Paul Griffiths Profile picture
Ex-operator, 8-figure exit to public co. Now PhD student researching NFTs, investor, bon-vivant, really proud of you, “Your favorite internet micro celebrity.”
Potato Of Reason Profile picture 1 subscribed
Dec 1, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
SBF, gives cringe worthy interviews that will get replayed for the jury when he goes to prison

Kayne: hold my beer

Or here, where he interrupts Alex Jones to correct him on how not all Nazis were bad
Nov 17, 2022 10 tweets 4 min read
My advice for students considering a career in startups, venture capital or private equity/investment banking:

notes from a recent talk, now a 🧵 MY (BACK) STORY
· Ran a startup for 18 years
· Took Private Equity $ after bootstrapping for a decade
· Started a private family office investing in VC firms
· Helped a company raise pre-seed round in '22
Nov 8, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
Massive implications here - FTX has liquidity issues with its native token; Binance is a massive shareholder in the token

Binance withdrawls, given their position, would have created/worsened liquidity issues

Alameda, the trading company, owns $14B, $8B of which are in FTT ... FTX invented a coin, sold it to Alameda, & Alameda held it as assets on its balance sheet

This kind of alt-coin sleight of hand often leads to rug-pulls (okay, nearly always)

The FTX exchange gives discounts, etc. to FTT holders; Binance has analogous offers for BNB holders /2
Oct 25, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
Adidas to End Kanye West Ye Partnership👟

For Adidas, was “one of the most successful collaborations in our industry’s history.”

Given they had no morality clause, this may be a leak to test Ye’s legal response over wkd, but 👏it had to be done. bloomberg.com/news/articles/… $1.5B of his $1.8B net worth is from the Adidas partnership & it ran until 2026. Assume a break up settlement worth $$$ so Ye may short term gain unless Adidas believes he’s so erratic/unlikeable they roll the dice. (West had previously said he’d drop Adidas to go it alone.)
Aug 25, 2022 12 tweets 2 min read
🔮Predictions for Series A funding criteria come 2023: if you’re thinking of raising next year, this 🧵 is for you

In talking to a number of founders & VCs this month, I am seeing three themes emerge about what it will take to get a successful Series A raise done next year… 1/ BACKGROUND

Venture capital funding ground to a halt in May when the public stock of VC darlings dropped 80-90%.

This especially impacted Series A deals where valuation is often driven by comparable valuations of public co’s but the biz is still cash flow negative.
Aug 25, 2022 15 tweets 4 min read
Furious about the student loan double talk here

College as a ticket to the middle class has been a bipartisan pitch for 50 years, a 🧵

What most every hot take is getting wrong abt student loan debt: 1/ The dept of education *owns* these loans b/c the private market was too inefficient to provide them.

In 1972, Sallie Mae was created as a way for the fed gov't to make loans via banks, who in theory knew the business side better. Banks made $$, US taxpayer took the risk.
Jul 11, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
Twitter is a free medical degree🩺

If you know where to look🔎

But 98% of surgeons are doing it all wrong✖️

I've read <hundreds> of tweets, let me save u time⏲️

Here's the top 5 ways u can save BIG on your next hospital bill *at home*🧵👇💉 And now you know!
Jul 9, 2022 6 tweets 3 min read
363 days ago, I ordered this song from @fiverr

Here is my 10k Followers video❤️🙏 This the final entry in a series over 1 year old I've been working on with @raymmusic

Here's the original:
Jul 9, 2022 10 tweets 4 min read
A comedian was critiquing David Chappelle, pointing out he was no longer 'hip' but 'square.'

That is, he had aged into conservatism the way Bob Hope had. (Hope's reputation had tarnished by his death at 100).

I see this 'squareness' in venture capital too, a 🧵 1/ The idea of 'hip' comedian is a young comedian, who speaks truth to power.

Early VCs were 'hip' because the trad model of funding biz off free-cash flow didn't make sense for emerging tech (or later biotech).

salon.thefamily.co/low-risk-high-…
Jun 4, 2022 21 tweets 6 min read
Deep dive into Bolt Financial financials ⚡️💰🧵

Money raised, money spent, implication of loans 👇 0/ @erinkwoo wrote an excellent piece on Bolt's (ahem) unfastening 🥁& it moved me to do deep dive on the biz fundamentals

theinformation.com/articles/bolt-…
Jun 4, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
Bolt spent $20m / month to generate $2.4m in revenue & the former CEO was on this bird app giving bidness tips & visionary vibes, smh I'm going down the rabbit hole of what the french happened with this valuation, loans, & rev projections - it's madness

More forthcoming
May 17, 2022 5 tweets 3 min read
Per @PalmerLuckey @anduriltech : “the defense industry in the US is broken, there is better AI in John Deere tractors than in any US military vehicle.”

“Those who build tech for military can’t build adv software. Those who build adv software won’t for military.”
#allinsummit His thesis is Silicon Valley cares more about “mattress unicorns” than useful military solutions do to their political beliefs. Despite the fact that SV was built on military $.

“Most SV engineers don’t remember any great (military) power competition (among nations).”
May 16, 2022 8 tweets 4 min read
The #allinsummit Day 1 recap a 🧵

QOTD: “When you’re the CEO of a company the chore level is very high. I hate doing chores.” @elonmusk /1 Best presentation:
how to make entrepreneurs by @MarHershenson from @pearvc

Well researched, actionable, visually pleasing, and optimistic.
May 16, 2022 26 tweets 10 min read
Watching @elonmusk beam in to #allinsummit discussing if Twitter users are 5% “or 50%” bots & advocating for open sourcing the algorithm

“I’m a moderate… It’s not a right wing takeover, it’s a moderate takeover.” “The Democratic Party is over controlled by the unions… which is just another form of a monopoly and trial lawyers…

On the Republican side (the evil) is from corporate and religious zealotry.”
May 11, 2022 16 tweets 3 min read
How to woo an LP
or, advice on what to say / not say in fundraising

a 🧵for GPs & Founders 0/ I just listened to 30+ fund managers pitch today.

I can remember about 3 of them.

You want to be top 10% & stand out?

Some free form advice between meetings 👇
Apr 20, 2022 12 tweets 5 min read
Many ppl have asked, so what makes a GOOD pitch deck? I wrote one.

Here's the step-by-step structure I teach MBA students on making a 5 min or less business pitch to execs, a semi-helpful🧵& brazen attempt to further cash in on my 15min of fame 0/ Background:

I critiqued a terrible pitch deck yesterday & it went viral. But folks asked for something good in comparison.

Today, I'll provide you with the 5+1 components of a great pitch.
Apr 19, 2022 18 tweets 6 min read
Jared Kushner's VC pitch deck is 100% mid & as afwul as you'd expect, a 🧵critique from an LP of Affinity Partners PPT Background: Jared Kushner, the walking equiv of the Dunning-Kruger effect, is fund-raising for his $2B VC firm which is bankrolled by Saudi Prince MBS.

This deck is fairly awful. Let's discuss.
theintercept.com/2022/04/18/sau…
Apr 17, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
⏲️How many times has a friend or loved one given you totally worthless advice? Far. Too. Often.

Why not bring your problem to a panel of "experts" who will attempt to tell you THE WORST solution to your conundrum? TERRIBLE LIFE ADVICE is a game show where panelists compete to provide really, really awful advice to semi-serious problems. As a contestant, YOU can come with a problem the panelists will debate.

The best part? YOU decide THE WORST advice and which panelist wins the round.
Apr 16, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
Introducing, Terrible Life Advice: the game show!

twitter.com/i/spaces/1lDxL… Do you have a big life event you need advice for? Tired of people trying to give you advice?

Terrible Life Advice is for you!
Apr 6, 2022 13 tweets 3 min read
👀Why are Venture Capitalists addicted to SaaS Businesses?

Or, why do VCs invest in 100x ARR biz - a rant🧵 1/ Background

Recently, there's been a few SaaS companies (🏁,🔩) whose financials have seemed🙃

But why do investors fund them first place? It has everything to do with the "power law" and needing outsized returns to the fund.

VCs need 10x-ers b/c most investments go to $0
Feb 8, 2022 23 tweets 8 min read
Heather Morgan & Ilya Lichtenstein were arrested by DOJ today for embezzling 120,000 Bitcoins, or $3.6B in BTC/USD

Forget the crypto heist, I want to talk abt Heather's rap ego Razzlekhan, & video “Versace Bedouin”

This video is epically terrible. Let's go 👇 Per YouTube description:
We wanted this video to give people a taste of what it’s like to have synesthesia, so it kind of feels like an LSD acid trip, and has a bit of the “burning man vibe.”

We open on Heather, on the mean streets of NYC