Hustle Fund

What an incredible evening at our SF Disrupt Portco Dinner Tuesday night! Thank you to everyone who joined us for an unforgettable night! It was amazing connecting with each of you getting the scoop on what you’re building. A massive thank you to our host and sponsor frontiertower for making this possible. And to all the founders who attended, thank you for bringing your energy, insights, and stories. Already looking forward to the next one!

See you there 👇

So you’ve met an awesome potential co-founder… now what? You’re vibing. The ideas are flowing. You both wanna build something together. But before you dive headfirst into startup marriage, maybe it’s time for a trial project. Think of it like dating before marriage… but for founders. 💍 A trial project is your low-stakes way to figure out: 👉 how you communicate 👉 how you handle stress 👉 whether you actually enjoy working together Because let’s be real, good vibes and coffee chats don’t always translate into a good partnership. This is Part 2 of our co-founder trial project series. This one’s for when you’re both starting fresh together. (If you missed Part 1, we covered what to do when you’re bringing someone into your existing startup last week!) Here are 3 things to get right 👇 1️⃣ It’s a two-way street. You’re both evaluating each other. 2️⃣ Nobody gets paid. This isn’t freelance work. It’s a test drive. 3️⃣ Figure out IP early. (Who owns what if it doesn’t work out?) 💨 Sprint: A few weeks, fast and focused. 🏃♀️ Marathon: A few months, slower and deeper. Either way, the goal isn’t the project itself. It’s learning how you operate together. Pro tip: Talk equity early. You don’t need to finalize numbers, but make sure you’re on the same page about how decisions get made. 👉 Want more step-by-step playbooks like this? Sign up for The Founder Playbook: https://lnkd.in/gQBqWT9G Question: If you ran a 2-week trial, what would you build to test fit?

SF founders, it was amazing connecting with each of you and hearing what you’re building at our Founder Friends SF Disrupt last night! Thank you for making it such an incredible evening! Huge thanks to Jerome Soucy Rousseau, Co-Founder at FightCamp, and Brian Nichols, Founder at Angel Squad for the inspiring fireside chat. Your insights were pure gold. And of course, a massive thanks to our hosts and sponsor AWS Startups for making this event possible, and to Sergio Zafra for all your support in bringing the SF founder community together. We can’t wait to see you all again later this year!

⏳ ¡Estamos entrando en la recta final! La convocatoria para la competencia de pitch de Monterrey Tech Week cierra el 31 de octubre a las 11 pm. ¿Ya hiciste tu postulación? 🎯 ¿Por qué debes participar? Tendrás 3 min para presentar tu startup + 7 min de Q&A ante un panel de inversionistas. El ganador obtendrá una mentoría personalizada de 1 hora con los fondos presentes. 📍 Evento presencial en Expedition FEMSA Distrito de Innovación Monterrey, Nuevo León — nadie hará el pitch virtual. 💡 Si tu startup está en B2B SaaS, Fintech, RetailTech, HealthTech o Web3, ¡esta es tu plataforma! 🔗 Regístrate ya: https://luma.com/hbjdvhll José Luis Cimental Ciro Gonzalez Oscar Peña Francisco Azcúnaga Angel Hub Ventures LaFamilia Foundation Demo Day Monterrey Powertrain Ventures Hustle Fund

🚀 ¡Emprendedores, esto es para ustedes! ¿Tienes una startup en etapa pre-seed o seed? ¿Ya estás generando ventas y buscando capital? Entonces no puedes dejar pasar la oportunidad de participar en la competencia de pitch de Monterrey Tech Week. 6 startups serán escogidas para presentar su compañía a inversionistas de Hustle Fund Angel Hub Ventures Powertrain Ventures Demo Day Monterrey 🔥 Lo que recibirás: visibilidad ante inversionistas, feedback directo, mentoría, conexiones estratégicas. 📆 Fecha límite para postular: 31 de octubre a las 11 pm (hora de México). ✅ Postúlate hoy y forma parte de la transformación del ecosistema tech en Monterrey y Latinoamérica. 👉 Más información y registro aquí: https://luma.com/hbjdvhll

Here’s a stat that made our friend Brian from Angel Squad's jaw drop: Databricks just hit $4B in ARR… and it’s still private. For context: Facebook IPO’d in 2012 at $3.7B in annual revenue. Today it’s worth just under $2T. So yeah, Databricks is already bigger than Facebook was when it went public, but you and I can’t buy in (yet). And it’s not just Databricks. Stripe is growing nearly 6x faster than PayPal but only one is available on the public markets. This is what we call the Private Market Premium — the best companies are capturing their biggest growth before going public. By the time they IPO? You’re buying mature companies at mature valuations. So what changed? ✅ Tons of private capital (VC + PE funds are sitting on $2.6T of dry powder) ✅ IPO markets are volatile: no one wants to deal with quarterly earnings chaos ✅ Public = paperwork + scrutiny; private = freedom to build long-term The result: Companies are going public later (11 years old on average vs. 7 years a decade ago), and they’re way bigger when they do. So what does that mean for you? If you’re serious about building wealth, you can’t ignore private markets anymore. Angel investing, venture funds, secondaries, syndicates — the doors are opening wider than ever. Not saying to ditch your index funds (we love you, S&P 500 💕). Just saying: if your plan is to “wait for the next Facebook IPO,” you might be playing yesterday’s game. Want to learn how to angel invest? Check out Small Bets: https://lnkd.in/de4biCt2 Question for you: What’s one private company you wish you could own today and why?