Mac The VC

I decided to turn my thread into a medium article I just published How Desperation Drove Me to Use Twitter to take 1,128 Meetings to Raise the First $3M of RareBreed… link.medium.com/mLN89B4Jgqb

@margentambi This is so true

Investors can tell when a founder is winging their pitch. Not because the slides are wrong but because the founder hasn’t internalized the story behind the numbers. Practice until the KPIs and narrative are second nature. The real exercise is understanding why your company is uniquely positioned to win: what you know about the market, product, and customer that others don’t. When you truly understand that, the room can feel it.

@sreyalafayette Hi @sreyalafayette, Thank you so much for the kind words.

@MacConwell I recently read another Medium article about you and I must say your personal story is so impressive! I imagine it's quite rare that such altruism aligns with VC work. You are a diamond in the rough! This was it, btw: medium.com/swlh/emerging-…

I decided to turn my thread into a medium article I just published How Desperation Drove Me to Use Twitter to take 1,128 Meetings to Raise the First $3M of RareBreed… link.medium.com/mLN89B4Jgqb

Storytelling matters when raising capital. Investors want not only a good story... but also a coherent one. The strongest narratives are backed by facts, figures, and evidence that hold up under diligence. A good story gets attention. A durable story survives scrutiny. That’s the difference between interest and conviction.

I’ve read so many thoughtful critiques of the current state of venture written by GPs and many of them are so good and so well written. And almost none of them map in any way to the conversations I have with LPs or their concerns about how the VC industry works or doesn’t work from an LP perspective. It feels right but very disconnected from how allocators see things.

@kevnsn Really cool product

What if AI could make you more thoughtful? At Dex, we’re building the best-in-class AI assistant for your personal and professional relationships. Built for you to be more present, keep context, and show up consistently.

@joshk Hilarious but sooooo true

I miss when pitch emails were bad in a human way. Now so many are just prompts with a send button. At this point, just send me the prompt. It’d be more honest.

Venture capital involves the daily practice of envisioning the future And supporting the ideas that can bring it to life

Everyday is an opportunity to reset

There is so much untapped talent in Africa. I recently met an exceptional young man who chose not to go to college, leveraged @YouTube to learn viral digital marketing, grew several @tiktok_us pages to hundreds of thousands of followers, has nearly 1B views across his channels, and is monetizing. He’s achieved this despite the realities of building in Africa: - Patchy electricity and internet access - Limited resources to build tech skills from an early age - Few mentors and advisors to accelerate his trajectory He's self made. I’m watching talents like this closely. Diamonds in the rough who don’t get the same access simply because of their environment. What makes this man special is that he refuses to give up. He has all the makings of a great founder. We need more incubators fit to develop talents like him.

Nothing is impossible to the person who backs desire with enduring faith

Get to the KPIs that showcase your market advantage when pitching as quickly as possible That's what the investor cares about the most 30 minutes goes by fast Use it to win the sale

Diligence means combing through a business in detail: financial model, bank trails, contracts, and day-to-day operations. Early stage deal rooms aren't perfect, but should display rigor. Some red flags: Financial Model: Projections are not enough. Map driver-based unit economics for each revenue stream and the steps to profitability. Market Sizing: TAM/SAM/SOM must be sourced, defensible, and tied to how you actually sell. Domain Expertise: Leadership must have the domain depth to win the core market. If possible, avoid bloating the org with non-core, expensive roles at the early stage. Rigor is a competitive advantage. Show the work that makes the business durable.

ATTENTION FOUNDERS: An early-stage VC is spelling out what you need to provide in your startup's Financials. No Excuses After This!

Most progress in building doesn’t come from big wins. It comes from continuous systems iteration until things don't break. Every fix compounds. Every cleaner process adds capacity. If you keep reducing friction, growth becomes inevitable.

@seanmcdonaldxyz @RarebreedVC @halobraid I love this point. I'll be sharing it with the founder

I wonder, in all sincerity, if a growth opportunity is jiu jitsu schools. here's why: I have to brain my daughter's hair for jj and it's bad. it's a legit problem in schools, and a loose ponytail is still more risky. tight braids, usually two interlocking ones, are ideal. idk if the robot is fine-tuned to a certain hair type but from a mechanics standpoint, assuming the intended market needs n braids per foot of hair, in martial arts schools, it would only be n/4 roughly braids, so the time would probably scale similarly. in any case, really cool!

Another @RarebreedVC founder doing RareBreed things. Shootout to Yinka founder of @Halobraid. Proud to be one of her first investors back in 2023. Black women are amazing BTW youtu.be/kxF_z29R1IQ?si…

@ptbthefirst @RarebreedVC @halobraid I've seen it in action. It's really cool halobraid.com

@MacConwell @RarebreedVC @halobraid Hair braiding robot is ambitious. I love it.