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Fantastic, thanks!!!

Did you actually watch the video??? I am not complaining about reviewing companies. I am trying to help founders avoid quick elimination as investors make that first pass through the slush pile. Which of these things do you think are NOT issues that get companies quickly rejected by most investors? Are there things here you think founders should not worry about? It seems that you are reacting to the title/thumbnail rather than the content (which is your perogative).

Did you actually watch the video??? I am not complaining about reviewing companies. I am trying to help founders avoid quick elimination as investors make that first pass through the slush pile. Which of these things do you think are NOT issues that get companies quickly rejected by most investors? Are there things here you think founders should not worry about? It seems that you are reacting to the title/thumbnail rather than the content (which is your perogative).

@@FeeltheBoot Unfortunately, I even re-watched a part to be sure. With minor exceptions, like the C-Corp part, you are not giving actionable advice. A founder trying to land "some" startup thing might be flexible in all directions and produce alternative pitches in rapid succession. A genuine founder will be locked into one idea at a time, which might be more or less investable. Those pitches might A) be not fixable, B) be not your investment category, C) require pivoting to be investable, D) require re-dressing, or E) be straightforward investable. There is no constructive advice you can give to A) and B). C) and D) have nothing to learn from your video except your attitude. There is way better content out there that is genuinely helpful, and some of the topics you've touched like valuation, are to such a degree subjective (and vaguely presented) that either you see the potential and sit down together to fix it - we're talking about angel investment here, or you send those candidates to the next investor. Investors themselves are responsible for efficiently managing their funnel, and if you're feeling overloaded with A) and B) - that's your problem, fellow investors might show some compassion. On the risk/profitability side - above some reasonable threshold, your risk appetite reflects your existing portfolio. Either it's so good that you don't need to go subpar or it's rather not and you must play it a bit safer. This video is mostly about you and your funnel - little to nothing to learn for founders.

@@michaela.178 thanks. I will take your feedback into consideration in future episodes. I am currently working on #106.

@@FeeltheBoot Chapeau! I am confident there will be fans.

Great to hear!

Great to hear!

Absolutely! Investor mindset and decision-making processes are opaque and confusing to most founders!

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Investors should be cautious about their exposure and be wary of new buys, especially during inflation. Such high yields in this recession is only possible under the supervision of a professional or trusted advisor.

True, initially I wasn't quite impressed with my gains, opposed to my previous performances, I was doing so badly, figured I needed to diversify into better assets, I touched base with a portfolio-advisor and that same year, I pulled a net gain of 550k...that's like 7times more than I average on my own.

I’ve been looking to switch to an advisor for a while now. Any help pointing me to who your advisor is?

“Angela Lynn Shilling’’ is the licensed fiduciary I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment.

Thanks for sharing, I just looked her up on the web and I would say she really has an impressive background in investing. I will write her an e-mail shortly.

It can be used for option or stock grants to founders, advisors, and employees. If some shares never get issued, that is just fine.

In general, you can't cash out until you exit. In some cases, successful but still private companies may let you sell some shares on the secondary market. If the company's records show that you own stock, then you do.

I heard that from others as well. Newer episodes don't have it.

For public companies, some preferred stock can’t vote. Preferred shares issued to angel and VC investors almost always have voting rights, often even enhanced voting rights as compared to common stock.

That can work as long as it is obvious why the existing archaic solution is a major problem, and you can quickly follow up with why you are far better from a benefit to the customer perspective.

Wow, thanks!

About 1 in 20 startups with high growth potential and large market opportunities hit that benchmark. That is how the VC model works. Because of the high failure rate of startups, if the winners don't deliver those kinds of returns, then the investors are losing money over all (and thus would leave their money in the public markets). It's not reasonable to ask investors to be charities.

Glad it was helpful!

Wonderful! That's great to hear!

Most startups don't pay any corporate tax because they don't make any profit. All the revenue gets plowed back into the company. The investors are paid at exit, at which point they are usually only paying long term capital gains rates. As a founder, that's your big payout as well. Most founders only take enough salary to cover their needs.

@@FeeltheBootI really never thought about an exit. You are right. If the Delaware C-Corp makes $20,000,000 in profit and it goes public, the stock value could easily go to a billion. Although taking the appropriate salary and paying a giant amount of taxes until the exit comes, would be, so very painful. I really do appreciate your reply.

Sounds like: Market Opportunity, unit economics, problem/need, solution.

🤣

Awesome, thank you!

Thanks so much; great to hear!!

Great question. Investor dilution alongside the founders is how it usually works. Once they have shares, they are impacted by the company issuing new shares in exactly the same way as the founders and everyone else. Some investors will ask for "anti-dilution" provisions. Founders should push back hard on that. In a down round, it could cost them most of the company.

@@FeeltheBoot thank you for answering. The number of shares remain the same through each round. So the value of the shares is increasing but the equity % is decreasing. When do investors actually get paid because the business is too small to pay dividends.

@@chichi0000 the investors make money when the company is acquired by a larger company, or goes public with an IPO. At that point they can sell their shares which should be worth far more than they paid. Typically, investors have to wait 7-10 years before they see anything.

@@FeeltheBoot Thank you, you've taught me a lot :)

Last question please: do I need a lawyer when signing a safe note contract?

This whitepaper has the underlying data and charts. angel.co/pdf/lp-performance.pdf?ajs_aid=de24a362-8888-4136-8019-f7d766fe8f91&_ga=2.96450268.1134267254.1714157517-1517902434.1702322116

Thanks, great to hear!!! Best of luck with your startup! It can be lonely, so look for a community where you can. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is generally very warm and supportive.

Thanks!! 😃

I completely agree with your observation! LLMs with access to restricted data or training have potential. Skins on existing LLMs are doomed. The key is always results, not methods. If you produce better value using something other than LLM, that should win. I suspect LLMs will be at least part of almost everything in a few years. Startups won't brag about using AI because it will be basic table stakes. It would be like saying, "We have a website!" now.

@@FeeltheBoot Do you have a technical background?

Yes I do! 🤓 I dropped out of my Ph.D. in Astrophysics with a 2/3 written thesis to found Anonymizer.com.

i personaly belive there is not enought such companies - it shoudl be 10k+ compaines who impliment AI right now to all process possiblу - ис benefit is usually huge.

@@sguploads9601 I agree that almost all companies should be leveraging AI and LLMs. However, there needs to be more to the company than a wrapper around an existing model. That is far too easy to duplicate.

True! My main point is that we tend to be extremely hard on ourselves in our own companies.

That's a great question. It varies a lot between investors. Some worry that if the couple's relationship breaks down, it will tank the company. My perspective is that is true of any co-founders and married couples are not at greater risk. You should show why these people would have been chosen as co-founders regardless of their relationship.

There is no legal restriction on Angels receiving dividends, but they generally don't want to. They would rather have the money put back into growing the company towards a big exit. The generally small returns from dividends won't compensate for the extremely high risk of the investment.

@@FeeltheBoot oh, well that's sweet of them. thank you for the prompt response

Thanks!

Agreed!

How are you planning to navigate the paradox?

@@FeeltheBoot I have a technical co-founder who can do some of the development and we are bringing on 3 developers for equity only to get the product built. The frustrating thing is that with a small investment ($50-100k) we could get this built in a few months by utilizing some developers off shore (direct hire, not outsource).

You might look at debt options. In Northern California, I have seen a few companies get $50k from Working Solutions www.workingsolutions.org/ to get them over that hump. There are Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) in most areas of the US.

Hi. I’ve been forced to find additional sources of income as I got retrenched. I barely have time to continue trading and watch my investments since I had my second child. Do you think I should take a break for a while from the market and focus on other things or return whenever I have free time or is it a continuous process? Thanks

@@Dunker762 However, if you do not have access to a professional like JUDITH ANN PEACE, quitting your job to focus on trading may not be the best approach. It is important to consider all options and seek guidance from reliable sources before making any major decisions. Consulting with an AI or using automated trading systems can also be helpful in managing investments while balancing other commitments

@@Lourd-Bab Oh please I’d love that. Thanks!

@@Dunker762 Judith Ann peace is her name

Lookup with her name on the webpage.

Fantastic! So glad it helped!

Great to hear! I try to keep things simple and include everything you need to know! Most of these episodes are evergreen, so it doesn't matter when you find them. 😁

For public companies, this would usually happen when they are giving earnings guidance. I have not seen them talk in terms of TAM-SAM-SOM, though. They do talk about projected growth and the size of various opportunities.

Excellent! It certainly works better for me as an investor.

Fantastic! Let me know how it goes!

I have a few options at ftb.bz/advising

The music is gone in the most recent episodes.

Glad you think so!

All of them should be annualized. In five years, how much will you be selling each year?

That was just an example but I didn't know that TAM SAM SOM are annualized. I don't think enough people actually mentioned this till date. It's a pretty dumb doubt I guess. Also can you tell the difference between market size and GMV? I googled but didn't understand.

You are probably looking at Gross Merchandise Value. This is very similar to Gross Transaction Volume. These both refer to the total cash value of all the transactions on a platform. For marketplace and financial service companies, the problem is that they usually take a small commission on all those transactions. They may process a huge amount of money, but they only make a little bit. In that case, the GMV or GTV vastly overstate the company's potential revenues. The market should be based on TAM-SAM-SOM of the revenue the company could make, not the transactions it processes.

So nice of you! Glad you enjoyed it!

Ha! 🤣 It's "Feel the Boot" because some of the people I advised early on started calling me "The Boot" and I thought I would lean into that. 😳

My pleasure!

There is a contact form at www.FeelTheBoot.com as well as information on scheduling advising.

That’s fantastic! I’m curious. What class and university? Was it assigned or did you find it while doing research?

@@FeeltheBoot Small Business course, in University Canada West, I was digging regarding startups and I bumped into your channel, which is great!

Us too!

@@FeeltheBoot I just got involved in angel investing and your channel helps me to understand the structure of this specific type of investing. Thank you! Really a gem!

I would want to see the solution working. Data showing your predictions are accurate. And either some early paying customers or people who have expressed a clear interest in buying the solution. You should conduct at least a dozen customer interviews and have a good sense of the value to your customers, appropriate pricing, and how it will integrate into their workflows.

Thank you Sir