1848 Ventures’ Post

After a whirlwind six months (How are we well into Q4) I’ve taken some time to reflect on how far we’ve come over the past year. We’ve made incredible progress but what excites me most is the direction we’re heading. Swoperz is evolving into a safe online ecosystem that empowers young consumers by promoting financial literacy, responsible and safe independent online shopping. Our ecosystem is designed to equip the next generation with essential skills while providing brands with a direct connection to future consumers, helping to build brand loyalty from the start of their retail journey (for kids aged 6 to 16 years). Like all startups, we face the challenge of securing the vital funding necessary not just to survive, but to thrive and gain the traction we need. It’s a tough landscape, but we’re working tirelessly to close our next funding round. If you’re a VC or angel investor who understands and believes in our mission, I’d love to connect. Let’s talk!

Next month Crunchfirm celebrates its 5th anniversary! 🎉 → We have had the thrill of working with so many VC-backed startup founders, and it's time to give back by sharing the tremendous knowledge my team and I have gained! → For the first 5 weeks of 2025 we will be hosting free 1:1 Zoom sessions with startup founders, taking a deep dive into their biggest financial and strategic issues, and giving our unfiltered advice on what to do next. Those we can help we will give up to 5 free hours of our time, without any fine print! Ready? Click on the the Calendly link in the comments

In the earlier stages, it's common for founders to leverage their backgrounds to conquer customers, employees, and investors. But that will only get you so far — take it from Pomelo's Gaston Irigoyen. Pomelo's co-founders used their personal profiles on LinkedIn to spread the word about what they were building and why (aaand get some first hires). And while their proven background and connections in the fintech industry generated traction... Pomelo developed its own way of communicating right after that phase — so much so that people started to follow Pomelo because of its funny, out-of-the-box introductions of each employee. And with that, a startup that can speak (and expand) for itself was born 📢

Two years ago, we walked into an accelerator program with nothing but a name in mind, an idea, and a plan sketched out on paper. No MVP, no product, no brand. We didn’t even have company t-shirts—just our formal attire, standing alongside other startups who already had their merch and identity. Fast forward to today, and here we are, joining another accelerator program. This time, we’ve come with an established brand, a product people know and a working mobile application. We’ve grown, and we’re ready to expand and scale! Grateful that through it all, both co-founders are still here. Building a product is one thing, but finding the right partner in crime? That’s the real challenge. We’ve sailed through tough times, tackled challenges, celebrated wins, and spent nearly every waking moment together—except when we’re sleeping, of course! Here’s to growth, resilience, and the journey ahead!

Congratulations to Rad AI on the successful $50M Series B funding round! Your experience highlights the importance of strong business metrics in securing funding, especially in challenging market conditions. It’s inspiring to see a company prioritize customer relationships and maintain a 100% retention rate—testament to your team's dedication! The ability to attract multiple term sheets in under a month speaks volumes about your business's credibility and potential. Focusing on fundamentals not only aids in funding but also sets a solid foundation for sustainable growth. What strategies do you think are essential for maintaining customer loyalty while scaling a business? #FundingSuccess #CustomerRetention #BusinessMetrics

Baby girl is doing this thing with me 🥳 How many founder moms out there know the feeling? Let’s build together. I get you. 🖤 Traction Camp starts April 15. Register: https://lnkd.in/gvZDiA9A #femalefounder #startupfunding #pitchcompetition #blackownedbusiness #accelerator #businessaccelerator #startupaccelerator

Three for Thursday! Numbers don't lie, and that's why VCs love them. I've been spending some time with VCs talking about reporting, and was inspired to use this week's post to dive a little deeper. A couple days ago, I shared a post about a conversation that Meryeme Lahmami from Pender Ventures and I had. Link to full post here 👉 https://buff.ly/3WL5hPB One of the questions Meryeme shared her insights around was what investors really want to see in a startup's month end reporting. It got us thinking… How can we keep it simple and make sure both founders and investors have the insights that matter most to them. Here are the top three reports our team thought it would be best to focus on: 🎯 Runway Analysis Report 🎯 Growth Analysis Report 🎯 Profitability Analysis Report Founders and investors: I'm curious... Would knowing runway, growth and profitability month-over-month be helpful? Let me know below or DM me!

𝗛𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🦄 Big news dropping! We're beyond stoked to introduce Backable Ventures - your new go-to squad for crushing your fundraising game! We're all about helping underrepresented founders level up their fundraising game and build those connections that actually matter. No more stuffy boardrooms or gatekeeping here - we're flipping the script. ✨𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀✨  Get ready to hang out with some seriously amazing folks: • Founders who've been there, done that, and scaled to the moon • Active investors who know exactly what makes a startup pop  • Angel investors dropping those golden nuggets of wisdom  • Industry veterans sharing the real deal on what works (and what doesn't!) We're starting a straight-up movement here! Our mission? To level the playing field, change the narrative, and help exceptional founders fundraise successfully — and who knows, we might even make fundraising fun along the way!

Today Barte announced the closing of its Series A, about 1.5 years after NXTP Ventures co-led the seed round. While this is exciting news, the more intriguing question is what happened in the business that allowed it to grow 70x in 18 months without the wheels coming off -- and keeping the team the same size 🤯. Here are 5 of my learnings from watching this incredible founding team, Caetano Lacerda and Raphael Dyxklay, execute: 👉 1. Obsess about your customers, their pains, and their needs. Listen to them carefully and show them you care. 👉 2. Build a company culture around serving your clients. If your employees are jumping to solve customer support tickets on the weekend and are giving out their personal WhatsApp numbers to customers, you are on the right track. 👉 3. Use common sense and think critically at all times. Don't follow the status quo for any procedure or predetermined ways of doing things unless they make sense from a first principles perspective. 👉 4. Hire younger, highly motivated people with critical thinking capabilities over industry veterans. 👉 5. Constantly probe and iterate on customer acquisition. GTM motions evolve over time and require adapting.

Three pillars that seem simple but are harder to follow than you'd expect: - Keep costs low - Keep the tech simple - Keep talking to customers Great storytelling and insights from Nadia Odunayo #solopreneur #saas #startups #cto #ctoadvice