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The Syndicate episodes
- Immigrant Entrepreneurs, H1B Visas and the State of the Startup Union with Nitin Pachisia of UnshackledVCNitin started UnshackledVC to help immigrant founders like himself simplify the visa problem of building businesses in the USA. His particular areas of interest when working with early stage startups are story-telling, pitching, fundraising, product strategy, and bringing in the first customers/sales.Listen and Learn:* How H1B visas get used and abused* The challenges for immigrant founders in the USA* Ways immigrant entrepreneurs can speed up the visa process* The chicken and egg problem for raising funding* How the US is hurting innovation and its future startup success* The power of applied technology startups* How to evaluate product pitches and problem solvingNitin’s Projects:Nitin’s AngelList profileUnshackled VC’s Angellist pageUnshackledVC.comNitin’s Twitter: @pachisia & @unshackledUSAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Nitin started UnshackledVC to help immigrant founders like himself simplify the visa problem of building businesses in the USA. His particular areas of interest when working with early stage startups are story-telling, pitching, fundraising, product strategy, and bringing in the first customers/sales.Listen and Learn:* How H1B visas get used and abused* The challenges for immigrant founders in the USA* Ways immigrant entrepreneurs can speed up the visa process* The chicken and egg problem for raising funding* How the US is hurting innovation and its future startup success* The power of applied technology startups* How to evaluate product pitches and problem solvingNitin’s Projects:Nitin’s AngelList profileUnshackled VC’s Angellist pageUnshackledVC.comNitin’s Twitter: @pachisia & @unshackledUSAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.40 min
- The Death of Google and End of AppleApple and Google are two of the strongest, most profitable tech giants today. But both are in for a kick in the ass, here is why.Disruption is the name of the game. Great businesses die from one of two main reasons: failure to innovate or a powerful disruption. From my vantage point, both Apple and Google are firmly in those categories.An Apple a day and amazing profits.Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his grave. From one of the great innovators of all time to one of business’s most logistically efficient conmen, Tim Cook is driving Apple into the ground and grabbing dollars by the fistful.Everyone understands the pros and cons of short vs long term thinking/gratification. And Apple for one is focused on the short term. Cook’s greatest innovations have been dongles and adapters and connectors and crap designed to milk fanboys for all they are worth. Apple isn’t focused on usability or innovation anymore, they are focused on annoying, high margin accessories that have driven profits and market caps through the roof in recent years.Removing ports, removing headphone jacks, removing all simple functionality to force an additional purchase, all in the name of profit and aesthetics is downright troublesome. And Apple’s flops on new product lines and innovation are awfully embarrassing — the Macbook Pro slider, the Watch, the car, the marginally better iPhone at ever increasing prices…Apple is building fluff features for the sake of showmanship and sales… that is usually a formula for disaster.The question is how long will Apple fans feel okay being dragged through the dirt and robbed blind by Apple. It isn’t what have you done for me, it is what have you done for me lately… is Apple’s brand of old enough to carry to quick buck appearance of greatness and brand?Rome falls at the pinnacle of it’s opulence and Apple’s $5B spaceship headquarters is arguably the best product since the iPhone. Mhm.Bold prediction: Apple has peaked and short term greed has offset long term growth mindset. This is a company that HAS to buy someone to save their own ass and remain relevant.Logical Acquisitions: Netflix, Spotify, AR acqui-hire (and definitely not Tesla)Logical Expansions: Focus on podcasts and advertising to unseat radio and drive ad dollars through iTunes.Podcasting and curated streaming content creates obvious synergies with iPhone and value-add upsells to existing customer base.Hailmary Shot: Augmented reality could save Apple, if they are smart enough to execute well. Apple is a hardware/software company with raving fans and design aesthetic. If Apple can outperform competitors and create a new category defining product, AR is almost certainly it. Augmented reality will disrupt touch and screen based interfaces. Apple needs to lead from the front, rather than following to keep up and keep the brand relevant.“Ok Google, I don’t want to hear another ad”Voice is a paradigm shift, especially for Google. And it is ironic. Google is the leader in voice and NLP, clearly outperforming competitors like Alexa, Cortana and Siri (a joke) in the fields of voice.But that begs a bigger question: what happens to search results and paid ads without the screen interface? Will Google just read ads all day like Billy Mays?13 min
- Equity CrowdfundingKen Nguyen is a neuroscience and law graduate that took legal and psychology to tech startups, building Republic.co, one of the largest and most successful equity crowdfunding sites. Prior to starting Republic, Ken was employee #20 an Angellist where he headed up growth hacking and scaling.Listen and Learn:How Title 3 Crowdfunding is affecting startup fundraisingWhy traditional VC is being turned on its headThe future of ICOs and fintechAngellist’s role in disruptionWhy equity crowdfunding can outperform venture capitalHow startups should view fundraising and taking investor moneyKen’s Projects:Ken’s AngelList profileRepublic.coKen’s Twitter: @KendrickEsqAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Ken Nguyen is a neuroscience and law graduate that took legal and psychology to tech startups, building Republic.co, one of the largest and most successful equity crowdfunding sites. Prior to starting Republic, Ken was employee #20 an Angellist where he headed up growth hacking and scaling.Listen and Learn:How Title 3 Crowdfunding is affecting startup fundraisingWhy traditional VC is being turned on its headThe future of ICOs and fintechAngellist’s role in disruptionWhy equity crowdfunding can outperform venture capitalHow startups should view fundraising and taking investor moneyKen’s Projects:Ken’s AngelList profileRepublic.coKen’s Twitter: @KendrickEsqAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.33 min
- Corporate InnovationBrett Bivens is a former competitive athlete turned startup junkie after 4 ACL surgeries turned this baseballer to startup investing and mentorship. Brett founded a startup podcast, worked at a top sports tech company, was an associate at a VC firm and now is responsible for deals and investing at TechNexus, where corporates and startups work to innovate Chicago and the Midwest.Listen and Learn:* How Fortune 500 companies can work effectively with startups* Why Chicago has the #1 ROI on venture investments* What sports can teach us about tech startups* The evolution of the accelerator model* How startups can scale enterprise business models* What MySpace should have done with Facebook* The future of IoT and the USABrett’s Projects:Brett’s Angellist profileTechNexus Angellist profileTech NexusTwitter: @brettbivens, @TechNexusBrett’s Medium blogAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Brett Bivens is a former competitive athlete turned startup junkie after 4 ACL surgeries turned this baseballer to startup investing and mentorship. Brett founded a startup podcast, worked at a top sports tech company, was an associate at a VC firm and now is responsible for deals and investing at TechNexus, where corporates and startups work to innovate Chicago and the Midwest.Listen and Learn:* How Fortune 500 companies can work effectively with startups* Why Chicago has the #1 ROI on venture investments* What sports can teach us about tech startups* The evolution of the accelerator model* How startups can scale enterprise business models* What MySpace should have done with Facebook* The future of IoT and the USABrett’s Projects:Brett’s Angellist profileTechNexus Angellist profileTech NexusTwitter: @brettbivens, @TechNexusBrett’s Medium blogAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.41 min
- Christopher Mirabile of LaunchPad on Valuations, Exits, Startup Trends and the Future of IPOsChristopher Mirabile is the Public Policy Chair of the Angel Capital Association and the co-founder of portfolio management tool Seraf. He is also co-Managing Director of Launchpad Venture Group, a venture investment group focused on seed and early-stage investments in technology-oriented companies. Launchpad is the largest angel group in New England and top-three ranked group in the U.S. As a full-time angel investor and an active member of the Boston-area angel investing community, Christopher has personally made more than 60 investments in start-up companies.Listen and Learn:* Why Boston is one of the best US startup scenes* How a top angel network operates and consistently wins* What investors don’t know about vetting opportunities* Why active investors outperform passive ones* The perfect startup team composition and how to improvise* What AI and machine learning mean for venture* Why syndicates and angel networks are disrupting VC* How to help angel investors succeedChristopher’s Projects:Christopher’s Angellist profileLaunchpad Venture GroupAngel Capital AssociationSeraf Compass BlogChristopher’s Inc ColumnTwitter: @cmirabileAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Christopher Mirabile is the Public Policy Chair of the Angel Capital Association and the co-founder of portfolio management tool Seraf. He is also co-Managing Director of Launchpad Venture Group, a venture investment group focused on seed and early-stage investments in technology-oriented companies. Launchpad is the largest angel group in New England and top-three ranked group in the U.S. As a full-time angel investor and an active member of the Boston-area angel investing community, Christopher has personally made more than 60 investments in start-up companies.Listen and Learn:* Why Boston is one of the best US startup scenes* How a top angel network operates and consistently wins* What investors don’t know about vetting opportunities* Why active investors outperform passive ones* The perfect startup team composition and how to improvise* What AI and machine learning mean for venture* Why syndicates and angel networks are disrupting VC* How to help angel investors succeedChristopher’s Projects:Christopher’s Angellist profileLaunchpad Venture GroupAngel Capital AssociationSeraf Compass BlogChristopher’s Inc ColumnTwitter: @cmirabileAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.49 min
- Amazon EcommerceJeff Bezos is the Terminator… and he is killing competition and ecommerce faster than Arnold can say “I’ll be back”Hope you are hooked. Let’s go for a ride.My background is ecommerce. Before starting The Syndicate and investing in early stage disruptors, I cut my teeth in ecommerce, specifically Amazon. I had learned a fair deal about sales and copywriting and after seeing other successful ecommerce entrepreneurs decided to try it myself – this was at the start of 2015.Fast forward a year, and from an $8k investment I scaled our brand (primarily via Amazon) to a successful 7 figure exit. I’d built a top 3 Amazon podcast and somehow solidified myself as an expert on the subject.And here is what I learned…Amazon are assholes. They do not care about anyone except themselves and customers. And they routinely screw sellers – think million dollar businesses shutdown overnight, for no reason, with no warning. And it gets better.Amazon also rips off their sellers. Between failing to refund fees and directly copying and cutting out successful products and brands, I have seen everything when it comes to Amazon. They are the 800lb gorilla that couldn’t care less.And every day Amazon gets more and more integrated in everyday life. From 2 day shipping to same day delivery, from in home Alexa to acquiring Whole Foods, Amazon is aggressively eating EVERYTHING.It will not stop, it will only get worse.Voice is a paradigm shift. Customers don’t want options, they want answers. This disrupts Google and crowns Amazon king. Think about it. “Hey Alexa, I need toilet paper, peanut butter, 2lbs of chicken and a new tablecloth”Do you think for a second Amazon won’t just ship their Amazon Basics products?Marketplaces die when the creator becomes the competitor. As an Amazon seller, I saw firsthand Amazon’s preference for their own products over all else. And they can afford to sell for less. Your margins are their opportunities.Combining this with the one and done nature of voice means commodities and CPG game is over. Brands do not realize it but the writings on the wall. Customers trust and are trained to use Amazon. Once Amazon decides your products for you, competition is dead.This is incredibly dangerous. Have you seen Wall-E? Amazon is that corporation. Amazon owns the world, we just don’t realize it yet.The Whole Foods acquisition amplifies this. Amazon now owns a self-sustaining network of grocery supply and demand (we talk about this in the recent interview with Ben Gilbert of Acquired).There is no longer the problems of overcommitting and products going bad. Amazon’s acquisition gives them hundreds of locations across the US, a raving customer base and the ability to slowly roll out all grocery to Amazon.com customers.They don’t need to worry about spoiled milk – a Whole Foods customer will grab it if an Amazon.com one doesn’t.Networks are almost impossible to setup and even harder to disrupt. Outside of Alibaba in China, Amazon has arguably the strongest consumer network in the world. And every move they make crushes the competition. They acquired Whole Foods and the market caps of the top supermarkets dropped $13B, the full purchase price. Supermarkets in effect financed the acquisition and killed themselves.And it is happening again in pharma. Amazon announces a pharmacy line and all the top retailers get trashed in the markets.Amazon is a monopoly and will soon be the largest and profitable monopoly in history. When one company controls commerce, who controls that company?Just look at the bids for Amazon’s 2nd HQ. Cities will do ANYTHING…7 min
- Ben Gilbert of Acquired on The End of Government, The Death of Apple and The Amazon ApocalypseBen Gilbert’s an ex-Microsoft guy with a passion for startups and growth. He runs Pioneer Square Labs, an innovative venture studio that after raising $12M, has cranked out half a dozen successful startup spin offs – think Rocket Internet without the copy/paste. Ben is also the co-host of the Acquired podcast where he and David Rosenthal of Madrona Ventures discuss the most prolific acquisitions and IPOs in tech history.Listen and Learn:* Why most acquisitions and IPOs fail* An unconventional and effective approach to venture* How to spin out a startup* What driverless cars mean for the future* Why Apple is in trouble and Google’s business model is over* The future of IPOs and the stock market* How Amazon will own everything* Why Facebook is the king of acquisitionsBen’s Projects:Ben’s Angellist profilePioneer Square LabsTwitter: @gilbertAcquired PodcastAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Ben Gilbert’s an ex-Microsoft guy with a passion for startups and growth. He runs Pioneer Square Labs, an innovative venture studio that after raising $12M, has cranked out half a dozen successful startup spin offs – think Rocket Internet without the copy/paste. Ben is also the co-host of the Acquired podcast where he and David Rosenthal of Madrona Ventures discuss the most prolific acquisitions and IPOs in tech history.Listen and Learn:* Why most acquisitions and IPOs fail* An unconventional and effective approach to venture* How to spin out a startup* What driverless cars mean for the future* Why Apple is in trouble and Google’s business model is over* The future of IPOs and the stock market* How Amazon will own everything* Why Facebook is the king of acquisitionsBen’s Projects:Ben’s Angellist profilePioneer Square LabsTwitter: @gilbertAcquired PodcastAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.43 min
- An Insider’s Guide to Latin American Startups and Fundraising with Sergio RomoSergio Romo co-founded Mexican takeout company Miorden and later sold it to SinDelantal in 2012. Since then Sergio has invested in and advised/mentored over 100 startups and started Investo, a micro VC focused on early stage, seed/pre-seed deals in and around SF and Latin America.Listen and Learn:* What is happening in Mexico’s startup ecosystem* The effect YC and other accelerators are having on global startups* Which Latin American countries are dominating the tech scene* Why raising money is hard in Latin America* How to co-locate for maximum impact* Why you should leverage your coinvestors* How to help founders expand into LatamSergio’s Projects:Sergio’s AngelList profileInvestoVCSergio’s Medium blogAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Sergio Romo co-founded Mexican takeout company Miorden and later sold it to SinDelantal in 2012. Since then Sergio has invested in and advised/mentored over 100 startups and started Investo, a micro VC focused on early stage, seed/pre-seed deals in and around SF and Latin America.Listen and Learn:* What is happening in Mexico’s startup ecosystem* The effect YC and other accelerators are having on global startups* Which Latin American countries are dominating the tech scene* Why raising money is hard in Latin America* How to co-locate for maximum impact* Why you should leverage your coinvestors* How to help founders expand into LatamSergio’s Projects:Sergio’s AngelList profileInvestoVCSergio’s Medium blogAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.0 min
- The Exponential Boom, Bust and Rebirth of the ICO Economy, ie Dotcom Bubble with Dumber MoneyThe blockchain build up is eerily reminiscent of the Dotcom era – inexperienced founders with only an idea raising absurd amounts of money to build a product and take it to market.We all remember how that turned out. Things went up, things blew up, and later things went up again. This time is no different.Except that it is…Today ICOs are accelerating at unmaintainable pace, funded by cryptowhales with billions in Bitcoin and nowhere else to diversify. And the pace is accelerating while the stakes get bigger and bigger.Tezos, the largest ICO to date has had their fair share of problems. And the truth is non-profits are not designed to be businesses and the majority of the ICO market is preying on dumb money.That is not to say all founders launching ICOs only want a free lunch, but that is basically what it boils down to.Blockchain is a fundamentally disruptive technology, but not all businesses and use cases make sense to tokenize. Ideas with little to no merit and little more than a white paper and “well thought” plan are raising 10s and sometimes 100s of millions of dollars. This is dangerous.What happens when investors realize there is little to no value in these tokens? You cannot create hundreds of categories of “valuable” assets in such a short span of time without having some intrinsic value and not expect problems.And the conversations I have with founders are almost always “how can our company do an ICO?” rather than, “does our company have inherent, tokenizable value?”Because until further notice, crypto currencies CANNOT legally be equity/securities. Even though they should be and are the likely evolution of the outdated stock, this is not the case today.So what happens when you combine a ton of money, overly ambitious ideas, hasty business plans, generally weak founding teams, gullible investors and the idea of a free market trading said tokens…The fact is, ICOs are the most hyped area of tech today. Inevitably the markets will correct, investors will start to sell and the tokens and companies behind them will crash. Billions of value will be destroyed, feelings will be hurt, securities commissions will step in and investors will likely sue founders.But none of that matters. What matters is what happens next.That is the ultimate question. That is the reason our syndicate won’t look at ICOs. These are the gold miners, these are the guys and gals who die trying to make a quick buck. But if history has taught us anything, disruptive technology ultimately wins and recovers, and those selling the Picks and Shovels profit immensely (hence why I invested Matt Galligan’s company The Picks & Shovels Co., a startup building the tools and software to help investors manage crypto assets).Which brings us to the end of the article, and the question.In the Wild West, who wins? How do you position your startup or your portfolio to survive the boom and inevitable bust of ICO economy?Some startups graduated the Dotcom era to own the internet. Who are the titans of tomorrow and how can planning to pop put them in a position to dominate?Chaos creates opportunities and as this game plays out and matures, we will start to see some true value.Thoughts?And if you liked this, subscribe to The Syndicate blogcast series on iTunes or via Stitcher now.on itunes – for ” on itunes”via stitcher”—Originally posted on MediumThe blockchain build up is eerily reminiscent of the Dotcom era – in...7 min
- Software as a ServiceNathan is a product guy and leads the Flight VC SaaS syndicate where he focuses on B2B and enterprise SaaS. While running one of the oldest, largest and most successful syndicates on Angellist, he is also Product Manager at a late stage, pre-IPO company, a dad of two and an advisor and consultant to numerous startup companies.Listen and Learn:* How Gil Penchina built a top Angellist network and syndicate model* What investors need to know about enterprise and B2B SaaS* Why cryptocurrency will change almost everything* The importance of connections, especially in enterprise investing* What trumps traction* The power of teaming up in investing* How to uplevel your networkingNathan’s Projects:Nathan’s AngelList profileThe SaaS syndicateNathan’s LinkedInNathan’s Medium blogAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Nathan is a product guy and leads the Flight VC SaaS syndicate where he focuses on B2B and enterprise SaaS. While running one of the oldest, largest and most successful syndicates on Angellist, he is also Product Manager at a late stage, pre-IPO company, a dad of two and an advisor and consultant to numerous startup companies.Listen and Learn:* How Gil Penchina built a top Angellist network and syndicate model* What investors need to know about enterprise and B2B SaaS* Why cryptocurrency will change almost everything* The importance of connections, especially in enterprise investing* What trumps traction* The power of teaming up in investing* How to uplevel your networkingNathan’s Projects:Nathan’s AngelList profileThe SaaS syndicateNathan’s LinkedInNathan’s Medium blogAre you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.35 min
About The Syndicate
From the publisher's feed
Welcome to The Syndicate, the place where investors and startups combine to create crazy businesses and even crazier returns. The Syndicate podcast is a deep dive on the angel investors and VCs…
behind the big name startups. We interview the best and brightest investors, syndicate leads, GPs, limited partners and startup founders to create an original, off the cuff discussion on startup investing. With a focus on strategies and tactics, mistakes and massive money makers, we hope to help AngelList investors and venture capitalists create unfair advantages in their investment portfolios. Recurring investment themes include Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, Blockchain, B2B, AI, Big Data, AdTech, Enterprise SaaS, Healthcare, IoT, Fintech, Biotech, Ecommerce and of course Mobile. Other topics include lean startup, marketing strategies, growth hacking, business development, startup equity, fundraising, KPIs, incubators and accelerators, hiring, acquisitions, IPOs, ICOs and more.