How to Not Raise Capital (Ridiculous But True Founder Statements)
I’ve riffed on silly VC comments before, but here are some actual founder statements in various emails/decks I’ve recently received (oh come on, let's have some fun).
How to Respond to a “No”
Surprisingly, many startup teams as well as VCs don’t respond well to hearing someone tell them “No.” Which is interesting in that founders and VCs should be hearing the word “No” all the time.
How to Respond to Sideliners (It’s Not the Critic Who Counts)
We use the term “sideliners” for those people that love to tear down other companies and products without frankly having any credence to do so. Most often sideliners haven’t done and/or don’t want to do the hard work and sacrifice over the long term that it takes to succeed.
How to View Competition — Don’t Be That Guy!
Don’t be that guy that freaks out every time you hear a new startup has entered your space. View it as market validation. Don’t be that guy who spreads rumors and bashes his competition in private and public conversations. Rather embrace the competition and know that it makes you better.
Huckleberry
SaaS for business insurance. Acquired by Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX) in 2023.
ICEYE Raises $136M Series D
It has been a privilege for Promus Ventures to back the talented Helsinki-based ICEYE team since early 2018. With this latest round, ICEYE has now raised $304M of capital since 2015 and hired over 300 people. The team has successfully launched 16 satellite missions since its first satellite was launched fou
Investing in London-Based Behavox’s Series A (post Brexit!)
Alongside our friends Hoxton Ventures, we are privileged to co-lead the Series A for Behavox, a London-based company that is building the next generation compliance surveillance platform for banks, hedge funds, traders, brokers and other financial institutions utilizing NLP, voice analytics and advanced neural
June
Smart oven technology. Acquired by Weber Inc. in 2021.