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Bill Clerico Profile
Bill Clerico

@billclerico

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Backing founders solving our wildfire crisis @convectivecap . Early investor in 50+ companies. Husband & new dad! Former CEO @wepay (acq @jpmorgan )

San Francisco, CA
Joined October 2008
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Today we're announcing @convectivecap 's debut $35M fund to invest in wildfire startups! 🔥 A thread👇
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
We are going to spend $4 billion dollars decommissioning a nuclear plant that is 26% of California’s carbon-free energy, which costs 40% less than power we buy from other providers and has a risk of failure of less than 1 in 7 million years 🤯😭😤
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
VCs calling companies “zombies” feels really disrespectful to founders and teams. Those of us who have built companies know how hard it is to grow consistently without dips along the way. Maybe opt for less time throwing shade on twitter and more time helping your portfolio.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
It is surprisingly hard to grow from $1m ARR to $5m ARR. Requires true PMF, a repeatable leadgen & sales process, raising ACV significantly and the leadership & team to execute all this. It's a real shift in mindset from what's required for $0 to $1m ARR.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Placed an order with @Ford for an F-150 Lightning with a refundable $500 deposit. Test drove the vehicle and decided not to buy it. Dealer marked the vehicle as sold the system anyway and kept my deposit. No way to contact Ford corporate. So classic. Can't wait for my @Rivian .
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
@paulg Can we get a new call???
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Zero inside knowledge, but JPMorgan has always coveted SVB’s business. I’d bet on something happening there. Fed won’t let SVB lose customer deposits.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
New year, new Twitter bio
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Climate today feels like fintech in 2012. It's a small-ish group of really talented & committed people taking significant risk by working on things that are easy to write off as "never going to work". But some of them will, and big.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Haven’t been this excited about a new toy in a while! @SpaceXStarlink
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@jaltma I’m not a CEO anymore so I don’t sweat as much
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
“Climate” is the trend… but the draw for founders is that some of the largest markets in the world are being transformed. Energy, Real Estate, Construction, Insurance, Food, Transportation. All largely untouched by technology to date. The scale is mind boggling & exciting.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
With all the "extinction" doom and gloom out there, I did a little thinking about when @RichAberman and I incorporated @WePay on August 28, 2008. 17 days later Lehman went bankrupt and the "Great Recession" began. Some reflections on how we survived and ultimately thrived 👇
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 months
Most bogeymen become less scary as you learn about them. Climate change is the opposite. The more I learn, the more scared I get.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
It took about 3 hours of Modbus TCP debugging and almost an entire bottle of wine but I got my solar system hooked into ⁦ @home_assistant ⁩ last night. Turns out you can still hack on things other than AI.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Trend of accepting lots of small checks from large number of angels is accelerating with this YC batch. Nothing wrong with that, but in my experience the most value comes from the 1-2 angel investors that are willing to invest real time & have sufficient skin in the game
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
For those saying JPM couldn't buy because the Riegle-Neal act doesn't allow M&A when banks exceed 10% of national deposits, exceptions are permissable for banks at risk of default. In fact, this is probably the ONLY situation where JPM could do something like this.
@danprimack
Dan Primack
1 year
Keep on eye on JPMorgan and Bank of America, in terms of SVB buyers.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
When @RichAberman and I moved to Silicon Valley to start @WePay , we walked into Bank of America with $18K to open an account for "payment processing" - they looked at us like we were truly crazy. SVB took us to lunch, opened the accounts & even lent us money. They'll be missed.
@jasonmok
Jason Mok
1 year
Thoughtful tribute from Sir Michael Moritz
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
I’ve seen companies battle back from stagnant growth. It requires a committed team, a multi-year timeline, supportive investors, a willingness to bet the farm and a huge amount of tenacity. It’s not for the faint of heart. But never write off a founder with these qualities.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
10 months
Great to be on @CNN this morning talking about our work investing in Firetech
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Thanks to the team @WePay for the privilege of a lifetime. And the team @jpmorgan for embracing us with open arms for the last 3 years. Great days lie ahead.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
8 months
Everyone knows that violence towards innocent children is among the most evil acts of all. But it provokes an entirely different & visceral feeling in a parent, one that I couldn’t possibly fathom 18 months ago. My heart aches. 🇮🇱
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Underrated benefit of angel investors: we care about the company's success, but we don't care that much. Leads to much more frank conversations with founders when things aren't going great, and more honest advice.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Question from a founder: in an acquisition discussion, should you let the buyer interview the team before you have an agreed upon price? Answer: Hell no.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
My biggest gripe about SF is that most coffee shops don’t open until 7am
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
11 months
What jobs do the most ambitious new college grads get? In 2007, it was investment banking. What is it today?
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
4 years
I’m only half joking when I say this LEGO set is the coolest thing @boomaero has done yet! Thanks @bscholl for this, and your unbridled enthusiasm, audacity and vision.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
SF feels like it is coming back to life tonight for the first time in a long while
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
4 years
@hunterwalk @patio11 @hnshah @bradleytusk I’ve thought a fair amount about what drives chronic underpricing by saas founders... number of factors but the overwhelming one is that in the early days the product is improving far faster than one can increase prices with a straight face.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
4 years
@paulg @rerarom When a startup is acquired by a big company, this is one of the toughest cultural changes to manage. Incentives can easily shift from “do the right thing” to “do what is explainable and defensible” without the right leadership.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
I understand there is some VC glee about the balance of power shifting out of founders hands a bit. This is healthy for the ecosystem. But don’t count out founders who raise a lot of money and hit a growth speed bump. The good ones will figure it out and they’ll need your help.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Dumb startup idea that I desperately want: a robotic playmate for my dog. Something that will play with her in the backyard and tire her out on the days I just don’t have it in me
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Taking the last 6 months off has been awesome, and it has helped me shed a lot of what @paulg calls "bullshit". But with free time, I've also managed to accumulate some new bullshit too. Re-reading this essay was a good reminder to do some more pruning:
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Absolutely amazing day out today! Falling in love with SF again.
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@typesfast
Ryan Petersen
2 years
Reminder that San Francisco also looks like this:
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 months
Exciting to see SF voting for moderate policies that are still quite progressive - the city's rebound continues. What the Chronicle calls "progressive" in SF would be called "extreme" in most of the country.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
So great to see wildfire as a section in YC’s request for climate startups. Big thanks to @drusenko and @gustaf for leading the charge here.
@ycombinator
Y Combinator
1 year
We have a new request for startups: Climate Tech 🌎 Here are a few ideas we'd like to see founders apply with:
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
@jaltma @chrisfralic Once you check one bag might as well check 4
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
@paulg @Ford @Rivian Gah such a headache it’s not worth it. That being said, it’s funny how we just expect and accept this behavior from dealers. If a bank acted this way, there would be investigations, fines, prosecutions.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@Suhail Pivoting @WePay was one of the hardest and best decisions we ever made. Godspeed @Suhail !
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
8 months
Can’t wait to hear it @jesslivingston . But let’s not increase expectations any further!
@paulg
Paul Graham
8 months
Jessica was sitting at her computer with a big smile. I asked what she was doing that made her so happy, and she said she was listening to a draft of the Bill Clerico Social Radars episode.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Congrats to @brian_armstrong and the @coinbase team. And thank you Brian for that bitcoin you sent me (it was worth $12 at the time). I sold it for a very handsome profit at $300 🤦‍♂️ but I did eventually buy back in 🚀
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Update - someone from @Ford saw my tweet, reached out and got the refund done. Much appreciated! But still a flawed process and experience
@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Placed an order with @Ford for an F-150 Lightning with a refundable $500 deposit. Test drove the vehicle and decided not to buy it. Dealer marked the vehicle as sold the system anyway and kept my deposit. No way to contact Ford corporate. So classic. Can't wait for my @Rivian .
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Pro tip: if you have the audacity to use a 5+ year old headshot, you can be perpetually young on the internet.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Platform funds as seed investors are a trap. Their incentive: maintain optionality on later rounds & bad signaling risk if they don’t do the A. Seed fund incentive: help raise an A at a good price from great investors. Have a network to do so. Plus more mindshare!
@gokulr
Gokul Rajaram
1 year
Partner at $1B multi-stage fund: "If any pre-seeds of yours are upcoming, we'd love to peek!" Never seen so much seed interest from platform funds, almost to the exclusion of A (and definitely to the exclusion of Bs). Off the charts. All said and done, it's good for founders.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
I feel like tweeting this is the nail in the coffin of my transformation from founder to VC, but who is going to SXSW? (particularly those in climate) I am thinking about making the trip for the first time in 10 years 😬
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Not to be a downer, but this smoke episode is only a taste of what's to come. Here's a chart from NASA Ames of projected average air quality. Under the most likely climate scenario, our average air quality in the 2070s will be equivalent to the "red sky" summer of 2020!
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 months
Absolutely horrific accident involving one of my son’s friends and his parents. Picture is of Sully at their vigil today. We’re heartbroken:
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
@Suhail Makers schedule, manager’s schedule:
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
8 months
So fun to talk about the early days of @ycombinator (interviewing in @jesslivingston and @paulg ‘s garage!), @wepay and @convectivecap with the social radars!
@jesslivingston
Jessica Livingston
8 months
In this week's episode of The Social Radars we talk to Bill Clerico of WePay. They had to evolve their idea for 18 months until they found a big enough market! Many other founders would have given up or painted themselves into a corner.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
7 months
Of the people I know who moved away from the bay area (and haven't moved back yet), feels like 1 in 3 or 1 in 2 have plans to come back in the next 12 months. Long SF!
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
10 months
Wildfire is a national security issue
@HotshotWake
The Hotshot Wake Up
10 months
Greece arrests 79 people for wildfire arson across the country. As I have talked about at length on the podcast and in my articles, The fires in Spain and Greece were likely arson related. Local Firefighters and politicians have been saying it for months and I first made
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
7 months
Heading to the airport. Wish me luck
@paulg
Paul Graham
7 months
Noticing a trend here.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
TL; DR: be frugal, focus on customers, manage cash, pick the right investors, have the right expectations, ignore the stuff that doesn't matter and keep trying stuff. And don't think about macro-economics all that much.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
I was stressing this morning in bed about wrapping and travel and being behind - @kateylyn turned to me and said “wow, we have a lot to be grateful for” and changed my whole outlook & mood in a snap. Hope you do too, and you have someone to remind you of it. Merry Christmas!
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Oldest person in the US now lives in Mendocino County and is 114: “she said her formula for longevity included two fingers of red wine at dinner and minding your own business” (+ the Mendocino air of course)
@OnlyInMendocino
Only In Mendocino
1 year
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 month
When you were 35 did you start a venture capital firm focused on fire?
@cyantist
Cyan Banister
1 month
When you were a teenager, did you have a fascination with fire?
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Talk about an old tweet that you regret.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@paulg Certainly SF is in a rougher place than NYC in the 90s. But two other factors to consider: 1) most of this sort of activity in NYC happens in the outer boroughs whereas in SF it’s just a block away in the Tenderloin & 2) the opioid epidemic
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Hard to spend time with @patrickc @collision and @natfriedman and not walk away with an ambitious new project. Grateful for their support!
@collision
John Collison
2 years
Bill's investment strategy is, without exaggeration, straight 🔥
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
@alexisohanian Sumif! So powerful and flexible
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
11 months
Starting to feel like “climate tech” is a misnomer. It’s really that the largest segment of our economy (energy) is going to completely change in the next 20 years. It’s the most exciting investment opportunity of our lifetime. Bigger than the current generation of AI.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Our first check into @wepay after YC was from @davidhornik - who didn’t just wire two 23 year olds a million dollars, but also threw in a foosball table to boot (we had to pick it up from his garage). Thrilled to see him continue his unique approach with
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Banning non-competes is great policy we discovered long ago in California and is one of the hidden secrets of what makes Silicon Valley what it is
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
@paulg @APompliano Thanks @paulg . Mostly I am flattered to be called young.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
There is something magical about investment banks in that it they attract smart, ambitious people and then make them miserable enough to quit and take big risks. Thank you @paulg and @jesslivingston !
@paulg
Paul Graham
1 year
Y Combinator is 18 today!
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@semil @ataussig I think one of the reasons SF feels “back” despite not being back at the levels of 2019 is that the serious people are still here and moving here but the spectators are gone. Signal to noise has improved. Almost feels like the bay in 2008-2011 which was pretty epic
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
@benwbear @Ford @Rivian Thank you! I got a refund. Agree with you 100% and I am glad it’s a focus. I’m sure it’s very hard to change these experiences given how entrenched dealers are
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
RIP Fry’s. WePay shared a building with you in Palo Alto for many years, and while I rarely found anything to buy, I always loved doing a lap and checking out the cowboy mannequins when I needed to clear my head.
@bill0004
Bill Reynolds
3 years
BREAKING Scoop: Fry’s Electronics is closing business nationwide effective tonight. Source: Wilsonville, OR store employee. website will go down at 12am #Frys #FrysElectronics
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 months
Big news… we have a Twitter/X account! And a ton of great stuff to share about wildfire technology & the impact our portfolio is having over the next few weeks. Give us a follow.
@convectivecap
Convective Capital
2 months
👋 Hi! We're Convective Capital, a venture capital firm funding startups solving the wildfire crisis. Join our community to learn about upcoming events, updates from our portfolio companies, and Firetech news. 🔥
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Back to fretting about atmospheric rivers and inflation
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@irace @jmj Do laundry and wash the dishes when they do the laundry and wash the dishes
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Traveling without a carryon or checked bag is one of life’s great joys
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@mwseibel One trick: constrict a narrative why that particular partner is preferred or has some advantage in an otherwise competitive process. Customers like to feel special :)
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
9 months
Working with @chrisfhoward to build @wepay was a real highlight (and incredibly fun). I was privileged to call him a board member (and now friend and LP!) Seeing him return to his roots with a fresh fund gets me fired up. Founders, call him!
@chrisfhoward
Chris Howard
9 months
Today, I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my new firm, Ritual Capital, a $38M seed-stage venture firm investing collaborative $300k checks in exceptional founding teams building iconic, enduring companies.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@paulg @anammostarac I think the California coast (particularly in Mendocino) might be the best version of this. Perfect wood fire weather, frequently brisk, never bone chilling.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@sama The question that matters is “how could this become really big?”
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
@jaltma High output mgmt!
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
@paulg That being said, I think SF has gotten significantly better in the last 6 months. A year ago you might have seen a dozen people shooting up!
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
21 days
Series A market is back with a vengeance. The companies that made it through the last two years are poised for explosive growth
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
4 years
I feel you, {name}! The pressure is real
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
7 months
I started @convectivecap after a wildfire burned along the access road to our cabin and today is an exciting day: portfolio company @Pano_AI is live in Mendocino County helping protect our property!
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
Great to be here in DC for the launch of the wildfire @xprize !
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
@nickrfrost @Ford @Rivian Nothing - I think it's a solid vehicle. I just prefer the Rivian's ride, finishes, size (and lack of dealers)
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Trump didn’t create this anger - he recognized and fanned it. He is responsible and he needs to go. But this alone won’t solve the problem unless we also address the root cause of it. History will repeat itself with the next politician willing to stoke these flames.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
5 months
Best in class. Always seed. Been a founder. A VC who actually works hard for his founders. A great track record. And a dear friend.
@yuris
Yuri Sagalov
5 months
OKAY. I think it's time to make it official. 📣 Introducing Wayfinder II — a $35M seed-stage fund investing $300k-$1M checks in founders building enduring companies solving tomorrow's hard problems.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
If you’re interested in startups addressing the wildfire threat, check out @rainindustries , @kinsured , @FionCo , @DroneAmplified , &
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
This is spot on. We need to increase prescribed burns by about 100x in order to solve the megafire problem. It's a big increase, but not impossible.
@gabekleinman
Gabe Kleinman
3 years
California megafires are solvable. If you live here, understand that you have agency. Start with the facts. If you live anywhere else in the U.S., this is impacting your air quality (and food quality) too. Get educated. We can do this. #wildfires
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
I should add he still holds the title of only board member to show up to multiple board meetings on a skateboard. But more importantly he was a tireless champion of the company, a loyal backer through thick and thin, a truth teller, a mentor and a friend.
@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Our first check into @wepay after YC was from @davidhornik - who didn’t just wire two 23 year olds a million dollars, but also threw in a foosball table to boot (we had to pick it up from his garage). Thrilled to see him continue his unique approach with
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Haven’t heard much discussion of lower immigration as a driver of inflation but it is certainly contributing significantly
@crampell
Catherine Rampell
2 years
Updated numbers on foreign-born immigration, via Census
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
@micsolana As an owner of multiple guns and a fellow, frustrated, SF resident, not sure I agree. Lots of training required to use a firearm safely in a high stress environment. Without training, odds are high you will hurt yourself or someone you love, or have the gun used against you.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Looking forward to being back @BostonCollege !
@BCAlumni
BC Alumni
3 years
Did you know @BostonCollege alumni started one of the earliest online payment services? Get the inside story behind WePay with co-founder and BC alum @BillClerico '07: #WeAreBC #EverToExcel
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
10 months
Thanks to @jchatterleyCNN for having me on this morning to talk about Firetech and our work at @convectivecap
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Political fundraising email spam is _out of control_. Is there just blatant list sharing and disregard for opt in?
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Just got a question from a founder - first sales hire, do you put them on commission or no? Short thread:
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
1 year
For all the haterade SF gets, I thought the city did a remarkable job picking up the pieces after yesterday’s storm. Crews were out clearing drains & streets, directing traffic and moving downed trees within minutes. Credit to @SFFDPIO @sfpublicworks @SFPD and @LondonBreed !
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
Who knows where it all ends but the energy on r/wallstreetbets sure is fun to watch
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
We’re thrilled to lead this $5m round and double down on our investment in @overstoryai ! @indradenbakker and the team have identified a huge need (utilities needing visibility into vegetation around their lines) and built an amazing product and business around it #firetech
@overstoryai
Overstory
2 years
We’re thrilled to share we’ve raised $5.2M in funding to support our fight against the #climatecrisis . Led by @convectivecap , this round helps us expand our vegetation intelligence platform, mitigating wildfire risk and preventing power outages.
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
2 years
Leadership.
@BenjaminRamm
Benjamin Ramm
2 years
During his inaugural address in 2019, Zelensky told lawmakers: “I do not want my picture in your offices: the President is not an icon, an idol or a portrait. Hang your kids' photos instead, and look at them each time you are making a decision.”
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@billclerico
Bill Clerico
3 years
@ArndBrugman 1 in 7m is related to this specific reactor. Compare to climate change which is… happening and affects everyone.
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