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30) The Sixth VC is great for newer entrepreneurs. There are a lot of fuckups everyone makes (I certainly did!). Pointing those out is huge. And so is noticing when you’re about to make a large error in strategic direction and telling you.
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31) On the other hand, the Third VC does this too, because Important Smart people have advice! Telling apart a Sixth VC from a Third VC can be hard, but it’s really important.
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32) Anyway, as a recap: ask not what a VC can do for you, or what you can do for a VC. Ask whether it really is very positive sum.
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33) And, in some sense, trust your gut. I’ve sometimes felt dread dealing with a VC. In retrospect, that was almost always a good sign to run away. And I’ve sometimes been really impressed, and felt great. Lean into that.
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34) There are some Fifth VCs I’ve run into. Many of them are partners of SRM: projectserum.com. Some I wouldn’t have expected to be. But you can tell when someone really genuinely believes in you: their thoughts and arguments flow freely and powerfully.
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35) There’s a parallel with community members. Those of you in the FTX community and chats can attest to how much impact Burg, and Dante, and Adebayo have had; way more impact than a random guy with 100k Twitter followers.
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36) That’s the kind of partner you want: someone who sees what you see, and believes in you, and will fight for you. And yeah, it doesn’t hurt if they’ll also write you a big check.
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37) Don’t fall for the classic VC pitch: we will grace you with our investment of $10, and you will give us 40% of your equity, because we are VCs, and you are a Company, and that is how we dance with each other. Find the partners you want.
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38) And if you need funding, sure, raise from whoever! There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you do actually need the funds, and are raising the amount you need.
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39) So, TL;DR: 1) if you need funding, raise 2) if you don't like a VC, don't raise from them 3) if you really click with a VC, they migth fight for you, and that's awesome
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You are absolutely right, startup’s should avoid external funding until it’s critical for survival. I feel one of the reason we able to deliver our banking services for crypto/high risk business with profitable model because we did not have any external investor.
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