Simon Blakey’s Post

Most founders behave like venture capitalists. And just like most VCs, they’re primed to say no. Not to someone else’s idea. But to the biggest opportunity right in front of them: themselves. They see the risk as too high. The odds as too long. The competition as too strong. The vision as too ambitious. So they hesitate. They hold back. They underfund their own potential. It’s the classic VC instinct: 99.9% of the time, you pass. You wait for proof. You talk yourself out of what could be great. Because it’s too early, too unclear, too uncertain. And founders do the same with their own ideas. They spot the weaknesses before the strengths. They imagine failure before traction. They say no to their own potential. Before anyone else gets the chance to say yes. But what if you treated yourself like the one deal worth backing? Because from day one, you’re already investing: Your time Your energy Your savings Your reputation And your start-up? That’s your first portfolio company. The founder? Your first and most important investment. And the skills you’re sharpening: Vision. Grit. Pattern recognition. Risk management. These aren’t just founder skills. They’re the building blocks of a world-class investor. Because building a company is more than starting a business. It’s learning to see value where others see risk. It’s learning to believe in something early. Especially yourself. So start acting like the proactive VC you already are: Your cap table is your portfolio. Your journey is Fund I. Your personal growth is your return. Bet on yourself - with full conviction. Every great track record starts with one bold yes.

As a venture investor, the greatest challenge lies in finding founders who can recognize and confront undefined, complex problems with honesty and determination. Most founders—whether intentionally or not—frame only the problems they can explain and solve to secure investment. Yet in reality, the most critical issues often arise from unseen or unacknowledged areas of the business. Without a leader capable of identifying and addressing these deeper, structural problems, a company rarely grows beyond a certain level. Successful founders often say they were “lucky,” but what they truly mean is that they made a series of sound decisions under uncertainty, turning unpredictable circumstances into progress. “Luck” simply reflects the gap between expectation and outcome—things going better or worse than planned. After investing in more than a hundred companies and engaging daily in their decisions—often joining their business development efforts firsthand—I’ve seen how few leaders truly focus on the right priorities. Many expend energy on low-impact tasks, miss critical opportunities, or waste resources. They move constantly, but not always forward. In my own entrepreneurial journey, I faced countless unplanned events. The truth is, 80% of what happens in business is unplanned—and the key determinant of success lies in how one makes the right decisions in those moments, not in executing the planned 20%. Predicting ten years ahead is impossible; even a few months can defy foresight. Still, every venture has non-negotiable outcomes—things that must happen, even if their timing is unknown. The most exceptional founders are those who can pursue immediate execution and long-term mission in balance, allocating resources wisely between today’s survival and tomorrow’s vision. Most, however, fall into extremes—either chasing short-term revenue or obsessing over a distant future while neglecting current realities. Building a company is not a sprint; it’s a long, deliberate construction process, like stacking Lego blocks to form a vast castle. Distraction or misplacement can collapse the structure. Endurance requires crisis management, resource balance, and the agility to accelerate when opportunity arises. Thus, in early-stage investing, the hardest—and most important—task is recognizing this quality in founders. Great technology, business models, or products are necessary but not sufficient. Even in the age of AI-driven decision systems, the ultimate differentiator remains the founder’s judgment—the ability to face uncertainty and choose rightly when no algorithm can.

From Seed to Success: What Founders and Investors Need to Know   The Decoding VC event organized by TiE Houston offered a rare window into the mindset of professional investors. Here are seven powerful takeaways that every founder, aspiring founder, and angel investor should keep in mind: 1. Market Quality Matters Even great founders can’t overcome a bad market. The ability to recognize market shifts, understand emerging trends, and pivot accordingly is a critical survival skill. Continuous learning and growing with that knowledge is essential for success. 2. Coachability is Crucial Investors aren’t just betting on ideas, they’re betting on people. Founders who listen, learn, and adapt are far more likely to succeed and attract follow-on funding than those that are inflexible.  3. Founding Team Strength Early investors assess whether the team can scale and raise future rounds. Quote from an early-stage panelist “ Do I see this team being able to raise later rounds of funding down the line?”  Vision, execution, and chemistry within the team are key indicators of long-term potential. 4. Networking & Serendipity Sometimes, the most transformative opportunities come from unexpected connections. Events like these remind us that showing up and engaging can open doors we didn’t even know existed. 5. Early Investment = High Risk, High Expectation With early capital comes high uncertainty, but also high expectations for outsized returns. Founders must be prepared to deliver exponential value. If your idea and the market, you are addressing is not conducive to out size gains, then attracting institutional money will be a challenge. 6. Later stage Private Equity and Growth Equity are not the same Unlike Private Equity firms that use leverage buy out (LBO) model to drive capital efficiency in mature companies, Growth Equity funds go after still growing companies looking for funding to drive next level of growth. These companies are still entrepreneurial ventures building value through growth and margin expansion.     7. Angel investors: Know when to get out of the way Angel investors are foundational players in the start-up eco system. Without them most startup ideas will die on the vine. At some stage in growth of the company, angel investors need to step back and allow founders to efficiently seek and take guidance from professional investors. For founders, crowd sourcing may be a cool idea in the beginning but it may become a serious impediment to attract professional investors later on because of the the governance burden the large numbers of small investors put on the company.  We are grateful to the speakers, sponsors, and attendees who made this event so insightful. Let’s keep building, connecting, and decoding the future of venture capital together. https://houston.tie.org/   #DecodingVC #VentureCapital #TiEHouston #Founders #Entrepreneurship #StartupEcosystem #FTVCapital #Mercury #CervinVenture #AramcoVentures

My investment ended up at zero; the founders didn't actually have the website they claimed to have. This (paraphrasing) is what an angel investor casually told me about an investment they made. I remember thinking in that moment, "Wait, you didn't even check their website before you put in what is presumably tens of thousands of dollars." 🤯 But what threw me off about this whole situation was that this wasn't an ordinary angel investor. This was someone with very deep knowledge of the startup world. But how could someone with so much expertise make, what I considered, a rookie mistake? I didn't get it then, but I can now theorize why it might have been an optimal decision for him to move the way he was moving. See, different investors have different theses. Most investors deep dive into startups, make very few investments and very carefully choose every single investment they make. Some investors choose to play a numbers game. While the average investor that you read about is playing the deep dive game, there are some investors (typically VCs and not angels) who play the numbers game. Most famously, Y Combinator invests ~ $500,000 after a single 10-minute meeting + short application. The fundamental idea behind the numbers game, for a VC, is that if you make enough reasonable startup bets, you'll have superior returns in the long run. So maybe, this investor was trying to play a numbers game or optimize a little differently than most angel investors based on their risk-return and time availability profile. What do you think? Was this a rookie mistake or part of a larger sophisticated investment strategy?

𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 Whether you’re raising your first round or just curious how VCs think, this visual breaks down what every founder should know about how venture capital actually works. Key Takeaways: 1️⃣ It’s a power-law game – 4% of deals drive fund returns. 65% lose money. VCs need home runs, not base hits. 2️⃣ Early money ≠ small money – Typical VC checks range from $250K pre-seed to $10M+ Series A. But valuations can span $3M to $200M+. 3️⃣ Stages have benchmarks – PMF is expected by Seed, $2M+ ARR by Series A. Each round raises the bar. 4️⃣ VCs ≠ Angels – VCs back many companies, reserve capital for follow-ons, and invest across multiple stages. Angels often invest earlier and more personally. 5️⃣ Fund math is brutal – A fund’s success hinges on 1–2 breakout investments. That’s why VCs pass fast and push for upside. Bottom line? If you want to raise from venture, think like venture: huge upside, clear milestones, and repeatable returns P.S. Want a PDF of Cracking Venture Capital? Get it free: https://lnkd.in/ewfPRgiE ♻️ Repost to help people in your network. 💡 Follow Alejandro Cremades for more strategy insights.

🙅♂️Don't make mistakes many VCs make. Understand cultures before making your next Venture Capital Investment. Avoid disaster, broken relationships, and burned bridges. This report by University of Cambridge dives into cross-border Venture Capital Investments, written by the brilliant Daniel Mahn, Carlos Poblete, CONG WANG. Shed light into how to navigate this rarely spoken variable in Venture. ‼️Don't miss out on additional reports and insights in our Weekly Newsletter - Join 1,400+ Subscribers and find all these in your inbox weekly, with more jobs, news, and tips! 🔗 Sign up for free here -> https://lnkd.in/dHy7z_QX 🥧 Golden Nuggets 1️⃣ Societies with high uncertainty avoidance and invest less in Venture Capital, while individualistic cultures foster both investor activity and entrepreneurial ventures. 2️⃣ In countries with strong formal institutions, high power distance can actually strengthen the private sector. 3️⃣ Policy makers should tailor VC ecosystem strategies to their countries cultural traits Understanding cultures is indispensable to succeed. Do not brush it off, it is a key variable when assessing founder - Fund fit. 👇🏼 Dive into this 18 page report to discover how to not make the mistakes many make ➡️ Any other insights ? let us know 👇🏼 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more VC Jobs, insights, newsletters and everything in between like, share, follow to support the page ♥️ #VentureCapital #Jobs #startups #VC #PrivateEquity #VCJobs #Vacancies

The Venture Capital Valuation Method: The Founder's Guide to Decoding the Math That Determines Your Company's Worth 🚨 Most founders walk into fundraising meetings blind. They throw out a “valuation” number and hope investors don’t notice. Here’s the brutal truth: VC valuation isn’t about your brilliant idea. It’s cold, hard math. Wrapped in psychology. Fueled by risk and exit expectations. If you don’t understand it, you’re negotiating blind. If you master it, you gain credibility, leverage, and strategic clarity. Key takeaways from our latest article: VC Method: The gold standard. Works backward from your exit value to determine ownership and pre/post-money valuation. Supporting Methods: DCF & Comparable Company Analysis—useful guardrails, not the main show. Valuation Drivers: Market size, growth, business model, founder-market fit, unit economics, execution ability. Psychology & Timing: Valuation signals to employees, customers, investors, and competitors. Portfolio logic matters more than your ego. Actionable Steps: Audit your financials, map comparable startups, model multiple scenarios, and align your story to VC logic. 💡 The goal isn’t a perfect number—it’s building a company that investors want to pay a premium for. Read the full founder’s guide here And… big news: Future Ventures is launching the Future Ventures Forum—a space for founders to learn, connect, and scale smarter. Join the waitlist today. #VentureCapital #StartupValuation #FounderTips #Fundraising #Entrepreneurship #Startups #Scaling #FutureVentures #VCMethod #BusinessStrategy #InvestorRelations

At Revenge Capital, we read with interest the recent Forbes article “Why Venture Capital Needs to Eliminate This Blind Spot.” The piece calls out a pattern we believe must change: ageism in deal flow and startup investing. We are proud to be a fully inclusive fund, and we want to state unequivocally that founders of every age deserve access to funding, mentorship, and opportunity. ❤️ Here’s how we’re working to challenge age bias in venture and why we believe great founders come from every generation: 1. Experience is an asset Founders in their 40s, 50s, 60s (and beyond) often bring deep domain knowledge, established networks, and resilience built over years. Age does not diminish ambition...it can enhance it. 2. Bias hurts innovation If VCs filter out founders because of age, they risk losing out on breakthrough ideas from people who’ve had the time to refine perspectives, see long arcs, and spot patterns. The “blind spot” the article describes is real, and letting it persist means missed opportunities for all of us. 3. Inclusive deal flow is deliberate deal flow We actively screen against unconscious assumptions. We evaluate ideas, teams, traction, and vision...never years of age. We encourage diversity in experience, background, and stage. 4. A signal to the ecosystem By publicly stating our stance, we hope to inspire other funds, LPs, accelerators, and corporate VCs to look harder at the ageism that is baked into norms. When we all broaden our aperture, we raise the ceiling for innovation and fairness. 🚦 To founders of any generation: if you have a compelling vision, no matter your age, we want to hear from you. Let’s build in a landscape where the best ideas win, not the most youthful or the most stereotypical. 👉 Let us know your thoughts on how the VC world can confront age bias. #InclusiveInvesting #EndAgeism #FounderDiversity #VentureCapital #AllAgesWelcome https://lnkd.in/eHMqE2ca

If you have ever been on the manager side of the fundraising circuit then you know how important it is to communicate your firm's focus, especially when the lines between venture capital and private equity continue to blur. Are you early stage or growth? What exactly is early stage these days? We have friends and family, pre-seed, seed, seed extensions, SAFES, Series A, etc all potentially meaning different things depending on who you are speaking with. Venture has always been considered a risk asset with many poeple pointing to a one or two in ten success rate. This risk profile is why some asset allocators shy way from the asset class. It's why we have spent an enormous amount of time and energy defining who we are at Relevance. In short, we seek "venture" like returns without the "venture" like failure rates. Thats why we we describe oursleves as early growth investors. We often point to a revenue range of $1-$10 million where a company's product or service has directional product market fit, but founders lack the support to scale. We view this as the best return per unit of risk in the market. Early growth is where we spend most of our energy at Relevance Ventures. We back founders that have reached an important inflection point with both capital and partnership.

Trying to find your perfect investor? Here’s a deep-dive on how to do it: Every fundraising founder has a goal. They want to: → raise as much as possible → from the best investor → as fast as possible → on the best terms. So, what’s the best way to achieve that?  Optimize for a few important variables: You have to minimize the number of pitch meetings Move through due diligence quickly. The only way to successfully do both of those things: Only talk to investors that are a perfect fit to invest. __ 4 components make an investor the perfect fit: 1️⃣ Investment stage They have to be able to invest at your startup’s stage of maturity. I can’t tell you how many Seed-stage founders I know who have told me they’re talking to VC firms that only invest at Series B and beyond. They think “that firm writes big checks, so it’ll be easy for them to make a small investment in us.” But that just isn’t how it works 99% of the time. That firm is just gathering market intelligence. They want to tell their LPs (the VC firm’s investors) that they “assessed 2,000 deals this year and only invested in < 1%.” That’s great for them, but it’s bad for you. 2️⃣ Market The best way to breeze through due diligence? Talk to an investor who already understands how your market works. They’ll know what questions to ask. They’ll know what actually matters. When you start out with more shared understanding, it helps the pitch go much more smoothly because you don’t have to give them a crash course on the basics of your customers. If they don’t have a history of investing in your market, they’ll take forever in due diligence. 3️⃣ Strategy & operations This means your overall GTM approach, business model and how you want to build strategic moats. If you’re building a marketplace but they’ve never invested in one before, they’ll have a harder time getting excited because they don’t have the right mental frameworks to analyze the opportunity. Sometimes you can get beyond this, but due diligence usually takes much longer as they get comfortable. 4️⃣ Technology This one is pretty obvious – if you’re an AI startup building a foundational model and they don’t have anyone on their team / in their network that understands the technology, they’re pretty unlikely to invest. You ideally want investors who have previously invested in adjacent technologies so it will be easier for them to complete any technical diligence. __ So, how do you find those investors? It’s actually pretty simple: you look at their portfolio. Start by looking for startups that are similar across those 4 criteria. You want to find the most similar startups that aren’t your competitors. Then see who backed them at your stage. This approach takes a bit more time up front, but saves you countless hours pitching bad-fit investors and hearing “no” after weeks of trying to convince them. It’s worth the effort. I promise. —— Want to help a fundraising founder friend? Please ♻️ repost!