1/ I wasn’t going to give the rumors about Pipe air because it’s not in my nature. But they’ve become so outlandish that I feel a duty to protect my team, customers and Pipe from false accusations masquerading as facts made in a now deleted tweet:
2/ The board didn’t “fire us months ago.” To reiterate: as of last week, Josh has taken on the CEO role, and I’m stepping into the Vice Chairman role. Even after we bring on a new CEO, we’re not going anywhere. There’s a very important company being built here.
Aug 26, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This isn’t a partnership announcement, this is a movement 🚨
Excited to announce today that @pipe has become the exclusive provider to @microacquire for acquisition financing.
Here’s the details 1/2/ @microacquire and @pipe share a common goal: to improve outcomes by increasing liquidity, and this is another step in that direction.
Jul 5, 2021 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
I’m banned from entering the US until next year.
Yep, it sucks.
US immigration is broken and we need reform.
I’ve lived and paid taxes in the US for ~7 yrs. I’ve run companies that have directly employed 100’s, and provided contract work to 1000’s of US citizens.
1/
America has afforded me opportunities I would never have had in the UK and for that I’m eternally grateful.
But why is this happening?
I was approved for my third O1 visa in Dec 2020 giving me another 3 years of living and working in the country I’ve come to love so much. 2/
Jun 3, 2021 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
Founders: here’s how to answer the ‘How much are you raising and at what valuation?’ question. 👇
A lot of founders get tripped up over this. Here’s how to answer assertively without *actually* answering the question with specificity…
May 19, 2021 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Today @pipe became the fastest fintech in history to reach a $2B valuation. We’re on a mission to provide every company that has predictable revenues with direct access to capital markets so they can grow on their terms - the way it should be 1/ techcrunch.com/2021/05/19/pip…2/ This isn’t an alternative finance play or a cool new lender- in fact this isn’t lending at all. This is the upending of financial services as we know it and the disruption of a 5000 yr old instrument - debt. Change is here and we’re building the foundation to enable it.
Apr 19, 2021 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
Over the last year I've shared some insights into how I think about company building and the landscape in general. I plan to share much more with people who recently started following me. Here's a recap of some of my thoughts: 1/2/ When fundraising, I think A LOT about cap table construction and to this day I still consider someone's helpfulness to check size ratio when allocating in a round.
Your product defines your brand, your brand shouldn’t define your product.
1/2/ When start your company you have to be maniacally focused on building to solve a very specific problem. This may lead you to think about your startup name in the context of this problem e.g. Stripe could have been called StripePay and it would have made sense back then…
Feb 19, 2021 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Interesting note on $TSLA. Some people aren’t aware of the competitive advantage Tesla have over other OEMs in legally being allowed to sell direct to consumer.
1/2/ Franchise laws dictate that a car must always be sold by a dealership once a franchise relationship has been established. OEMs pushed the cap/opex of distro onto local entrepreneurs for decades. They didn’t realize how important ownership of customer relationship would become.
Jan 24, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
People ask: what’s the difference between @pipe and revenue based financing/MCA?
We make money by giving you the BEST offer because you’ll trade more on our exchange.
They make money by giving you a HIGHER cost because they’re reselling a debt line they have a fixed cost on. 1/2/ Think of a debt line as one big pool of capital from one source that needs a fixed return.
When you take an RBF/MCA deal you’re paying a price that accounts for all the losses from the bad companies too.
@pipe is an exchange, with different investors for different risks.
Jan 7, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
We are hiring for a number of roles @pipe including:
- Head of Sales
- Digital Acquisition Manager
- Chief of Staff
Not as many know how @tewy made his first million and proved his product/marketing genius while waking up a nation of young entrepreneurs like myself to the huge opportunity the internet presented.
It’s probably not what you expect.
Time for a SaaStory👇
Alex Tew grew up much like myself, in a small town in the UK.
After graduating from high school in 2002, he set up a forum that I actually frequented (but had no idea he ran) called Human Beatbox.
He eventually sold the site to a friend of his after growth stagnated.
Dec 30, 2020 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
I just sent the @pipe 2020: Year in Review to our investors.
Some of the people I sent it to backed us when all we had was a deck 14 months ago. They saw our vision and believed in @joshmangel@zallarak and I as a team. For that I am so thankful!
Some highlights 1/
We beat our 2020 sales plan by 2.5x and the original target wasn’t conservative, so huge shoutout to @ashleyacosta75 and team! None of this would be possible though without our incredible prod and eng team who’ve made it mind bogglingly simple to sign up and start using @pipe:
I use Twitter to share as much knowledge as possible - mostly in real time as I learn. All I ask in return is that you read the occasional tweet about what I’m working on. A brief summary of the type of content to expect if you follow me:
I’m pretty vocal about my views on how equity ownership for team members should work at a startup. I haven’t got it all figured out, but I think the way most options are granted sucks. We’ve done our best to change that at Pipe.
When in context and relevant, I’ve often asked non-Jewish people how many Jews they think there are in the world.
No one I’ve ever asked has known the answer, so they guess.
I always give them 3 rough data points:
~7B People in the World
~7M Jews in Israel
~2M Jews in NY
The answers I’ve gotten range from 100M (the lowest I’ve *ever* heard someone guess) to 3B (40% of the world).
The median guess is ~1B.
They’re always shocked to learn that there are in fact only ~14M Jews in the world.
In the UK where I grew up, less than 300,000.
Jul 18, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Starting a curated Tech Talks community on @chalk_app - details to follow soon. Will shoot an invite to all that want one.
Let’s assume your lead/largest investor is going to be motivated to help you win. What’s often underestimated though, is just how uncorrelated check size & helpfulness can be across your cap table... a thread 1/2/ In the past, I’ve taken some large checks early on from funds where our company was a very small bet relative to their AUM. You always have to take this into account as a factor when considering how much someone is likely to contribute to making their investment in you work.
Jun 22, 2020 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
I've noticed a lot of my Jewish friends sit on the sidelines of Black Lives Matter and it makes me uncomfortable as a Jew myself. I want to put things into perspective for members of my tribe real quick.... 1/2/ Protesting/rioting can be a powerful tool when faced with no other realistic option. Jewish history is filled with it:
Maccabean Revolt 167-160 BC
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943
Jewish Revolt Against the British Mandate 1939-1947
...to name just a few.
Jun 16, 2020 • 22 tweets • 8 min read
Was doing some reflecting today on my journey to being 30, building the company of my dreams, with the team of my dreams, in the city of my dreams. Asked myself how the hell I got here having never had a job and dropping out of college 3 months in. Made some notes, here goes...
1/ Age 10, Manchester - Learned how to sell. Parents split, Dad moved to Manchester and worked the markets (not the financial ones). Traveled the country setting up his stall and selling clothing to people of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. He’s still trading to this day.
Dec 20, 2019 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Starting a monthly LA founder/investor poker game. Low stakes, just for fun and networking. DM/reply to get on the list!
Due to crazy demand for the LA founder/investor poker game in my DM's I've set up a quick form for people to register to join!
What if there was a fund that bartered equity in said fund in return for equity in early-stage co's?
Assuming value of the equity in the fund increases, the fund can get into increasingly competitive deals for decreasing equity value in the fund over time...
+ for portfolio co's = aligned community of co's that are incentivized for each other to succeed and: diversification (see Yahoo-Alibaba)
+ for fund = as evergreen as you can get as no LP's and no cash invested (although could raise cash to support follow on investments)...
