Call with Tarik Feb 8

How did you started?

In 2014, living in SF. Working on my own startup. Started chatting about bitcoin and got into it and made good money.

To educate myself I created crypto counsel (a community, invite only. Got to 200+ ppl)

Started get close to projects and teams and we would invest a bit and help projects out to protect our own investment.Then we took projects on the road to raise capital

2018 market imploded and I created mysfit

I asked myself, what do i really enjoy doing? => Working with startups

created curriculum for web3 startups and now we take them through these bullet points on what to do to raise capital

Team

Infrastructure

brand/story

Data room

By the end they have their pitched, data room, and then intro to my VC network (DragonFly, A16Z, etc.) and then the market makers

Biz model and why?

Our model has shifted. We started investing capital but lately we invest more sweat equity, not capital. No capital investment anymore but before 50k-250k (of my own money).

We make sure they get their data room right and help raise FF round and pre-seed

Hands on acceleration

Our thesis is massa adoption, so consumer companies, web3 dapps

Last projects was rainmaker games. Dec 2021 raised 20+ mill

We worked with them since they were just an idea: netflix for web3 gaming but pivoted to web3 infrastructure (allow web3 games to challenge each other).

We work with music, fintech, gaming. We dont work with DAOs or NFT art because we don't know enough about them.

White glove vs cohort?

We do whiteglove and it's somewhat selective.

It's hard to let go of these teams so we don't do cohort model.

One team we brought in was mid 2021, and still hasn't launched (we convinced them not to). I got 6 blockchains to invest in them. 2 cofounders came and went. They're always looking for a support system

I've had teams come that said that Outlier didn't even care and they wanted to sign us. Because they have cohort model, it's a numbers game.

Instead, I have a personal relationship with every founder that I work with and I'll fight for them.

So no cohort but I've learnt my lesson: 3 month sprint and then level of support comes down. Otherwise you drain yourself.

After 3 months no longer scheduled by-weekly calls. If they're not in a  good place then, something is wrong.

I take in about 3 a quarter. Right now we have 12 teams that have not yet launched. Each a different stage: some have closed rounds others have not (what makes the difference is how hard the founder is going to grind).

With 12 projects we're kind of full.

At our hight we had 15ppl working here. Now we're 4. In the bull was crazy and now I have time and we can take things a lot slower.

Advise

I wouldn't do this and be very capital intensive because of the risk of working with so early stage companies

Put together your curriculum so you don't get lost

Pitches

Sentiment

Scale and GTM

Who're the mentors. Who's our network?

Put the database together

4 people now

End of the it kind of it all weights on me

I have a head of venture who handholds the startups

Marketing strategy, connect to 3rd party suppliers, etc

I have an assistant

Research and outreach

Tips for sourcing founders?

Our dealflow really comes from our connections. Other entrepreneurs I worked with

I say to prospects:

"Here's the curriculum. I'm not going to convince you, I'm going to connect you to a couple startups we worked with and they'll tell you about their experience"

Call with Tarik Feb 8

How did you started?

In 2014, living in SF. Working on my own startup. Started chatting about bitcoin and got into it and made good money.

To educate myself I created crypto counsel (a community, invite only. Got to 200+ ppl)

Started get close to projects and teams and we would invest a bit and help projects out to protect our own investment.Then we took projects on the road to raise capital

2018 market imploded and I created mysfit

I asked myself, what do i really enjoy doing? => Working with startups

created curriculum for web3 startups and now we take them through these bullet points on what to do to raise capital

Team

Infrastructure

brand/story

Data room

By the end they have their pitched, data room, and then intro to my VC network (DragonFly, A16Z, etc.) and then the market makers

Biz model and why?

Our model has shifted. We started investing capital but lately we invest more sweat equity, not capital. No capital investment anymore but before 50k-250k (of my own money).

We make sure they get their data room right and help raise FF round and pre-seed

Hands on acceleration

Our thesis is massa adoption, so consumer companies, web3 dapps

Last projects was rainmaker games. Dec 2021 raised 20+ mill

We worked with them since they were just an idea: netflix for web3 gaming but pivoted to web3 infrastructure (allow web3 games to challenge each other).

We work with music, fintech, gaming. We dont work with DAOs or NFT art because we don't know enough about them.

White glove vs cohort?

We do whiteglove and it's somewhat selective.

It's hard to let go of these teams so we don't do cohort model.

One team we brought in was mid 2021, and still hasn't launched (we convinced them not to). I got 6 blockchains to invest in them. 2 cofounders came and went. They're always looking for a support system

I've had teams come that said that Outlier didn't even care and they wanted to sign us. Because they have cohort model, it's a numbers game.

Instead, I have a personal relationship with every founder that I work with and I'll fight for them.

So no cohort but I've learnt my lesson: 3 month sprint and then level of support comes down. Otherwise you drain yourself.

After 3 months no longer scheduled by-weekly calls. If they're not in a  good place then, something is wrong.

I take in about 3 a quarter. Right now we have 12 teams that have not yet launched. Each a different stage: some have closed rounds others have not (what makes the difference is how hard the founder is going to grind).

With 12 projects we're kind of full.

At our hight we had 15ppl working here. Now we're 4. In the bull was crazy and now I have time and we can take things a lot slower.

Advise

I wouldn't do this and be very capital intensive because of the risk of working with so early stage companies

Put together your curriculum so you don't get lost

Pitches

Sentiment

Scale and GTM

Who're the mentors. Who's our network?

Put the database together

4 people now

End of the it kind of it all weights on me

I have a head of venture who handholds the startups

Marketing strategy, connect to 3rd party suppliers, etc

I have an assistant

Research and outreach

Tips for sourcing founders?

Our dealflow really comes from our connections. Other entrepreneurs I worked with

I say to prospects:

"Here's the curriculum. I'm not going to convince you, I'm going to connect you to a couple startups we worked with and they'll tell you about their experience"