AI and Shadow IT Platforms, Startup Fundraising Season, and HBO's Content Machine
Stretch Four Volume 62
Hello all,
As a single parent this week, I still wanted to share some insights and things I've been learning in July, including a great writing piece on the practical impacts of AI on the enterprise selling process, more stories from the HBO book I finished up this, and my plan for what I think will be a record-breaking startup fundraising environment this fall.
For those new to our weekly newsletter, this weekly newsletter is me aggregating everything I learn from running a startup and once a week (when I am consistent) I will do it via my podcast and bring on other founders as guests to talk about their business, their fundraising journey, and how they maintain to stay on top of their lifestyle.
Let's dive in.
Episode 016: Not at Vegas Summer League: Urgency in July, Inspiration from Your Kids, and More (Apple, Spotify)
I apologize for the poor audio quality of last week's episode. I was experimenting with Descript, but this week I am using Riverside again, so I hope the audio is better. If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a review. If you have feedback or interesting stories related to health, wellness, parenting, or building a startup company, please feel free to drop me a line.
What to listen with — No Priors Ep. 23 | With Snowflake's CEO Frank Slootman (link)
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Tweet of the Week
https://twitter.com/hoomanradfar/status/1678797181460049927?s=20
It's great to see friends making progress. Hooman, a friend of mine for years, recently announced a new funding round to help solopreneurs in a challenging market. His vision is to create an all-in-one app for solopreneurs earning $80,000 or more, which incorporates AI technology. This innovative approach and his vast network helped him secure the $50M Series B funding. We look forward to having Hooman on the podcast and he will discuss the fundraising process, his future plans, and daily strategies as a repeat founder who also worked on the investment side at Expa. To learn more about Collective, and its platform, check out its website.
Quote of the week
“Stories are all around you if you have the freedom to grab them.”
It’s Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO
I finished reading this book last week, and it provided significant context on how media businesses like HBO, Netflix, and others operate. The book offers an excellent analysis of the HBO brand, taking you through its evolution from the 1970s to the present day. When you step back and look at things objectively, the impact that HBO has had across the board is truly fascinating. It is arguable that they have produced the top five TV shows of all time.
Chart of the Week
In an article by Ben Evans highlighted below, he shared some interesting charts. The above one relates to shadow IT platforms. What is this? Well, IBM defines it as, “any software, hardware or IT resource used on an enterprise network without the IT department's approval and often without IT's knowledge or oversight.” An interesting one that sticks out here is Evernote, which laid off its entire US staff but still ranks in number.
What are your favorite shadow IT apps I would be interested in learning how folks who work at larger companies allow employees to lose these apps for company work?
Articles
AI and the automation of work (Link)
Videos
The Key To Whether Or Not An Idea Should Be Pursued (link)
Final Thoughts
In two weeks, I will be traveling east visiting Charlotte, where my parents live and then I will be in Milwaukee, WI for the first time for a work event.
If you are a venture-backed founder you know that July is a slow month — but it is time to get into preparation. YCombinator sets the tone for early stage (pre-seed/seed stage fundraising) and Series A funding is alive if you are over $1M in annual revenue and likely more if you want to have options. I like this framework from Stonks Newsletter:
If you reach out to a company in July, they will tell you they're not having investor calls until August. If you reach out after demo day in September, there's a decent chance they're fully subscribed. August is when it all happens.
Research in July. Deploy in August. Wrap up in September.
Plugs
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