Oct 4, 2022Cash Management for Transactional BusinessesAs we head into the home stretch of ’22, startups around the world are beginning to build their budgets for next year. Top of mind for everyone right now, of course, is what will ’23 bring in terms of interest rates, capital markets and broader macro conditions. …Startup9 min readStartup9 min read
Oct 18, 2021The Great Convergence: How Fintech and Ecommerce Are Changing The GameSome of the world’s biggest ecommerce enablers are starting to look a lot like fintech companies. Millions of Amazon’s Indian customers, for instance, are now taking advantage of instant zero-interest and low-interest credit to pay for products weeks or even months after receiving them. Shopify saw its revenues jump 57%…Fintech3 min readFintech3 min read
Published in InsiderFinance Wire·Sep 10, 2021A founder’s guide to effectively managing your option poolThis piece was originally published in TechCrunch here. There’s an old startup adage that goes: cash is king. I’m not sure that is true anymore. In today’s cash rich environment, options are more valuable than cash. Founders have many guides on how to raise money, but not enough has been…Startup8 min readStartup8 min read
Published in Investor’s Handbook·May 7, 2021Amid the IPO gold rush, how should we value fintech startups?My colleague, Tess Munsie and I, originally published this piece in TechCrunch here. If there has ever been a golden age for fintech, it surely must be now. As of Q1 2021, the number of fintech startups in the U.S. crossed 10,000 for the first time ever — well more…Startup6 min readStartup6 min read
Published in The Startup·Oct 21, 2020How to Avoid the “Valley of Death”As a growth stage SaaS founder with $5–10M in ARR, you have much to be proud of. You have made it to a point <1% of all startups make it to. You have achieved product-market fit, real customers find value in your software, investors believe in your vision and you…Startup10 min readStartup10 min read
Aug 25, 2020What is B2B fintech?We originally published this piece in Forbes here. Over the last few years, consumer fintech has been all the rage. And for good reason: consumer fintech startups have greatly improved the customer experience across many financial applications. This has led to a number of great outcomes including Intuit’s acquisition of…Startup4 min readStartup4 min read
Jul 27, 2020Let’s Talk Series BsWhen I first landed in venture, it was with an early stage focus: predominantly Series A. The body of knowledge available to founders raising a Series A was pretty robust at the time thanks to investors demystifying a once opaque process via public blogs and forums. …Startup16 min readStartup16 min read
Published in The Startup·Jun 16, 2020Member-onlyThe Return of Capital EfficiencyCapital efficiency has long been a desirable trait in early/growth stage businesses. But over the last few years, an abundance of capital combined with a “growth at all cost” mindset, allowed founders to deprioritize efficiency. Ignoring efficiency, however, can lead to making cardinal mistakes like misreading true product-market-fit, over-hiring for…Entrepreneurship4 min readEntrepreneurship4 min read
Apr 28, 2020Hybrid B2B Revenue Models…and How to Value ThemSummary: While the 2000s and 2010s gave birth to many B2B SaaS greats, the 2020s will usher in a new wave of winners that have far more heterogenous business models. In the pure SaaS world, the startup and venture community developed many great “rules of thumb” for understanding how to…Startup10 min readStartup10 min read
Mar 18, 2020Navigating the tough times aheadIt’s pretty clear at this point that things are going to get a lot worse in the weeks and months to come before they get any better. The number of COVID-19 cases is accelerating worldwide. Travel restrictions have gone into effect as countries around the world close their borders to…Coronavirus8 min readCoronavirus8 min read
