HeyJaredMy Unicorn Club - The Startup Newsletter
Simplifying fundraising for early stage startup founders from a VC POV. Check out thevclens.com
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
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- Sep 2, 2026
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- Jul 3, 2026
Latest issues
How Much Equity Should You Give Away at early stage? (opens the original)
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Founders ask me one question more than any other before a raise.“How much equity should I give up?”Wrong question.The right one👇How much ownership do you need to protect between now and your next raise?Here’s the framework to arrive at that numberBefore I begin. I need a little help. Could you let me in on 1 small piece of info?What’s In This EditionWhy “what’s my valuation” is the wrong starting questionThe only formula that decides
How to set early stage startup valuation? (opens the original)
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Wrapped my first-ever LinkedIn Live & 117 attendees showed up!!!S*hit just got real!!!... heheheheFor those who don’t know me... I’m an ex- VC & have been simplifying fundraising for first-time founders on LinkedIn for over 1.5 years now.In this time:◾Grew followers from 1k to 17k (Slow & steady guys😁)◾Grew my Substack to 3k Subs and 60 paid subs🤑◾Launched <a href="https://w
15 VC Funds You Need to Know (2026) (opens the original)
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Before we get into today’s list, here’s a quick primer on why it matters.VCs don’t invest their own money. They raise it from LPs (Limited Partners), who are usually high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) who park their capital with a fund that specializes in backing startups. The VC then deploys that money into startups, and once those startups exit, the returns flow back to the LPs, minus a cut for the fund. How does it matter to you?A VC that just closed a new fund behaves a lot like a startup tha
Elorian raised $55M pre product - Here's what's relavant for you from their story (opens the original)
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In January 2026, Andrew Dai left Google DeepMind after 14 years.He had no product. No revenue. No customers.By April, his company — Elorian AI — had raised $55 million at a $300 million valuation.The investors included Menlo Ventures, Altimeter, Striker Ventures, NVIDIA, and Jeff Dean — one of the most respected AI researchers alive.He also turned down offers that would have given him a higher valuation and more money.This edition breaks down their logic and doesn’t just explain what Andrew did,
The 47-Tab Problem: Why Founders Research Everything and Pitch Nobody (opens the original)
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You know the feeling.12 VC websites. 6 Crunchbase deep dives. 17 LinkedIn profiles cross-referenced against portfolio pages that haven’t been updated since 2022.Hours in. Zero emails sent.This is not a productivity problem but an information problem.Before a founder sends a single outreach, they’re trying to answer five questions — and none of them have a clean, obvious answer:Do they actually invest at my stage?Have they written a check at my size before?Do they lead rounds, or do they follow s
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