Kamil Debbagh

The most important fundraising KPI: 1st pitch → 2nd meeting conversion rate Is yours low? (< 30-50%) Something is wrong. Here's how to diagnose your issue and fix it: There are two types of potential problems... 1️⃣ Investor targeting 2️⃣ Pitching 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: The most common issue is targeting the wrong investors. Usually you're reaching out to investors that focus on a different stage or industry. Do some research on the investors that didn't convert to a second meeting. The most important resource: their portfolio page. Ignore the "about" section, or their blog. That's mostly about marketing to potential investors in their fund. Instead, look at what they've actually invested in and the stage at which they invested (Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, etc.) Remember: trust the portfolio, not the thesis. __ The other main issue is unclear outbound messaging. Investors think you do one thing (industry, business model, tech, etc.) but you actually do something else. I recommend sending your outbound email template to 5+ friends that don't know anything about your startup. Ask them: • What kinds of customers do you think we serve? • What benefits do you think we provide for them? • What product features do you think we have? • What technologies do you think we use? If more 20% of your friends answer these questions incorrectly, you need to write new outreach emails. 𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆: The most common issue is just that your pitch is weak. Usually because you aren't telling a story. You're just sharing disconnected data. The best pitches are stories that foreshadow the only possible outcome: your startup's tremendous success. It feels inevitable. The easiest test to figure out if you're telling a story: try connecting the main idea of each of your slides with "but," "so" or one of their synonyms. If the natural link between slides is "and" or if you can move the order around, you don't have a story. Chronology matters in storytelling. Go back to the drawing board and try to write your inevitable success story. __ Maybe your overall pitch isn't weak. But VCs may still be spotting a red flag when you pitch. It turns them off right away. If you think this might be your issue, it's important to start asking questions. Most pitches have time for you to ask questions at the end. Here's my go-to to diagnose this issue: "What would you need to see in order to get excited about investing in <<STARTUP>>?" If they tell you a primary KPI that you need to improve, then you've probably identified the issue. The other possibility: They try to avoid giving you a specific answer. If they're evading your question, you NEED to dig in to get to the bottom of it. Your fundraising success may depend on it. —— Was this helpful? 👍 like and ♻️ repost it to help other founders!

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Sam Altman was the President of YC. Startup advice given at YC: - Launch right away - Launch 1st version you’re embarrassed about - Raise very little capital up front - Don’t take big R&D risk - Find PMF quickly, with ‘something’ Versus how he launched OpenAI: - Raised 1B dollars of capital before any PMF - Took 4 to 5 years after launch to release - Didn’t talk to users upon release Moral of the story? Be careful of textbook advice, no matter who it came from. Prioritise finding smart people with solid analytical skills, instead. Then, make educated bets together.

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The Ultimate Cheat Sheet collection for SaaS leaders & Founders - by Vencha, Included #VC & Notion Capital Here you have 15 cheat sheets on marketing, sales, fundraising, pitch decks and more: 💵 How to price and package your software ? 🎢 The 5 prospect stages 🚀How fundable is your company? 💸 Leadership transitions at different stages of business growth 🎯 SaaS monetisation in 8 steps 🕹️ Identifying your market: TAM, SAM & SOM demystified 🛠️ How to skyrocket SaaS sales? ⚖️ The ICP Grid, goal setting and how to prioritize ? #Fintech #saas #CheatSheet #isaphr #isapone #isapsolutions #starthubagency #isapinvestments www.isap.group www.isap.one www.isap.hr www.isap.agency www.isap.investments iSAP Solutions ltd iSAP ONE iSAP.HR StartHub.Agency iSAP Group Investments ltd Tino Herold

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Does being a great VC = being a great manager ? Basically no.  Because the two are very different things.  (It’s not me, Kyle Harrison is saying so!) What's important for a VC can be summed up like that : "The two most important things are (1) performance, and (2) teamwork. But if you don't have number 1 then nothing else matters." Being a good VC is making the right investments to have a solid track record. The currency in VC is getting credit for getting deals done. This leaves little room for investors to train newcomers (ie. Associates/Analysts) because you don’t get recognition from that. So being a good manager isn’t valued as much as being a good investor. But problem is, building a solid track record is very different from building a long lasting investment firm, which can only be done by training associates and so being a good manager. David Haber compare the way VC are working with the way Chicago Bulls won championships in 1991-92 meaning winning on the back of 1 or 2 players (1 or 2 good investors) So the structural incentive rewards only deals getting done leaving on the side building a team that knows how to work together. Everything outside track record could be considered pointless. And that’s why VC can’t be considered as an apprenticeship business. But the the positive thing is, a lot of smart VC (ex: Sequoia Capital (US) or Serena (FR)) already know that training new generations is equally important as having a great track record if you want to survive on the long run. So remember as a VC, find great deals but don’t forget to find a great Associate that can succeed you ;) PS: I’m not going to say it but I could: Automate as much as possible to have time for your Associate. Many thanks to Kyle for this interesting piece! Link in comments 👇

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I met our YC partner and asked him: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰? His answer changed everything. Last week, I met with our YC partner in person. This time, I had one question in mind: “What are we missing?” Here’s what he taught me: 1. AI is everywhere YC is going all-in on AI. 70% of their batch is AI-first. AI isn’t just transformational—it’s becoming inevitable. But making AI indispensable is another challenge. I told him about our AI feature struggles: We’ve iterated endlessly, but it’s not yet the default way customers use our product. His advice? “Keep going. In some fields, AI is already the standard.” He pointed to accounting, where repetitive tasks and human errors make AI the clear winner. 2. Watch out for unexpected competitors In data, all roads lead to Rome. Every company wants to connect to every source and solve broad use cases. Translation: no one stays in their lane. YC sees companies expanding vertically and horizontally —even into spaces far from where they started. Lesson? Never assume your space is safe from disruption. 3. Europe is one year behind the US We met in Paris, so we had to talk about Europe. His point was that the EU is one year behind the US. Not because of funding or ambition —because of conversations! YC has noticed that ideas born in the US take about a year to spread to Europe. Why? The dialogue that sparks innovation starts later. If you’re in Europe, accelerate the conversation. 4. But the US has its inefficiencies too The US spends $1 trillion annually on administrative tasks —more than its $800 billion defense budget. For all its innovation, it’s still bogged down by inefficiencies. And where there’s inefficiency, there’s opportunity —especially for AI. _____ This meeting was a wake-up call. - AI is taking over, but turning it into a competitive edge is hard - Unexpected competitors will enter your space - Europe needs to act faster - The US, for all its strengths, has glaring inefficiencies to solve The future isn’t static, and the companies that adapt first will win. So, what are you blind to?

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Almost 1/2 of our revenue comes from our two latest features (visible here: changelog.june.so) —after less than 6 months. The reasons are simple: it’s stickier, priced higher, and most importantly, it delivers significantly more value. During our time at YC, the advice was to start by "selling to startups" 👶 They’re quicker to make decisions. And more willing to take risks. But what I didn’t fully grasp was the speed at which B2B SaaS companies can move upmarket. I assumed growth was linear, thinking: "to sell to A, you need X" "to sell to B, you need Y" But that’s not how it works ❌ In SaaS, pricing is often exponential. The foundation you build early on compounds over time 🧱 🧱 🧱 🧱 You might spend a year or two laying down the groundwork. Waiting for adoption... Then, you introduce high-value features on top of that foundation. And suddenly, 6 months later.... those features contribute to 1/2 of your revenue! >> Going upmarket can happen incredibly fast. This reminds me of a conversation I had with David Apple. David was running early Success & Sales at Notion. He shared that the feature with the single most $$$ impact at Notion probably was single sign-on (sso) → a feature built within a few weeks only Entreprises were so ready to adopt Notion, that this little addition to the product, made a very big impact _______ Startups, If you’re following the classic bottom-up playbook, keep moving forward. The time and effort you’ve invested in your product & pricing have little bearing on your future ACV and revenue potential This is what makes your business so powerful 🔥 Hope this helps 💜 Enzo #buildinpublic #goingupmarket

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Its tempting to say AI is the new oil. But oil is what is burnt. The engine burns the oil. Data and Information continue to be the Oil. We are in that same Information Age as theorised by Manuel Castells et. al. What's new is that we have just invented our Engine! And that's GenAI. Now we can put the Data to use... #genaiadoption #nlightn

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SAFE is a tool to accept investment with minimum paperwork and negotiation with investors. It's really good at the beginning and helps both investors and founders save time. You just need to understand how the tool works to use it correctly. Mistakes happen when people don't know how it works: ✅ There’s nothing wrong with using a Valuation Cap. As a founder, you should understand that if you raise funds at a valuation lower than the valuation cap in your SAFEs, you’ll end up giving away a larger portion of your company. That said, you really want to pay attention whether the SAFE contains the MFN (Most Favorable Nation) provision or not and make sure you understand how this provision works. ✅ There’s nothing wrong with anti-dilution protection against future options. In fact, it gives investors a clearer understanding of the minimum equity they’re receiving and prevents founders from manipulating the Cap Table after the investment is accepted. If you’re a founder using a SAFE or an angel investor, please take the time to familiarize yourself with this tool and understand how it works. It’s only a 5-8 page document and is well-written (kudos to the YC lawyers).

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Don’t stack post-money SAFEs. I know YC backs them & I, as an investor, love them. But for founders, 1 post-money SAFE is fine—2+ can be deadly: What if I told you I’ll lead your seed round but I want: 1- Full ratchet anti-dilution rights. If your next round is say at a 50% lower valuation, my share price gets lowered by 50%. 2- Anti-dilution against future options. If you if you increase the size of your ESOP, 100% of the dilution goes to founders and existing employees. 3- Anti-dilution against future notes. If you raise a pre-or post money SAFE or a convertible note, only the founders and employees get diluted, not me. You’d tell me I’m crazy, right? You’d at least tell me it’s not market, not standard? But it is market, it is standard, and it’s called a post money SAFE. #startups #founders #venturecapital

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35 Days into YC: 3 Real Startup Lessons We Didn't Expect 🪄 #1 Master the Art of the Impromptu Pitch - Keep it magical: Your demo should always tell a story — keep the focal point your users, and make sure they experience the “WOW” moment of your trick. 🎯 #2 Activation Trumps Acquisition: The Real Metric That Matters - At Spur (YC S24) we measure activation by measuring the frequency with our users are creating and running tests on the platform. - Signing up for a demo, a pilot, or even onboarding does *not* signal activation The question that really matters: are your users actually using your product and finding value from it? ✨#3 Make things ridiculously easy for your customers - Set up easy channels of communication with your customers, and be proactive about using them. - Handoff doesn't cut it, your customers should hit the ground running when you onboard them — even if it means you are doing the work to set them up P.S. 👀 Keep an eye out! Exciting things to come from us early next week #ycombinator #AI #Testing

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𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝘆: 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 Early-stage fundraising can be tough, but applying these key principles from YC alumni can make all the difference: 1️⃣ Clarity and Conciseness: Keep your pitch and responses short, clear, and focused on the essentials. 2️⃣ Sell Your Team: Emphasize your team’s domain expertise and past accomplishments to build investor confidence. 3️⃣ Persistence Pays Off: Don’t be discouraged by rejection. Every “no” brings you closer to that critical “yes.” PS. check out 🔔 for a winning pitch deck the template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel https://lnkd.in/ejp-Bhnu

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It's the end of B2B SaaS week in Paris. I enjoyed it from the 1st minute to the last one. Here is why: 1. Knowledge🧑‍🎓: I got many learnings from other CEOs of B2B SaaS and investors. It's really hard to find the right GTM strategy as a SaaS company. Here I learned from 50 others CEOs in only 2 days. 2. Network 🚀: I met many high quality people (see list below) and some already made great introductions to develop our business further. I know I got some personal connections that I would never had if I had an online meeting with them. 3. Clients/partners 👋: we met some of our customers, prospects and potential business partners 4. Energy 🔥: it gives so much energy to meet other entrepreneurs that have their ups and downs. A few people to mention 1. Colin Lalouette, PhD CEO of Appvizer and B2B Rocks 🎸 Sept. 25-26, Paris: happy to have met you in person and all the privileged invitations here and there ;) 2. Clément Puren and William Swinnen CSO and CMO of Guideflow - Interactive demo: impressed by your growth since we met last year and looking forward to hearing the next great news ;). Thank you for the event yesterday with Captain Data 3. Krzysztof Szyszkiewicz and Kacper Floryn 👻 from Valueships. They impressed me a lot with their energy and their very deep knowledge about SaaS pricing in France (they benchmarked 2000 French SaaS companies!) 4. Vincent Thuillier and Maxime Robles from Ignify. Those 2 ex A-players from Swile grew their agency at an impressive pace the last 12 months. Great energy and we immediately started a partnership. 5. Andreï Sochala VP Growth at Aircall and Deidre Hudson: reminded the importance to think like your buyers and not as a seller. It's more crucial than ever. 6. Stan Massueras ex-VP growth at Intercom: what an energy! I’m also looking forward to our meeting next week. Btw, I’m now considering visiting Dublin, you intrigued me. 7. Bertrand Gaté the magician: we spent such a good moment with you on the boat, next to the Eiffel Tower. Vincent is still in shock. Me too to be honest :D Thank you again for this memorable moment. 8. Sébastien Le Roy, Partner at Serena: we have the same favorite kpi: NRR 9. Thibault Le Meur thank you for the super chat about growth yesterday 10. Julie Farley and Valentin Bernier from Semrush: thanks for the clarity and hundreds of tips shared about demand generation. Thank you Vincent Bully for being part of this! #B2BSaas

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🚀 The Pocket Guide of Essential YC Advice: Elevate Your Startup Game! 🚀 Starting a business? Here's a cheat sheet from YC that can make all the difference: 1️⃣ Launch now: Don't wait for perfection. Get your product out there and iterate. 2️⃣ Build something people want: Focus on solving real problems. 3️⃣ Do things that don't scale: Personal touches can lead to big breakthroughs. 4️⃣ Find the 90 / 10 solution: Prioritize the most impactful tasks. 5️⃣ Find 10-100 customers who love your product: Early adopters are your champions. 6️⃣ All startups are badly broken at some point: Resilience is key. 7️⃣ Write code - talk to users: Balance building with real-world feedback. 8️⃣ "It's not your money": Be frugal and smart with investments. 9️⃣ Growth is the result of a great product, not the precursor: Quality drives expansion. 🔟 Don't scale until you've built something people want: Validate first, grow second. 💡 Key Insights: - Valuation ≠ Success: Focus on value creation, not just valuation. - Avoid lengthy deals with big customers unless necessary. - Steer clear of corporate development queries that waste time. - Attend conferences selectively - prioritize those that bring customers. - Pre-product market fit? Stay nimble and do things that don't scale. - Solving one problem well > solving many poorly. - Founder relationships: Your co-founders are your greatest asset. - Sometimes, firing a toxic customer is necessary. - Ignore competitors - focus on your path to avoid 'death by comparison.' 🌟 Final Tips: - Be kind! Courtesy costs nothing but means everything. - Prioritize your health - sleep, exercise, and self-care are non-negotiable. Let these insights guide your entrepreneurial journey. What resonates most with you? Share your thoughts! ⬇️ #Startups #Entrepreneurship #YCombinator #BusinessTips #GrowthMindset #Innovation

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Great insights, Hugo! Michael Seibel's advice really highlights the importance of speed and adaptability in the early stages of a startup. Launching something imperfect allows for real-time feedback and can be more valuable than countless hours of perfecting a product that may not resonate with customers. Engaging early users and actively seeking their input is crucial for iterating effectively. It’s about building something that truly meets their needs. Thanks for sharing this valuable perspective – it’s a reminder that navigating the startup journey is as much about learning from users as it is about having a great idea! Hugo Rauch

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—> My Take on SaaS in 2025💙 : 1/ The market is overcrowded. By 2025, niche players will either be acquired or forced to pivot. We’ll see fewer tools, but the ones that survive will dominate their categories with deeper integrations and unmatched value. 2/ Automation and analytics will no longer be add-ons—they’ll be fundamental. SaaS solutions will need to offer smarter workflows, proactive insights, and seamless user experiences that solve problems before they arise. 3/ The subscription economy will mature. Companies will prioritize keeping their existing users over burning cash on ads. Continuous onboarding, usage-based pricing, and personalized experiences will define success. 4/ No-code tools will evolve into no-code ecosystems. Platforms won’t just help users build—they’ll empower communities to create and scale solutions without technical expertise. This shift will lower barriers for SMBs and fuel innovation. 5/ Security will become a deal-breaker. As SaaS becomes more critical to businesses, it will also become a bigger target. Investing in zero-trust frameworks and robust data protection will no longer be optional—it’ll be essential. 6/ The next wave of SaaS growth will come from emerging markets. These regions will demand leaner, cost-effective solutions tailored to their unique challenges. Expect new innovation hubs to emerge far from traditional tech centers. 7/ Customers are done with generic products. The winners in 2025 will be those who deeply understand their niche and deliver specialized solutions. SaaS will shift from broad horizontal scaling to focused vertical specialization. 8/ Confusing pricing tiers will die out. Businesses want clarity. Transparent, usage-based pricing models will align with customer success and build trust—key to long-term relationships. 9/ Businesses will move away from vanity metrics like user counts and focus on outcomes. Companies will ask, What measurable value does this software deliver? Providers will need to prove real ROI, not just flashy features. 10/ SaaS in 2025 will reward those who adapt, prioritize customer needs, and innovate relentlessly. It’s no longer just about building tools—it’s about creating value, ecosystems, and relationships that last. What’s the one topic you’d love to see me talk next? Let me know! 🔽 ************************************************ 📌 I’m the founder of Uptech Sol, a software powerhouse delivering innovative web and mobile solutions. 📌 Explore our website to see how we build scalable and impactful software solutions: https://lnkd.in/dBTXXm7q

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🚀 *“Launch fast, iterate quickly”* has become a guiding mantra in the startup world, but is it always the right move? Take **Zoom** and **Clubhouse** as examples. Zoom’s early backers, like Emergence Capital and Sequoia, supported a strategy focused on product reliability and quality before scaling. When the pandemic hit, this approach enabled Zoom to scale smoothly and establish itself as a market leader. Meanwhile, **Clubhouse**, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, followed a different playbook: launching quickly, even with limited features, to capture initial user interest. This approach drove rapid growth but also brought challenges, from scaling to competition with bigger platforms. The “launch fast” philosophy—championed by Y Combinator with advice to “launch something bad”—often works well in **tech**, where products can be iterated rapidly based on user feedback. However, **in the entertainment industry, first impressions are everything**. A poorly received launch can damage credibility, making it difficult to recover. Quality expectations are higher, and you can't always "fix" a show, game, or movie after release. 🎬 *In entertainment, initial development, QA, and polish are crucial before launching.* When the first impression counts, launching too quickly can be a recipe for failure. What do you think? Should entertainment startups follow a different path than tech, or is there room for a hybrid approach? #startups #venturecapital #tech #entertainment #productdevelopment #launch

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Big companies tend to over invest. Start-ups have the benefit of starvation. In order to succeed 0 to 1 at a big company, you need to create scarcity. I'm paraphrasing Tanguy Crusson here on Lenny's Newsletter Podcast (link in the comments) but the spirit of this comment is so true. Tanguy developed Jira Product Discovery internally at Atlassian and highlights so many of the challenges of innovating at big companies: - Big companies tend to want to use a playbook that worked in their first market into a new opportunity, but that often fails. There are new nuances to learn in new markets and humility is required to acknowledge this. - Chances are new products are going to fail. Big companies need to acknowledge this to avoid overinvesting until there is sufficient signal from the marketplace. - New products/businesses at big companies need to be judged differently in the early stages than the cash cows that got the company big in the first place. Zero to one needs room to stumble and learn and iterate to find a path to become cash cows themselves. - "Why now" is often the most important question to ask (and one I hear from my friends at Madrona Venture Labs as well). Why do we need to do this now? It's hard to get resources at a big company outside of the core. A new product/business needs an urgency in order to get the necessary attention to succeed. #startups #0to1 #entrepreneurship #productmanagement

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A friendly reminder to everyone : Deeptech startup ≠ SaaS startup Consequence : the traditional VC playbook for SaaS startup doesn’t apply. The usual metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Life Time Value (LTV), churn, ARR or MRR cannot be used for this kind of business.  Because in some cases, a deeptech can spend 5y without revenues to finally land a 1B$ contract. They grow and scale differently. Other consequence : the exit path is different. As a VC you have to be careful about the exit. Deeptech startups have an implicit caped exit value as the frequent scenario is acquisition by a public company / large group. A deep-tech, unless it pivots won’t IPO or start to buy out other firms. Deeptech typically get acquired because they operate in sectors (quantum computing, biotech, Pharma, etc) were actors are big enough and have enough cash to buy. But enough cash doesn’t mean the exit size is enough for a VC. Venture Capital is not a one-size-fits-all solution for every startup. And for the moment it doesn’t quite fit the need of deep-tech start-ups (this also explain why you see a lot of corporates financing AI start-ups like Microsoft does through M12). I’m curious to see how the startup playbook is going to evolve to fit the deep-tech needs. Or if the corporates VC will take over :) And if you have time, this article worth a read : https://lnkd.in/ebHBsZW7

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