Venturemarkedet er i forandring. Kunstig intelligens boomer, mens resten af venturebranchen er nede i kulkælderen. Venturekapital som aktivklasse udvikler sig og trækker sig tilbage. Færre handler sker til højere priser. … Læs videre “Episode 50: Tendenser på venturemarkedet”

Clutch har haft en utrolig tur. Som »Carvana of Canada« var den en højdespringer i 2021. Den havde et møde med døden i 2023 og gennemførte en utrolig turnaround. Nu … Læs videre “Afsnit 49: Dan Park og den utrolige comeback-historie om Clutch”

Jeg havde ikke lavet en Ask Me Anything-session i over et år, og det førte til mange spørgsmål om en lang række emner: makro, markedspladser, AI, fundraising, formueforvaltning, uddannelse, ø-shopping, … Læs videre “Afsnit 48: Spørg mig om hvad som helst”

Når man tænker på, at jeg har opbygget og investeret i markedspladser i 26 år, skulle man måske tro, at alt, hvad der skal opbygges, allerede er opbygget, men intet … Læs videre “Episode 47: Tendenser på markedet”

Mens AI-investeringer fortsætter med at nå nye højder, har vi været kontrære. I betragtning af, hvor lidt konsensus vi er, ville jeg gerne dele vores tanker og perspektiv. I denne … Læs videre “Episode 46: FJ Labs’ AI-afhandling”

Jeg havde ikke lavet en Ask Me Anything (AMA)-session i over et år, og det førte til mange spørgsmål om en lang række emner: AI, augmented reality, krypto, makro og … Læs videre “Afsnit 45: Spørg mig om hvad som helst”

Folk spørger mig ofte, hvordan det lykkes mig at udrette så meget og samtidig leve et så rigt og passioneret liv, som det fremgår af min årsberetning for 2023. I … Læs videre “Episode 44: Lås op for produktiviteten: Strømlining af dine dage for passion og formål”

I had the pleasure of receiving Julio Vasconcellos on the show. Julio is the Founder and Managing Partner of Atlantico, a leading early-stage venture fund in Latin America. It was … Continue reading “”

I had the pleasure of being joined by my good friend Kevin Ryan. He’s often been called the “Godfather of NYC tech.” Kevin is one of the leading internet entrepreneurs … Continue reading “”

It had been over a year since we did the last Ask Me Anything (AMA) so the time had come. As requested by the audience, my son François joined us … Continue reading “”

This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with my good friend Oskar Hartmann. He’s had the most incredible unicorn experience: You can listen to the full episode in the … Continue reading “”

On this week’s episode I had the pleasure of welcoming Nitya Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Simpl, to conclude our mini-series on the Indian tech scene. We had a fascinating … Continue reading “”

This week we are covering the state of the Indian tech ecosystem. We are joined by Luke Skertich, senior associate at FJ Labs, who is leading the charge with our … Continue reading “”

After a long hiatus to take care of my ailing dad, who is fortunately fully recovered, I am back! For this episode and the next two, I am focusing on … Continue reading “”

Lorien Gabel is the Co-Founder of Figment Network. He holds an LLB from Toronto’s Osgoode Hall Law School. In 1994, at the age of 24, 6 months into practicing law, … Continue reading “”

Last February, I decided to reflect on the turmoil that had started to affect the public, crypto and private markets. This is the first time I focused on the topic. … Continue reading “”

My apologies for the delay in summarizing the episode, but it’s been a very busy 9 months. Last December, I hosted a Ask Me Anything on Playing with Unicorns. We … Continue reading “”

Mark Lurie is the CEO and co-founder of Shipyard Software. Shipyard Software builds decentralized exchanges (DEX) for specific types of trades, traders, and instruments, starting with Clipper, a DEX with … Continue reading “”

Laura Behrens Wu (@LauraBehrensWu) is the co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Shippo is an API-first company focused on building shipping for 21st-century e-commerce. When Laura Behrens Wu launched her own … Continue reading “”

Alisa Cohn (@AlisaCohn) is a prominent startup coach who has advised founders and executives at Venmo, Etsy, DraftKings, The Wirecutter, Mack Weldon, and Bloomberg. She’s one-time startup CFO, strategy consultant, … Continue reading “”

Thomas Plantenga is the CEO of Vinted. He was born and raised in the Netherlands. Thomas was previously a Venture Partner at FJ Labs and an early member of OLX. … Continue reading “”

In episode 27, I took a stab at which categories investors and entrepreneurs should focus on for the coming 5 years. In today’s episode, I wanted to cover the themes … Continue reading “”

When Satoshi Nakamoto famously wrote the Bitcoin white paper on November 13, 2008, it proposed to solve the Byzantine Generals problem. The Byzantine Generals Problem is solving the puzzle of … Continue reading “”

In a way I live in your future. By virtue of receiving 150 startup pitches per week, I have a good sense of what founders are trying to build for … Continue reading “”

Jeff Wald is a serial entrepreneur, board Member, bestselling author, keynote speaker, and investor. Jeff’s most recent company, Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers … Continue reading “”

As most of you know, I want to empower people to work on the things they love. As a result, I am excited that FJ Labs invested early in Clearco … Continue reading “”

One of our main theses at FJ Labs is to focus on vertical marketplaces. Slice is a great example of a company that has found product-market fit within a vertical. … Continue reading “”

The education system has not evolved since the industrial era. New tools have been introduced over the years, but nothing has dramatically changed. To reinvent education, you don’t more tools … Continue reading “”

9 out of 10 startups fail. This is a gloomy number. However, it has never stopped entrepreneurs from hedging their bets to create successful companies. And I want to help … Continue reading “”

This is one of the most requested questions I’ve received since starting Playing with Unicorns. People want to know “How do I build the perfect pitch deck to raise funds?” … Continue reading “”

Last week Alpha Capital, a SPAC company that FJ Labs co-sponsored, went public. We rang the bell and it was beautiful. Alpha Capital is a formed blank check company that … Continue reading “”

Brian Requarth is the Co-Founder of Latitud and former CEO of Viva Real. Through Latitud, he now dedicates his time to providing mentorship and advice for entrepreneurs in Latin America … Continue reading “”

Tim Jackson is a fellow entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author. He has lived an interesting life from a career in journalism for the Financial Times, to VC seed funding for … Continue reading “”

This week Kerim Baran shares where we stand in the world of solar. He covers: If you prefer, you can listen to the episode in the embedded podcast player. In … Continue reading “”

I often pondered the makeup of successful founders and founding teams. At FJ Labs we spend a disproportionate amount of time screening for EIRs. We only build 1 or 2 … Continue reading “”

It is extremely hard to succeed as an entrepreneur. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have countless ups and downs. I would argue that I failed my way to success. My … Continue reading “”

Christian is the rare breed of polymath Renaissance Man operating in a world that rewards specialization. We had an extremely broad and far-ranging conversation covering: If you prefer, you can … Continue reading “”

SPACs have been one of the hot topics of 2020. Jeff Weinstein, who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital nerd, joins to talk about all things … Continue reading “”

I lyset af den allestedsnærværende dysterhed i 2020 tog jeg mig tid til at reflektere objektivt over, hvor tingene står, og hvor verden er på vej hen. Mit dybe dyk … Læs videre “Episode 12: Pandemi, populisme og politisk fiasko – det overraskende argument for optimisme i 2020”

I had the privilege of running into the same social and intellectual circles as Safi Bahcall for the past 20 years. When I heard he wrote a book on how … Continue reading “”

Last week we covered how to come up with great startup ideas. This week I present how to evaluate if the idea is worth pursuing. I detail which hypothesis you … Continue reading “”

Many aspiring entrepreneurs struggle to come with compelling startup ideas. I detail the four sources of startup ideas: Observed pain points Geographic arbitrage Business model or approach arbitrage Verticalization I … Continue reading “”

Most entrepreneurs merely see venture capitalists as a source of capital without understanding how venture capitalists operate. Jeff Weinstein, who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital … Continue reading “”

Last week we covered whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. As a follow-up, I wanted to present … Continue reading “”

This week we cover whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. Nancy Dong, our first ever guest on … Continue reading “”

Given that I was in Lake Placid looking at the foliage change without my multi-screen setup, I tried a “Ask Me Anything” session for the week. It was a resounding … Continue reading “”

In the third episode, I described how VCs evaluate startups by using a combination of the team, business, deal terms and whether the idea fits with their thesis to decide … Continue reading “”

In the first episode I covered how and when to fundraise. In this episode, I describe how venture capitalists (VCs) evaluate you once you are in front of them to … Continue reading “”

I start by covering the theoretical do’s and don’ts of building a minimum viable product (MVP) before giving an in depth and specific example of how I would go about … Continue reading “”

Given that it’s episode 1, I start by explaining why I am creating this show before covering everything there is to know in terms of fundraising for venture backed startups: … Continue reading “”

Playing with unicorns is a new weekly live streaming show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I will be streaming every Thursday at 12 pm EST on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, … Continue reading “”