Colin Kleine 🚀’s Post

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀? Founders trying to sell a perfect image. Glossing over the tough spots. All green flags? No bumps in the road? ✅ 🌈 Come on, we all know that’s not reality. Investors don’t need flawless—they need transparency. Showing your challenges (and how you plan to tackle them) is 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁. Investors aren’t just buying into a product; they’re buying into a realistic roadmap and founders who can adapt when things get tough. And when investors are right there in the trenches with you, like we are at Arcanys Ventures, honesty is ✨𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮✨ 𝙣𝙤𝙣-𝙣𝙚𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚. We don’t just write checks and cheer from the sidelines... we’re in it with you, providing dedicated tech teams to help you scale faster, tackle tech challenges head-on, and hit your goals. 🎯 𝗦𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀! Bring us the raw, the honest, and the roadmap to crush those challenges. I’ll be at #WebSummit next week connecting with founders who share this mindset! 🚀💥 If part of your raise is to scale your tech team and you're ready to dive into a real partnership, DM me your deck. #TechForEquity #StartupInvesting #WebSummit2024 #ArcanysVentures #ScaleYourStartup #TechGrowth #Founders #StartupFunding #TransparencyMatters

🔥 What does it take to raise money from VCs as a hardware startup? 🔥 I am so excited about the launch of First Momentum Ventures' Deep Tech Hardware Napkin! Based on more than 100 data points from 31 European VCs, it finally provides hardware founders with an answer. It unveils the milestones you need to hit to raise capital from Pre-Seed to Series B amidst a challenging funding environment. There are some surprises and some known patterns. ⭐ The three major valuation drivers for Deep Tech Hardware startups are Team, Commercialisation, and Tech. ⭐ Funding rounds are larger compared to SaaS companies. ⭐ But why do teams with relevant industry experience (at least one founder w/>5 years) raise less money across all stages than more inexperienced teams? Read the full report here: bit.ly/3zMnhjm #firstmomentum #deeptech #deeptechnapkin #saasnapkin

Did you know that Facebook Marketplace is a gold mine for validating your business ideas and connecting with local customers? Read about the incredible potential of Marketplace for startups. https://lnkd.in/eg54A9Pe #FacebookMarketplace #StartupGrowth #LocalBusiness

I've talked to two different early-stage founders this week and they both have the same issue. And it's an issue I constantly bump into in my work with startups. They are trying to sell to everyone. And the danger if they do this is that they will sell to no one. In an insanely crowded market with multiple vendors and solutions for every conceivable need. The only way to get cut through is to focus. Pick a niche. Understand the needs of that niche better than anyone else. And build engagement and go on a journey with your customers. There are still huge opportunities to build incredible technology businesses but the days of generic, technology-first, mass market are for the most part gone. #startupsuccess #founders #GTM #earlystage

Did you know that Facebook Marketplace is a gold mine for validating your business ideas and connecting with local customers? Read about the incredible potential of Marketplace for startups. https://lnkd.in/euDiANb9 #FacebookMarketplace #StartupGrowth #LocalBusiness

We lift the lid on the tech we build And founders are never locked-in 👇 Startups and most dev agencies simply aren't compatible. I think this is mainly because many agencies do everything to avoid the very things startups need the most: ⭐ Flexibility (payment terms, pivots, scope changes) ⭐ Full transparency ⭐ Full ownership of tech and IP protection ⭐ An easy way out ⭐ Urgency Not to mention, some agencies are waaaaay more expensive than what startups can afford. Now, I think that all makes perfect sense because this approach minimises the agency's risk. But what we do at Founderbase is kind of the exact opposite. My experience has been this: if we are willing to take some risk to provide all the above benefits, then that risk brings us closer to the founders (who are the ultimate risk-takers) and sets the stage for a very efficient and healthy collaboration. This mindset has been serving us well, and we're lucky to be working with amazing founders on a daily basis. How can an agency become more startup-compatible? Comment below! #startups #founders #technology #tech #softwaredevelopment

The $500k ARR graveyard is real. A founder texted me this. It's one of the most difficult positions to be in as a startup. - Raised a few million dollars seed round. - Got to $500k ARR in a few years. - No revenue growth. - Runway is decreasing. - New VCs are not writing the next check. - Existing VCs have already written off the investment. - Millions of dollars in pref stack. What should founders do? Almost no options exist for this type of company. Most choose to just shut down. That's why it's worth building an outcome option for founders who have built a good business but it's just not VC backable.

Over the last 12 months, we have helped countless startups save big on essential tech tools. So I binge watched hours of feedback and success stories to understand how we've empowered startups to grow rapidly. And here's our 3-part framework for rapid growth (that you can use too): 1. Curate the best lifetime deals 🏷️ 2. Focus on quality and value 💡 3. Provide valuable resources for growth 📈 Don't miss these amazing lifetime deals. Check them now. #StartupGrowth #TechDeals #BusinessSuccess #LifetimeDeals #Lifetimo

What does it take to scale a startup to growth? Routable Co-founder and CEO Omri Mor joins Joey Aquino and Nancy Xiao for a conversation on "Beyond YC Demo Day: The Real Challenges of Scaling to Growth" at Honolulu Tech Week on 9/17. Sign up to hear their thoughts on: ☑ Scaling strategies that work ☑ Maintaining company culture during rapid growth ☑ Navigating post-YC challenges Register here: https://lu.ma/8ts7c66j #StartupGrowth #YCombinator #FounderInsights

A major killer of all failed startups Improper budget allocation! Founders first think about making the perfect product, and this is fair. Without a good and stable product you have nothing. But it isn't enough. The worst thing that can happen is to build without a proper product-market fit. So you get a great product none needs. That happened way too many times. Your market-oriented activities should start as early as possible. The aim is to have awareness and maybe even a list of orders at the launch day. At that point the investors will line up as well so your financial runway stretches to the horizon. The best time to start marketing in your startup is the founding day. The second best time is now. Let's have a meeting on that. #startupsales #salesandmarketing #revops #runway