Shiv Narayanan

2009: The financial crisis had crushed fundraising. Barely any new capital went into venture funds. Yet the vintages from those years went on to deliver some of the strongest returns in history. Fast forward to today (2024/2025): Venture capital fundraising is at its lowest point in more than a decade. What does that mean? - ⁠Less money will be available to startups over the next years - The bar for raising capital goes up again: quality matters - ⁠Entry valuations will reset to saner levels --> Funds raised now are likely to outperform, just as history shows The paradox of venture: the best time to commit capital is exactly when most people hesitate. Investors (Limited Partners) should lean in now, not when the next boom makes it easy.

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Product-market fit genuinely feels different...and it'll show up in the data Demo to close rates are the easiest thing to look at for product-market fit right now. Vertical AI startups in our portfolio are seeing 50%+ demo to close rates, even with brand new account executives selling the product. It's happening in every market from AI takeoffs to AI CSR/Voice software to AI procurement solutions. When you see a demo to close rate over 50% chances are you have a jaw dropping customer experience and you should put your foot on the gas. If you're seeing something dramatically lower in mid-market or SMB ACV categories, it's worth revisiting your product and/or your pitch.

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I always hear founders at pre seed say 'we did this without any marketing'. That's really impressive. Truly...it is. But also...why? I understand that you aren't going to hire a head of growth yet. Or buy ads. That's good. Don't do these things. But even at early stage there is a punch list of things you should 1000% be doing. Here it is: - have a coherent positioning document. make sure that you are saying things clearly, coherently and consistently. Yeah, it will change. Update it. - have a GREAT, well designed 5-10 page website. It costs like $1000, and makes you look bigger / stronger than you are. Strong signal to customers, future employees (and VCs) - a whitepaper that explains clearly what your customer problem is, your unique approach, and why you should exist. IN CUSTOMER VOICE (please). - active social channels, most importantly, YOUR OWN. I get it, I don't really want to be doing this either. In the words of a wise friend 'the best time to do content marketing was ten years ago. the second best time is today.' In the age of Ai there is no excuse for not having the above. 'No marketing' isn't the flex you think it is.

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As a VC, Hustle Fund Partner Eric Bahn handles 300+ emails / day while managing countless founder conversations, he's learned that the right tools can 10x your output. Here are the three that transformed how he works: 1. Voice Dictation (Willow) He barely types anymore. AI-enhanced voice input has doubled his productivity by: 🤺 Correcting grammar automatically ➖ Reducing redundancies 🗒️ Perfect formatting Voice is the future of human-computer interaction. Period. 2. AI Note-Taking (Granola) This desktop + mobile app automatically detects conversations and delivers: 💎 Flawless transcripts ✅ Action items extracted 🌏 Multi-language support (tested in Korea/Japan!) No more frantic note-taking in meetings. Just pure focus on the conversation. 3. Email Mastery (Superhuman) 359 weeks straight of inbox zero with 300+ daily emails. Here's why it works: ⚡ Speed: Every action under 100ms (vs Gmail's sluggish response) 💬 Snippets: Template 40 similar emails in under 5 minutes 🏆 Team templates: Crowdsource efficiency across your whole team Bottom line: The compound effect of small efficiency gains is massive. 💸

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This is Jack Altman (yes, brother of Sam Altman), the founder of Lattice, a multi-billion dollar company. Now, he manages Alt Capital, a $150M early-stage venture fund. He recently recently went to origins inc podcast and shared hands downs some of the most valuable lessons for founders. Heres my top 6 things to bookmark and repeat to myself: 1. Why you should stop playing games you don't want to win: https://lnkd.in/djP5E7Hh 2. How to find the PMF: https://lnkd.in/dudJ5Neb 3. Why you should be obsessed with knowing your users inside and out: https://lnkd.in/dq9CXHZE 4. You shouldn't seek external validation: https://lnkd.in/dP8s37vn 5. Why you should think of it as an infinite game: https://lnkd.in/dVFt9R2f 6. How to use a small team as a competitive advantage: https://lnkd.in/dXe8r6TY Save this to come back later to study 🔥📩 Join my newsletter read by +45k founders and VCs: https://lnkd.in/dczX2bya

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