Investment Banker seeking to transition to Startups / VC – Offering help with pitch decks, financials, etc. Hi everyone, I’m currently a second year Investment Banking Analyst where I work with companies in the TMT sector. I’ve been exposed to financial modeling, valuation, advising on M&A and financing transactions. After almost 2 years of banking, I want to pivot to the VC / start up scene and figured I’d do something a little unconventional. I want to gain deeper exposure to the startup world by collaborating with founders in any way that I can. If you’re working on a pitch deck, need help refining financials, or... 3 8 replies
10 Years Later: Struggling between startup dreams and stability **TL;DR:** I’m a technical founder who, after a decade of side projects and pivots, now runs a small digital platform making about $200/month. It barely covers costs and requires freelancers. I’m torn between quitting my job to go all-in or keeping my safety net. Any advice? Hi everyone, I’ve been at this for about ten years, starting out with a WordPress plugin that made around $60k over two years. After moving from the Middle East to Europe, adjusting to a new job and culture slowed my side-project momentum. Several attempts... 1 8 replies
How do i begin with it? I really struggle with either forming ideas or if i have an idea i automatically start to notice the complexities in it or that something similar to my idea is already existing in the market. I really wanna work on something in the mental wellbeing field related to technology but all the recent fast developments have made me doubt my ideas alot, what if a tech giant is planning or will plan something like that in the future? I dont wanna follow this quick money thing but rather build... 2 7 replies
Two notifications this morning: one bad, one good. Hi startup folks, this morning started with two news, bad and the good one (of course I would like to switch them) A bad one: another rejection email from Y Combinator. It’s very disappointing, but of course it’s not the end of the road. We had two interviews with YC during these 2 years (applied 6-7 times). Rejections are just part of the process, and every “no” gets us closer to the next “yes.” The good: I also got a notification about another paying customer for Trag (ai code... 4 4 replies
Where to find a marketing cofounder I've built two Shopify apps this year - an analytics tool and an order editing app. Recently bought out my partner, and now I'm stuck in the classic developer's trap: The products need constant work, leaving zero time for marketing. The few customers I have absolutely love the products and stick around, but growth is non-existent. I've got two years of runway saved up, but I spend every day buried in code - I’ve recently a had more time to try get more users but it’s really not my... 2 1 replies
3D Printed Shoes Anyone with experience in material science engineering and design interested in exploring 3D printed shoes market, please DM. Many brands are exploring and launching 3D printed shoes/soles, so wondering if anyone with similar experience is willing to talk about it? Thanks! 3 0 replies
What actually matters when partnering up with a non-technical co-founder? Building my second startup (I'm the tech person) - but solo this time after leaving my previous one due to disagreements with my co-founder(s) after 4 years. But I'm starting to feel overwhelmed juggling all the business stuff while building the product. What ended up mattering the most in your experience? What do you wish you knew before partnering up? And how did you figure out if you're truly compatible before making things official? 2 4 replies
It’s Lonely At The Top Lately, I’ve been feeling the weight of this phrase, and I imagine many of you have too. Being a first-time founder has reminded me a lot of my time as a paramedic student. Back then, my instructor had a saying: "I have a year to split your head open and cram in as much knowledge as possible." The pace was intense, and by the end of it, we were expected to step into the field and make it happen…thrown to the wolves, you could say. Founding a startup feels... 5 2 replies
Looking for a Co-founder in Bay Area I'm a self-taught developer, I was the lead developer for a flying car company and the lead developer for Ai at my current one. I'm unconventional and smart. I've built the full system for the flying car in 2 months without prior knowledge of the automotive and Aeronautics industries. I'm looking for a technical and visionary person, with the grit to change how people interact with technology as a whole. Preferably you built your own version of JARVIS. 1 2 replies
have yall tried the new replit ai app builder???? jesus christ i just built like an entire app and a decent one too in like 1 hr with text prompts. its actually crazy. (not affiliated with replit) obv dont think itll build an entire functioning e2e system in prod but def good enough for like POCs. i feel like everyday, building software startups are becoming more and more accessible. eg: designers --> direct frontend implementation, devin, etc. 3 2 replies
Grew my startup 7x in the last month Long-time lurker, first-time posting in this subreddit. Wanted to share a recent win that might be helpful to others. Some context: I started Aimerce to solve a simple but critical problem - helping DTC brands keep their customer data longer than the 7-day cookie window that's killing most mobile marketing efforts. We basically help brands implement server-side tracking and better use their first-party data for Meta ads and email marketing. The unexpected breakthrough: Being the first point of interaction between customers and brands meant we were sitting on a... 1 2 replies
Brainfart at 5am Burn my idea. It annoys me that i build a GPT with the old model and i want to move to the newer one, e.g. to use its online search function. Maybe i even want to move away from GPT or compare its performance with another model (similar function like a GPT). Solution: small SaaS which holds all the data (text, documents, etc) and can be updated in a central location. E.g. i manage my different IP domains in this SaaS and it injects the knowledge via API to... 5 0 replies
Startup Struggles and Career Paths Hey Fellow Startuppers, I’m feeling somewhat disoriented at the moment because I have several possibilities for my future career. However, some of them don’t seem entirely satisfactory, and I’m not sure I have a full picture of all the available options. I’d like to reach out to you for advice and insights based on your experiences. Perhaps some of you can relate and share interesting perspectives. I’m in my mid-30s and plan to defend my PhD next year. Currently, I’m finalizing my dissertation on cryptologic topics, including Privacy-Enhancing Technologies... 1 0 replies
Failed startup, now what? We raised a good amount of seed capital but that was it. From what I hear, they hit end of the runway and no A round term sheets on horizon. So, closing down shop. I was pushed out right after the seed was finalized. I was 1/2 vested at the time, remaining of unvested shares bought back. I voted against a move my cofounder really wanted. He rallied enough support and “poof”, out I went. Now company is going through liquidation. I doubt I am high in the preference... 3 1 replies
When To Move On From A Project? What metrics or factors are most important when deciding if a project is worth continuing or not? I am 24 and have been working on a project for about two years now after work and on weekends. Although two years is a long time to work on a project, I found it justified. On first launch, we organically obtained 300 users in two weeks, 40-50% of users were consistently active and paying customers, doing well on socials etc. Customers were giving voluntary, overall very positive feedback about the platform.... 4 0 replies
Looking for people to build stuff with/for in 2025. Hello everyone! Saw a post from u/geraldgenta for 2024 and looking to achieve something myself or with others in 2025! I am looking for people in startups or thinking of starting one to learn more about what you guys are doing and ideas. Information about me: * Full time software developer in backend and data at a tech company. * Been teaching university students programming and working at my university as a data consultant as side gig, Looking for something new. * Interested in data related things \~ my... 4 3 replies
What’s the difference between a pitch deck and business plan? Hello fellow entrepreneurs & founders. I may have a potential investor on the hook and wanted to ask the main differences between a pitch deck and business plan. What should the business plan focus on in terms of content? How deep does one go when it comes to individual aspects such as entering new markets, differentiating from completion, etc. Thanks guys 4 0 replies
RevenueCat vs Stripe vs Superwall Which one of these / combination of these should I go with for my Capacitor iOS app? What do you guys recommend. I need to build a payment system where there are service providers and service consumers. The providers can set their monthly subscription amount and the consumers will pay it. Then, our app takes a percentage of the profit made by the providers. We also want to charge a base fee for the advanced tools in the app to the consumers as well. 5 2 replies
Suggest appropriate tech stack and development services Hi I am 22(m) and non engineer with good knowledge and interest in finance especially wealth management and roboadvisory. I want to build a platform for wealth management/ pension planning/ roboadvisory for india I want advice regarding how to build a platform that can be hosted online and would do complex calculation. Key features 1. Enable users to make portfolio selection across ranges of ETF / mf and stocks/ bonds and find key mixes (max sharpe) + for aggressive, moderate and conservative portfolios 2. Help users do backtesting of... 1 3 replies
Google docs to blog! Hi all, The other day I heard some people complaining about setting up a blog using wordpress or other cms is a bit of a hustle. And they said that really wished they had something similar to google docs to write. I have the same feeling. Is there any saas that brings this google docs to blog feeling? 4 1 replies
