Венчурный рынок находится в движении. ИИ переживает бум, в то время как остальной венчурный бизнес находится на дне. Венчурный капитал как класс активов развивается и сокращается. Заключается все меньше сделок … Читать далее «Эпизод 50: Тенденции венчурного рынка»

Clutch пережил невероятную поездку. В 2021 году он был “канадской Карваной”. В 2023 году она столкнулась со смертью и совершила невероятный переворот. Сейчас они снова на подъеме. Дэн Парк, основатель … Читать далее «Эпизод 49: Дэн Парк и невероятная история возвращения Клатча»

Я не проводил сессию «Спроси меня о чем угодно» уже больше года, что привело к появлению множества вопросов на самые разные темы: макрос, рыночные площадки, искусственный интеллект, сбор средств, управление … Читать далее «Эпизод 48: Спросите меня о чем угодно»

Given that I have been building and investing in marketplaces for 26 years you might think that everything that needed to be built has already been built, but nothing could … Читать далее «Episode 47: Marketplace Trends»

В то время как инвестиции в ИИ продолжают достигать новых высот, мы придерживаемся противоположной точки зрения. Учитывая, насколько мы не согласны, я хотел поделиться нашими мыслями и перспективами. В этом … Читать далее «Эпизод 46: Тезис об искусственном интеллекте от FJ Labs»

Я не проводил сессию Ask Me Anything (AMA) уже больше года, что привело к появлению множества вопросов на самые разные темы: ИИ, дополненная реальность, криптовалюты, макроэкономика и многое другое. Если … Читать далее «Эпизод 45: Спросите меня о чем угодно»

Люди часто спрашивают меня, как мне удается достичь столь многого и при этом вести такую насыщенную, страстную жизнь, как показано в моем обзоре за 2023 год. В этом эпизоде я … Читать далее «Эпизод 44: Unlocking Productivity: Оптимизация Ваших дней для страсти и цели»

I had the pleasure of receiving Julio Vasconcellos on the show. Julio is the Founder and Managing Partner of Atlantico, a leading early-stage venture fund in Latin America. It was … Continue reading «»

I had the pleasure of being joined by my good friend Kevin Ryan. He’s often been called the “Godfather of NYC tech.” Kevin is one of the leading internet entrepreneurs … Continue reading «»

It had been over a year since we did the last Ask Me Anything (AMA) so the time had come. As requested by the audience, my son François joined us … Continue reading «»

This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with my good friend Oskar Hartmann. He’s had the most incredible unicorn experience: You can listen to the full episode in the … Continue reading «»

On this week’s episode I had the pleasure of welcoming Nitya Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Simpl, to conclude our mini-series on the Indian tech scene. We had a fascinating … Continue reading «»

This week we are covering the state of the Indian tech ecosystem. We are joined by Luke Skertich, senior associate at FJ Labs, who is leading the charge with our … Continue reading «»

After a long hiatus to take care of my ailing dad, who is fortunately fully recovered, I am back! For this episode and the next two, I am focusing on … Continue reading «»

Lorien Gabel is the Co-Founder of Figment Network. He holds an LLB from Toronto’s Osgoode Hall Law School. In 1994, at the age of 24, 6 months into practicing law, … Continue reading «»

Last February, I decided to reflect on the turmoil that had started to affect the public, crypto and private markets. This is the first time I focused on the topic. … Continue reading «»

My apologies for the delay in summarizing the episode, but it’s been a very busy 9 months. Last December, I hosted a Ask Me Anything on Playing with Unicorns. We … Continue reading «»

Mark Lurie is the CEO and co-founder of Shipyard Software. Shipyard Software builds decentralized exchanges (DEX) for specific types of trades, traders, and instruments, starting with Clipper, a DEX with … Continue reading «»

Laura Behrens Wu (@LauraBehrensWu) is the co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Shippo is an API-first company focused on building shipping for 21st-century e-commerce. When Laura Behrens Wu launched her own … Continue reading «»

Alisa Cohn (@AlisaCohn) is a prominent startup coach who has advised founders and executives at Venmo, Etsy, DraftKings, The Wirecutter, Mack Weldon, and Bloomberg. She’s one-time startup CFO, strategy consultant, … Continue reading «»

Thomas Plantenga is the CEO of Vinted. He was born and raised in the Netherlands. Thomas was previously a Venture Partner at FJ Labs and an early member of OLX. … Continue reading «»

In episode 27, I took a stab at which categories investors and entrepreneurs should focus on for the coming 5 years. In today’s episode, I wanted to cover the themes … Continue reading «»

When Satoshi Nakamoto famously wrote the Bitcoin white paper on November 13, 2008, it proposed to solve the Byzantine Generals problem. The Byzantine Generals Problem is solving the puzzle of … Continue reading «»

In a way I live in your future. By virtue of receiving 150 startup pitches per week, I have a good sense of what founders are trying to build for … Continue reading «»

Jeff Wald is a serial entrepreneur, board Member, bestselling author, keynote speaker, and investor. Jeff’s most recent company, Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers … Continue reading «»

As most of you know, I want to empower people to work on the things they love. As a result, I am excited that FJ Labs invested early in Clearco … Continue reading «»

One of our main theses at FJ Labs is to focus on vertical marketplaces. Slice is a great example of a company that has found product-market fit within a vertical. … Continue reading «»

The education system has not evolved since the industrial era. New tools have been introduced over the years, but nothing has dramatically changed. To reinvent education, you don’t more tools … Continue reading «»

9 out of 10 startups fail. This is a gloomy number. However, it has never stopped entrepreneurs from hedging their bets to create successful companies. And I want to help … Continue reading «»

This is one of the most requested questions I’ve received since starting Playing with Unicorns. People want to know “How do I build the perfect pitch deck to raise funds?” … Continue reading «»

Last week Alpha Capital, a SPAC company that FJ Labs co-sponsored, went public. We rang the bell and it was beautiful. Alpha Capital is a formed blank check company that … Continue reading «»

Brian Requarth is the Co-Founder of Latitud and former CEO of Viva Real. Through Latitud, he now dedicates his time to providing mentorship and advice for entrepreneurs in Latin America … Continue reading «»

Tim Jackson is a fellow entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author. He has lived an interesting life from a career in journalism for the Financial Times, to VC seed funding for … Continue reading «»

This week Kerim Baran shares where we stand in the world of solar. He covers: If you prefer, you can listen to the episode in the embedded podcast player. In … Continue reading «»

I often pondered the makeup of successful founders and founding teams. At FJ Labs we spend a disproportionate amount of time screening for EIRs. We only build 1 or 2 … Continue reading «»

It is extremely hard to succeed as an entrepreneur. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have countless ups and downs. I would argue that I failed my way to success. My … Continue reading «»

Christian is the rare breed of polymath Renaissance Man operating in a world that rewards specialization. We had an extremely broad and far-ranging conversation covering: If you prefer, you can … Continue reading «»

SPACs have been one of the hot topics of 2020. Jeff Weinstein, who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital nerd, joins to talk about all things … Continue reading «»

Учитывая вездесущую обреченность и мрачность 2020 года, я нашел время, чтобы объективно поразмыслить над тем, как обстоят дела и куда движется мир. Глубокое погружение во многие отрасли и технологии оставило … Читать далее «Эпизод 12: Пандемия, популизм и провал политики — удивительный повод для оптимизма в 2020 году»

I had the privilege of running into the same social and intellectual circles as Safi Bahcall for the past 20 years. When I heard he wrote a book on how … Continue reading «»

Last week we covered how to come up with great startup ideas. This week I present how to evaluate if the idea is worth pursuing. I detail which hypothesis you … Continue reading «»

Many aspiring entrepreneurs struggle to come with compelling startup ideas. I detail the four sources of startup ideas: Observed pain points Geographic arbitrage Business model or approach arbitrage Verticalization I … Continue reading «»

Most entrepreneurs merely see venture capitalists as a source of capital without understanding how venture capitalists operate. Jeff Weinstein, who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital … Continue reading «»

Last week we covered whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. As a follow-up, I wanted to present … Continue reading «»

This week we cover whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. Nancy Dong, our first ever guest on … Continue reading «»

Given that I was in Lake Placid looking at the foliage change without my multi-screen setup, I tried a “Ask Me Anything” session for the week. It was a resounding … Continue reading «»

In the third episode, I described how VCs evaluate startups by using a combination of the team, business, deal terms and whether the idea fits with their thesis to decide … Continue reading «»

In the first episode I covered how and when to fundraise. In this episode, I describe how venture capitalists (VCs) evaluate you once you are in front of them to … Continue reading «»

I start by covering the theoretical do’s and don’ts of building a minimum viable product (MVP) before giving an in depth and specific example of how I would go about … Continue reading «»

Given that it’s episode 1, I start by explaining why I am creating this show before covering everything there is to know in terms of fundraising for venture backed startups: … Continue reading «»

Playing with unicorns is a new weekly live streaming show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I will be streaming every Thursday at 12 pm EST on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, … Continue reading «»