Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC) @MartinGTobias Twitter profile

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

I invest in software companies that intend to reduce friction at scale. Here are four questions I ask every CEO.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

4 months

I saw this guy at Starbuck’s today. No iPhone, no tablet, no laptop. He just that there, drinking coffee. Like a psychopath….

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

9 months

Met a founder today who wrote a bot that clicks on his competitors' ads to drain them of their venture funding. Amazing or terrifying?

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

4 months

There is a Japanese proverb that says: If you spend your time chasing butterflies, they'll fly away. But if you spend your time making a beautiful garden, the butterflies will come. good advice for startups too.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Africa has entrepreneurs. It needs more venture capital.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

If you want to build a startup, the real test isn't the initial idea or raising venture capital, it's convincing 2-3 of the smartest people you know to join you.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Can we normalize encouraging others to talk about how hard it is to build a company?

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Just talked to a leading Series A VC. Their valuation for a Series A is now 5x annual revenue. So a company with $2M revenue, is a $10M valuation at the A. And pre-seed, pre-revenue companies are still trying to get $10M valuations. That disconnect is stalling the market.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

5 mistakes that kill startups 1. co-Founder conflict 2. Don't talk to enough users 3. Quitting too soon 4. Hiring 5. Pivot too late What would you add?

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Don’t fall in love with your idea, fall in love with a problem you are uniquely qualified to solve.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

I invest up to $500K in pre-seed and Seed companies reducing friction through software innovation in: - Vertical SaaS - B2B Marketplaces - Health and Fitness Tech - All Fintech I invest 40% outside US, so bring on the international pre-seed entrepreneurs! DMs Open!

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Founder Tip: When a VC says they would rather have a discussion, don't pull up the deck. Had two CEOs today say "Can I just pull up the deck" when I asked a question. No, I already read the deck. I want to hear you think on your feet and explain without the pacifier, please.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

I am an LP in 17 venture funds. I hire those guys to manage private market risk. Some have tried to manage public market risk as well to increase their fees. I don't want my VCs holding public stocks, that is my job. Sequoia is learning the hard way

Sequoia Is Down Bad

Sequoia Capital still maintains massive public positions in Unity and DoorDash whose stocks have plummeted 80% and 75% respectively from their all-time highs

www.newcomer.co

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

US Investors, Africa needs you. Now more than ever. Join me in this frontier market

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

The less you need Venture Capital. The more Venture Capital needs you.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

Investors who make the earliest Commits are the stars of pre-seed rounds. Especially those that don't ask "who else is investing?" They are often not mentioned in the final fundraising announcement but are the spark that gives the whole round momentum.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

As a startup investor I work for the company’s CEO My job is to do what I can to make her or him successful If you are an investor, don’t get this backwards

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Has any VC or angel investor ever invested in a startup he received via cold email or Twitter DM ? Yes, I have. Two in the last two months

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

6 months

What I'm seeing for B2B software rounds today: Angel: $250-$750K at $3-$7M post w/o any code. Pre-Seed: $500-$1.5M at $6-12M post w/$25-$150K ARR Seed: $3-$5M at $12-$18M post w/ $250-$500K ARR

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

4 months

One of the most important questions I ask Pre-Seed founders is: "What is your distribution trick?" I have found that having a distribution trick is key to pre-seed success. Getting your first customers. Here are some good and not-so-good answers to the question.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Startups, please note re asking VCs for fundraising intros: - Poor: (pls intro me to) interested investors - OK: someone at Fund x - Best: attached is a spreadsheet of partners at firms and their related investments. Intro me to who you know You will get 10x more Inteos 🙏

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 months

You don't need to raise a lot in your first round. Here are the seed rounds for a few unicorns you may have heard of: Snapchat: $485K AirBnb: $600K Uber: $1.6M Facebook: $500k Dropbox: $1.2M Cousera: $793K Lyft: $1.4M Robinhood: $3M Whatsapp: $250K

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Every founder of a unicorn was once a struggling entrepreneur, just like you.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

6 months

Things I never complain about: Anything outside my control/choice. ie: The weather Politics Other people's behavior The news Prices.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

Two startups building in the same area: Startup Founder 🅰️: "I bootstrapped to $50K a month and ship code every week." Startup Founder 🅱️: "I raised $10M from Famous VC B and will launch in 6 months." Who will win?

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

Many angel investors will only invest in Pre-seed deals if Tier I Venture Firms are in the round. Less than 5% of Unicorns were funded by Tier 1 at Pre-Seed. Founders: You don't need a Tier 1 in pre-seed or investors who expect it.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

Every Unicorn founder was once a struggling pre-seed founder.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

I often get asked how I define Angel vs pre-seed vs. seed stage. Here is the TLDR with a longer blog post at the end: Angel: 💸 Pre-revenue ⚙️ Pre- product, ideation maybe wireframe 💰 raising < $0.5 M 📊 valuation <$6M post-money

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Your customers don't care how much venture capital you've raised, how many employees you have, what awards you won, what fancy articles you link to. They care about themselves. And how your product will remove a pain point or create more opportunities for them. That's it.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Startups are marathon, not a sprint. Build in a resilience practice where you rest and reset. The burnout is real.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

4 months

I led a pre seed of $300k in a company over a year ago. Today got update from ceo. 18 month of runway left, cash flow break even projected in 6 months. Product live with 2 customers five signed going live next quarter. Crazy excellent execution. Well done.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Startup founders with more customer engagement and attention will almost always beat founders with more capital.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

7 months

Here is my cheat sheet for building an MVP that has PMF. 1. Talk to 30 customers, figure out a problem they would pay for. 2. build it in < 3 months. 3. Sell it for 3 months. If after that you are growing 30% MoM, you have PMF. if not, pivot.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

I love seeing startups where paying customers the main source of funding.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

After investing in >200 companies, there are only three things that must be nailed in pre-seed. 1). Can you build it? 2) Will they buy it? (and can you find "them") 3) Will the opportunity excite the next institutional investors? (hopefully that your pre-seed investor knows)

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Pitch your startup in one tweet and I will reply with the three most likely questions a VC would have. HT to @alexiskold

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

You are 1 yes and 100 no's from anything important you want in life. Keep putting in the reps.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

most startups will fail because the people working on them will give up Do something to build resilience (yoga, meditation, exercise, etc) so you can keep getting back into the game.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

5 months

ok, I am going to build the pre-seed investor database. Join the waitlist

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

5 months

Founders: there are basically three strategies for a small VC fund (sub $50m). Figure out what kind you are talking to and what you want. 1. Yolo behind other name brand funds (they are the ones who ask who else is investing) 2. Shotgun lots of small checks out as fast as…

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Explain VC to a 6 year old. Go.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

A pre seed vc friend of mine analyzed over 100k founder “asks” to shareholders a d found 85% were four categories: company intros, hiring, financing intros and intros to specific people. Turns out the “value add” founders want is not specifically from vc, but from our network

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

What is the difference between Angel , Pre-Seed and Seed stage? Opinions are my own as a VC🧵

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Your startup may fail. But you, as a founder, don't. You learn, pick yourself up and keep going. 💪

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

VCs and startups are a relationship, not a transaction. Too many founders approach it as a numbers game with the fundraising as a transaction. I am going to be with you for a decade. Lets get a relationship going.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

My daughter graduated from college last weekend. There is so much I know now that I wish I had known then. Here is the list I gave her.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

10 months

I have received over pre-seed 3000 pitches in the last year. 70% of them without a warm intro. What makes a company (especially cold outreach) stand out for me? 🧵

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

9 months

Overlooked slide in many Pre-Seed decks: "Market entry". I call it the "thin edge of the wedge." How are you going to enter a busy, competitive market? What is your distribution trick? Most companies fail for lack of distribution not product.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Stop looking for a mentor. Do something to show some initiative, startup, podcast, blog, anything. They will come to you.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

Seeking pre-seed startups that have...👇 ✨Founder with strong market-fit & deep understanding of the space ✨In-house product builder/cofounder ✨Team with real insights, gleaned from extensive customer interactions & data, driving sales growth

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

11 months

Over pre-seed 250 investments, I have found 7 Meta Themes that are highly correlated to outsized returns and high company performance. 🧵

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

3 months

Founder tip: Chasing investors doesn't get you funded. Build something customers can't live without... Investors will chase you.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

6 months

As a pre seed vc my perfect pitch deck would be three slides 1. Team, who and why you will win 2. Product. What building how it works what problem it solves 3. Customers. What they think how many buying, waiting, etc. Forget TAM, advisors, competitors. Who are you? What…

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Here is the primary thing holding back pre-seed financing today. Series A investors want to pay 5x revenue on $2M min rev = $10M pre. Pre-seed pre revenue company wants $10M valuation raising enough to get to $300K arr. The math doesn't work.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

11 months

when the CTO is wearing a suit and tie in their profile picture 🚩🚩🚩

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

Founders: Worst mistake you made at your company? (and what you learned) ME: Raising too much money in a hot market just before it turned to a bad market. What I learned: don't raise because you can, raise only what you need.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

4 months

Pro-Founder tip: When raising pre-seed capital, take a few meetings with Seed funds. They won't invest, but ask them what traction metrics they WILL invest on. Then size your pre-seed to be 2x the budget you have to reach those Seed KPIs. Know where you are going.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

🔍At pre-seed, I search for: - ✨Strong founder-market fit (they know the space) - ✨In-house product builders (vs hoping to find someone) - ✨Real insights from customers (data-driven decisions) Let's make our investments count! 💰💼

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

4 months

Another question I ask often Pre-Seed founders is: "How big could this get?" I have found that how founders think about and discover market size, especially how it relates to market entry, is very telling Here are some good and not-so-good answers to the question.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

One of my startups just attracted a very senior Apple product designer to run product for them. More on the way. Founders: Make your startup a TALENT MAGNET for A players. This is one of the most important flywheels you can get spinning.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

4 months

Startups aren’t always about being first. They’re about being the best. Be it in functionality, user experience, or market fit. Don't just strive to be first out of the gate. Strive for value.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

8 months

I ♥️ founders who put their vision and plan into a notion doc. memo > deck

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

10 months

I invest in software companies that reduce friction at scale. I see a lot of friction in: Healthtech Fintech LegalTech Supply Chain, Construction Any industry that still uses spreadsheets, clipboards, manual processes, or duct tape between multiple general tools.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

Pre-Seed founder tip: Tell me all about the gap you have found in the marketplace and how your invention is uniquely positioned. spend less time on: - trashing your competition - telling me where you went to school or where you worked. - anything not customer need related.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

2 years

If pre-seed investors hold you religiously to your financial and kpi projections. You have the wrong pre seed investors

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

1 year

A VC asked me today what the #1 indicator is that I see that a company is starting to fail? CEO updates become light weight, or they start missing the monthly updates. When CEO stops talking to investors, the end is usually near.

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Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)

@MartinGTobias

3 months

Saw a tweet about why startups fail: founder infighting, ran out of cash, bad product. Truth is: all reasons trace back to lack of customers. Get customers. Success follows.

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