Siddhartha Ahluwalia’s Post

“The decline in capital to Black-founded companies greatly outpaces the overall decline in startup funding.” Funding to Black founders dropped dramatically (almost 2x more) than venture funding overall in 2023. In down markets, we often see people return to the safety of what's comfortable/the profiles they've invested in before but we need new profiles of founders to build the next decade defining companies. ✋🏾 ✋🏿 ✋ Our conviction from the start of f7 is to invest in diverse, top talent... because we need founders with the lived experience to solve the problems for our evolving society, and because diverse teams drive 30% higher returns. Jump into Chris Metinko & Gené Teare's two-part series here on Crunchbase: https://lnkd.in/gZvanqh8

🚀 Tips on How to Present to Investors from Sequoia Capital So you’ve landed that coveted meeting to pitch your idea to your dream investor. Congrats! Now the real challenge lies ahead: How do you hook your audience into backing your startup? Sequoia Capital has invested in companies that constitute $1.4 trillion of combined stock market value and has decades of experience vetting founders and their businesses. Swipe through the file below for their advice. You’ll learn: 🔹 Why your pitch should follow the format of a James Bond movie (really!) 🔹 What your first 3 slides should include 🔹 The importance of checking in with your audience 🔹 What your presentation should cover 🔹 Common pitfalls to avoid -------- Follow All Chance to learn from more innovative insights.

Today is Demo Day for the last class of Techstars Atlanta Powered by Cox Enterprises, a class I was honored to work with as investor/entreprenuer-in-residence. As a Techstars alum, I learned a lot being on the program side and from this specific group of founders. Some takeaways before I watch them shine on the big (like, big!) stage at Venture Atlanta Conference today: 👑 Community still matters, and it's much different than a network. This class showed up for each other as people and peers time and time again. The founders and their teams were generous with their time, talents, kindness and insights. They made intros, troubleshot code and hugged out on the hard days. 💪 Vulnerability and transparency are strengths. The founders opened up their worlds and their spreadsheets to each other, inviting people with different perspectives and experiences to look for weak spots, not just hype their wins. 🌶️ It's about building a real, profitable business — not buzz. Building an audience and anticipation is great! But it's one part of a journey to build a great *business*. That's the assignment. That's the job as an entrepreneur. Seeing these founders focus on their products, market and customers instead of chasing vanity metrics or feeding their egos? The progress they made in the program is an outcome of this. Keep focused. Ignore the distractions (and the haters). Kiana (Kiki) Mincey, Corey Staples, Jilea H., Jamie Michael Hemmings, Chrystal Graves, Caralanay Cameron, MBA, CPC, Sed Joseph, Shawn Johnson, Taylor Folwell, Cole Folwell, Aaron Kelly, Hao Jin, Keylem C., Mina Raver, Ben Norment, Cesar Flores, Riean Knight, thank you for welcoming me on part of your journey. I'm so excited to see where you go from here!!

The problem with most Project Managers and other Pointy-Haired-Boss archetypes is that they will see the Rolex as "the market" because dollar per dollar, they can extort more money off of the people who can afford to pay for mediocrity of name. If I had to choose between frog watch and the Rolex--even if I had the money--I would still choose Frog because frog. And this is the mentality of the vast majority of my generation and the newer generations (please do not remind me that I am slowly becoming geriatric in terms of the "generational shift" being two generations behind). Unfortunately most people who think "the kids want the Rolex to look cool" have never genuinely spent time with our generation. Most of us want frog, even if we could afford the Rolex. I don't know where I was going with this. My point is if the market demands frog watch, there shall be frog watch. The point of a watch is to tell time. Anything more and I expect it to do more. There is vastly more engineering and functionality that goes into my Google Pixel watch. There are plenty other, much more artisinal analog watches that aren't extortion out of a status symbol. Anyways I just needed some LinkedIn ramble to have an excuse to post frog watch because frog watch. 🐸

In episode 723 of Startups For the Rest of Us, I interview Charles Duhigg about how the skills that make a “supercommunicator” translate to founders. He shares practical advice, including tips for introverts in conference settings. Check out the rest of the episode 👇  https://lnkd.in/gdyrFfrZ

Three things I didn’t know about VC before I joined one 🤔 1. Being in VC is like being part-time investor, part-time in sales. VCs follow trends, so if a startup is trendy, the success rate would be quite low rocking up to the founders asking for their data room. It begins with selling yourself and your fund. Then, it’s about dusting off those Excel skills honed during your consulting days (probably) to crunch the deck and do your due diligence. 💼📊 2. Most relevant deals will come from your network. When the day-to-day was browsing through cool startups, I always had at least five startups top of mind that weren't for our fund but were great VC cases I could share with my peers at other funds. Go and grab a pint or a coffee with your VC friends. ☕🍻 3. Feedback loops in VC are long. The time frame to determine if an investment is successful will take multiple years. So, patience is the name of the game if you want to see the winners mature. The losers will reveal themselves quickly though. 😉⏳

Buckle up, founders! Investor Speed Dating is about to launch! This is more than just a networking event — designed to spark real-time connections between startups and investors. With just minutes on the clock, you'll need to pitch your ideas with precision, engage potential investors, and start your journey towards securing critical funding and partnerships. Why you can't miss this: • Fast-Paced Pitches: Make a lasting impression with concise, impactful presentations. • Direct Investor Access: Meet seasoned investors eager to support groundbreaking projects. • High-Value Connections: Build relationships that could propel your startup to new heights. Ready to skyrocket your startup? Join us on 🗓️ 27th September, 7:30 PM IST (+5.30 GMT)! Pitch. Engage. Grow. 🔗 Claim your spot now: https://lnkd.in/gtaYmfZg The future of your startup is calling. Will you answer?

How to Raise a Seed Round by Babson College: Raising a seed round is a critical step for any startup. Here are some key steps to guide you through the process: 1) Prepare the Essentials: Make sure you have legal representation, a founders' agreement, financials, a pitch deck (10 slides), and a one-page teaser. 2) How Much to Raise: Plan to raise enough to cover 12-18 months of cash runway, including product development, team growth, and marketing. 3) Build Your Pipeline: Target investors based on their location, industry, and investment thesis. Prioritize introductions and create connections. 4) Create FOMO: Approach your top candidates simultaneously, land an anchor investor, and use triggering events to generate momentum and secure term sheets. ----- Follow All Chance to learn from more innovative insights.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗸 😅 We’ve all seen this in startup pitch decks: a chart where the startup somehow checks all the boxes, and the incumbents…don’t. Often, these comparisons are about as insightful as this “Rolex vs. Frog Watch” slide. Here’s the truth: real competitive advantage isn’t about checking every box. It’s about showing genuine strengths while acknowledging areas to grow. Investors respect honesty and a grounded view of where your startup truly stands. Let’s keep it real in pitch decks, and let the product speak for itself! Join 100,000+ founders and VCs who receive these insights in my weekly newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dtifw4mC

Of all of the startups I've worked at and advised, there's something that sets the successful ones from the rest: the ability to look at and have a candid, unemotional conversation about what's NOT working. Doing that requires a heck of a lot of emotional maturity and communication skills. And when everything feels like a fire drill (the way most startups feel), it's easy to bury the important things under the rug. As you go into this week: what difficult conversations are you avoiding? What are you not looking at?