Lessons from 350 Angel Investments & New $26M Fund

\"Sequoia does not take their position lightly. Like they did the most work... they did the most diligence with customers... they ask really good questions and I like that.\"

• Demonstrating strong business fundamentals attracts top investors.
• Be prepared for in-depth diligence; thorough preparation is key.
• Top VCs value founders who appreciate rigorous evaluation and feedback.

\"We had these six attributes and we came up with interview questions against them and we've always encouraged them internally... we've built this really strong cohesive culture.\"

• Defining specific cultural attributes helps in making consistent hiring choices.
• Tailoring interview questions to these attributes ensures alignment with company values.
• A strong culture can scale effectively as the company grows.

\"I have always done that, like even before I started Mercury, I was an active investor... from the first 30 kind of alpha customers of Mercury, I think 100% of them were companies I'd invested in.\"

• Leveraging personal networks can jumpstart customer acquisition.
• Building relationships through investing or advising can benefit product adoption.
• Founders should consider how their activities can synergize with their startup's growth.

\"I use ChatGPT for everything. I was just doing a presentation yesterday and I basically just talked to ChatGPT for like 30 minutes about the presentation... it just did it for me.\"

• AI tools can streamline tasks like content creation and brainstorming.
• Founders can save time and focus on strategic activities by utilizing such tools.
• Experimenting with AI can uncover new efficiencies in workflows.

\"Seed stage, it's so hard to do AI. I mean, I don't know what you're seeing, but it's like the fourth time I've heard the pitch of the same idea. The founders raising it like a 40 million valuation.\"

• Founders should be aware of market saturation and investor skepticism during hype cycles.
• Differentiation and realistic valuations are crucial to attract investment.
• Investors may be more selective, so founders need strong fundamentals beyond hype.

\"I just prefer serial founders; like I have such a bias towards them. A serial founder with a chip on the shoulder... They know how hard it's gonna be, but they're willing to do it again.\"

• Serial founders bring experience and resilience to startups.
• Having a 'chip on the shoulder' indicates motivation and drive.
• Investors may find these founders more likely to succeed due to their determination.

\"It's really dangerous to be very competitor focused. I don't let our team speak about competitors very much. I'm just like, hey, if you have something you want to do, tell me why the customer wants it.\"

• Emad emphasizes focusing on customer needs rather than competitor actions.
• Discourages copying competitors; instead, innovate based on customer feedback.
• Prioritizing customers leads to building better products and long-term success.

\"To me, if my engineers get more productive, I'm gonna come up with more things to do. Like I have infinite ambitions, so I think that just unlocks more rather than means that you don't hire people.\"

• Emad expects to maintain or increase team size due to expanded ambitions enabled by AI.
• AI productivity gains can lead to pursuing more projects, not necessarily reducing staff.
• Founders should consider how AI can enhance, not just replace, their teams.

\"First thing when there's like 3 or 4 people, write down what is your company culture. We wrote down like 6 attributes and these things have to be like things that have some trade-offs to them.\"

• Early definition of culture guides hiring decisions and maintains team cohesion.
• Identifying cultural attributes with trade-offs helps in making consistent choices.
• Embedding culture early ensures it scales as the company grows.

\"I think it is very hard as an entrepreneur not to chase the highest valuation. You know, we did our Series B at 120X which was not rational, this is 2021, but we did it, and I would do it again.\"

• Emad believes raising at high valuations is acceptable if you raise enough money to grow into it.
• Founders should ensure they don't overspend after raising large amounts.
• Taking higher valuations can be part of strategic growth, even if metrics don't fully justify it at the time.