OK, real talk--who is ACTUALLY actively writing new checks to founders these days? Respond below with:
1. Name of fund
2. Size of check
3. Stage you invest
4. How founders can engage.
In this environment of fear, founders could benefit from this roll call. GO.
Big Announcement: We raised $33.6M for our second fund. We are so grateful to continue our work in serving our excellent founders, investors, and broader community of hustlers.
Thank you for all for permitting us to do this work!
Happy 5th birthday...to ME! (Hustle Fund) On this special day, we are excited to announce our newest fund, Hustle Fund III: a $46M fund to serve great founders at the pre-seed + seed stages. Quick thread (1/4):
It's been a busy May at Hustle Fund. This month, we invested in 16 companies across 4 continents:
7 startups in the US
4 startups in Asia
3 startups in Africa
2 startups in LatAm
Thank you founders for giving us this opportunity to serve you!
Despite our name, we do not subscribe to hustle porn at our fund.
As a result, we are shutting down our office and letting all team members have a paid vacation from Dec 20 - Jan 3.
Thanks to all founders and partners for your patience, as we'll be chillaxing during that time!
Hill that I’ll die on: $1k investments are worth taking for the right investor.
And more often they are *more helpful* than large check investors.
This is why VC is being disrupted. Smaller check writers are proving to be more useful in many cases.
Cohort analysis is one of the most underrated skillsets. A lot of early founders neglect that segmenting consumers by cohorts (time, demographics) can produce quick wins on acquisition/retention.
Full video of session:
Thank you
@NetSuite
for sponsoring!
Everyone should be able to angel invest. Not just accredited investors.
That’s why we welcome non-accredited investors into Angel Squad. We will deduct the cost of your Series 65 exam to join.
Let’s serve founders and build wealth. All are welcome!
Welcome
@mariarotilu
to the Hustle Fund team! Maria is our new MBA intern from Oxford, who also runs the Oxford Seed Fund. We are grateful for your talents, thanks for joining us!
Just realized that we have invested in 302 companies since we formed this fund about 4 years ago...
...and, we have reviewed 13,562 deals so far!
Thank you founders for giving us a chance!
“Those people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones that actually do.”
Thank you to our founders. You are all crazy. And we are grateful for you.
Welp, it's officially--today we are announcing the launch of the Hustle Fund merch store!
Why the heck would a VC fund launch a lifestyle brand apparel line? Please read on below...
When you're fundraising, one of the most important assets a founder should create is a forwardable blurb, which your referrer can pass along in about 2 seconds.
What does a good blurb look like? See below.
Full video:
Thanks GS Futures for sponsoring!
Applications are now open for Angel Squad 5, our community of new angels who want to learn how to angel invest from Hustle Fund, as well as invest alongside us in deals from our fund!
More info:
A quick thread. (1/5)
Alrighty folks, I’d like to introduce you to our new mascot at Hustle Fund: the HIPPOCORN!
Today we are revealing our new brand. A quick thread below as to why we did this. (0/7)
For the most part, founders are better off pitching Angels for financing in the early days of their startups. More so than VCs. Angels tend to be faster decision makers, so you can get back to work.
Full video:
Thank you GS Futures for sponsoring!
‘Hustle’ is not about working yourself to death at the expense of everything. Instead, it is about working with high throughput/resourcefulness during the hours you choose to work.
That’s the difference.
Hard work is absolutely required for great outcomes, but I really take offense to the idea that it should come at the cost of mental and physical health and well-being. You can't be a high-performance operator without rest and recovery, which are as important as the work
Shameless, self-congratulating VC trigger alert, but...
...we just reviewed our 10,000th deal at Hustle Fund!
What a journey we've had since starting this grand experiment in September 2017.
Thank you founders for giving us the chance to engage with you. We are so grateful.
Recording now available!
@ericbahn
gave an awesome talk on constructing perfect seed pitch decks. Per prediction, it was informative and slightly offensive.
You be the judge.
Warning to founders: don't sell more than 25% of your cap table to investors at the seed stage. If you exceed that threshold, you may disqualify yourself from Series A investors, who will view this as a dirty cap table.
Full video:
Thank you
@NetSuite
!
Congrats to
@dunkhippo33
, for being recognized as a Top 50 Change Maker by Money Magazine!
To quote her: “We’re like the rich uncle you never knew you had.”
What a terrible quote—we are your RICH AUNT! 🤣💛
For MANY founders, it doesn't make sense to only raise
#VC
money. You've gotta look at angel investors too. But how to find them? How to reach them? And how to pitch them?
We're covering all that in next week's event with
@ericbahn
. No charge to join:
VCs are jerks because they never give clear feedback to founders about what they truly think. Right?
Let's change that. On July 16,
@dunkhippo33
and
@ericbahn
will hear 3 live founder pitches and assess/share feedback, LIVE.
We won't hold back. Sign up!
Congrats to
@MacConwell
for the launch of Rare Breed! One of the most exciting fund announcements we've seen in a while. Mac is 1000% the kind of investor every founder should want to have.
EXCLUSIVE: Newly Launched Rare Breed Fund Plans Investments in Legacy Markets Traditionally Untouched by Innovation
— Read it on
#ThePlug
#funding
#venturecapital
So it looks like Web3 is imploding right now--what should you do?
Now is the time to build during the dip! We are announcing a new Web3 initiative on Friday. Stay tuned!
PS: This tweet with either age like milk or age like wine--we'll find out.
We’re excited to officially announce our newest project:
@firstpitches
!
This is a podcast/videocast where we talk to famous founders and ask them to re-live their very first pitch. This has been a fun collaboration with
@lolitataub
,
@hungvpham
, and
@ericbahn
. Thread below:
Forever grateful to Tony. He was a long-time mentor to Elizabeth and one of the first believers + investors at Hustle Fund. Tony's legacy has touched so many founders and contributors to our ecosystem, and even though his life was short, it was well lived and truly remarkable.
I was literally just going to write him this wkend and thank him for how much of an impact he’s had on my life. I’ll never forget his kindness, generosity, and wisdom.
Thank you 25K followers of this account!
Phase One of our plan is now complete, now we execute our evil MLM scheme in Phase Two.
Speaking of which, have you tried our amazing Hustle Essential Oils??
None of our investors at Hustle Fund were named to the 2023
@BusinessInsider
list of the Rising Stars of Venture Capital!
Business Insider, an independent third party not associated with Hustle Fund, did not issue this award to us. This lack of recognition is not indicative of
First rule in a great pitch deck: assume that people aren't really going to read your deck.
A great deck is easily skim-able, yet provides sufficient context just based on titles.
Full video:
Thank you
@NetSuite
for sponsoring this session!
Should you show financial projections in your seed pitch?
NO.
It's not necessary in your pitch and if you do include, it's going to be 100% wrong and possibly distracting.
Full video:
Thank you
@NetSuite
for sponsoring this live pitch session!
We just found out that
@dunkhippo33
was among the Top 11 most favorite VCs in the latest release of The
@TechCrunch
List:
We had to read that twice--really? Elizabeth?! :)
Congrats to our wonderful colleague and thank you founders for your support!
It’s annoying that this is notable, but Hustle Fund is led by women.
2 female GPs, 1 male GP. All equal salary, carry, and vote.
We have a ways to go. 4.9% of US VC partners are women, and of those, 33% are women of color.
We are out of stealth, happy to announce Angel Squad this morning!
We are building a squad for the next generation of angel investors, with inclusivity in mind.
We want every founder to see an angel on her cap table that just looks like her.
.
@HustleFundVC
comes out of stealth today with its new initiative, Angel Squad. I talked with
@dunkhippo33
and
@b_nicks11
to get all the details. Hint: No a-holes allowed.
Sick and tired of dealing with VCs right now?
Join our
@HustleFundVC
event on raising money from angels TOMORROW on
@zoom_us
(and bring questions! I will answer them super bluntly / transparently):
So...we have something kinda big that we are going to be announcing on Monday, December 13.
Hint: it involves
@dunkhippo33
, and this thing took YEARS for us to make. But we're finally ready to release and founders will love this.
Stay tuned. MONDAY!!
Companies don't make their money from the initial sale.
The real money comes from RETENTION and renewal. That is where you find margin.
Join us on June 23 at 10am PT as
@dunkhippo33
runs a masterclass on driving retention.
Sign up:
Thanks
@NetSuite
!
👋 Sup founders. Just a reminder that our pre-seed investment team is still investing in seven new companies per month. Yes, even ‘during these times.’
If you are raising a pre-seed round, HMU and let us know what you’re hustling! Thank you! 💛
Sometimes ppl ask if we are still actively investing
@HustleFundVC
during COVID-19.
Am finishing my section of our monthly LP newsletter
@HustleFundVC
& I just counted that I alone did 10 investments in July. (doesn't incl my biz partners).
I hope our LPs like reading novels.
At
@HustleFundVC
, we believe in one core truth; that great founders can look like anyone and come from anywhere.
And the same goes for great angels.
tl;dr: Starting tomorrow we’re going to showcase the amazing angels in the Squad who make it so special 👀
We just wrapped up our 24-Hour Clubhouse marathon, to celebrate the launch of our new $33.6M Hustle Fund II. We are noobs to
@joinClubhouse
, but here's what we figured out in terms of running an effective room--for 24 hours:
Happy birthday to me! I am Hustle Fund and I am now 3 years old today. Thankful for my wonderful family of team members, founders, and LPs who make me possible.
Thanks
@Samirkaji
for the wonderful gift of your podcast today! 🎂 🎉
Listen to
@dunkhippo33
@HustleFundVC
on the VentureUnlocked Podcast (episode
#1
!) provide some amazing insights on the Hustle fund journey including the details on their first fundraise!
Are you a founder in tech without a tech background? It can be scary, and many founders experience imposter syndrome as a result. But is it even a bad thing?
Non-technical founders bring unique perspectives and can strategize to gain an edge in launching their startup.
Applications are OPEN for Angel Squad 4, our amazing community of new angel investors who want to learn/invest alongside Hustle Fund. The cohort is already half full, but there is still space for you to apply:
So, what is Angel Squad all about? Thread...
There is a flywheel effect when you accept angel checks.
Having an angel to champion your deal is so important. They help you get the introductions and promote it to their network.
Here’s an example of how the $5k check was a game changer for a company’s fundraise:
This is a
We are hiring one more investor role at Hustle Fund right now.
Please apply because apparently
@ericbahn
will be dead in 13 years, according to his 4-year-old son’s prediction...
Founders, please note we are not involved with this event. Don’t pay to pitch a VC. Ever. We are asking this organizer to take down our brand with this event.
FYI, this is not an event which I am involved. I don’t know how my name or
@HustleFundVC
got featured. I have contacted the organizer to remove us from the billing. You should never pay to pitch us.