Investing wisdom from top angels and VCs

Words from Naval Ravikant, Chris Dixon and more [Republic Weekly] Republic Insider November 25, 2020 Ending soon: [The Hub]( [AERA]( [Renewal Mill]( [Smart Soda]( [HelloWoofy.com]( [COI Energy]( [Levered Learning]( and [Blended Sense]( Investing wisdom from top angels and VCs Despite the hardships this year has brought, there is much to be thankful for. One thing we’re grateful for is all of you, our amazing community of investors and founders. As a small thank you, we have compiled a list of investing wisdom, from some of the best VCs and angel investors on the planet. Enjoy! Naval Ravikant on investment sizing Naval Ravikant is the founder of AngelList, and an investor in numerous successful startups, including Uber and Twitter. He is also an advisor to Republic. “Always try to get your standard bite-size. If you put a lot of money into a few deals and little money into many others, you’ll find that your winners tend to come disproportionately out of the deals with little money invested. And that will hurt your portfolio return. Once you have conviction, always try to get your standard bite into that deal.” [Read the rest of Naval’s post here](. Chris Dixon on how disruptive tech is often dismissed as a “toy” at first Chris Dixon is a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and he has invested in numerous successful tech companies, including Oculus VR, Coinbase, and others. “Disruptive technologies are dismissed as toys because when they are first launched they ‘undershoot’ user needs. The first telephone could only carry voices a mile or two. The leading telco of the time, Western Union, passed on acquiring the phone because they didn’t see how it could possibly be useful to businesses and railroads – their primary customers. What they failed to anticipate was how rapidly telephone technology and infrastructure would improve ([technology adoption is usually non-linear]( due to so-called complementary network effects). ...This does not mean every product that looks like a toy will turn out to be the next big thing.” [Read the rest of the post here](. Fred Wilson on the importance of diversification Fred Wilson is a co-founder of Union Square Ventures, and his firm’s investments include Etsy, Twitter, Carta, and many more. “Investing in startups is risky. If you make just one investment, you are likely going to lose everything. If you make two, you are still likely to lose money. If you make five, you might get all your money back across all five investments. If you make ten, you might start making money on the aggregate set of investments… So you need to make enough investments to be confident that you will get at least one big winner. And so that means making enough bets.” [Read the rest of the post here](. Jenny Lee lists the trends her firm, GGV Capital, is watching closely Jenny Lee is the founder and a managing partner at GGV Capital, a Singapore based VC firm. Jenny led some of the firm’s most successful investments, and is regularly ranked on Forbes’ Midas List of top venture capitalists. “Trends we are excited about include - Startups leveraging AI and machine learning algorithms to model and personalize large datasets in verticals like education, finance, healthcare, business processes, retail/e-commerce - Startups leveraging data online to deliver better services offline– more integrated online and offline services, particularly in the retail storefront areas - Startups with cross-border models, leveraging learnings from one region expanding to the next, eg, Exporting successful business models from China to Southeast Asia, from the US to South America or Europe - Last but not least, new disruptive products and services made possible by computer vision, robotics automation and integration of machines with a human – the sci-fi stuff.” [Read the rest of the interview with Jenny Lee here](. Naval Ravikant on the ‘Peter Thiel rule’ “When a company’s valuation climbs rapidly between rounds, that should attract you, rather than scare you off, because humans are bad at calculating nonlinearities. That’s true as long as a credible or top-tier investor leads the round. When you see a company’s valuation go up 5x in nine months, you might automatically think it’s overpriced. But that’s because your brain can’t handle the fact that a company might actually grow 10x in nine months.” [Read the rest of the post here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who is celebrating! -Team Republic --------------------------------------------------------------- Launched this week [439 1602165074]( Disrupting the retail industry starting with the polo shirt [View BAOBAB]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🔥 Startups closing soon [The Hub] The Hub is about to close! $192,404 raised · $150 min. investment Changing the way brands hire photographers [View The Hub]( [AERA] AERA is about to close! $107,675 raised · $100 min. investment Luxury, vegan and 110% sustainable footwear [View AERA]( [Renewal Mill] Renewal Mill is about to close! $86,276 raised · $50 min. investment Upcycled food company that fights climate change & food loss [View Renewal Mill]( [Smart Soda] Smart Soda is about to close! $220,852 raised · $100 min. investment Drink brilliant [View Smart Soda]( [HelloWoofy.com] HelloWoofy.com is about to close! $158,289 raised · $100 min. investment Digital marketing platform driven by AI + data science (for SMBs) [View HelloWoofy.com]( [COI Energy] COI Energy is about to close! $271,109 raised · $100 min. investment Digital energy platform that detects, eliminates and monetizes energy waste [View COI Energy]( [Levered Learning] Levered Learning is about to close! $55,109 raised · $100 min. investment A flexible, high impact learning system for closing the gap in elementary math [View Levered Learning]( [Blended Sense] Blended Sense: A Few Days To Go! $54,508 raised · $100 min. investment A new kind of production: the content solution for your entire business [View Blended Sense]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Startup updates [Hidrent]( [Hidrent: Hidrent Receives Strategic Investment from Business Partner Robin Steel 💰]( [Audios]( [Audios: Week 6 Update: Audios CEO Featured on Rolling Out Magazine's Morning Show]( [Wayzn]( [Wayzn: SNEAK PEEK! Here's a glimpse of how Wayzn for Windows will work.]( [Procertas]( [Procertas: The Basic Office Technology Assessment (BOTA) Platform Showing Some Early Adoption in the Market Space!]( [PuffCuff]( [PuffCuff: Laser-focused leadership]( [AERA]( [AERA: AERA featured in Forbes... again!]( [Tapa]( [Tapa: Join Tapa Dec. 2: Discover How Tapa Is Improving Commercial Building Systems for the Post-COVID Era - Free Webinar]( [1World Online]( [1World Online: New Customers: HeyHeyHello, ElPersonalista, FightBookMMA, PoshOnPennies!]( [Edible Garden]( [Edible Garden: Another disappointing piece of news... Organic romaine hearts recalled over E. coli O157:H7 by Dole Vegetables Inc.]( [AKUA]( [AKUA: $100K + counting! 🔥]( [Flexable]( [Flexable: New calendar feature launches!]( [18.21 Drinks]( [18.21 Drinks: Gross Revenue up 3% Higher Than Predicted!]( [Janover Ventures]( [Janover Ventures: JV Tech Updates]( [Blended Sense]( [Blended Sense: A Few Days To Go!]( [Hearo.Live]( [Hearo.Live: November Update - Hearo for the Holidays]( [Smart Soda]( [Smart Soda: Smart Soda Expands North Of The Border With New Partnership!]( [Levered Learning]( [Levered Learning: Exciting New Pilot with LEANLAB Education to Address Math Proficiency in Kansas City]( [Renewal Mill]( [Renewal Mill: Just a Few Days Left - Plus, we're getting a new look!]( [Nada]( [Nada: Nada Investor update: $518k with 1,500+ investors...thank YOU!]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Recommended reads [Mark Hellweg, Ratio Coffee]( [Mark Hellweg, Ratio Coffee]( Superheroes · Nov 16, 2020 [How did you first become interested in the world of coffee? I fell in love with coffee in the early 2000s at a neighborhood café called...]( [Rebecca Story and Julie Leclercq, Bloomi]( [Rebecca Story and Julie Leclercq, Bloomi]( Superheroes · Nov 16, 2020 [What’s the inspiration behind Bloomi? I was inspired to create Bloomi out of a simple need – better access to intimacy products and inf...]( [Pitching to angel investors]( [Pitching to angel investors]( Founder resources · Nov 24, 2020 [What’s the best way for founders to meet and pitch angel investors? Here’s a basic overview with tips on how to find and pitch to angel i...]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Events [Industry Series: How to Invest in Video Games]( [Industry Series: How to Invest in Video Games]( December 15, 2020 3:00pm–3:45pm EST [According to Newzoo, the global video gaming industry is estimated to be worth $159.3 Billion in revenue in 2020, a sizable increase vs. 2019. Have you considered investing in ...]( [RSVP]( [View details]( [View all events]( Like this newsletter? Forward it to a friend. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Republic]( On Republic anyone can invest in [highly vetted]( early-stage startups Investments can result in total loss and may be impossible to resell. [Learn more »]( Republic · 335 Madison Ave · New York, NY 10017 [Email preferences]( — [Unsubscribe from Republic Insider emails]( 🙋 Republic is growing. We're [hiring across the board »]( This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed; they do not constitute legal, tax, accounting or investment advice. Please notify the sender immediately if you have received this email by mistake, then delete it. Republic.co (the “Site”) is owned by OpenDeal Inc.. 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