SurfaceAI’s Post

New York is a tech startup hotbed after almost a decade-long run of IPOs Sequoia Capital is among notable venture firms that have expanded in New York, opening an office there in July. IPOs of companies including Datadog, MongoDB and DigitalOcean created riches that have been poured back into the New York ecosystem. “Today, there’s absolutely no question in my mind that you can build fantastic businesses in New York,” said Murat Bicer, a partner at venture firm CRV. Albert Wang, a native Californian, moved to New York from Boston with his wife a decade ago and got a job as a product manager at Datadog, which at the time was a fledgling startup helping companies monitor their cloud servers and databases. New York had its share of startup investors and venture-backed companies, but it wasn't a hotbed of tech activity. The San Francisco Bay Area was the dominant tech scene. On the East Coast, Boston was better known as the hub of enterprise technology. But Datadog grew up — fast — going public in 2019, and today it sports a market cap of over $28 billion. After four years at the company, Wang left but chose to stay in New York to launch Bearworks, providing software to sales reps. The city is totally different from the place he encountered when he arrived, and you can feel it when you're out at a bar or restaurant, Wang said. "Now it's extremely diversified — there are more people doing startups," he said. Before, "you tended to be surrounded by consultants and bankers, but more and more now, there's tech." Datadog's initial public offering was followed less than two years later by UiPath, which develops software for automating office tasks. They were both preceded by cloud database developer MongoDB in 2017 and e-commerce platform Etsy in 2015. None of those Big Apple companies are huge by the tech industry's standards — market caps range from $9 billion to just under $30 billion — but they've created an ecosystem that's spawned many new startups and created enough wealth to turn some early employees into angel investors for the next generation of entrepreneurs. While the tech industry is still trying to bounce back from a brutal 2022, which was the worst year for the Nasdaq since the 2008 financial crisis, New Yorkers are bullish on the city that never sleeps.

It’s W7 in Q3 2023 and this week in our MGMT Boston up & coming operator series we’ve got Sam Crowell Richard, Head of Growth at ngrok. Sam is always pushing herself to think outside of the box, solve puzzles, and find complicated problems with large surface areas where her unique talents are best utilized. At unified ingress company ngrok, she is working to help the formerly bootstrapped, now venture-backed company and their team think through how to build a platform while serving all of their various constituents along the way. Sam had previous venture backed startup chapters at Hourly Nerd (now Catalant Technologies) and Dispatch before landing at Boston based venture capital firm OpenView on their platform team. While at OpenView, she became the point person for how developers bought software and helped seek out investments for the firm too. She authored some popular content (linked below) and, in summary, Sam learned a LOT about how developers buy products. ngrok came across her desk because she was helping to research startups that fit this research area and Sam had never seen growth numbers like ngrok. Products With Large Surface Area When Sam looks at trying to make maximum professional impact, as a Product leader, she searches for complicated products with a lot of surface area. At Dispatch she had to balance the end user (plumbers, electricians, etc.), the executive buyers (GE, Siemens, etc.), the support team teaching people how to use the product, and even homeowners who were receiving the support. It takes talent, grit, and creativity to cover all that surface area and make the product work like a machine. When she looks at various companies (or opportunities), Sam gets most excited about products where there are multiple buyer personas and many different, extraordinarily complicated ways to use the product. It’s a puzzle to play with! 🗺 No Linear Path to Success - “I have invented roles for myself at two of the three most impactful roles that I’ve had. I’m not sure what I’d like to do next, and some of the coolest people I know feel the same. There isn’t a linear path." 🗣 People Want to Be Told What to Do - “People want to be told what to do, and that is a great way to get people to follow you. In startups, everyone is basically winging it so it helps if you can take the reins and lead people forward with the “why” rather than the “how”.” 🎢 Enjoy the Ride to Go Far - “If you’re not having fun or feeling confident, you’re probably not going to perform as highly. If I’m making work personally or not having fun, sometimes that’s a sign it’s time to leave. I do my best work when I’m happy and I’m having fun with a great team” Read the full post in the comments below to learn more about Sam’s career, her authored posts, and the product & growth insights she has to share. Go ahead and sign up for the newsletter to see the operator learnings we bring you in the weeks ahead too, will ya? #operators #bostontech #ngrok

Venture Studios: Where Ideas & Startups Look For Teams. Part - 4 Link to Part - 3: https://lnkd.in/gUqSWnj9 Let us look at a few Venture Studios in the US: 1) High Alpha, Indianapolis, Indiana: High Alpha Studio partners with founders & builders from Idea to Exit, providing all the necessary resources for the startup to succeed. Some success stories include ClearScholar [Acquired by Civitas Learning], Pattern89 (Acquired by Shutterstock), Structural, an Augeo company, Trava, & others. High Alpha is managed & led by Kristian Andersen(Partner), Seth Corder(Partner), Scott Dorsey(Managing Partner), Mike Fitzgerald(Partner), Blake Koriath(Partner & CFO), Mike Langellier(Partner), & Eric Tobias(Partner). 2) Nobody Studios, Laguna Beach, California: Nobody Studios is a crowd-infused venture studio aiming to launch numerous Innovative Startups. Some notable companies launched are ThoughtForma, Webdelics, Our home owners, Loot Houndz, & others. Nobody Studios is managed & led by Mark S. McNally(Founder), Eyal Shavit(CTO), Tiffany Hansen(Co-Founder), Barry O'Reilly(Co-Founder), Greg Lovett(CFO), Connie Kwan(Chief Product Officer), & others. 3) Colab, LA: Colab helps founders with Business validation, Product design & development, innovation & scale. Some notable companies include Candid Network, Nocap, Charge Enterprises Inc, All Things Good, verb., Sweetn, & others. Colab is managed & led by Jon Robert Bradford(CEO & Founder), Michael Buchanan(Founder), Eric(Chief Marketing Officer), Dan Sclafani(CFO), & others. 4)Gateway X, St.Louis, MO: Gateway X is a new-age Venture Studio managed & led by Jesse Pujji(CEO), Shonak Patel(COO), & Adam Brakhane(CTO). They focus on bootstrap ventures in E-Commerce, D2C, SAAS for digital marketing teams, & Tech-Enabled services for digital marketing teams. Some notable companies include Aux Insights, Unbloat, & GrowthAssistant. #VentureStudio #Startup

"One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things." - Henry Miller Hey founders, bootstrappers, startuppers, and CEOs, have you ever noticed how often we get so wrapped up in our goals that we lose sight of the journey? We’re so busy focusing on the endgame, the titles, and the roles that we forget the actual destination isn’t a place or a position - it’s a shift in how we see things. This hits close to home in the world of front-end development, startups, and remote team building. Our team is not just developing products or assembling teams. We’re forging fresh perspectives that redefine business understanding and help deliver to the market. So, let’s get personal: What new viewpoints have you discovered on your professional journey? Let's spark a lively conversation that could inspire others on their paths. And hey, if you think this post might resonate with others, don't hesitate to share it. #startups #frontenddevelopment #remotehiring #professionaljourney #monday #frontend

Greg has some great advice for aspiring entrepreneurs planning to start a new venture in 2024. I would add that it's important to consider the technology hype cycle (especially those chasing the AI buzz) and accurately gauge the market's position relative to this curve. If the trend is rising and hasn't peaked yet, be prepared for a decline, followed by a more stable phase of business growth. Misjudging the timing of this relative to your cash needs and runway while not cash flowing is a sure way to add to the statistics Greg calls out. For me - I like boring and will stick to my lane of slow (not too slow though.. 🤪) and steady 🤣 #entrepreneurship #2024 #CEO #startup #AI #genai #AWS #awspartners #awspartner

After lots (and lots and lots) of hard work from our team behind the scenes, we are so proud to present Glasshouse Venture Studio. It’s perhaps not a business model or name that feels overly familiar. So, before we go any further, let’s get one thing clear. No, we are not a venture capital firm, an incubator or an accelerator. We are a venture studio. But wait, hold on…what exactly is a venture studio?  Essentially, a venture studio is a business that helps build and launch startups, often from the very beginning. And at Glasshouse Venture Studio, that’s exactly what we do - we provide strategic guidance, cross-functional resources and support to founders who are starting out or scaling up, to develop and grow their business. It was an idea our founder floated almost 10 years ago when venture studios weren’t really a thing. The idea was parked, yet our founder always felt our business had always been moving towards this moment. In how we operate, how we build ventures and how we take products to market. Fast forward to 2024 and the venture studio model for building startups has had significant success in Europe and the US and is now starting to find traction in Australia. The reality is that 90% of startups fail. And that’s a pretty scary figure. But venture studios offer a new way to de-risk the problem of these startup failure rates. Venture studios are set up to support founders across the widest span of the venture creation process, including the initial steps of ideation and validation. Venture studios are the future. And the future is bright. If you’d like to learn more about our business model or our offering, get in touch today. Read more about Glasshouse Venture Studio at: https://lnkd.in/d3McfmzG

Most Venture Studios suck and most VCs don’t add as much value as they think https://lnkd.in/gKXfFKMZ almost 3000 impression - 33% of founders said that they felt VCs simply weren’t honest about the expertise they could offer - 65% said VCs missed mark delivering beyond cash  - Female founders rated value-add as twice as important than males - Value-add includes connections to partners, customers, talent, sharing knowledge Lean AI startups are the new black so bootstrap with $500K - $1M from friends and family, angels, pre seed VC on a SAFE to standup functional MVP with paid early adopters then close $3M - $4M seed funding at 2X - 3X valuation on SAFE then get to $5M ARR in 2 years and no more funding needed then perhaps do do small Series A once you hit $10M ARR and your cap table is awesome where VC's just own 30% - 35% 😉 Cheers.....Steve AI startup advisor 'force multiplier'  https://lnkd.in/g38mWcs 

We took the "practical" side and can confirm all of this. It wasn't sexy, hot or attractive to the chattering class. Still isn't. But happy clients and profits don't care about all that. And you know what we put above pleasing how others feel? What our real stakeholders - our clients, employees, and families - actually receive at the end of the day. For those of you just starting out building SaaS businesses, I strongly advise avoiding VC funding. And if your business is in a market that requires it, maybe twist your product such that you attack a portion of that market that doesn't require that level of capital investment. Philip Muellerschoen

Nobody Studios was ranked in the 11 Top Venture Studios for Startups in 2023! It's great to be acknowledged and get an ego boost, especially in these unpredictable times. Still, very few get to see the behind-the-scenes work that actually goes into building a venture studio... Our team is full of some of the most talented and brilliant minds in the world. Early mornings turn into long days, which creep into late nights. Ideas turn into testable hypotheses, which turn into early-stage experiments and validation of whether or not a company is worth building. Deadlines, stress, and even the fear of the unknown can overtake your emotions at any moment... But we're still here, still growing, still building companies, and still loving every single minute of it! For those of you who are working behind the scenes and chasing your dreams, keep going. The only way to fail is by quitting. Here's to ringing in the new year on a high note! #venturestudio #startupstudio #innovation

One of the best things I did for myself in the first year of college was joining an early stage startup. I got to work directly with the founder, try out different roles, and experience what it's like to build something from the ground up. I learned so much more working in a small team during it's initial days than I would have in a large company where I'd likely be delegated smaller tasks by a manager. If you're in college, I highly recommend joining an early-stage startup. The question is , how do you find these startups? Here's a simple hack 1) Visit VC Funds Websites - Most VC funds showcase their portfolio websites on their websites ( A few VC Funds you could look into are Antler, Blume Ventures, PeakXV etc) 2) Identify interesting companies - look for startups that align with your interests and passions, find companies solving for something you're passionate about. 3) Reach out: Do your research and write well-written personalized messages/emails to the founders and other team members. Put in extra effort to connect with the right people These steps are what worked for me, try them and you might end up getting your first role at an early-stage startup and end up learning a lot!