Founders are worried about losing to competitors who raised more money. In actuality I’ve only seen counter-examples: Tensor beat magic Eden with 2 orders of mag less $. Solana beat other L1s with 2 order of mag less. Jupiter raised 0, all VCs passed. Less money = more sense of urgency more chip on the shoulder.
Founders
If I could, I’d automatically short companies that raise too much, too early. I don’t think founders know how to handle that much money when they don’t actually need it and it almost poisons the well
Founders
too much money can be an overhead in and of it self and it is a distraction from solving the main thing, something people want. too much money can make you hire people who arent needed and spending money on marketing for a product that isnt sticky.
Founders
Raising too much VC capital is the impermanent loss they never told you about. Being capital efficient is concentrated liquidity and concentrated focus on success.
Founders
The ZIRP era was the anti pattern for building a start up. Lots of lessons will be unlearned
Founders
Raising a lot of $$$ with the right founder in a capital or marketing intensive world can create businesses that are impossible to rebuild.
Founders
If the project really has impact VC money is bonus... As you highlighted Jupiter, they well grounded
FoundersThe balance sheet is a weapon in the arsenal but not a silver bullet.
Founders
Agree. You can’t throw money at all problems. The ones who raise too much money don’t get their hands dirty and solve the problems. Simple
Founders
What are some telltale signs you notice when a company gets a bit too much cash for their visionary ideas?
Founders
Getting cult followers is the key. Bypass the VCs. Give the benefit to your followers to make your project the religion. But be $JUP not $PSP.
Founders
Only major example I can think of is Chewy muscling out their bootstrapped competitor This mainly on the basis of using paid ads vs SEO and organic traffic More cases of the reverse like with Airbnb and Wimdu in Europe
Founders
Most venture backed businesses fail because they lose sight of building a defensible and scalable business model. Most of Silicon Valley is built on sand.
Founders
Ain’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog
Founders
Uh. Solana raised a ton of money. Not sure where your cherry picking your data from.
Founders
I'm old, my cycle for all this was early web days in mid 90s, and of the people around me who got big vc funding, most were manager types who needed the money to hire builders Actual builders mostly got ignored That's why I couldnt be rooting harder for jupiter, I want to see that model take over
Founders
Worked at a web3 startup that was complete overfunded. They spent more on rebranding and event sponsorships than actually building. Too much money means you lose focus and forget the important part - building something useful for customers
Founders
More money= more selling pressure + less team urgency
Founders
In what world did Solana not raise a ton of money? Aren’t they notorious for having a ton of VC capital from the early days?
Founders
I think at the end of the day is a matter of discipline, but agree too much cash can make companies slow
Founders