Habits. 'Ecosystem' #35
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Hello and welcome back to ‘Ecosystem’, issue #35! Nearly the end of Q1 - what has your biggest achievement over the last three months been? Speaking of achievements brings me to the topic of habits (there is even a book about how to make achievement a habit). A habit takes 21 days to make and 90 to it into a lifestyle. Forming good habits. What about breaking bad ones?
I very rarely listen to non-VC podcasts. When I do, they are psychology-focused and do leave me with plenty of food for thought. If you are reading this, are you are probably either working/interested in early stage venture or raising capital yourself. One can argue every business is a people's business. But it is especially true about VC - I am yet to meet an investor who doesn’t cite team conflict as a key reason why startups fail.
Similarly, to get that venture backing at the earliest stages without a well-developed product, significant traction or substantial metrics to be judged upon, you can imagine how a lot of the decision is based well.. on you as the founder and the team you have chosen to surround yourself with. How well are you able to present your vision? Are you able to sell it so well as to inspire prospective employees, customers and even future investors? Personality-wise - drive and ambition are important, but so is a good organizational ability - knowing when and what to prioritize (this all relates to my point about habits, I promise!). You will hear many investors refer to ‘founder coachability’ as a skill. In fact, I too believe it is an attitude, a mindset. And for that, it helps to be able to break bad habits and form good ones.
Back to my podcast reflection (with neuroscientist Dr Judson Brewer, Director of Research and Innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center), habits, and his book Unwinding Anxiety (recommended!). According to him, we are all addicted to something. And by addiction, he means ‘continued use despite adverse consequences’ - as obvious as smoking or drinking; or a bit more covert such as extensive social media use or even..worrying. According to him, the modern world is designed to create experiences (related to things, behaviors or thoughts) that are addictive - very often available at a moment’s notice. Our brains have evolved the ability to learn accordingly (without going into too much detail!), learning or forming a habit follows the below process:
“Reward-based learning involves a trigger (for example, the feeling of hunger), followed by a behavior (eating food), and a reward (feeling sated). We want to do more of the things that feel good and less of the things that feel bad — or stressful. These three components (trigger, behavior, and reward) show up every time we smoke a cigarette or eat a cupcake.”
What about breaking a bad habit? Very briefly:
Map out your habit loops
Triggers? Once you know your triggers, try to identify the behaviors you engage in when you are acting out.
See what you actually get out of those actions
The next step is to clearly link up action and outcome. This new awareness you have developed will help your brain accurately update the reward value of the habit you want to break. You will begin to see that “X” behavior leads to “Y” consequences.
Replace the reward with curiosity
The final step to creating sustainable, positive habit change is to find a new reward that is more rewarding than the existing behavior. How rewarding a behavior is drives how likely we are to repeat that behavior in the future, and this is why self-control as an approach to breaking habits often fails.”
Seeing what we get from our habits helps us understand them at a deeper level; ultimately, the most important habit is choosing the right one to work on.
And finally. Habit. Attitude. Achievement. A visual representation to inspire you to power start your week:
Thank you for continuing to choose ‘Ecosystem’ as your source of information on tech news and early stage fundraising! Your feedback helps drive the project forward! :)
“The Ecosystem newsletter is full of digestible information and valuable insights! We love it! 😍” - Maggie Chen, Co-Founder, Girls in Charge
Stay safe and have a productive week ahead! 👋
#EcosystemGiants
All about raising that very, very early trench of external capital! A different spin of #EcosystemGiants, featuring not one but three amazing speakers, who are real pre-seed ‘investor giants’ - Deepali Nangia (Venture Partner, Speedinvest), Fred Hagenauer (Principal, Speedinvest) and Elizabeteh Davis (Investor, Anthemis).
Stay tuned for a more detailed summary with some of the very practical insights shared!
I can not wait to share who the next #EcosystemGiants guest is - keep an eye out for an email tomorrow :) All I can say is that it is an impressive female leader who will help us all better understand where the money behind the money in VC comes from.
Innovation Ecosystem Updates
Trending. Blackstone closes ‘largest ever’ inaugural growth fund at $4.5BN (Pensions & Investments). Declining physical, mental health and 9am-5am workdays - young Goldman bankers burning out and demanding a change (Bloomberg). VC firms strive to improve diversity with new industry certification (Pitchbook). Despite the hype around SPACs, European VCs are still wary of joining the SPAC goldrush (Sifted). In the UK, tech VC investment hit a record high of $15BN in 2020 (third in the world!) - more findings in the The Tech Nation Report 2021. Bitcoin and its huge environmental footprint (Business Insider). Facebook gets in the newsletter game, launching its own subscription publishing platform (The Verge). More innovation. Luxury brands in VR - the first digital Gucci sneakers for sale at $17.99 (retail price $500). Will the concept take off across fashion? (Guardian). Dating app Tinder gives away free mail-in COVID-19 tests to make users more comfortable to meet with matches for real-life dates (The Verge).
Angular Ventures’ Data Report on Enterprise & Deep Tech VC Investment in Europe & Israel 2020 gives a detailed look at venture capital activity across the region over the last twelve months. What stood out to Elizabeth Clarkson (Managing Director, Sapphire Ventures)? 👇
Massive rounds. From the US, Weee!, an online grocer focused on the Asian and Hispanic markets raises $315M in Series D funding led by earlier investor DST Global (The Spoon). All-in-one website builder Squarespace raises $300M at a staggering $10BN valuation (TechCrunch). New York-based Republic, an investment platform aiming to democratize access to funding, secures $36M (Business Wire). London-based payments provider SumUp raises $895M in debt to double down on its B2C payments business (Techcrunch). Zego bags $150M and becomes UK’s first-ever insurtech unicorn (UKTN). Biotech start-up behind AstraZeneca jab raises $168m; and will seek to use similar technology to treat other infectious diseases and cancer (FT). Cryptocurrency trading company Bitpanda picks up $170M at a $1.2BN valuation and becomes Austria’s first unicorn (Tech.eu). French payroll and HR software-as-a-service platform PayFit raises a $107M Series D round (Techcrunch).
Scoop: Dubai-based shared kitchen platform for online food delivery Kitopi looking to raise between $150M-$200M in a new round of financing to expand into Southeast Asia (Reuters). Turkish delivery startup Getir, which recently launched in London, close to raising $300M in fresh funding from Sequoia Capital. Tencent reportedly backing grocery startup Gorillas at a valuation above $1BN (Business Insider, recommend following Callum Burroughs for more! )
Acquisitions. Social media giant Snap acquires Berlin-based sizing tech company Fit Analytics to double down on fashion and e-commerce (CNBC). London-based grocery delivery startup Dija buys Cambridge startup Genie as it expands its service across the UK (City A.M).
Sustainability. All about Climate Tech. Climate-Tech VC investing tops record $17BN in 2020 (List.Solar). Union Square Ventures on funding innovation to mitigate the climate crisis. And why the next entrepreneurial revolution will arise to combat the crisis of our lifetime (Wired). Swedish social impact organization Norrsken Foundation is to close on an oversubscribed impact venture fund at €125M (Techcrunch).
Wins for women. Who are the once-upon-a-time entrepreneurs turned investors to watch according to top VCs? Maren Bannon (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, January Ventures), Julia Hawkins (General Partner, LocalGlobe) and Kinga Stanislawska (Founder and Managing Partner, Experior Venture Fund) are few of the fantastic ladies who made the list (Sifted). 👏 Martina Edwards, the first Black woman broker for Merrill Lynch becomes Zane Venture Fund's newest venture partner (Atlanta BizJournals). 👏 A newish (to me) community (an industry-agnostic online incubator) aiming to increase the number of women in entrepreneurship - check out FemGems and its first Open Pitch Night, where you can meet rising female founders and watch them pitch their startups.👏
How powerhouse women Soraya Darabi (Co-Founder and GP, TMV), Alexia Bonatsos (GP, Dream Machine), Virginie Raphael (Co-founder, FullCircle), Heather Hartnett (CEO and GP, Human Ventures) and Marina Hadjipateras (Co-Founder and GP, TMV) created Transact Global, the fastest-growing community of over 150 emerging fund managers worldwide? (Forbes) 👏
“Together we will invest in an equitable future that reflects the way the world truly looks. There is power in numbers and we want to hear from you. Let’s transact.” - find out more in Soraya’s post.
Paul Graham, Co-Founder, Y Combinator
Funder
“Different founders have different superpowers, but as a general rule we’re always on the lookout for passionate people who have great product experience, are experts in their field, know how to sell, and tell a compelling story.”
Marina Hadjipateras (Founder and General Partner, TMV) shares the framework TMV follows to identify extraordinary founders
As one entrepreneur remarked recently : “it’s never been easier to be an Seed-backed entrepreneur in the current environment, but it’s never been more difficult to be an entrepreneur of a startup seeking to raise a Series A.”
Jonathan Tower (Founder and Managing Partner, Catapult) discusses the growing gap of Series A funding
“Sourcing has garnered the largest increase in time spent, as well as the highest concentration of VCs reporting spending more time here. This is likely due to having fewer opportunities to meet with others in real life, at events, for example, and needing to get creative in finding ways to network.”
What has changed one year into remote venture deals? Alyssa Spagnolo (Associate, OMERS Ventures) summarizes the findings from a survey of nearly 100 VC firms across Europe and North America
Founder/Operator
David Heinemeier Hansson (Co-Founder and CTO, Basecamp) on turning side-projects into multi-million businesses, risk-taking/entrepreneurship and making the best use of your time to leave a legacy
And another story about persistence and hard work. Austin Rief (COO, Morning Brew) reflects taking a college newsletter to a $75M media company (in five years!) and his the multi-million dollar exit to Business Insider
Maternity and paternity leave at startups - essential to retaining (and attracting) talent but can be costly and take a while to create. Laura Kennett (Head of People, Projects by IF) lists the factors you should consider when creating your parent and carer policies.
Twitter Highlight
Mark Suster, General Partner, Upfront Ventures
Startup of the week
Kid-friendly, at-home volunteer projects in a box, delivered bimonthly
90% of us want to volunteer more but it’s hard to find, schedule, and certainly to include kids in service opportunities. Alltruists gives kids (and grown-ups!) a way to give back anytime, anywhere. Without even leaving their living room. Each box is themed around a big issue - from homelessness to clean water to climate action - and provides content and activities guiding kids to engage in positive, meaningful ways. Founded by repeat entrepreneur Jessica Jackley - tweet her (@jessicajackley) and @alltruists to share they were featured in ‘Ecosystem’!
Do reach out to me if working on a product advancing one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I’m also particularly interested in the Creator Economy - and would love to hear from you if building something in the space.
Startup Go-to Resources
From the things to know before starting a company to marketing and fundraising - THE Field Guide for early stage founders by Unusual Ventures
Why do you startup? A fantastic short essay by Ruby on Rails creator, David Heinemeier Hansson
The board meeting guide for SaaS startups How to prioritize your time by YC Partner Adora Cheung
The must-read guide to syndicates
Want to Become a VC Investor? A 'How to guide' by Earnest Capital
A curated collection of investment memos and investor essays - gold!
Building a personal monopoly through writing online - an interview with Jack Butcher(Founder, Visualize Value)
50 Best Pitch Deck Examples from YC & 500 Startups
How should a bottom up company think about B2B pricing and packaging? via A16Z
Thank you for reading another ‘Ecosystem’ newsletter! What feedback do you have for me (likes/dislikes)? I would greatly appreciate if you share this with contacts (founders, tech operators & investors) who may find the content helpful🖤 Connect with me on Twitter