Abhijit Lahiri’s Post

𝗩𝗖 𝗙𝗢𝗠𝗢: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗽 Turns out, even the sharpest investors sometimes say "No" to future unicorns. Startups like Airbnb, Uber, and Dropbox were once dismissed as "too risky" or "not scalable," but today, they stand as iconic brands that reshaped industries. Imagine the impact if those early investors had believed in them! For founders and investors alike, these stories are powerful reminders: vision and persistence can outshine any initial rejection. 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹. 👉 Want to learn from the biggest VC missteps and avoid making the same mistakes? Dive into these stories serve as a reminder: sometimes, the ideas that seem the "craziest" are exactly what the world is waiting for 🚀 A big shoutout to Rubén D. and Joseph Jordan for putting together this compelling list! #StartupSuccess #VCRegrets #EntrepreneurMindset

From Startup to Unicorn 🦄: "How Not to Die" Most founders dream of building a unicorn—a company valued at $1B. But the reality? The drive to keep pushing through the tough times doesn’t get talked about enough. The highs are great, but the lows test your resilience like nothing else. Fundraising challenges, product setbacks, and team dynamics - it’s all part of it. One thing I've learned? Success isn’t just about having the best product or the smartest team (though that helps). It’s about being relentless, learning fast, and adapting even faster. Survival is key. Building a unicorn isn’t just a dream; it’s persistence. You can’t give up, no matter how tough it gets. The next breakthrough might be just around the corner, something we keep telling ourselves. Our CTO, Ignacy Sewastianowicz, recently sent me a note from Paul Graham that really hit. I'll drop it in the comments. Highly recommend giving it a read. It's called "How Not to Die" as the title used for this post. Published in 2007. PS. The picture is me pitching to fellow founders at Startupbootcamp.

I stalked my co-founder for months before we started a VC firm together. Not in a creepy way. I just knew Janneke Niessen was brilliant at building tech companies from scratch. She'd done it twice already. Most VCs look at the obvious things: market size, product-market fit, financials. But here's what 15 years of research taught me: 60% of startups die because their teams implode. Not competition. Not market conditions. Not running out of money. Teams fall apart. After studying thousands of founders at Berkeley and Amsterdam, I discovered something counterintuitive: The traits that make someone an amazing early founder often become toxic during scale-up. That raw drive? It can turn into control-freakery. That passionate vision? It might blind you to market changes. That fierce independence? It could prevent crucial delegation. This is why Janneke and I built CapitalT differently. We don't just evaluate pitch decks. We measure team dynamics using hard science. We spot scaling problems before they emerge. Because unicorns aren't born from pitch decks. They're built by teams that evolve. P.S. Know a founder who needs to hear this? Tag them below.

Talking about selecting the right Founders: That's a great essential start, and I agree, it is a prerequisite for any venture or investment to grow. (but, you are still a long way to scale and succeed, but we will come to that question of 'end-to-end having a repeatable process' to build great companies another day. Or, like, I prefer to say -How can I "Industrialize Innovation") For today, let me share one quick point - YES, that a founding team ought to be passionate but having a lot of passion - that hand waving - we will change the world - is NOT enough! IMHO, "Oh - I invest in a passionate team" - is such flawed investment model. Its good to have raw energy but not good enough to succeed. You could be simply running in wrong direction. Therefore, "passion combined with deep-domain-expertise" is ESSENTIAL. Where Founders know that despite them knowing so many nuances - it may be a long run - could be a marathon - a roller coaster ride - challenging - that you may still fail - and hence you would always be open to learning new things - from others - all the time - and still stay positive and energetic. That is the hallmark of a resilient Founder's DNA - makings of a successful foundation. And then, secondly, and equally importantly - is that the Co-founders you choose - must come together for VALUES and not for mere complimentary skills. You know Power Point and I know Excel is not what you need - Are your deep core values and purpose aligned? https://lnkd.in/eSB9bqdE Best, Suresh

I obtain comparable insights as a mentor with experience in over 100 startups and scale-ups, while also leveraging my own entrepreneurial background.

💡 How to hook investors with your pitch deck & make it stand out? Well, in my years working with multiple startups, I’ve seen countless pitches from founders hungry to make an impact, each with its own unique story! But sometimes, unable to convince investors. From this experience, I know firsthand what it takes to get investors on board: ✅ Clear problem & solution ✅ Credible go-to-market model ✅ Building trust in the team And, of course, the pitch should have a unique twist that makes investors sit up & take notice. In this slideshow, we’ve pulled together a few iconic pitch decks from today’s giants, such as Airbnb or Meta, who were once just startups looking for funding. ✨ It’s fascinating to see how their branding & style have evolved (or, in some cases, stayed strikingly consistent). But as is often true in life, try to learn from the best! 👉 What’s the most important part of a pitch deck in your opinion? Let’s discuss in the comments below! - - - 👋 Yooo, I’m Dav, COO & Co-Founder of Nightborn 🔗 Ready to stand out? Learn how we help you craft investor-ready pitch decks: https://lnkd.in/eEB4JgAB Let’s turn your vision into a captivating presentation! #pitch #pitchdeck #design #funding #investors #founder #entrepreneur #startup Mixpanel - Square - Crunchbase - Dropbox - Meta - Shopify - Buffer - Uber - LinkedIn - Airbnb

My startup was rejected by investors.. And it was the best thing that could have happened to me. After testing our idea with new customers, I pitched to a VC 💰 He said ‘it’s awesome, but there’s no way a VC would ever invest’. I asked him why on earth not? He said it's not scalable enough. 'It’s not tech' 🙄 As any founder that has faced rejection knows, 'It’s their loss', right?? I said to myself, we don't need investors to scale. We can do this on our own. That same day we launched a 6 week campaign. With plans to release our official, improved concept, a better product. Annual memberships of unlimited content creation, just for startups. The headline was: 'Join the waitlist!’ We planned to release 5 early bird memberships. But we had no product yet. I had no studio to show people, just a dream. A fragile vision I could sell. I calculated that with 5 memberships, we could build a new studio and fund the expansion. So we got cracking 🗣️ Over these 6 weeks, we put our blood, sweat and tears into building hype. And slowly but surely, our little waitlist grew. In the end, I think over 50+ founders had joined 🥵 Then, launch day arrived... '09:00 today! We go live for subscription!!' My whole team ready at the computers. At 08:50, we sent our last reminder. ZERO idea what to expect. The room was completely silent. The clock hit 09:00. Clicking the mouse aggressively. 'Refresh. Refresh. Refresh' 🖱️ Boom. It only took 3 minutes. All 5 memberships were gone. We had our funding. We had our runway. All because we were forced to be creative. Because we successfully pitched our vision to the right people. Bootstrapping is literally just building hype, getting creative and bringing huge value. I still hold 100% equity, with no board telling us what to do. Now that’s a great feeling at this stage. As founders, we often get caught in the fuss of having big investors, a fancy board, endless runway. But it can be done without these things. Sometimes we just need a push towards creativity, and great things can happen 💙 ----- Share your investor rejection story below! 👇

Airbnb's co-founders met every single week since 2009. Why? 65% of startups fail due to co-founder conflicts. Your co-founders need to be… - People you can be friends with. - People you can debate with 1000 times. - People who can intimidate and challenge you. - People you can spend more time with than anybody. And so even if you debate multiple times a day… It will never be about winning over the other. It’s about working together as a team. And the ingredients for a good team: - Constant contact - Constant connection - Deep sense of respect - Humility and gratitude Let me add to the recipe: + Mutual accountability + Shared vision & alignment + Trust and open communication In a way, having a co-founder is a lot like marriage. How often do you meet with your co-founders? #founders #investors #venturecapital #privateequity #startups #i5invest 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 i5invest: We are a corporate development firm with access to 150K+ top decision-makers in Strategy, Business Development, and M&A. We provide innovative tech founders with insights, expertise, and access to our network to take their companies to the next level.

I’ve been reflecting on an exchange I had with Jason M. Lemkin a few weeks ago, thinking about what a sustainable model for the startup ecosystem might look like after the “correction” in 2022. As Jason pointed out, the bar to “go big” hasn’t really moved. If you’re aiming for a traditional IPO, you’re still looking at “Triple, Triple, Double, Double” growth. That’s the path to hit $200M ARR in 10 years or less. But if a company can’t reach that level of growth, VC funding doesn’t make sense. Here’s where it gets interesting: it’s never been easier to bootstrap a viable business. With AI and other advancements, a small founding team can now build an MVP with a fraction of the capital it would have required just a few years ago. A business-minded and technical co-founder can quickly launch a product that generates revenue and reinvests its own profits—all without the need to bring on VC funding or hit aggressive growth milestones. For angel investors, this opens up new opportunities. Imagine investing $100K into a niche-focused business that grows to $10M ARR with a handful of employees and strong margins. Say that company generates $500k in net income, and you own 10%. That’s $50K per year on a $100K investment (plus the equity gain). It’s not about finding the next unicorn; it’s about identifying solid, profitable companies with predictable returns. When these businesses get near their growth ceiling, they can explore ancillary products or services to expand their reach. At that stage, they may even be well-positioned for a strategic growth round to launch a platform play. Bottom line? While the VC path is still viable for those looking to “go big,” the current landscape is opening up valuable opportunities for angels to back businesses that are built for stability and profitability. It’s an exciting time to rethink what success in the startup world can look like.

If you’ve got multiple co-founders, Here’s the secret sauce to success. 🫢 No, it’s not more funding. It’s something way more fundamental. Let’s talk about Founder Agreements (aka the Pre-Nup of the startup world). 😉 I know, I know. It sounds tedious. But hear me out. Here’s my step-by-step guide for a foolproof Founder Agreement: 📍Define each co-founder's roles and responsibilities. 📍Set an equity split that reflects each person's contributions. 📍Establish a vesting schedule to incentivize long-term commitment. 📍Include decision-making protocols to avoid deadlock situations. 📍Plan for exits—because breakups happen, even in business. Most founders jump straight into the grind, Ignoring the legal foundation. But without this, you’re building a house on quicksand. A solid Founder Agreement protects your startup's vision, prevents internal drama, and keeps everyone aligned toward scaling. Remember that time you launched a group project and things got chaotic? Now, multiply that by a million Startups are even messier. The point is, don’t just dream big. Prepare big. Get your paperwork in order, so your only focus is growth. I am curious: How many co-founders does your startup have? Drop a comment below. P.S. If you’re still debating who gets what percentage, it’s time to have the hard conversation. Trust me.