Vince Han

We're transforming Aithor into the go-to #multitool and have rolled out 3 new features in A/B testing mode. Here’s what’s new: (1) #Topic Generator – Crafting clear titles for coursework. (2) #Structure & Logic Builder – Creating a table of contents and essay plan. (3) #CoPilot – An AI-driven text creation assistant, suggesting whole paragraphs based on your writing and chosen topic. Big deal. Great plans. We're in the middle of a #repositioning, which is priority-1 right now. We’re moving away from our current positioning to better resonate with our #academic commitment. Sticking with our old vibe was tough; including restrictions from a few platforms. As AI skeptics are watching, any negative publicity makes us a target, since #AI is still viewed with suspicion. We're expanding our toolset to reach a broader audience and be more helpful to the academic community. We’re not focusing just on students & scientists anymore; we're also stepping into marketing and text creation. The core of what we do is to #reduce the time spent on routine tasks and #focus more on generating better ideas. With the new positioning, we're also on the hunt for funds to accelerate our growth, aim higher, and plan our grand exit in 2025. Keep your eyes peeled — I’ll share more about our repositioning soon!

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When people join the team at Valley, I share a Startup Guidebook I created with them. It’s a list of the best resources I’ve found on building a startup over the last several years. Check out the issue and subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/eTqV8fYy

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Health and Wellness is a wave, and integrated care will be (and already is!) the defining characteristic of most winners. Many DTC healthcare companies are putting money into Meta/Google, and getting patients out. Something similar is possible at a Doctor's office, with a significantly lower CAC. Put in resources, get patients out. I think this is a compelling distribution channel for a lot of wellness companies--Pharmacies, Gyms, Nutritionists, Therapists, Longevity etc. Because if you're a healthcare company, chances are the people who you can impact the most (and who may be the most motivated to use your product!) are those at the Doctor's office. Yes it will be non-trivial to set up distribution through clinics... but those nuances are just a barrier to entry for your competitors. The rise of multi-clinic operators makes this extra powerful right now.

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Hot take: Everyone is wrong about doubling profits without extra costs. Here’s a 3-part theory why: 1⃣ Optimize existing resources. 2️⃣ Leverage our specialized Profit Acceleration Software (PAS). 3️⃣ Implement competition-crushing strategies. 💥 Want to know more? Schedule a FREE call and find $100,000 in profits! 📞 +18052327758 📧 demar@jdpconsulting.org #BusinessGrowth #ProfitMaximization #Business Strategist #Business Profit Strategist #Profit Acceleration

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I 💯agree with Oz Merchant on this topic. Some folks advise founders to pitch very selectively and 'pick your pitch' - you get one shot, choose it wisely? I'm 180 degrees opposite of that - be a promiscuous pitcher! - ABP - ALWAYS BE PITCHING. Because your pitch gets better with every no, take that feedback, learn, iterate. Right now it's taking 50-100 no's for Triangle co's to get funding, it's still tough out there, so get through the no's fast to get to a yes. Check out the event - also go see others pitch, it all helps you get better - pitching is like PMF - lots of iteration, tons of grinding to get through to the other side.

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Founders often have this dilemma between Fundraising vs. Selling. Recently, I had an argument with a fellow founder about a classic startup challenge: should founders at the early stages prioritize fundraising or selling? With limited resources -- especially time -- founders often face this difficult decision. Both paths have compelling arguments, yet the stakes couldn't be higher. The Case for Fundraising: Securing funding early can provide the runway to build a team, develop the product, and grow the business without worrying about immediate revenue. It allows founders to focus on scaling instead of being tied to sales cycles. But it is a full-time job, draining energy and time away from understanding customers or refining the product. The Case for Selling: Focusing on sales builds traction, validates the product, and creates early relationships with customers. Revenue from sales can fuel growth without dilution of equity. But it is a grind -- every pitch, follow-up, and negotiation demands a founder’s personal touch, leaving little room for strategic growth. The Balancing Act: There is no one-size-fits-all answer. The right choice depends on the product, market, and founder’s strengths. Fundraising gives you capital, but selling gives you proof. Sometimes, the answer lies in a hybrid approach -- doing enough of both to maintain momentum while adapting based on results. My Take: If a founder is hesitant about where to focus, the best advice I can give is this: SPEND YOUR EFFORTS ON CUSTOMER DISCOVERY AND SELLING FIRST. Nothing speaks louder to investors than traction and a tangible sales pipeline. Understanding your customers, validating your product, and building early momentum through sales is what ultimately attracts funding. Investors invest in proof, not promises. Prioritize what creates that proof. What do you think? How have you approached this decision in your own journey? Let's discuss below! #selling #fundraising #startups #fintech

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What if the number of hours you put in doesn’t actually equate to smarter work? JC Grubbs touches on a crucial issue faced by startup founders: the difference between hustle and genuine productivity. Many entrepreneurs brag about their 60-80 hour workweeks, but could this be a sign of chaos rather than control? It’s time to confront the reality that working harder isn’t necessarily working smarter. Startups demand our attention, yes, but sacrificing life balance isn’t the solution. Grubbs advises founders to track their time and reflect on how they allocate it. Understanding where you spend hours might just reveal the unseen waste affecting your business. Relationships matter too. Are the people in your life genuinely contributing value, or are they just taking? Lastly, here’s a bold challenge: set an alarm after eight hours of work. If you can't pinpoint a task that absolutely needs immediate attention, it’s time to call it a day. Curious where others stand on this topic? Share your thoughts and let’s discuss. https://lnkd.in/eYWkamWJ

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As I look forward to The Care Summit coming up this week, I am thrilled to see more investors and founders focused on the care economy. We like to say that if it keeps your mom or grandma up at night, The Artemis Fund is looking for technology to solve it. The care economy is $64B industry critical to unlocking the prosperity of American families. Founders we are proud to back building solutions to the hair-on-fire problems facing families and businesses include: Joanna Newman McFarland at HopSkipDrive, Abbey Donnell at Work & Mother, Erin Levine at Hello Divorce, Paige Wilson at Naborforce, and Kanan Ajmera at Builders Patch. Keeping us up on a recent evening was an amazing dinner and conversation on innovation solving childcare, senior care, parental care, addiction, and housing. The dinner was hosted by The Artemis Fund and Brex, and included investors and founders from Springbank, SteelSky Ventures, Loeb.nyc, Metrodora Ventures, K. Ventures, American Family Ventures, Watershed Ventures LLC, Park Rangers Capital 🏕️, Ingeborg Investments, Claritas Rx, RubyWell, Gabbi, and Builders Patch. You can read more about our thoughts on the care economy here: https://lnkd.in/eyKhDt9Z If there is a founder innovating in care tech you think we should meet, tag them in the comments! #caretech #careeconomy

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Hold on to your bootstraps, entrepreneurs ✋🏼Your friendly neighborhood Idea Incubator (a.k.a. TRAIN EM) is hatched and ready to launch 🚀 That's right, We are open for business! Feast your eyes on our services page, a buffet of delicious tech goodies🧑🏼‍💻:We're talking sizzling SaaS, GenAI, mobile apps that dodge the crash landing🛬☝🏻, web experiences smoother than silk 🧈and cloud applications that, well, exist in the cloud 🌩️ (shocking, I know). So ditch the ramen diet and let's turn your million-dollar idea into a reality... even if it's just a really good app for identifying pigeons wearing hats.🗿 Reach out today! #OpenForBusiness #NapkinToNextBigThing (Probably not a fidget spinner again, please.)

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🎙️ Exciting insights from SaaS Academy's CEO Johnny Page on the Expertise Economy podcast! Johnny breaks down their two-step approach to helping SaaS founders: 1️⃣ The Discovery Call: Uncovering the founder's "why" and long-term vision 2️⃣ The Strategic Game Plan Session: Creating a 90-day action plan to achieve 12-month goals 🔑 Key focus: Identifying and solving business constraints Want to dive deeper on the secrets of building a successful SaaS business? Check out the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/dju-Be2u #SaaS #BusinessStrategy #SaasAcademy #ExpertiseEconomy #Podcast

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Reality Engagement —— I started PHX Ventures because I want to help founders in Arizona build high-growth software companies that achieve venture scale. I can handle the good, bad, and ugly of company building. I’ve lived it. I can handle losing money. I don’t like it, but I can handle it. I can handle bad news and disappointment. Company building is a roller coaster. I can handle a changing market and new competitors. Market opportunity and market dynamism go hand in hand. I can handle co-founder breakups and key team member departures. It’s not great but it’s fairly normal. I can handle bad quarters and product problems. Stuff happens in startups. What I can’t handle is a lack of engagement with reality. Willful ignorance or disregard for data won’t make your business better. If the math of your business is telling you something is broken then it means something is broken. Let’s just fix it. And let’s fix it right now. Let's at least try. I love optimism. But I love realism even more. Broken things tend not to fix themselves. In my experience, the best founders have the highest engagement with reality. Just tell me what about your current reality is giving you angst. Tell me the problems in the business. Just tell me. Don’t sell me. Tell me. I can handle it. And maybe I can help. #founders #startups #b2b #saas

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One realization we've made at Convoi is if we hear something 50+ times we need to build it for the Utah Startup Community. We've built three things so far, and just about to launch number 4 in a couple of weeks. First, we started Convoi Ventures to bring more capital to the earliest stage of startups. ~2.5 years in, we've backed 40 companies, 2/3 that are pre-revenue and 50% are first-time founders. Second, we started Utah Tech Week to create a grassroots event that will be forever focused on Utah and it's early stage startup community. The first year there was 114 events, and this past January, there were 197 events and 15k attendees. Third, we started a program for early stage founders that we think is going to be the flagship program for early stage founders in Utah. Our alpha program was a big success, and beta this summer will be even better. We'll announce after we're out of beta. :) Fourth, we constantly hear of folks at the largest companies we have in Utah that want to support our early stage startups. We're going to be pretty quiet about this one #IYKYK, but if you're a VP or above at a tech company (public, or Utah based series A/B) company, please DM if you'd like more details. Thank you for letting me interrupt my social media fast for this post. Back in my cave for a couple of months.

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THIS is THE TRUTH my friend! I love it and I can attest to it at this very moment! Hernan, we've had a chance to chat in the past and we are closely united in our thinking! I am 60 years old, and I am about to begin going down this road of sharing what my startup teams are learning especially using AI in many different ways! My team and I will be using video, audio, and text on LinkedIn and X, to demonstrate some lessons we are learning. Working with experts from Tesla/Spacex in AI, with Google Experts in AI and APIs, and having a Microsoft Certified Partner as my senior AI Software Engineer and Partner, will offer considerable expertise, and lessons on growing small pre-revenue startups into powerful teams who can crush established tech! Those stories and concepts surrounding them will become part of our message: What exists today, is fleeting, because next year is already built and being tested now by smart teams around the world in labs and development shops! Thanks for highlighting this sharing concept Hernan Daguerre!

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How to Think About VC _______ I stumbled upon this podcast by Heidi Roizen of Threshold Ventures. It’s a great primer for founders who aren’t familiar with how VC works. Here are three things from this episode that I wish every founder who pitched PHX Ventures knew: 1. "Venture capital is a hits business – and in order to attract VC money, your startup needs to have the potential to be that hit. That usually means not only are you addressing a large market, but you have a credible and compelling plan to dominate that market." 2. "It turns out that the VC model is not a good fit for the vast majority of startups – and in fact, more than 99% of US startups build their businesses without VC money." 3. "It’s only a good deal – for both the VCs and the entrepreneurs – if the money invested is used to capture and hopefully dominate a large market. And it’s usually some type of business that wouldn't have been able to do so without the venture capital."

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💰🎓VALUATION CAP💰🎓 Setting a valuation cap in fundraising is crucial as it limits the maximum valuation at which a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) converts to equity. This helps founders manage equity dilution and provides investors with a clear understanding of their potential ownership percentage, ensuring informed decision-making during fundraising rounds. Source: Peter Walker Great post! #valuationcap #investors #founders #raisingcapital #safes #fundraising #womenshealth #femhealth #medtech

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Next one up, Flagler Health! In an attempt to demystify some of the non-obvious elements we found when we first met the founders of our fastest growing portfolio companies at 186 Ventures, here is the third edition of the "idiosyncratic phenomenon". This highlight will be on Albert Katz, Leon Anijar, and Will Hu and their journey building Flagler Health to bring unprecedented AI enabled patient care to the world of musculoskeletal (MsK) providers. As the healthcare industry shifts to a value based care paradigm, there will be increased pressure on the entire industry to ensure patient outcomes improve, all the while helping providers generate more revenue / become more cost efficient. Since we co-led their March, 2024 seed round with Streamlined, the company has rolled out some of their newest remote therapeutic and chronic condition management features to many patients and providers alike, experiencing high revenue growth in such a short period of time. The company continues to face unmet customer demand as it continues to scale its expansion into 2025. https://lnkd.in/exesTcmC

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21 Ways to Kill Your Company Day 9: Poor Fundraising Strategy This means two things - be realistic about the benchmarks you need to unlock your next raise and then raise enough money to hit those milestones. Be great (and realistic) with financial planning. Don't forget those extra five months you typically need to raise. #21waystokillyourcompany #fundraising #venturecapital

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LAST CALL for this week's angel investing stuff 💸 (Psssttt... not sure if you're an angel investor, or even what it is.... COME HERE!)🙋‍♀️ We're having a fun session TOMORROW with Katie Dunn and Alexandra Satine to chat about what it's like to be an angel investor. If you've been curious about it, but haven't taken the step, this is perfect for you! 🙋‍♀️ 🗨 Link in the comments AND, Wednesday is the last day of our early bird pricing for angel group/angel investing course for women. It's an 8-session live course, run by amazing partner-level VCs (and recorded in case you have to miss a session or want to review), and takes a deep dive into some of the important skills and knowledge sets involved in angel investing. 🙋‍♀️ 🗨 Link in the comments

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Mental health founders and operators ‼️ Have your say on what you've seen in the trenches in 2024. The Hemingway Report "State of the Mental Health Industry Survey" is open for just 5 more days. You can complete the short survey here > https://lnkd.in/g87wRGXm Insights will be shared in an upcoming report and thanks to everyone who's contribute so far :) #MentalHealth #BehavioralHealth

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