Managing Partner @forumventures - B2B SaaS focused pre-seed & seed fund | exited SaaS founder | ex derivatives trader @Barclays.

New York, NY
Joined April 2016
AI is making scaling cheaper, and startups aren’t desperate for mega-rounds. Multi-stage VCs are sitting on billions, but many startups won’t need it. We are going to see a surge in secondaries. Great for founders - mega funds looking for ownership? not so much.
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The U.S. is at a critical crossroads in its ability to compete with China in Aerospace, Defense, Robotics, and AI hardware. But before we reindustrialize, we must secure a stable supply of Rare Earth Elements (REEs)—the backbone of modern technology. 🧵👇
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But government action alone won’t be enough. To win, the U.S. must embrace technology to revolutionize REE mining, refining, and manufacturing.
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AI & robotics must lead the way: 🤖 AI-driven REE discovery & extraction ⚙️ Advanced refining tech to bypass China’s dominance 🔬 AI-driven materials R&D to develop REE-free alternatives ♻️ REE recycling & reprocessing to reduce dependence on new mining
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Rare earth elements power the future—from aerospace & defense to robotics. Yet, China dominates the supply chain. Any disruption—whether from export restrictions or geopolitical tensions—could cripple the U.S. economy and national security.
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Startup reality of founders Everything that can go wrong will go wrong, the ability to navigate setbacks is the key deciding factor in success. Your worst day as a founder is undoubtably ahead of you, your capacity to accept that reality and come to work everyday undeterred is required DNA.
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VC funding isn't the only option for building a successful business. Most successful founders never take VC dollars. If a business can't credibly aim for $100M+ in revenue it might not be venture backable - most startups don't meet this bar. $10M in revenue can be a life changing outcome for a founder.
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I recently reviewed a term sheet with a portfolio founder and there was a specific provision that the founder was adamantly pushing back on - founder revesting. I pointed out that not only was this term not harmful, in fact it was beneficial and meant to protect him in the long run.
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Spoke with a founder who spent all of his pre-seed $ building an MVP only to learn users have ZERO interest. Could have learned that in 1 week/mockups. Instead he spent 9 months building. The challenge now? Highly unlikely an investor will fund the next build.
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The utility created across the AI landscape is undeniable, but given the lack of barriers to entry and technical differentiation, many AI first companies will struggle to achieve venture outcomes. Here's why we are bullish on verticalized AI solutions medium.com/@james_42732/navi…
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Early stage valuations are all over the place right now & Q3 valuation data already seems outdated. So we @forumventures partnered with @Stonks_dot_com to survey 80+ VC's that participated in 124 pre-seed/seed rounds in Q4 to get valuation data & sentiment heading into 2023 🧵
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The beginnings of a bullish sentiment creeping into the market - GS forecasts core PCE will fall from 5.1% now to 2.9% by Dec 2023.
NEW: Goldman Sachs economists expect a significant decline in US inflation in 2023 reflecting easing supply chain problems, a peak in shelter inflation and slower wage growth trib.al/RIj9NwJ
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Congrats @_dan_yall and @aanandhc on closing your pre-seed round led by @blingcapital - excited for the journey ahead. prn.to/3rPjHhf
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Great podcast from @rnnbrk, CEO and Co-Founder of @forumventures port co @inscribeai He recently sat down with the Leaders In Payments Podcast to chat about the future of the payments industry. leadersinpayments.com/ronan-…
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