Happy Friday and first day of December! In todays email:

1. How to raise pre-seed and seed in 2024. Recap from an event earlier this week.

2. Current startup valuations + founder mindset according to Keith Rabois

3. Social Commerce » WhatsApp + Roblox Commerce?

4. Apple Journal and a few interesting links.

Let’s go!

Featured

🔸 Raising Venture

Earlier this week, I captured notes from a local event that outlined how to raise in 2024. A must read for anyone raising or interested in venture.

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Startup Valuations:

• Pre-seed rounds are back to $500k at $5-10m

• Seed rounds $1-2m at $10-15m

• Which is ~2009-2014 era. Founders are getting more done with less.

• Teams of 2-3 builder founders are running the show now.

• “Idea” founders outsourcing tech not getting funded any more.

Startup Mindset

What sets the most successful founders apart? Keith Rabois, a founder and investor in over 20 unicorns, outlined several key factors. While I don't align with all of them, particularly the growth-at-all-costs mindset, it's worth considering. Especially his take on remote versus in person. Here are a few of his recommendations followed by the youtube interview.

1. Develop an olympian work ethic. Monday to Thursday 12 hours in the office, Friday 10 hours, reachable after work/weekends, and no side projects

2. Remote just does not work.

3. Culture culture culture! Consider culture like liquid concrete - it starts flexible but solidifies, breaking through or changing this later is painful to break.

Watch the full interview below:

Commerce

🔸 Roblox Investor Day 2023 (Roblox Commerce)

In recent months, I've discussed Roblox multiple times. However, last week, they hosted an investor day where they showcased various platform changes. The highlights included notable developments in monetization, featuring ads and commerce. To save time, you can watch the full video fast-forwarded to the ecommerce section.

My take? The digital fashion realm is poised to become a powerhouse, with Roblox emerging as its predominant platform. The convergence of real-life (IRL) and digital fashion will intertwine in ways that are not fully grasped by many. It’s early, and e-commerce brands should take notice. If you want to collab, hit reply.

🔸 For Businesses operating outside North America, WhatsApp is Vital

Nissan spent the past year building chatbots on WhatsApp that can help the automaker talk with its customers in Brazil and route them to a local car dealership. Between 30 to 40 percent of Nissan’s new sales leads in Brazil now come through WhatsApp, the auto company said, and the service has reduced its response time to customers to a matter of seconds from an average of 30 minutes. “You’re not being intrusive because you’re willing to help customers at their own pace,” Mauricio Greco, marketing director for Nissan Brazil, said in an interview. “This is about giving our salespeople the tools they need, because they actually want to sell.”

🔸 Ecommerce Links

• Roblox: How a student beat Gucci and Karlie Kloss to app award [Link]

• Hell freezes over – Apple to support RCS messages from Android phones next year. Meaning, Apple might get rid of the green bubble when texting an Android. [Link]

• Influencers will never influence us to buy less stuff. It’s antithetical to the job. [Link]

Other

🔸 Apple Journal Is HERE

Apple Journal just dropped!! Installed this earlier and eager to play over the weekend. A few points of interest

• This is one of Apples first ML consumer apps. Curious how this unfolds towards a local AI LLM.

• Everything is stored locally. A huge W, however, this becomes challenging once you start adding large videos or other media. Your phone storage will balloon fairly quickly.

• Despite having your phone unlocked, you have the option to fully secure the Journal, either by locking it completely or requiring password for entry.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/journal/id6447391597

ps - You'll need to update your phone to iOS 17.2 Beta 4. Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates and choose the Developer beta.

🔸 Interesting Links

• This is a wild ride. The $55 Million Saga of a Netflix Series You’ll Never See After suitors flocked to a sci-fi project by Carl Rinsch, director of a single movie, the winner handed over money and control. They’re still fighting. [Link]

• Richest 1% account for more carbon emissions than poorest 66%, report says [Link]

• SYNEX MEDICAL is excited to announce a major breakthrough toward non-invasive glucose monitoring, the Holy Grail of self-measurement. [Link]

🔸 In Nature, Doing Stuff

A few photos of a recent walk with family in North Shore, BC, Canada.

Qs or Quotes Bouncing in My Brain

Wrap Up

Christmas is only 24 days away, and there are just 30 days remaining in the year. Thx for reading — have a great weekend!

Kenny

P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Ready to grow your startup from 0 to 1 in less time? Let's chat. >> Schedule a call with me.

2. Want an extra pair of eyes on your pitch deck?

3. Are you an IC seeking your next adventure, or are you considering a side gig (because AI tools have given you more free time)? Fill out this form.

Newsletter Vibecheck

How'd I do? Slam dunk or airball? Lmk your thoughts on this issue so I can level up future content.

About

Hi there! I help b2b2c startups go from 0 to 1 with resources, consulting, advisory, and writing, spanning product, marketing, team formation, frontier technology, and the good life. Prev helped 50+ startups and launched 20+ digital products. Although my perspective is universal, I mainly cover the frontier of North America and Southeast Asia.

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