0/ [THREAD] I went deep with @avlok, CEO of @AngelList Venture on the future of venture capital, what he’s learned from @naval and his belief on why we’re just in the first innings of tech

10 Lessons on disruption, rolling funds, startups and angel investing:
1/ Expand the pie

AngelList decided not to focus on the “Founder-Investor” match problem (zero sum game).

Instead, they focused on using software to create more Investors, thereby creating more Founders.

Expanding market can = 10x the impact of resegmenting the market.
2/ Time, not capital is the constraint of the investing ecosystem

# of GPs * GP hours = the total amount of time investors have to meet founders.

⬆️investors + ⬆️investor time (via software) = ⬆️more startups funded = ⬆️likelihood of innovation.
3/ If you believe there are only a finite number of venture backable companies, you have to believe there is a limit on human creativity

Reducing friction in financing creates an explosion of companies.

"We're hitting the limit" is synonymous with "we're out of ideas."
4/ I’m not a businessman. I’m a business, man.

Regulatory changes (506c) + democratization of tools (e.g. rolling funds) is empowering solo capitalists.

Rolling funds are a symptom of a larger tectonic shift - trust is shifting away from institutions and towards individuals.
5/ The internet gives you infinite leverage and by extension infinite possibility.

This is the best time to start a company - markets are larger than they’ve ever been, the ecosystem is highly mature and the “no code stack” allows non-technical people to enter the arena.
6/ Innovation comes from reducing friction

When you remove steps in a process, you remove friction. By eliminating friction you can take on additional workload.

AngelList removed friction from funding + redistributed workload towards increasing funding in the ecosystem.
7/ First principle thinking is over referenced, but underutilized.

Ask what could be, if the existing system did not exist.

“If software built a venture fund today, what would it look like?'' - this question kick started AngelList’s build of rolling funds.
8/ “You can’t create a market” is a myth
More customer value = stronger customer = larger customer = more customer needs = new product/market opportunity.

Repeat cycle.

For @AngelList, ⬆️investment products = ⬆️startups = ⬆️needs = ⬆️AL products.
9/ Startups only need to focus on 3 things - (1) Capital, (2) Talent, (3) Customers.

If you’re trying to add value in the ecosystem, align with one of those 3 pillars. AL uses this framework:

Capital - AngelList Venture
Talent - AngelList Talent
Customers - @ProductHunt
10/ We’re only scratching the surface of tech's impact

Early stage startups as a whole are in a recursive loop of being systematically undervalued. There’s 50x room to run in this ecosystem.

Even that may be selling it short.

Never bet against human creativity.
You can follow @RomeenSheth.
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