startup founders are stepping down as CEOs to become VCs who will step down at firms to go back to operating so they can start angel investing on the side to build their track records to become GPs who wi
SCOOP 🍿 A Silicon Valley lawmaker and venture capitalists are teaming up to create a startup visa, providing a path for immigrant entrepreneurs to stay. The bill will be introduced on Monday. Details here.
SCOOP:
@expensify
's IPO could make nearly all 140 employees paper millionaires, after the company surprised them with a 10% stock grant on listing day.
"I think I'll just hold on to it," one employee told me.
SCOOP: After their boss emailed the company's 10 million customers saying vote Biden, Expensify employees have been under attack from fake customers and bots. But what's interesting, employees say the email has fortified their decision to work there.
Friday news dump: I’ve been promoted to senior tech correspondent at
@businessinsider
. 🥳
I never thought I could have my dream job while working from the woodsy small town where I grew up, but here I am.
#LFG
With deals happening every day, PR people are struggling to place funding stories. Well, I’m working on two for next week! Here’s why their pitches worked for me.
1. Offered as exclusives
2. Disclosed valuations
3. Hit on a fundraising trend
4. Told an interesting company story
Our dog walker is moving.
It kills me that Nubs has no idea. I wish I could warn him, comfort him. Best friends should never move away.
@kylebrussell
@darth
I spoke to the female tech workers behind
@crypto_coven
, a collection of NFT witches that has carved a magical space in web3 for women and non-binary people. 🧹
Clubhouse founders
@pdavison
@rohanseth
have 9+ failed social apps between them. They essentially brute-force attacked their way to creating a new kind of app.
Here's the story of their overnight success 10 years in the making.
@eladgil
@andrewchen
Every year, more women barrel through the doors of venture capital's boys' club. To toast their success, we're recognizing those who made partner or GP for the first time in 2021. Cheers ladies 🥂
IT'S HERE! Our annual round-up of the big tech trends to watch in 2021, according to VCs and super angels.
In a nutshell, Silicon Valley is back. All-white, male boards are out. And SPACs? TBD.
At least 27 women in venture capital rose to partner or higher in 2022. We have the full list.
Notably, a number of women launched their own funds, and
@lightspeedvp
hired five female check-writers.
Cheers ladies 🥂
.
@AndrewYang
says tech wants to regulate tech, too.
"There's this notion that techies are averse to any sort of conversation about guidelines on technology, and that hasn't been my experience. The technologists I've talked to, they're pretty reasonable."
"When there’s a tool that is immediately useful and timing matters — because the value of the information declines every minute — reminding people and making them aware of (the tool) is not unethical,” said
@ScottAdamsSays
.
After five wonderful years at Business Insider, this newshound and I are joining
@sfchronicle
to cover the people and companies in tech. I'm ecstatic to be part of an organization that ignites so much positive change in San Francisco.
I start 9/17 — let's grab coffee!
NEW: April Koh built a $2 billion mental-health startup by age 29. Current and former employees tell me she led a fast-paced culture that created panic and fear.
I've spent the last month reporting on Coinbase, so this was an especially interesting case study in a company doing the opposite of an "apolitical" approach. Expensify CEO
@dbarrett
invited all employees to edit his email in Google Docs and publicly debate its contents on Slack.
We’re trying to re-crate train our 2yo Nubs after lapsing into bed snuggles. Last two nights he cried for an hour straight before we caved.
Parenting is hard.
My
@fitbit
scale asked me again today, "Who is this?" because of my pregnancy weight gain. Momentarily disappointed.
Then my husband suggested Fitbit needs to hire more women who would design with childbearing-age women in mind.
Good answer, honey!
Solo capitalist
@atShruti
says she's typically the only woman in a funding round. Last month, she orchestrated a deal for a startup with an 👏 all-female 👏 cap table.
"I'd do it again and again."
Trying to switch as many of my Zoom calls as possible to phone calls. It's not good for anyone's health & wellbeing to sit stationary on video for 8+ hours a day.
Every time I want to gripe about a “pr fail” in a tweet, I do it in slack instead. No good comes from groaning here, and if the roles were reversed I’d feel terrible about myself.
I’m taking a month off to celebrate my TEN YEARS with Business Insider.
I’ll be dusting off the Peloton bike, wallpapering my office, reading Jennette McCurdy’s book, and traveling to Nova Scotia on a solo getaway!
Got a tip? I made a cheat sheet on who to reach 🌞
Applying to YC?
@daltonc
and
@mwseibel
reveal their biggest application icks:
- too many extracurriculars tied to startups (their advice: just start building)
- hedging that they might still go to biz school
- bloated founding teams
- ownership weighted toward biz cofounder
Coinbase’s office used to have signs indicating employees can use the bathroom where they feel most comfortable. Those signs were deemed too political and were removed, former employees tell me. Scoop:
Insider just announced a new policy of giving 10 days of COVID sick time for all employees and fellows.
It applies to those caring for a family member who's affected.
This is how companies support working moms!!!
a16z has in recent months been in discussions to form a fund of funds. It aims to front cash to solo GPs and emerging managers, with the hope that those same investors nudge them toward promising young startups in their portfolios.
Expensify's office is closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, so the company wasn't able to offer the usual morale boosters. Instead, employees were told to expense a nice dinner for them and a plus-one over weekend.
Serena Williams' VC firm has quietly removed Coinbase from the investments page on its website.
The fund got started in 2014 to invest "in companies that embrace diverse leadership, individual empowerment, creativity and opportunity."
👀
My favorite nugget from reporting this story: After customer success was deluged with negative, sometimes abusive, comments, Expensify created a new triage system for complaints about the email. Senior leaders, including Barrett, are stepping in to handle those conversations.
Women have been historically left out of VC, which is why I'm so excited about the rise of solo fund managers. (Look at this image!) They raise capital because they have a unique insight or skillset that makes them superior at building companies. ♀️👊
They asked in my exit interview what I liked best about my job.
Working at an institution like the San Francisco Chronicle means the bar — for quality, accuracy and integrity— is high. My editors challenged me to the best version of myself. I’m forever grateful.
📷
@rolandlisf
I'm overseeing our year-end list of the "startups to bet your career on" in 2022. Tenth anniversary of the list!
It's the first time we're going international with our picks, so I'm crowdsourcing a bit. Tell me who you like for the list and we'll take it into consideration!
After a year at the San Francisco Chronicle learning from the most intrepid people in newspaper, today is my last day.
I relate my experience to grad school. I grew my skills, worked on passion projects, and relearned to stretch a paycheck.
A worthwhile investment in every way.
I dropped my wedding ring down a vent this morning. Sobbing, I call my dad. He says don’t worry I’m on my way. Less than a hour later he recovers the ring with a Swiffer duster. My dad rules.
I'm working on a boilerplate statement I can send to people when they complain about the paywall. Here's what I have so far. Please make any suggestions!
"We are a for-profit company that uses subscription revenue to hire and keep journalists like myself :)"
Expensify has done the opposite of Mailchimp. Employees start with roughly one-third of their compensation in equity and have compensation reviews twice a year where they can opt for even more of their pay in equity.
I don't know why some startups make it so impossible to find their PR email address on their website.
Put it on the "Press" page and at the very top, please!
Bringing this energy into 2020 ...
“We are in the fortunate position, even with the new product, to be substantially oversubscribed,” said
@foundersfund
COO Lauren Gross. “We have good returns, and I’m good at my job.”
IT'S HERE! Our annual list of the big tech trends to watch in 2022, according to venture capitalists.
tldr: Web3 is popular; fundraising "party rounds" will boom; and the return to offices is canceled.
Rolling back work permits for the spouses of H-1B visa holders could have sweeping consequences for the Bay Area, where tech companies heavily rely on high-skilled immigrants,
@TalKopan
reports - tip
@Techmeme
The hit to the business has been minimal so far. Only a small faction of customers, 0.5%, have written into the company to talk about the email, and far fewer have gone so far as to cancel their accounts, according to employees.
I have two (exclusive) venture-capital personnel stories dropping today.
One firm promoted its second-ever female partner.
One firm promoted three rising-star Black leaders in VC.
Letss goooo 🙌🍾🥂💸
Journo request: I want to talk to founders who are still writing checks into startups (as angel investors or fund managers). Who should I chat with? DMs are open.
The announcement came just weeks after a revolt at Mailchimp, where most employees had no equity in the company when its founders made billions in a megasale to Intuit. via
@thebenbergman
Is Axios the a16z of media right now? 🤔 They’re scooping up some incredible journalists in quick succession. Lucinda Shen. Kerry Flynn. Erin Brodwin. Ryan Lawler. 👏👏👏
Exclusive: Startup
@PolyworkHQ
has raised $13 million from
@a16z
@tonsing
@HarryStebbings
and a bevy of angels.
I talked to CEO
@multiplay3r
about how he turned his failed startup into one of the most promising new professional networks since AngelList.
Today has been a great day for my pregnancy. Someone gave up their subway seat for the first time, and when I reached for a second bagel at the office, my team cheered me on! "One for you, one for baby!"
@stephyang10
I'm so glad you asked.
Over-the-moon excited to announce in September, I rejoin Business Insider as a startups and tech culture reporter.
It feels like a homecoming.
Greetings from
@ycombinator
Statup School East! The accelerator has bused in students from across the Northeast to hear stories and advice from YC founders and partners. The vibe is very prospective student’s day — all smiles and high hopes.
Come say hi 👋🧡🍊
His name is Nubs (named for his hooked tail) and he turns 5 in November. He's an American Staff and Cane Corso mix who loves gutting toys and sunbathing.