April 15, 2023

September 13, 2023

Two Great Reads

As I spent the week on the road, I'm sharing two great quick reads instead of writing my own newsletters. Both I highly recommend thinking about as an early stage founder / operator.

pascal's notes

Episode Transcript

#1: 2023 tech reality check

#2: Pocket guide of essential YC advice

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👋 - Looking For Pre-Seed Funding?

At focal, we lead pre-seed rounds backing software / platform / infrastructure builders across the 🇺🇸/ 🇨🇦 reinventing how industries operate and business is done.

Featured Resources

June 6, 2023

June 7, 2023

Introducing findfunding.vc 🧨
We're thrilled to announce the launch of our open source VC database - findfunding.vc
company news

April 26, 2023

April 26, 2023

focal is live 👋
We just launched our firm's new name and bold brand: focal
company news

February 22, 2024

February 28, 2024

Early vesting is broken!
At startups, too often, too much of the cap table is owned by individuals who left before things started to work, causing resentment amongst the ones who made it work. Early vesting needs rethinking.
pascal's notes

October 19, 2023

October 27, 2023

What it takes to raise capital in 2023
The fundraising environment remains tricky to navigate for startups. Frameworks, like Point 9’s renowned SaaS funding napkins, offer a good a good temperature check on the early stage funding market.
pascal's notes

September 29, 2023

October 27, 2023

Cold Outbound is Under-Appreciated
To get to their initial B2B customers, most founders first tap into their network. That works well for some, but leads many others down a wrong path. Cold outbound is an under-appreciated alternative.
pascal's notes

July 13, 2023

July 20, 2023

🧱#8: The VC Rebrand Guide
Rebranding and revamping your website is no easy task. We lay out step-by-step how we did it for focal, all the way to launch.
brick by brick

April 12, 2023

April 25, 2023

🧱#7: Navigating Year-End
Now that the busy year-end season is (mostly) behind us, we look back at the operational lessons we've learned in the last six months.
brick by brick

March 20, 2023

April 25, 2023

🧱#6: On Point Offsite
In January, we had a week-long team offsite across Virginia & Miami. While the primary draw was to see each other, reconnect, & align, we also got a ton of work done. Here's what we learned.
brick by brick
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October 16, 2024

October 16, 2024

5YF Episode #25: Arctic Wolf CEO Nick Schneider
Cyber Attacks, AI Criminals, Deep Fakes, Data Shields, and the Future of Cybersecurity w/ Arctic Wolf CEO, Nick Schneider
5 year frontier

October 2, 2024

October 2, 2024

5YF Episode #24: Synonym CEO Edward Shenderovich
Nature’s factory, AI scientists, global bio supremacy, and the future of biomanufacturing w/ Synonym CEO, Edward Shenderovich
5 year frontier

September 18, 2024

October 2, 2024

5YF Episode #23: Geminus CEO Greg Fallon
Generative Engineering, data moats, Saudi Aramco the tech giant, and the future of the industrial economy w/ Geminus CEO, Greg Fallon
5 year frontier