, we know the ins and outs of the YC batch process. Think of this as a mini YC batch—but laser-focused on pitching and storytelling. If YC were all about perfecting your pitch, this would be it. 🔥 We’ll even wrap things up with a mini demo day and hand out the first-ever NoCap SoCap awards 🥇. 💡 Want in? Drop “Recording” in the comments, and we’ll send you the link with all the details plus a FULL RECORDING of last week’s workshop—a taste of what’s to come. ✏️ Like/share this post and drop a comment “Recording” below to get the links. 🦄 My main guy Sergei will slide into your DMs with the goods. #startups #fundraising #venturecapital #YC #pitching

Watch Jeff Wilson absolutely killing it pitching JUPE 🍆 This is how the pitch is supposed to be done. Clean, clear, and to the point. This was taken from the Socap.ai workshop we hosted together with Jeff last Thursday (300 registrations!) where we announced something cool he is doing with our community: 2-week pitching bootcamp for founders! In this 2-week bootcamp, your sole focus will be to create the most epic pitch of your life — being ready to go to pitch to VCs, angels, accelerators, or customers (not necessarily fundraising). We'll provide you with the playbook, and the right tools and offer personal guidance and support. You’ll also get a few 1-1 sessions with Jeff Wilson to use for whatever you need regarding your fundraising process. Interested? Comment "Slides" below and we’ll send you the link to the slides Jeff used in his pitch so that it’s easier for you to draw inspiration from. Bootcamp info will be there too. ✏️ Like/share this post and drop a comment "Slides" under it 🦄 I will send you the link in DMs (make sure we’re connected) #startups #fundraising #venturecapital #YC

Want to get a link with warm intros to 100s of VC/Angel/Founder/Exec connections? 🙋🏾 Throughout years of company building, many founders have generously shared their network with me/us, enabling connections with investors and other founders that ultimately helped propel the company forward. I'm excited to now pass it forward, joining Slava and Alexander as a member of Socap.ai Collective — a vetted and invite-only community of experienced founders looking to advise a few of the thousands of early-stage startups they've got on the platform (hundreds are joining every week — you can too). With over 10 years of experience as an entrepreneur, I have had the privilege of co-founding a VC backed startup, Emerge®, and a 501c3 non-profit, The Hydrous. Having amassed thousands of connections across Linkedin alone, I've long realized the importance of SOCIAL capital — simply put, my network. Best partnerships, best hires, best investors — were found all either directly in my or my co-founders' network or via warm intros. 🎁 To give back to the community (you!), I'm sharing a link with warm intros to 100s of VC/Angel/Founder/Exec connections that you can request in just a few clicks. Socap.ai will be reviewing the requests and passing on the most relevant ones to me. Here's how to get it: ✏️ Drop a comment "Intros" under this post ❤️ Like or share this post 🦄 Alexander or Sergei will send you the link in DMs #startups #intros #fundraising #venturecapital #YC

Wow, the response to the event has been incredible, Jeff Wilson and I can't wait to have a blast tomorrow with you all (just updated the workshop link - you all should have it by now). Jeff doesn't believe it but I do - can we push for 300+ registrations in <24h? I know we can make it if most of you invite at least one friendly founder who'll also benefit from participating. Luma has a way to track referral invites (just click on a button called "Invite a friend", so here's the thing: 😍 Jeff Wilson and I will have a private 1-1 intro call with the person who will make the most referral invites. Let's make it happen?

Founders, this is the EASIEST way to improve your pitch 10x that I know of 👇 We’re almost at capacity for our 1h pitching workshop hosted by Jeff Wilson that's coming up next Thursday. You can still grab one of the last spots: https://lu.ma/eaw5ka99 Jeff Wilson is going to share a bunch of practical tips/strategies that helped him raise over $25M from Y Combinator, Initialized, and other top angels and VCs in Silicon Valley: 🚀 The 50 characters that make or break your YC application 🤔 The 5 questions you should be asking VCs in every pitch 📊 Deconstructing the deck that raised $3M demo day, uncapped 🎯 Mock pitching/roasting of two decks with founders 🎥 Exclusive pre-release access to a new video on fundraising #fundraising #pitching #venturecapital #YC

Want to get a link with warm intros to 100s of my VC/Angel/Founder/Exec connections? 🙋 I'm excited to join Alexander Nevedovsky and Slava Solonitsyn as a member of Socap.ai — a vetted and invite-only community of experienced founders looking to advise a few of the thousands of early-stage startups they've got on the platform (hundreds are joining every week — you can too). With over 18 years of experience as an entrepreneur, executive leader, and angel investor, I have co-founded six companies, including two exits. Recently, I've been spending most of my time as the Chief Innovation Officer at Mighty Buildings, a Y Combinator-backed pioneer in 3D-printed construction, and BuildTech VC, where we support and invest in the best ConTech and EnergyTech startups. As someone with thousands of connections across email/LinkedIn/messengers, I've long realized that my most valuable capital is my SOCIAL capital — simply put, my network. Best partnerships, best hires, best investors — I found them all either directly in my network or via intros from people I know. 🎁 To give back to the community (you!), I'm sharing a link with warm intros to 100s of my VC/Angel/Founder/Exec connections that you can request in just a few clicks. Socap.ai will be reviewing the requests and passing on the most relevant ones to me. Here's how to get it: ✏️ Drop a comment "Intros" under this post ❤️ Like or share this post 🦄 Alexander Nevedovsky or Sergei K. will send you the link in DMs #startups #intros #fundraising #venturecapital #YC

SF friends, I'm hosting a small curated founder dinner in San Francisco on Friday for our Socap.ai community. We'll have a nice place to ourselves (thanks to folks over at Rho) - great for pre-dinner cocktails and with the private chef cooking for us. The link to join is in the first comment - we have very limited spaces, so keep that in mind (I'll be manually accepting those who will join). Please add this context when registering. If I have missed you in SF, this would be the best opportunity to meet in person :)

🍊The Y Combinator first spring batch (aka ‘X25’ - yet another X 😂) deadline is coming in one week 😬! 📝A lot of founders know me for my unconventional approach to pitching (and as a YC alum that raised the only entirely uncapped demo day SAFE in my batch). So, prior to every batch, I review and help improve applications for a handful of founders. I hate to say it - but 90% of the first drafts suck 🙈. Here's a tip on how to be part of the 10% that doesn’t. 🎯 I always start with the 50 characters that are the most critical part of your application - the question on what you do. If you should be lucky enough to land an interview, this’ll also be the 1st question so you have to nail it! 🧑🏻🏫 Comment below with a description of what your company does in 50 characters or less, and I’ll grade your answer like I used to do when I was an actual Professor - from A+ to F, and I’ll give some pointers along the way. 🤖 If you’re curious to learn more about applying to YC and the entire soup-to-nuts art and science of pitching your startup to top investors (YC, is after all, not only an amazing cult but an actual vc), don’t forget to sign up for my “The Art of Pitching” workshop coming up next Thursday with Socap.ai and fellow YC alum Alexander Nevedovsky. 🙏🏻 We haven’t publicly shared the link yet, but we will DM it to everyone who leaves a comment below (or say ‘WIP’ if you're pitch-curious 💯).

Did you know that there are founders out there who raise using uncapped SAFE (basically meaning no valuation) 🤯 Jeff Wilson was the only founder from his Y Combinator batch to raise $3M uncapped into JUPE around Demo Day (out of 400 startups) — and he’ll share his magic (and the original slides!) with the Socap.ai community in a special (free!) Art of Pitching workshop in 2 weeks. There are still spots left but we'll likely hit the limit soon - leave a comment below and we’ll send you the link to register while you still can! #fundraising #funding #venturecapital

Big news, fam! I’m teaming with my YC alum friends over at Socap.ai (Alexander Nevedovsky and Slava Solonitsyn) on an “Art of Pitching” (free) webinar here in a few weeks - comment ‘pitch’ below and we’ll send you an invite! In the session, I’m going to share a bunch of tips, strategies and tools I’ve never shared publicly before so if you’re fundraising (or have aspirations to) – you gotta be there. Here’s what’ll be inside: 🚀 The 50 characters that make or break your YC application 🤔 The 5 questions you should be asking VCs in every pitch 📊 Deconstructing the deck that raised $3M demo day, uncapped 🎯 Mock pitching/roasting of two decks with founders If you don’t know me, here’s a snippet about my journey so far: > from becoming a University Professor and Dean >> to living in the dumpster as a social experiment >>> to founding an affordable housing startup (Kasita) >>>> to founding and 'soft landing' a YC-backed company (Jupe) All while raising over $25 million in progress from Y Combinator, Initialized, and other top angels and VCs in Silicon Valley. Registration is free and open for all – all you need to do is comment “pitch” below and we’ll send you the link! (limited spots) Hope to see you at the webinar! #fundraising #funding #pitching #YC #startups #venturecapital