Todd Abbott

@henrythe9ths Fundraise

I got rejected by 144 investors before raising $150M for my $200M+ rev/year startup. After 144 rejections, I started questioning our approach. Were we solving the right problem? What were we doing wrong? Why weren’t investors seeing what we were seeing? Were we the right team to build this? We tried everything: different pitch angles, new deck structures, and reframing the problem. Then came the 145th meeting, where we closed our first growth round. That yes made everything worth it. But getting there took years of mistakes and hard work. We went through a lot of trial and error just to figure out what resonates with investors. We tried dozens of approaches to figure out what made investors engage. Some landed, most didn't. But each iteration taught us something about what builds conviction versus what just sounds good on paper. And once we cracked that code, our Series C closed faster than expected. And today, I see so many founders in the exact same position I was in 10 years ago: grinding through rejections, questioning everything, and trying to figure out what works. So today I want to give you the resource I wish I had back then: Something that shows you exactly how to structure these conversations and navigate the entire process (because the fundraising cycle can be a big distraction and take a toll on you as a founder). So I've partnered with Notion's Startups Team to create the essential fundraising resource that helps you avoid the mistakes that cost me years. Here's what you are getting: • The actual decks I used to raise $150M for Super[.]com (Series B, C) • 50 real examples from funded startups like Eleven Labs and Artisan AI • A searchable database of 10,000+ investors - angels, VCs, and accelerators you can reach out to immediately (this alone would take months to build manually) • An AI-powered fundraising agent built into Notion with step-by-step prompts (no separate ChatGPT needed) Want access? • Like and share this post • Comment "FUNDRAISE" • Follow me so I can DM you the link I'll send it over ASAP. P.S.: If you are serious about fundraising (now or in the future), you should grab it right away.

@brettcalhounn Would like to introduce Delivr.ai. Disruptive tech disrupting marketing audience market with great early traction.

If your idea is “interesting but risky,” you’re our type. Writing $250k–$500k checks. Early stage. DMs open.

@tkexpress11 Would love to chat

i'm opening my calendar for 15 min slots this Friday! a16z speedrun application opening is just weeks away - come AMA 1:1 first come, first served... drop a comment / like and I'll send you a link to schedule! (if there's space remaining)

@ZachZelle I’m in

Have a big event Tuesday in Miami Reply if you want an invite 👇👇

@MikeMacCombie Are you looking pre-seed startups to participate?

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…

@ollieforsyth Delivr.ai may be a good fit for your portfolio. We produce person- based advertising intent audiences. We have really good early traction. Interested to learn more?

I’d love to angel invest in a handful of new startups this month. Ideally former operators but open to all. If you think I’d make a good addition to your cap table, reach out, DMs are always open! My value add to you: Distribution: Our media channel receives millions of monthly views which you automatically have access to! Power: A mighty powerful rolodex! 😍

@THArrowOfApollo CODE

We were Clay's largest user at one point in time, hitting their platform 17.3 million times per week. Last month we replaced them entirely with a $200/mo Claude Code subscription. I can't write code. Neither can James, my VP of Growth who built the replacement. Here's the full story. Clay is a GREAT product and I TRULY think most people should use it. But we hit their ceiling. 50,000 row limit per table. 12.5 million row cap per workspace. Tables that take days to actually delete. Clicking "run all" thousands of times and waiting days for things to clear out. So When you're processing millions of leads, all the above become the bottleneck of your entire business. James had never touched Claude Code before. Three weeks after learning it, he built our entire core system. With Clay, processing 1 million leads took 27 hours. And it would error out often enough that we would always have to plan on hitting the “run all rows” button again on 20+ clay tables. IYKYK but Our new system waterfall enriches 1 million leads in 5 seconds. 272,000 leads PER SECOND. AND On top of the core engine, we vibe coded a Google Maps scraper that pulls leads zip code by zip code across all 32,000 US zip codes. AND An AI lead finder that hits 95% contact match rates where Apollo gives you about 30%. AND Ad library scrapers for Google and LinkedIn. AND An AI campaign analysis system. AND An auto-refill system so clients never run out of leads mid-campaign. One we started building with Claude, we just couldn’t stop Now we have the data ready for clients sending 5 million emails a month within 1 week of signing the contract. I put together the full system blueprint -- every tool, the tech stack, a Clay vs custom comparison, and a 6-step playbook for building your own. Plus a video walkthrough where I show you the live system and how each tool actually works. Retweet or Reply CODE below and I'll DM it to you.

@guilleflorvs Delivr.ai produces personal-based intent campaign audiences to enable hyper targeting of in market buyers for top of funnel.

Reply with your startup 1 liner and why you'll build the next unicorn

@coldemailchris Where is this study?

Harvard business review did a study on speed to lead Leads who were called within 60 seconds of engagement saw a 391% increase in conversions. 391%!!! I feel like a broken record saying this, but you are actively losing out on 4X more business by not responding to leads fast enough. If there's one thing to prioritize for your sales team, it's this one mechanism.

@Liza_Coder AI

Everyone is hyped about Claude… but barely anyone knows how to actually use it to replace real work. I collected 700+ mega prompts that turn Claude into a full-blown productivity engine. Comment "AI" and I’ll DM you everything.

@upstatefederlst Not true at all!

Florida weather is completely unbearable for like 10 months a year.

We need to follow Singapore or NYC under Bloomberg who subsidize salaries, as examples of paying for talent to run the government efficiently. Otherwise we will never get there.

@TheMattBerman @openclaw @rapidapi 1000

I replaced a $200K GTM hire with @openclaw 😱 here's the system that runs my outbound: step 1: mine LinkedIn engagement → @rapidapi scrapes everyone engaging with niche content → someone who commented on specific posts = 10x warmer step 2: enrich + verify → Hunter/Apollo finds the decision-maker + email → @Perplexity deep research pulls signals like hiring, fundraising, media appearances, quotes step 3: score against your ICP → title, company, signals = ranked 0-100 → only A-tier leads get touched step 4: write personalized outreach → Claude writes outreach referencing what they ACTUALLY engaged with and talk about step 5: send via @instantly_ai → 3-email sequence. automated follow-ups. step 6: pre-call deep research → @PerplexityComet builds a 1-page briefing 30 min before every call input: your ICP + niche keywords output: booked meetings with people who already care $200K/year GTM engineer → $130/month in APIs. I packaged the entire system as the First 1000 Kit: - all 8 @openclaw skills - every prompt - tool-by-tool setup - email sequences that convert giving it away free. comment 1000 + like + follow (must follow so i can DM)

@nbaschez @trueventures Thanks … will check them out

Periodic reminder that I love helping AI startups raise seed rounds! Please allow me to intro you to @trueventures if you are raising!

@selinatasnim1 G

I MIGHT GET SUED FOR THIS, BUT YOLO: I just found a way to scrape over 200 million local businesses.. You can use this for cold email, cold calling or even door knocking.. And craziest part — IT'S COMPLETELY FREE. Comment "G" and I'll send it to you. (24h onl

@saif305 How do I get more info on the once a month networking event in coconut grove. I’m a founder based here in Miami.

Tuesday morning. 9am. Coconut Grove. No keynote. No agenda. No name tags. Just founders, investors, students, and builders crowding a patio over cafecito and pastelitos — talking deals, sharing ideas, making introductions. This happens once per month. Rain or shine. Years ago @FrancisSuarez told me Coconut Grove is Miami’s Palo Alto. It stuck with me. The ecosystem isn’t being built in conference rooms. It’s being built at corner tables on Tuesday mornings by people who care about growth mindset and action. It’s all happening. And it compounds.

@AlfieJCarter CLAUDE

R.I.P lead gen agencies. I just replaced a $100k/year lead gen team with Claude agents. (all working while I slept) Most founders spend $10k-$20k/month on marketing teams that work 9-5. Most agencies spend $30k+/mo on outreach. Last night I built AI agents that run 24/7: - Lead Magnet Engineer → builds viral lead magnets in minutes - Social Media Expert → writes scroll-stopping hooks - Creative Director → generates on-brand visuals - Research Analyst → finds trending topics in your niche - Performance Tracker → analyses and maps out content The results after 24 hours: - 32 lead magnets ready to launch - 60 days of content mapped out - 50+ scroll-stopping visuals created While I was sleeping. Follow + reply CLAUDE and I’ll send the full system + setup.

@KyleAsay_ Inspect what you expect … with mind numbing consistency!

One of the most common mistakes I make as a VP is expecting front line and second line leaders to tightly track metrics I’m not frequently measuring with them. But this quote remains undefeated:

@Codie_Sanchez A picture worth 1000 words and I suspect won’t fully appreciate until you have founded a company!

Keep going.