Todd Terrazas’ Post

Fanztar Founders: Chaos Connoisseurs with a Mission! Meet the powerhouse behind Fanztar—the chaos enthusiasts on a mission to redefine fan-creator connections! The Motivation Mavericks: Fanztar's founding team isn't just motivated; they're the cheerleaders of the digital revolution! With a mission to turn fandom into a lifestyle, these visionaries are fueled by the passion to change the game. Coffee? Nah, they survive on the sheer thrill of creating something extraordinary. Thriving in Chaos: Ever seen a startup thrive in chaos? Fanztar's HQ is a controlled storm of creativity, where ideas collide like particles in a particle accelerator. The chaos is not a hurdle; it's the heartbeat of innovation. The team embraces unpredictability, turning it into the driving force for disruptive ideas. Breaking the Mold: Fanztar's founders are rebels with a cause. They're not just here to disrupt; they're here to obliterate the traditional boundaries between fans and creators. It's not a startup; it's a movement—a movement that celebrates the beautiful chaos of turning dreams into reality. In the world of Fanztar, chaos isn't a challenge; it's the secret sauce. The founding team dances through the mayhem with a wink and a smile, knowing that it's in the chaos that true innovation thrives. Watch out, because Fanztar isn't just changing the game; they're rewriting the rules! #fanztar #creatoreconomy #web3

So, today is my new favorite day.” – Winnie the Pooh. 🐻 Greetings Founders & Funders. I wanted to unpack the price of waiting in today's startup ecosystem. As founders, we wait to get customer feedback until the product is perfect. We wait to launch the new features thinking nobody will buy it. We don't send a thank you note within 24 hrs of an investor conversation. 😢 As funders, we don't give feed back (yes or no) fast so founders can get on to the next conversation that gets them to YES. We delay in investing in a company with great traction to see "who else is coming in on the cap table" even when we know this founder is a winner. 😡 Why wait till tomorrow to do ANY of this when we can do it today. Take advantage as time is precious and so are relationships. Don't WAIT till tomorrow when you have all of today to have an impact on your customers, team members and fellow founders. 🎉 Thanks to Winnie to today's inspiration. 🐻 #today #dontwait #founders #funders Click follow to help Steve Walsh Repost to help a friend

Attention Founders and Co-founders! Starting and growing your idea is tough....damn tough at times. There's nothing worse than feeling alone, confused, isolated, anxious, depressed, searching for answers, and desperate to talk with people who have been where you are and finding few. If you have felt this way, WELCOME to Startup Grind Maryland's Founders Forums.   Think about a group of founders and co-founders gathering regularly to connect, let your hair down, relax, take a load off, open up, share problems, ask questions, share experiences, struggles and celebrate wins, while making new friends and partners, get educated, inspired, and connected with the people and resources you need to take that next step on your founders' journey. https://lnkd.in/g4uiv6Fq

Pitchleague.ai v.2.0 has officially launched! Check it out here- https://lnkd.in/es5rn2Tb After more than 3000 founders used the beta version of Pitch League last year we've added even more great features to help founders with their pitch decks. New features include: 📒 Slide-by-slide feedback with suggested content, tips & design improvements. 🏆 New startup scores - not just scores for your deck but scores for your startup based on your team, market & traction. 🏅 Investor discoverability - the leaderboard now includes ways for investors to discover your startup and request an intro. I'm super proud of the entire team at sequel for pulling this together in just 48hrs 🤩 If you find the product useful please vote for us here- https://lnkd.in/es5rn2Tb

Last week, I had the chance to chat with Dr. Johannes Braith,and Laura Hallermeier about Shopstory founding journey at the " FUTURE MC: Meet the Next Level" event right in our office. 🚀 Johannes and I, being entrepreneurs at heart, really got into what excites us about the startup world, debated whether starting a business is for everyone, and discussed how to pick the right business model to convince investors.  I am a big fan of these kinds of exchanges because you always end up with fresh perspectives into the areas you're passionate about. For instance, Johannes shared his insights as an investor and how he picks his portfolio, and I shared how we prepared our growth case and international expansion. And with our new no-code platform launching, we couldn't help but dive into whether the AI buzz is impacting our business models – super interesting since our approaches are very different. 💡 Big shoutout to Future MC for setting up this chat – it's always a pleasure to learn from each other. #FutureMC #founders #growthjourney #lessonslearned 

Today’s the day!!!! Do we bring you the coolest, most interesting and brilliant people on the planet? You bet your 🍑 we do! PAY ATTENTION, SPECIAL TIME ALERT‼️ ⏰ (11:00 am EST) Join The Outlier Project “Legend Series” today at 11:00 am EST for a live and interactive conversation with these two studs: Jeremy Utley This dude… 🔴 Runs Stanford University “d. school” 🔴 Wrote the bestseller “IdeaFlow” 🔴 Has about a million kids, actually 4 daughters but that’s the equivalent of a million 🔴 General Partner of freespin capital 🔴 One of the world’s leading experts on innovation 🔴 Co-host of “Stanford’s Masters of Creativity” Henrik Werdelin Another brilliant dude… 🔵 Co-Founder of BARK (BarkBox) 🔵 Founding Partner of Prehype, a venture development firm headquartered in New York with offices in London and Copenhagen. 🔵 His latest book is The Acorn Method - about how companies can grow in an ever-changing environment. 🔵 Henrik has been part of the startup scene since 2005 as both an investor, founder, and advisor. His experience ranges from being Entrepreneur in Residence at Index Ventures to working with, advising or investing in start-ups like HotPotato (now Facebook), GoTryltOn (now Rent the Runway), ReadMill (now DropBox) and Sunrise (now Microsoft) 🔵 Former Vice President of Product Development and Strategy for MTV Networks International Unless you have a meeting with Elon Musk or something why wouldn’t you join us on Tuesday? #theoutlierproject #anyonecanbeordinary #peopleovereverything #impact

Four weeks into Techstars Oakland and the amount of learnings, ah-ha moments and valuable conversations with new friends/connections has been incredible. Top 3 key takeaways thus far: 📣 A concise elevator pitch is your best friend, and vital to catching the attention of those who you want to know you exist! Practice, practice, practice. 📊Financial models are confusing and frustrating but so important. Keep asking questions and getting help, because when it clicks, it’s the best sigh of relief. 🙃It’s totally normal to feel epically clueless and confidently on track, often at the same time. Just keep going, and share how you feel, because everyone else feels that way, too. So grateful to be on this journey with the PairAnything team & so many amazing people! 🍷💪🏼👏🏼 #techstars #entrepreneurlife #startup

Strolled into a co-working hub today, and guess what caught my eye? The 'silent room' was jam-packed like a sold-out concert. I had to ask, "What's the deal?" Turns out, founders are starved for focus in this whirlwind startup world. They're flocking to the silence like it's prime real estate. Mastering focus is like having a superpower in the entrepreneurial arena. When you can tune out the static and dial into your mission, that's when the magic happens. So, find your 'silent room,' whether it's a physical space or a mental zone. Cut the distractions, and watch your output go from zero to hero.

Last Tuesday, I opened up an email and held my breath as I started to read. Only, a few seconds into reading I let out a giant heavy sigh when I got to the part that said “Unfortunately, your company was not selected…” I instantly messaged Cary Lopez, PhD to relay the news. I was sooo bummed. We had applied to the Arizona Innovation Challenge with our marketplace idea in the hopes of gathering funds to develop our MVP. And now that hope was squashed and we were back at square one. I texted Cary “I feel deflated”. And she instantly texted me back: “Me too friend. Deflated but not deterred”. And in that moment, my hope picked back uo again. One of the things we were excited about is that this specific grant application would give us feedback about our application regardless if we were selected or not. So we instantly dove into that feedback and learned alot! Then we messaged our incredible new colllaborator Matt Donovan and he was totally undeterred and unphased and had a clear path forward. My hope spiked yet again! Since than we have brought on 2 more incredible collaborators Elise Keith and Samantha Adams Becker who are willing to share their insights and expertise as we work towards developing an MVP. Even more, we just hired our first engineering intern to help us develop what we are referring to as the “decoding engine” behind the magic of the marketplace. ✔️ So, are we bootstrapping this thing? Yes, yes we are!! ✔️Are we leaning into our incredible network and their expertise? You bet!! ✔️Are we going to give up? Never!! So if anyone knows of any grants or angel investors that we might engage with for funding support, please let us know!! Moral of the story: it’s okay to feel deflated when things don’t work out quite as you expect. But don’t let that deter you from your goal! That may be the perfect time to pivot and try a different approach! #entreprenuership #tech #venture #funding #femalefounders #marketplace #consulting #facilitation #invest #experts #network #nevergiveup #dreamteam

Last few days to claim YOUR spot at the table with the cofounder of Blinkist, Holger Seim, on Zoom. Clear your diary for this one, because you will be able to pitch your founder-related questions to one of the most successful B2C founders out there. Blinkist went from an idea with uni friends in 2012, to 31m subscribers and Series C funding, and then an exit to Go1. Like most founder journeys though, the path was rarely simple and plenty of tenacity and resilience was needed along the way. In this conversation, we'll be talking to Holger Seim about this founder journey. Exploring the highs and lows of hockey-stick growth, nearly going bankrupt in the early days, life post-acquisition as CPO at GO1, and navigating the transition from co-founder to CEO of a high-growth scaleup - including all the successes and mistakes they made along the way. To join us, request access through this link: https://lnkd.in/eJjGG2_T Use the passcode 'WelcomeLN2' when booking a founder-guest ticket. 🗓 22nd May at 1:00-2:00pm 📍Zoom #Startup #Blinkist #Founder