Alex Pachikov 🌻

@JackAndTheBots Well done. We share your pain ;)

8 years of building an autonomous robotics company in ~60 seconds. Cursing, crashes, breakthroughs -- and a lot of robots in the supply chain. Here’s why we chose this as our life’s work. (1/5)

I’m most proud that despite the long odds, no one on the team slowed down. We got creative and kept moving.

@ekuyda @a16z @saranormous @amasad @akothari @garrytan @justinkan @atShruti @naval @scottbelsky @gokulr @soleio @kevinhartz @wabi Congrats! Looks awesome!

Today, we’re thrilled to announce $20M in funding led by @a16z, with support from @saranormous, @amasad, @akothari, @garrytan, @justinkan, @atShruti, @naval, @scottbelsky, @gokulr, @soleio, @kevinhartz and more. @wabi is ushering in a new era of personal software, where anyone effortlessly create, discover, remix, and share personalized mini apps. For 50 years, software was made for people. The next 50, it will be made by people. Just as YouTube unlocked creative power through video, Wabi will unlock creative power through software. The YouTube moment for apps is here. We can’t wait to see what you create.

Read on for more about Sunflower, including new funding from us at @sequoia sequoiacap.com/article/partne…

Large facilities require comprehensive security coverage. From factories and warehouses to distribution centers and stadiums. @sunflower_labs built an autonomous drone system that uses computer vision to detect & deter threats, augmenting traditional security.

Exclusive: Drone security startup Sunflower Labs was grounded by the pandemic. Now it's raised a $16M Series B led by Sequoia's Roelof Botha. CEO Alex Pachikov shares how his 9-year-old startup went from near-dead to flying high again, with millions in sales across 9 countries.

I don’t post much, but when I do it’s something I am very happy about.

@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.

Who’s in favor of rolling back cookie banners? No one is winning here. That’s a lot of hours.

If you haven't decided yet who to vote for, here's why I think you should vote for Harris.

From the department of “No shit, Sherlock”

This is true…..

@beaglesandmore @gnuman1979 It is not sold because of weight regulations, not safety. Electric cars have heavy batteries which prevent them being classified as consumer vehicles in some cases.

@gnuman1979 Those trucks CANNOT be sold in Europe. That’s because they don’t meet safety requirements. Let that sink in.

What are the chances?

My new hobby while visiting Japan: when possible I look for a new Kissa (an old traditional cafe) and order coffee and a pizza toast. Inspired by @craigmod and his wonderful book “Kissa by Kissa”

In the last 72 hours I flew first from Zurich to San Francisco, then to Tokyo. Now my jet lag has jet lag.

@plibin This tweet brings me joy. I’ll keep it.

My bad business idea of the week: Someone should make apartment buildings with built-in housecleaning and organization services. Call them Marie Condos.

@t3dotgg Did you miss the part that this is optional?

Under Apple’s new terms for the EU, users installing an app now costs the devs €0.50. For an app with 8 million installs, it’s over $310k a year in fees, even if the app is free.

Snow day!

🥶🐝

My New Year’s resolution continues to be to click ‘unsubscribe’ on any email I receive.