Red Bike Capital

New York still has an underdog mentality in VC and Tech- but has so much to offer, and has grown leaps and bounds since I started as a founder in 2014. Love how even Office of Mayor-Elect Eric Adams has a bit of a chip on his shoulder- we all want to prove this is the best city in the world. Kevin Ryan did a great job interviewing Mayor Eric Adams at the New York Tech Town Hall covering a broad range of topics from AI in schools, to housing affordability and safety for tech workers, to the migrant crisis, to the radicalization of youth, to the Mayor's enemy #1 (rats!). Some key thoughts for tech/VC: => Challenge with government is they make key decisions for the tech community, yet few have experience in business, tech or VC => NY is the best city for Tech-our diversity is our secret weapon- different backgrounds, different industry experiences, different perspectives will help solve large global problems => NYC is #1 City for new college grads and young tech professionals (ahead of SF) but need to keep it affordable and safe, and importantly, keep on building the ecosystem so top tech workers feel they can build their careers here => Excitement for #AI- innovation will not wait for your comfort but there is little expertise in government. Opportunity for tech leaders to create a turnkey plan and present to the Mayor The question I did not get to ask (as a proud mom of 2 NYC public school students) was about how Specialized Schools and G&T Programs are being supported by the Mayor. I firmly believe that if we want to support the next generation of tech workers, we need to prioritize teaching STEM and advanced math in our schools. I was a big fan of the last time we had an entrepreneur as mayor- just saying Kevin Ryan 😉 Tanya Beja Desiree Almodovar Thomas Mallak Elana Berkowitz Skylar Dorosin Brinda Ganguly  Andrea Turner Moffitt New York City Office of Technology & Innovation Kathryn S. Wylde Partnership for New York City Tech:NYC

The Lead Summit brings together the sharpest minds in commerce and feels like a family reunion (Sam Wils). Key learnings: Trends in VC Investments in Retail Technology Scott Friend Bain Capital Partners Will Decker: * Market is extremely tough- no traction = no raise. Great time to be an early stage founder, by the time you are ready to scale the market will be different- put your head down & build. For co's later stage there are fewer growth deals- best companies are not raising capital in a bad market but at some point will have to * Ecommerce enablement still has great investment opportunities such as retail media and ESG (specially for consumer apparel) * AI is a robust tech enabler (like mobile and cloud were)- bigger, faster more interesting applications that you could not do before. -> "Easy and tactical" AI opps - internal tech and customer support, external customer service -> "Harder/ strategic"- higher value- existing processes with disparate data sources- eg duty and tariffs, a merchandising co pilot- use pricing markdowns allocations, marketing spend optimization with new techniques Innovation Priorities for Leading Brands Noam Paransky Stacey Shulman * Enterprise co's challenges around innovation: How do you bring ideas to life? With speed and at scale. Idea management (groups over fight which idea get tested) vs Cool kid club (separate labs) both have challenges * Launch is a milestone but not the destination- need to keep velocity Navigating the Risks and Challenges of Using AI Models Deborah Weinswig 韋葆蘭 * Great perspective on the challenges of AI for large retail companies. Lots of excitement and potential but also proceeding with caution * Large models are scary for enterprise- fear of data leaks, liabilities, etc Effective Innovation Pipeline to Keep up with the Competition Sallie Jian, Pano Anthos Matthew Mueller * Value of relationships- those are the most effective- even if it’s slow. The key to enterprise sales is: 1) Have a real problem to solve, 2) propose a change to solve it 3) the acceptance piece- relationships are key * Make sure you're building something people want. Solutions need to be: 1) high impact 2) high ROI and 3) low lift * You can’t educate a corporate- you don’t have enough money and time to convince them to solve what you’re fixing so if they don't get it, move on either to other teams within the corporation or other companies Always a pleasure to hang out with the impressive PortCo founder Kait Stephens. Great to see old friends and new IRL Drew Marconi Henry Davis William Thayer Trevor Sumner Sophie Frères (née Spethmann) Oren Paran Nick Reasner David Polinchock Michael Nogen Doug Weich Pano Anthos Sallie Jian Deborah Weinswig 韋葆蘭 Nate Rosen Dipti Desai Andrew Forman Sarah Davidson Joshua Rockoff Lindsay Lightman Sourabh Sharma Vlad Malanin AJAY BAM Adi Ronen Dara Golush Jacquelyn De Jesu Center Avani Oswal Tiffany Johnson Derric Haynie Jon Gettinger Mo (Mohamad) Afshar

I love Josh Wolfe's phrase: "Chips on shoulders put chips in pockets" and my friend Edrizio De La Cruz is the embodiment of this- somebody that is truly relentless against adversity- his journey from Dominican Republic, to the South Bronx, to JFK airplane mechanic, to The Wharton School, to Wall Street, to Y Combinator founder and partner, to selling his startup to Mastercard, is epic. I was thrilled to interview Edrizio last night for SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity) about his book "The Underdog Founder: How to Go From Unseen to Unstoppable". The book is raw and honest ("eating glass" is the phrase that comes to mind), but also tactical, talking about business models, finding your fuel and the algebra of success: * Excellence first- you have to build something amazing that people want * Find Your Fuel * Be the Chief * Think about risks (so your investors don't have to) * Get in the Right Room * Find mentors who've actually built something (not just give advice) * Hone Your Market Fit and be "Psychotically Competitive" * Nail One Thing at a Time * Cultivate Grit * Get Sh*t Done In summary: -Every startup is an odyssey (think Star Wars). -The right mentor is the difference between life and death 🙏 Michael Seibel. -Most people don't know what excellence looks like- and they don't have access. If you're a founder wondering if there's anyone else who's gone through all sorts of crazy stuff to get to where they are- this book is for you. (Link in comments) Red Bike Capital Herman Goihman Thank you Daree L. Noelia Martínez Sanz

If you're a fund that anchors itself on being value-added to founders, you're only as good as your reputation. I was so flattered when I read this quote in the Forum Ventures "List of the top NYC Founder-First Investors" (link in comments) I am thankful for this recognition and for the great founders we get to support. Once a founder, always a founder. I have a real empathy and appreciation that I get to be part of their journey. Honored to be alongside some other rockstar investors: Shashi Srikantan from Level Up Ventures, Iynna Halilou from The MBA Fund, Nick Adams from Differential Ventures,Lisa Burton O'Toole, PhD - Hearst Lab, Richard Odior - Zeal Capital Partners, Alex Hornick - Purple Sage Ventures, Lauren Reeves - MGV,  Ashley Ryder - Vamos Ventures, Jeremy Kagan - Textbook Ventures, Jesse Middleton - Flybridge Capital Partners, Stephan Cizmar - Lorimer Ventures,  Jeffrey Silverman - Laconia Capital Group, Vivin Hegde - Zacua Ventures, Owen Willis - Opal Ventures,Moshe Bellows - Macabee Ventures, Wyeth Coulter - Point72 Ventures, Claire Goldsmith - BoxGroup, Eric Ong - Lightbank, Adam G. - 640 Oxford Ventures, Ilan Abehassera - Origins Ventures, Jay Estefani C. - MXV Ventures, Megan Ruan - GoldHouse Ventures, Charles Hudson - Precursor Ventures, Jenny Fielding - Everywhere Ventures 🙏 Kait Stephens Paulina Szegda PS: Herman Goihman may not be named but he hustles just as much for our Red Bike Capital founders :)

PEF (aka Post-Exit-Founders) is one of my favorite communities. The caliber and thoughtfulness of each member is A . We share a bond of the blood, sweat and tears to build a business, but also an appreciation. Who doesn't love a "Summer Morning Party"? Today's event was extra special since the man himself, Barak Kaufman was in NYC. Great conversation with Simon Chan - Motivations for starting a community for post-exit founders- from figuring taxes to existential questions on what is next, we all face similar challenges - Why he doesn't like investing- saying no 95% of time retrain brain to see what can go wrong (I do love investing but completely understand these challenges) -The post-exit founder journey: 1* Sell company 2* Rest and vest at the acquirer 3* 1-2 yrs detox 4* Clarity and challenges to start something else: you start killing ideas one by one, all while you're itching to build Very thankful for this crew! Monika Kochhar Clifford Lerner Navya Singh, Psy.D. William Wolf Jeff Frommer Red Bike Capital Herman Goihman

I met Nik Sharma the week he moved to NYC about 7 years ago (he was always a marketing rockstar). Add Mimi Ghosh Bank of America (master connector) to the party, and it's going to be a great night. Lovely dinner talking beauty, private equity and startup growth with some amazing founders. What we discussed: -> Journey is incredibly hard and resilience is the name of the game- white spaces and innovation are always an opportunity -> Multiples are compressed and exit opportunities continue to be challenging- there is a disconnect between founder expectations and where the market is today -> Omni-channel is the name of the game, but retail requires vastly different skills- velocity is the new currency. Also interesting to see focus on new digital distribution channels and how to manage them (Faire digital agencies) -> Not all paid growth channels are fully attributable- but it doesn't mean they don't drive significant sales and feed the flywheel -> This is a relationship business - the best advice to folks entering banking and VC/PE is to be real, be a whole person- get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Especially for those who were in school during COVID- remember there is no alternative to IRL - AI can’t compete Tara Tersigni Daniel Hodgdon Emily Doyle Rebecca Allen Ryan Babenzien Rebecca Zhou Red Bike Capital Herman Goihman

I have a love/hate relationship with NY TechWeek. It feels busy, a distraction. But, there's something magical about having fellow VCs, Founders and Friends in one room. I'll take it- in small doses :) Some highlights and learnings: 1)Raising in 2024: A Founder, A Lawyer and A VC Panel David Silverstein Jack Sousa Kevin Siskar Reid Hamilton & yours truly. Thank you Renee Nalbandyan for coming! -A conversation on cap tables (SAFEs ⬆️ vs Priced Rounds), investors are asking for more structure (but liq pref has calmed down from the worst) -Recent shifts in valuations (spoiler, it's hard- graduation rates into A-Rounds are brutal) -How to stand out: Know your numbers, consistent communication to potential investors, ABC (Always Be Closing) 2)State of AI with Andrew Chen Andreessen Horowitz & Ian Goldstein -On AI opportunity: There will be 10-12 but core foundational models, but will hit a consolidation point. Next S-curve will be on top of it- founders will build deep verticalized products- some will question value of "GPT-wrappers" but see power of personalization, service, gtm motions -On regulation: Folks were surprised how tech got this powerful - and felt they were behind on regulation for social, so with AI feel want to get ahead but it’s still too early. If you’re big tech, regulation can actually help because creates a moat since small tech doesn’t have the resources. We need to keep American competitive advantage -Very hard to create your own waves, can spend billions a year to make something “a thing. AI novelty effect: AI companies now can onboard 1000s of users but then what? Stickiness is key. Enterprise motion or consumer- want to use a product because others use it 3)PEF lunch: continue to be blown away by the quality of the community of Post Exit Founder Group (PEF) Simon Chan Daniel Yuabov Barak Kaufman 4)AI Traiblazers Building AI Startups from Scratch: Vivek Vaidya and Amit Shah -Unit cost of production has gone down significantly with AI. You can keep output the same & reduce costs/employees OR expand output and keep team. Reality is how many have fired engineers because of AI? 0 -People are moving from POC to production- from science of AI to engineering of AI. Lots of unknowns eg, no one actually knows cost of compute -Time horizon is better in 6 months than decades- changing too fast 5)Marketing Drivers: Harnessing the Power of AI Cheryl Guerin Jean-Paul Jansen Jonathan Halvorson, MBA Marisa Thalberg Sophie Kelly Suzanne Vranica, -Already creating ads with AI (eg. Dog Food ads featuring dogs that are up for adoption, geo-targeted. Personalized birthday songs) -How does enterprise pick AI partners: You have to assess will win in the long run, who do you trust and who will you work magic with? 6)A Breezin' for NYC #Tech Week Happy Hour Jenny Fielding Nihal Mehta Cat Middleton Tej Bhatia Jenny Friedman Steven Rosenblatt Shai Goldman Galina Ozgur Crystelle Desnoyer Rick Zullo Mike MacCombie Herman Goihman Red Bike Capital

The Family Business and Family Office Summit at Morgan Stanley yesterday was so thoughtful and enlightening. The agenda was broad yet incredibly relevant to Family Offices and investors. Some key themes: => Cybersecurity - mafia style security is a new reality (monthly fee to be safe after you paid ransom for attack) and AI will only increase it. FO must protect themselves huge investment opportunity Rachel Wilson => Legacy- insights on navigating family relationships and defining a legacy, as well as discussing investment strategies and NextGen-focused governance. family. Loved the detailed throughs on the “benevolent dictator” leadership role in a family Kamil Homsi, Abbas Hashmi ABFP® Valerie Wong Fountain, CFA and Yaniv Eisen => Morgan Stanley expanding services - secondaries, providing liquidity to companies staying private longer Elizabeth Dennis Nate Bishop Jeffrey Urban => Security and geopolitical risk- current wars are going to take longer that we hope- we have shifted from benign globalization to power competition Jason Joannou Vance Serchuk => PE- repricing, waiting for interest rates - slower deals- market is better Steven Nelson William Susman Justin Gans => Serial entrepreneurs and their view on innovation. Ai is not going to be the core business for most - it is a function of your business Jim McCann Sasha Bernier VISHAL GOENKA Yassamin Issapour => Seeding VC- investor entrepreneurs that are setting up their business while derisking investment Jason Howard Don Rogers Melanie Platt => Future of banking - the regulation has such an impact in the shape of banks- higher and higher levels of capital Bob Diamond => AI/Future of work- AI is like investing in the internet - every company will be touched by it. Optimist take when people have time back they make better decisions- better world -Soraya Darabi => My favorite part were the nuggets of personal wisdom throughout the day: - Living life in crescendo- opportunities to do new things vs descendo- Jim Mccann - Authenticity and differentiation is key for business- every time you are not authentic you are wasting your energy and skill. How do you build trust? You deliver again and again and again - Carla Harris -Family discussions- specially next gen are supremely difficult- build systems to build values Kamil Homsi -Number one rule is culture- how do people behave when you’re not told what to do. Work with people you admire and trust- @Bob Diamond -What am I learning, what am I teaching and what do I want to learn next? Big thank you to Kevin Entwistle, CFA, CFP®, CEPA®, CRPC® and Kathleen Entwistle, CFP®, CDFA® for organizing this insightful summit. Lovely to see so many friends and meet great new people Liz Elting Matthew Weinberg Marianna Kouka Giacomo Hopf Preziosi Katya Kohen R. Adam Smith Lulu Ge Michael Nogen Simran Kang Christine Cai, FRM , Agnes Tan, CFA, Gigi Lee Chang Jamie M. Jessie Lam and more Red Bike Capital Herman Goihman #familyoffices

On Bloomberg Intelligence with Paul Sweeney and Alix Steel talking consumer spending, retail and commerce, Macy's and Target Q1 24 results. => What is going on with consumer spend? -Consumers are feeling the pinch and scaling back, so retailers are reacting. Target announced yesterday that it is lowering prices in 5000 items across stores (includes basic staples like milk and eggs). On the one hand, will spur topline sales, on the other, margins will suffer- retail will still be a challenging segment to invest. -Americans are still spending but they’re getting more selective and are also more likely to wait for sales. Retailers are also seeing higher delinquency rates in their credit card businesses and shrinkage continues to be a challenge (At Target less theft because more stuff is locked behind glass doors, but hard to shop and added staff costs). => What is the future of retail and malls? -Smaller footprints (Macys closing 150 and focusing on 350 doors) with a "K shaped" recovery - the higher end that has real estate and stocks doing OK (see positive results for Bloomingdale's Bluemercury) while lower end consumers are struggling with stubborn inflation. -Higher income customers are focusing on their interests and passions- going to high-end malls specialty stores, while customers in the lower tier are starting to make choices increasingly with rent and family obligations in mind. => Where will tech and innovation enable growth? - AI being deployed across inventory optimization, improvement of conversion rates, better consumer intelligence- need tech that can drive topline growth while optimizing margin. Red Bike Capital Claire Obusan Mark Siniscalchi  (link to segment in the comments)

It's not often you share the stage with someone you just met but who's so aligned with your thinking- and it makes for a great conversation. Sam Li of Thoropass and I talked about the B2B SAAS Founders Journey- it was honest, deep and I hope, useful. Thank you Supermomos Edwina Yeo 杨时恩 & Capchase Ian Garrett for a great night. Some great quotes from the evening (courtesy of Ashley Griver): "Founders need to sell. Both to customers and to early employees. Why would you leave Google to join an early start-up? If you as a Founder can't sell something, don't expect to hire someone who can do a better job than you" "Be brutally honest about PMF. You can fool yourself into believing with false metrics, but at some point, you have ask yourself if your business actually works." "Founder idea fit is so important for a business to be successful, and to successfully fundraise. Were you put on Earth to do this? People can tell" "Things are healthier in the fundraising market now compared to 2020/21 to an extent. What happened then was unsustainable." So many great founders in the audience Ariel Serber Emeka A. Valerian Gegidze Natacha U. Madeleine Heuts Chaeyeon Kim Shashank Singh Red Bike Capital Herman Goihman