Why Move Slow and Build Things is the New VC Mantra

This year, nearly 70% of U.S. startup funding went to rounds worth $100 million or more. $157 billion. Just over 300 deals. Read that again. Thousands of startups are fighting to raise capital, and a few hundred soaked up almost all of it. If that doesn’t make you pause, it should. Welcome to the AI Megaround Era. Big checks. Big valuations. Big winners. Almost zero oxygen left for everyone else. Here’s the truth: investors aren’t taking more risks. They’re taking fewer. They’re doubling down on companies that already look “too big to fail.” One $100M bet on a “sure thing” feels safer than ten $10M bets on unproven founders. Logical? Yes. Healthy for the ecosystem? No. This kills innovation before it even starts. Early-stage founders, the ones experimenting, iterating, failing fast, are being starved. Not because they lack vision. Because the capital markets hate uncertainty. I see it every week, working with founders. The best ideas struggle. “Safe” companies raise hundreds of millions overnight. So what do you do when the game tilts this hard? You adapt. You stop chasing investor confidence and start earning it. You make your numbers speak for you. You make your model impossible to ignore. Early-stage founders win in a market built for giants by proving clarity where others show chaos. The money hasn’t disappeared. It just became selective. And clarity always gets selected. Investors aren’t buying stories anymore. They’re buying evidence. Make your financial storytelling bulletproof. P.S. The funding gap isn’t closing soon. But founders who can show traction, truth, and clarity will always find capital. #StartupFunding #FinancialModeling #FoundersMindset #InvestorReady #AIStartups

Investors are more skeptical of early-stage startups than ever. Not because they're irrational because the bar for evidence is higher. If you want capital, stop selling ambition and start shipping signals. Here are 6 ways founders turn investor skepticism into conviction: 1. Signal, don’t promise Investors buy reduced uncertainty. Show the things that actually move the needle: • 30/90 day retention • Early revenue or pilot success • Repeatable customer feedback loops Promises about "potential" are noise. Evidence is the currency. 2. Build a micro-proof (not a hypothesis) Ship a small, repeatable version of your business that proves unit economics and retention. One repeatable customer is worth more than ten theoretical markets. 3. Obsession beats charisma Demonstrate domain obsession: • Document experiments and learnings • Show depth of customer conversations • Publish micro-case studies Investors bet on founders who know the field at an obsessive level. 4. Reduce execution risk with systems Map the repeatable steps that take an idea → revenue. Put the cadence, roles, and KPIs on paper. If you can show a system, you show reliability. 5. Milestone-driven asks Ask for the capital that buys the next measurable milestone, not "growth." Define 90-day outcomes and the exact metrics you’ll hit. Milestones make progress investable. 6. Convert social trust into owned proof A strong founder brand turns strangers into signal. Use content to surface customer stories, early wins, and the mechanics behind traction — then funnel that into an owned list (newsletter, pilot waitlist). The underlying truth: investors are allergic to fuzz. They reward founders who replace stories with systems, obsession, and measurable progress. Start with one small proof today. Move the needle. Then fundraise from a position of strength. __ Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Mark Pontillas for more. If you also need help automating your business or brand visit our site: https://lnkd.in/gV63fz96 #Startups #Fundraising #Founders #InvestorRelations

Brilliant post from Mark Pearson 🔥 five words to sell your startup is such a powerful challenge. It forces founders to strip away the noise and get to the core value of what they’re offering. What’s fascinating is how this applies far beyond startups, especially in the commission-only sales world. When every deal determines your income, clarity isn’t optional. You learn quickly that if you can’t communicate what you offer in one compelling line, you lose interest before you ever have a chance to build trust. The best commission-based reps I’ve met don’t rely on long pitches or complex product details; they lead with clarity, conviction, and confidence. They understand their audience, articulate the problem they solve, and make prospects feel the impact instantly. Whether you’re pitching to investors, clients, or partners, the principle is the same: clarity converts, confusion kills. How would you sell your product, service, or even yourself in just five words? #SalesLeadership #Entrepreneurship #Startups #CommissionOnly #Pitching #Clarity #GrowthMindset #Leadership

When a Startup Dies - and Is Reborn After I wrote “VC is dead,” many people asked me the same question: “So what’s next?” “Where do you go when venture stops listening?” “What do you do when you’re holding a working prototype - and there’s only silence?” The answer is simple, and brutal: You take a notebook, draw a new strategy, and keep going. You don’t beg. You don’t explain. You don’t justify. Because in deep tech, no one owes you understanding - especially when you’re working with physics that hasn’t made it into textbooks yet. Venture capital isn’t dead as money - it’s dead as meaning. It now rewards reports, not discoveries. Titles, not ideas. Fear, not curiosity. But a startup was never about investors. It’s about one person with a pen and a vision, trying to prove that energy, matter, and human will can go further than anyone imagined. You fight for IP in the morning and sketch blueprints at night. You learn to say no to “fast money.” You protect your equity like oxygen. You calm your ego and your investors’ impatience. And you grow up a little more each day - sleepless, hopeful, still moving. If the old path doesn’t work, then maybe it’s time to draw a new one. No noise. No hype. No perfect decks. Just quiet progress until the next horizon appears. What that new path looks like - you’ll find out soon. #DeepTech #FoundersLife #Innovation #Resilience #Hardware #Energy #VCisDead #StartupReality #VendorEnergy

🕑 Timing the right exit for a deep tech startup is less about strict formulas and more about intuition. You’re balancing technological maturity, market dynamics, and the evolving goals of everyone involved—founders, investors, and the team. The key? Recognizing when you’ve maximized value without overextending or losing momentum. 💡 From our experience, deep tech startups shouldn’t wait for perfection. By the time your technology is polished and market-ready, you risk competitors catching up or #investor enthusiasm cooling. Ideally, you’re looking for that sweet spot: strong proof of concept, early market traction, and a buzz in your industry. At this stage, you’re no longer “selling a dream” but showcasing a tangible, scalable solution. 🔎 The market also plays a huge role. When your space is hot—think #AI, #quantum computing, or green #energy—you’ve got leverage. Buyers want to acquire not just your tech but the leadership you’ve established in space. A strategic acquirer at the right moment can scale your #innovation faster than you could alone. Timing the exit during an M&A surge or when key players are on #acquisition sprees is often the smartest play. 👉 Internally, watch your team’s and investors’ appetite for risk. If raising the next round feels like a stretch or requires giving up too much equity, an exit might be the win everyone’s looking for. But don’t rush it. Make sure your IP is airtight, your growth story is strong, and any risks are minimized. Buyers pay for confidence—period. Lastly, know what you want post-exit. Are you willing to stick around for earnouts, or are you looking for a clean break? Founders who stay involved in scaling post-acquisition can often extract more long-term value, but it’s not for everyone. In the end, selling a deep tech #startup isn’t just about the numbers. It’s about knowing your company’s place in the bigger picture and timing your move to leave a legacy—and maybe fund your next big idea. If the stars align, don’t overthink it. The right exit is as much about momentum as it is about metrics.

💡 97% of the “successful” startups you read about are actually failing. Revenue ≠ profit. Growth ≠ sustainability. Most startups burn millions while founders smile for TechCrunch photos. 📸 Here are the 3 metrics that actually matter and why most founders ignore them: 1️⃣ Profit Margin Are you truly making money with your customers? Many founders rely on VC funding to cover losses. But when growth slows and funding stops, bankruptcy follows. My approach: make the startup self-sustainable, use external funding to fuel growth, not survival. 2️⃣ Growth Rate Iterate your product until you hit at least 5x annual revenue growth. 3️⃣ Optimize Costs Before product-market fit, every dollar counts: No fancy offices No expensive hires No expensive parties or corporate retreats. ➡️ Build a small, scrappy team ➡️ Use AI instead of humans when possible ➡️ Hire internationally to minimize costs If it doesn’t increase revenue or accelerate product-market fit, it’s probably not essential. Follow me for simple, real startup lessons. 👋 I’m the co-founder of StudyCrowd.AI, building an AI tutor and career mentor for college students. #StartupTips #TechStartup #EntrepreneurLife #BuildInPublic #FounderMindset #StartupLessons #BusinessAdvice #AIStartup  #ProductStrategy #GrowthMindset #ScaleYourStartup  #EntrepreneurJourney #BusinessLessons

🔥 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀. But so does perfection. (𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 ↓) A few years ago, I met a founder who was obsessed with speed. Every sprint? Shorter. Every roadmap? Aggressive. Every update? “Ship faster.” And for a while, it worked. They moved like lightning. Features dropped weekly. The board was impressed. 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆… nothing worked. The team burned out. Bugs piled up. Releases broke in production. Momentum turned into mayhem. So he hit the brakes hard. Hired process people. Added layers of reviews. Set up meetings for everything. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻? The speed died. Decision-making froze. People were afraid to move. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁: “Speed without structure is chaos. Structure without speed is death. The magic is in balance.” 𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗲. The best founders don’t choose between speed and structure. They design for both. 𝗔𝘁 𝗨𝗽𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱. AI speeds up what humans shouldn’t waste time on. Structure ensures what’s shipped can scale. No chaos. No slowdown. Just momentum with direction. Because startups don’t die from going too fast or too slow. They die from not knowing when to shift gears. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 what’s harder for you right now: Moving fast without breaking things, or Building structure without killing speed? 👇 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 Curious to see where your team stands. #FounderInsights #TechLeadership #SaaSFounders #StartupScaling #ExecutionMatters #RemoteTeams #AIinDevelopment #LeadershipMindset #ProductExecution #ScalingStartup

Building a startup is a game of momentum - and those pivotal moments.... Sometimes, it’s the unexpected conversations that bring clarity. Not because they provide answers, but because they force you to articulate the journey, the model, the traction - and most importantly, the “why now.” A few reflections that surfaced recently: 📌 Traction isn’t just metrics. When customers skip the pilot and ask for pricing, when partners say “we want this at every event,” when you stop selling and start selecting. That’s real momentum. 📌 Raising early-stage capital is more art than algorithm. The warm intros, the quiet believers, the angels who invest based on founder-market fit. That’s where magic happens. It’s slower, but infinitely more aligned. 📌 B2B sales cycles are long - until they’re not. When the pain is real and the ROI is obvious, decisions accelerate. The key is being in enough conversations to catch that inflection point. 📌 We overestimate urgency, but underestimate importance. Some of the most valuable tech sits in the “important, not urgent” quadrant. The challenge? Making the value visible before the crisis. Startups often feel like building the plane after you've already jumped from the cliff. But every now and then, you look back and realise how far you’ve come - and forward, to see how close the next milestone really is. 👉 If you’re a founder navigating a similar stage - pre-seed traction, early pilots, fundraising prep - I’d love to swap notes.

🚨 Startups And The Shutdown: When Your Primary Customer Folds Overnight For thousands of early-stage startups in AI, biotech, defense tech, and climate tech, the U.S. government shutdown isn’t just political noise — it’s a full-blown business risk. When your biggest (or only) customer is Uncle Sam, and he suddenly stops paying, it’s not just inconvenient — it’s existential. 🏛️💸 Here’s what’s happening: 🧬 Many startups rely on federal contracts, grants, or pilot programs from agencies like the DoD, NIH, EPA, and FDA. These aren’t just revenue streams — they’re validation that unlocks venture capital and keeps teams afloat. 📉 But when appropriations freeze, so does the money. Signed contracts mean nothing if the agency can’t legally spend. That leaves startups holding the bag — with no cash, no clarity, and no timeline. ⏳ Runway becomes the metric that matters most. A frozen payment can cut months off survival time. Payroll gets tight. Investors get nervous. Milestones slip. 🛑 It’s not just about money. Regulatory approvals stall too. FDA trials, SBA loans, SEC filings — all delayed. In startup time, a 3-month pause can be fatal. 💡 Founders are now being asked one key question by investors: “How exposed are you to the shutdown?” If your revenue is too concentrated in D.C., expect a valuation haircut — even if your tech is brilliant. So what can founders do? ✅ Over-communicate with investors and teams ✅ Conserve cash and delay nonessential spending ✅ Read contracts carefully — know your obligations ✅ Diversify revenue streams where possible This isn’t about politics. It’s about resilience. A shutdown isn’t your fault — but surviving one is part of the job. Startups can’t afford to treat shutdowns as background noise anymore. They’re a line item in your financial model, a question in every pitch, and a real risk to plan for. #superintelligencenews #superintelligencenewsletter #startups #venturecapital #governmentshutdown #founders #defensetech #climatetech #biotech #AI #resilience #funding #policyimpact #entrepreneurship