Founders Beacon by TBHM

Founders Beacon by TBHM

By The Brutally Honest MentorBusinessEntrepreneurship
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Founders Beacon by TBHM episodes

  • A record funding year is not your market

    Startups raised a record $510 billion in the first half of 2026, and 43% of it went to two companies, OpenAI and Anthropic. This episode of Founders Beacon reads the Crunchbase numbers for seed founders and asks what they say about your own round.

    In this episode

    • Where the $510 billion went, and why 53% of second-quarter funding went to 16 companies
    • What sits inside the $12 billion global seed figure for Q2 2026
    • Why the first count of any quarter is the least complete
    • How to build a reference point that describes your own round
    • Sources

      • Crunchbase News, global startup investment in H1 2026 (2 July 2026)
      • Crunchbase News, European venture funding in Q2 2026 (9 July 2026)
      • Founders Beacon is produced by The Brutally Honest Mentor for founders with revenue who face the decisions that move the company.

        13 min
      • When to fire your first sales hire
        Section 1: The real cost of keeping a bad sales hire � how poor sales performance compounds over time, draining runway, morale, and founder attention. Section 2: Reading the signals � what early performance patterns actually tell you about fit, and how long to give someone before you know enough to decide. Section 3: The one honest conversation before you cut � how to run a reset attempt that is genuine and not just a formality, and what outcome tells you that you are done. Section 4: How to make the cut cleanly � timing the exit to protect the pipeline, managing the handover, and moving forward without guilt.
        15 min

      About Founders Beacon by TBHM

      From the publisher's feed

      Straight-talking guidance for startup founders navigating the decisions that actually move the company: product, growth, fundraising and team.