Mike MacCombie 💬

@Tirell_Arzu It’s an investor summit :)

@MikeMacCombie Is there any way to apply as a company? We are solving the issue of 45% of college grads not being ready for the workforce. Workplace Simulator that mirrors future roles' SOPs and tools. Companies get vetted talent. AI labs get the data they need to train smarter agents

Many of the best pre-seed deals I've seen come from ecosystems most investors aren't plugged into yet. So we're building the room that changes that. Generous Ventures and Side Door Ventures are hosting our first collaborative Pre-Seed Investor Summit - May 13-14 in New York City. 100 curated investors and LPs. Two days. 80% investors, 20% LPs. 1:1 double opt-in matchmaking, shared meals, a live version of our longstanding deal flow sharing event, and a room deliberately built across ecosystems. We already have confirmed attendees from New York, San Francisco, LA, Austin, Miami, Chicago, and several other cities across the country. Here's what you attendees can expect to walk away with: -Real relationships with pre-seed investors from ecosystems outside your own -First looks at deal flow before it hits the main circuit -Genuine help for your portfolio companies through the people in the room -LP or GP relationships you didn't know you were missing I've been running monthly Pre-Seed Deal Flow community gatherings for over six years. One thing I keep seeing: great companies emerge out of ecosystems long before they reach the larger VC circuits. The investors who catch them early tend to have a friend in Austin who knows a founder in Miami that nobody on the coasts has heard of yet. That cross-regional connectivity is where a lot of the real deal flow lives - and it doesn't happen by accident. Pre-seed is still pretty siloed in each city. Investors who should know each other often don't. This summit is about changing that - and it's the natural next step from what we've already been building together. There will also be some surprises and a "Generosity Session," built around the idea that the best rooms tend to be the most generous ones. This is a community event more than a conference. This event is for investors (FOs, active angels, VCs, and LPs) that have a deep appreciation for the early stages. If we don't already know each other, I want to make sure you have an opportunity to apply to be here with us. Apply below - we'll get back to you within 72 hours if you are approved. forms.gle/JcBzRD2qcVuVhD…

@maybeswing It’s an investor summit :)

@MikeMacCombie How about the registration for the other side ?

@Sabiha1137 If you check the comments, apparently for one person doing the work wasn’t enough

@MikeMacCombie That’s really thoughtful of you to still read every message even if you can’t reply to all… don’t you think people appreciate being heard even without a response?

Raising a pre-seed/seed round? I'll help make some intros. I like to make sure no great deals are prevented from getting done, and we’re back again for the March edition :) I made 367 intros for founders raising last month, and doing the process again this week to help some more. Doing my next experiment for 30.03 hours (ends 3/14, 10:00 pm ET): *Read this closely* 1) Email *all of*: deck (link is preferred over PDF)+blurb+traction+round size+round terms (if established)+3 reasons your company is compelling (the more factual/data-based the better, could be traction, team, or other, and put in it the third person, not first. Eg "their traction" vs. "our traction")+your LinkedIn link+company URL+company HQ location+a TLDR pro + TLDR con (in third person again) to mike+20263@mikemaccombie.com, hard deadline tomorrow at 10:00 pm ET. 2) Title must be *exactly*: "30.03-hour experiment 2026-3” and must include *all* the above elements for consideration. 3) I’ll share at least the top 3 companies w/ 100+ VCs next week. Last time I did this, I got 46 investor intros for the founders I shared. And I know of at least one investment committed from the challenge. Last year, I invested in 2 companies that originally came to me through one of these challenges :)

And to make sure that all expectations are properly set, I wrote an addendum saying I can't promise a reply to every email, but I promise to read and consider each one. If you have any other issues @letsbuildmore, feel free to voice them, but I think your only complaint (that I didn't reply to everyone) has been addressed. And multiple founders have commented on the fact that I have indeed made intros for them. So I have fulfilled the promises that I made. Anything else I can clarify?

@letsbuildmore @aryan_xv Would be happy to share receipts with you :) Founder of Cline got an investment commitment from a VC after shared them in the challenge, and I did get founders 40+ intros. No, I do not respond to 200 emails individually, but I read every one and made dozens of intros.

@QuantaNode @letsbuildmore

@MikeMacCombie Mike thanks again for the intros you made for us at TinyCloud- some really rich conversations and great leads have followed. For anyone reading this considering sharing with Mike, he is the real deal and is definitely focused on helping out early stage founders.

@Charbel__H @mayuronx @noetic42labs VCs request to see why someone did in their past careers/roles

@mayuronx @noetic42labs Another thing to maintain. We’re on X. That’s enough.

The promise I made is that I would pick the most compelling companies, share them with investors, and make intros. I do not promise to reply to every person in the batch of 200 that email me. And yes, I share the statistics of the intros I made last month. If you want to tell people to not take a shot for leverage, that’s your prerogative, but you simply are incorrect about my intention :)

@adityarohit9 @MikeMacCombie @aditya I would recommend ignore this over contacting others cold outreach. The level of engagement baits stats he keeps writing over here is no where close to what he would be helpful. There are better ones out there who will genuinely connect more then him with no engagement baits

This works, do try it out.

@kurakovictor The Vcs opted in for everyone one of those- all double opt ins.

@MikeMacCombie What’s ur intro worth if u made 367 of them

@welldonemalone Not necessary :)

@MikeMacCombie thanks for this Mike. can I offer you a finders fee of 5% in cash or 10% or equity?

🪄 NYC Magic and mentalism event 3/25 Co-hosting a curated evening for Fintech & Crypto Funders and Founders on 3/25 in NYC - if you want to join, shoot me an email at mike@mikemaccombie.com with the title "Magic/Mentalism event 3/25 in NYC" and a sentence about your firm or startup. Will add a few folks to the group for a fun evening :)

One question I’ve started asking founders more often is: What is your non negotiable? Not the goal. The thing that will not bend. For some founders it is product quality. For others it is growth rate. Sometimes it is valuation. Sometimes it is customer happiness at all costs. Sometimes it is “we are not selling unless it is a billion dollar outcome.” Non negotiables are interesting because they quietly shape every downstream decision in a company. I have seen founders who refuse to fire customers even when those customers burn enormous team time. I have seen companies where no meaningful product decision can happen without the CEO, which works until the CEO becomes the bottleneck. I have seen teams hold out for a unicorn exit when a very real $200M outcome was on the table. None of these are inherently wrong. Every company has something it protects above all else. But the non negotiable becomes the operating system for the company. It dictates tradeoffs, pace, and sometimes the ceiling of what is possible. One of the more interesting exercises for founders is simply being explicit about it. What is the thing your company will not compromise on?

Early heads up: next deal flow challenge is coming this week on Thursday, founders keep an eye out.

Building an internal AI stack is table stakes for venture firms these days. Heard from GPs consistently this week on the topic: 1) Most funds I talked with are shifting their workflow from GPT toward Claude for memos and structured documents. It tends to output documents that actually resemble something you'd send to partners or LPs. ChatGPT and Gemini are still seen as strong for research and real-time information, but Claude seems to be winning on formatting, long-form structure, and design. 2) Many firms are going further and building internal AI operating systems for their fund. Hiring an infrastructure engineer to wire together a backend that handles things like deal memo drafting, deck analysis, portfolio tracking, partner meeting notes, and quarterly LP updates. Essentially a structured brain for the firm’s knowledge and workflow. 3) LPs notice who has operational leverage and who doesn’t. Funds that can move faster on diligence, produce cleaner memos, and keep tighter institutional memory have an advantage.

A reminder today: the best solutions come when one keeps an open mind, listens, affirms what has been said, and thinks abundantly about options.

Noticings and learnings from Miami and Tampa last week: I spent last week in Florida, with plenty of conversations with founders, investors, and operators. 1. Florida is deeper in life sciences, biotech, and health tech than many people realize, along with pockets of deep tech and medical devices. It feels less like a few isolated companies and more like actual clusters forming. 2. The early stage culture feels notably collaborative. Founders and investors seem willing to help each other, share deal flow, and generally play nicely in the early rounds, and the baton passing to later stage southeast investors is smooth. 3. The founders building there increasingly feel intentional rather than bright-eyed optimistic. Covid Miami had more of a reputation as a place people could move and try something. What I’m seeing now are founders who chose Florida because it fits their sector, their network, or the type of company they want to build. Health tech in particular seems to have a real home there. Between hospitals, research institutions, and talent moving in or coming out of institutions there, founders have the right partners and customer access. 4. The geographic shift in venture is non-trivial. Last year the Southeast passed the Northeast in number of venture rounds under $100M. 5. Later stage capital rounds are still thinner locally, which makes sense given the ecosystem is younger. 6. On a personal note, my best performing investment ever (out of 100+) came out of Miami, and my most recent investment is also based there. So I admittedly like to keep an extra eye towards whats coming out of the region. Curious to see how it evolves over the next five to ten years.