Erik Allebest

🔥 I raised $40M in venture capital for my last startup. But getting a ~$2.5M SBA loan? Way harder. 💸 (Read that again.) 👀 With venture, you can go from term sheet to close in 30 days. Good luck getting an SBA loan funded on a business acquisition in under 3 months from start to finish. The SBA and the bank will do more diligence and paperwork on you and the business than all your VCs combined. 🔍📑 The closing process is night and day. Raising VC is like having TSA Precheck and skipping the 3-hour line ✈️. With a government-backed loan, you’re in that long line, piles of paperwork, rounds of diligence, and countless steps before you get the green light. 🛂 And yet… I’d still choose an SBA loan to buy a boring, profitable business over raising venture capital again. Why? Because with VC you’re dependent on investors and chasing runway, where 99% of startups never turn a profit 📉. With ETA, you step into a business that already throws off cash 💵 and you actually own your destiny 🔑. Owning a business that generates real profits beats relying on the next round of funding to survive. 🚀💪

56

3 Comments

Searching for startup investors here on LinkedIn, Google, or Reddit? Stop. You might be wasting months and precious runway. Here's what to do. After 7 startups and helping raise over $100M, I know finding the right investor is an infuriating process. But there’s a system to it. Here’s my investor-finding tier list, based on 25 years in the trenches (I've tested them all): Google & Reddit: You’ll get flamed, ignored, or worse, scammed. Serious investors aren't scrolling Reddit for deal flow. This is the fastest way to waste your time. Google is also filled with services that will leave you disappointed. Who can you trust? PitchBook: A powerful tool with great data. The problem? It costs tens of thousands of dollars. It's overkill for most early-stage founders who need to be scrappy. LinkedIn: The approach everyone should be using. You can research investors, understand their thesis, and build real relationships. But it's a major commitment. You have to be active and build your personal brand for it to work (which you should be doing anyway). Crunchbase: A fantastic, cost-effective starting point. You can find out who invested in similar companies, download lists, and cross-reference contacts. It’s a huge step up from guessing. Smart Tools: This is why I joined Startups.com. We built an investor-matching tool where I essentially baked my brain and entire process into an AI. It analyzes your deck and matches you with verified, relevant investors. It automates the outreach I used to do manually for hundreds of hours. Try our pitch deck analyzer and investor matching tool for free here: https://lnkd.in/ds2HPMZ3 The Combo: The real magic happens here. Use a smart tool like Startups.com to build your target list and automate initial outreach. Then, use LinkedIn to warm up those leads, build relationships, and show them you’re a founder worth backing. It’s not just about finding an email address. It's about combining intelligent automation with genuine human connection. Watch this video for my full tier list: https://lnkd.in/dbxsNmTT

48

31 Comments

A Venture Studio ignored venture and won. They built for Cashflow, not Venture. Here is how they did it: 20 years ago, an Atlanta-based venture studio operated with a unique approach. Instead of targeting VC or Private Equity, they  focused solely on cash-flow businesses like  professional service firms.  Here are 2 powerful lessons every studio can learn from their model: ------ 1. Funding Mechanism: A Line of Credit - Companies were funded via a line of credit, not equity capital.  - Portcos had to become cash flow neutral within 18 months—recycling capital quickly.  - Reduced funding needs = Faster scalability. This setup created discipline. Each month, portfolio founders had to justify every dollar spent. Want to hire McKinsey? Nope—do it internally.  Result? Founders learned to obsess over cash flow—an essential entrepreneurial muscle.  --- 2. Picking Founders Wisely  Successful founders were not running from bad employers. Instead, they were executives who always dreamed of building something but lacked the timing or resources earlier in life.  These proven leaders had:   - Strong networks   - Deep domain expertise   - Relentless drive to finally fulfill their vision  They thrived almost every time.  P.S. Which of these lessons resonates with you? 👇 Best, Matthew Burris

198

34 Comments

PSA for founders: if you have excess cash that you’re not going to need in the near term, this is your time to lock in long-term interest rates. Interest rates are expected to go down in the U.S. in both Q3 and Q4 of 2025.   About 55% of economists are expecting a move of 25 basis points in the Fed’s rates. Some analysts foresee deeper cuts over the next year. Regardless, if you have large deposits - this is your time to lock in longer term rates. 

48

5 Comments

Hear my WARNING for ANY APP using OpenAI’s API… On an urgent new This Week in Startups clip, I'm warning founders that Sam Altman is ALWAYS WATCHING. Sure, companies that use the most OpenAI tokens get thank you emails and handsome plaques. But I suggest there’s a masterful scheme happening behind the scenes… In fact, Altman & Co are WATCHING which apps are getting the most use of OpenAI… so they can design their own versions of those products! Thus drinking the founders’ milkshake. It’s a pattern we’ve previously seen play out with giants like $MSFT and $META, creating playgrounds for other startups, which they then mine for data, ideas and inspiration. Don’t get caught in the same pattern, founders!

857

192 Comments

Venture Studios: Hype, hope, or the future of startups? Over four conversations on the Startups Decoded podcast, one theme has become clear: Venture studios aren’t just a new model. They’re building the next infrastructure layer of innovation. But the path isn’t clear-cut. Studios are still fighting for legitimacy, struggling with investor education, and experimenting with structure, equity, and speed. Across these episodes, a few insights consistently surfaced: - Validation beats vision: Studios that test, kill, and iterate fast win. - Operators are everything: The right founder at the right time changes the outcome. - Studios are still misunderstood: Many LPs and VCs don’t get how to value or back them. - AI is the next unlock: From workflows to decision-making, studios are becoming AI-native. - Structure breeds creativity: Studios work best when governance enables, not restricts, startup chaos. If you’re an aspiring founder, building a studio, working in one, or investing in early-stage startups, these episodes are your playbook: Ep#7 - Legitimizing Venture Studios w/ Neal Ghosh Ep#14 - Venture Studios vs. Traditional Startups w/ Ben Yoskovitz Ep#19 - The AI Playbook: How Founders Must Adapt w/ Mark S. McNally Ep#24 - Why Venture Studios Are the Future w/ Matthew Burris Listen in → https://lnkd.in/g655jzfy Highline Beta, Nobody Studios, 9point8 Collective, The Venture Studio Forum

74

20 Comments

🌱Seed valuations are breaking records - again. In Q4 2024, Carta data* showed median pre-money seed valuations hitting $16M - the highest on record. This isn't just a return to optimism. It's a reflection of how early-stage markets are bifurcating: - Well-networked, repeat founders? Still oversubscribed. - First-time teams without momentum? Struggling to raise at all. Valuation inflation isn't across the board - it's concentrated among startups with conviction, story, and signal. If you're raising now, it's not about adjusting to the "market average." It's about understanding which part of the market you're in. *data source: https://carta.com/uk/en/

33

1 Comment

Founders often scramble to prep materials *after* a VC shows interest. That’s backward. You should be ready for diligence before your first meeting with a VC. Smart founders: 🗂 Have their data room ready 📊 Can share a clear KPI dashboard if asked 💸 Keep clean, up-to-date financials 📣 Track and communicate metrics Flailing around getting your files in order can erode investor trust. Put in the work ahead of time and it will build confidence in you and your company. #FundraisingAdvice #StartupTips #RSCMFounderFriday

23

4 Comments