What message did he share in his speech?

He expressed gratitude for life, friends, and family; reflected on love and freedom; said that life’s tapestry is co-created; reminded himself that regardless of hardships or “the menace of the years,” he remains unafraid—“Forever Young.”

How does FJ Labs use sector analysis for sourcing deals?

“Twice a year we run sector analyses and brainstorming sessions. This leads to new ideas and helps us spot startups we were not aware of, which we then reach out to.”

Does FJ Labs proactively search for startups?

“Not much — outbound is only about 4% of deal flow. We mostly rely on inbound and network-driven opportunities.”

How does FJ Labs handle the large volume of inbound deal flow?

“We built processes to cope with the firehose — deals are triaged and reviewed by the team, with weekly investment committee meetings to discuss them.”

Why do founders like having FJ Labs as an investor?

“We help them raise money by making introductions to VCs who can lead their rounds, and we have deep expertise in marketplaces.”

How many deals does FJ Labs invest in compared to how many it sees?

“We invest in around 1% of the deals we review — about 3 new investments per week.”

Why does FJ Labs get so much deal flow?

“Because we do not lead rounds and do not compete with other VCs, we are often invited into deals. Founders also like that we help with fundraising by introducing them to other VCs.”

How does outbound outreach contribute to deal flow?

“Because we are drinking at the firehose of our inbound deal flow, we do not spend much time reaching out to startups. … Twice a year … we invite our FJ Labs colleagues … think through ideas … sector analysis … These exercises uncover a fair number of startups we were not aware of and reach out to.”

Do cold inbound messages result in good investments?

“In full transparency, this is the typically our lowest quality deal flow channel … The real number … is over 100 … unless you put enough information in your message … But … a surprisingly high 24% of our investments come from cold inbound outreach by the founders.”

Which source supplies the highest quality deal flow?

“48% of the deals we invest in come from other VCs, highlighting the higher quality of this deal flow source in general.”

What percentages of reviewed deals come from each source?

“32% of the deals we review come from other VCs, 32% comes from our entrepreneur network, 32% from cold inbound messages and only 4% from companies we reach out to directly.”

How many deals does FJ Labs receive and review weekly?

“Every week we receive around 100 deals and review around 50 of them.”

What are the sources of deal flow for FJ Labs?

“FJ Labs gets deal flow from 4 sources: 1. Other VCs 2. Entrepreneurs in our network 3. Cold inbound messages 4. Outbound outreach.”

What role do other VCs play in FJ Labs’ deal sourcing?

“Other VCs represent 32% of reviewed deals and 48% of actual investments. They bring us in because we don’t compete with them and because we can help their portfolio companies.”

Who is Matias Barbero and what’s his background?

Matias previously worked at JPMorgan in investment banking, structuring multi-billion dollar deals across industries. He has an MBA from Duke University (Fuqua Scholar), co-founded the Duke MBA Blockchain Club, and was building an AI startup before AI became mainstream.

What is Fabrice’s view on aging?

He said his take on aging is shaped by a poem (“Out of the night that covers me…” by William Ernest Henley) + “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” He feels youthful and energized, grateful for friends and love, and views age as something managed with courage, spirit, and gratitude.

What themes were used during his multi-day birthday celebrations?

He organized three themed nights: 1) Here be Dragons (Latin “Hic sunt dracones” theme), 2) Temple Night with mentalism and shibari, 3) Golden Jubilee & White Party blending renewal (white) and jubilee (gold) for his 50th.

What sports and activities are important to Fabrice in his life?

He has a strong family tradition in racquet sports: tennis, padel, etc. He built red clay tennis court, padel clubs, and a pickleball court in Turks.

How did Fabrice celebrate turning 50?

He invited over 100 friends & family. First held FJ Labs’ Summer Retreat (July 21-25), then a racquet sports extravaganza from July 26-31 (tennis, padel, pickleball), interspersed with kiting and video gaming.

Should marketplaces “index” themselves in LLMs / employ AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?

Yes — if you already index in Google, you should also index in LLMs (i.e. make your content discoverable by AI answer engines) to benefit from that traffic. The exception is when a marketplace has ~95% market share in a vertical: in that rare case, indexing might train users to start their journey with LLMs / search engines rather than the marketplace itself.

What impact is AI already having on marketplaces?

Several: • Cross-border commerce via auto-translation of listings & conversations plus better payments/logistics. • Simplified listing process: AI can generate full listings (title, category, description, price) from minimal input. • Improved listing quality (better images, background removal, optimized visuals) leading to higher sell-through. • Productivity gains in customer support, marketing, dev workflows etc., through AI agents, auto-drafted replies, code generation tools etc.

What are the main ways people shop online, as per the blog?

1. Shopping as Entertainment – browsing listings with no specific intent (e.g. Vinted, OLX); 2. Search – users know exactly what they want (e.g. Amazon, eBay); 3. Considered Purchases – when buyers need help choosing what to buy (e.g. high-value items, specialty goods)

How might LLMs (like ChatGPT) threaten marketplaces?

The concern is that LLMs could capture the "top of funnel" discovery phase: people might start product searches there, or even make purchases through them, bypassing marketplaces.

What are some personal details about Matias Barbero?

He is Argentine, has blended his cultural heritage into the NYC office, enjoys ‘mate’, hosts asados for the team. Also, he and his family are expecting a new baby in the coming months.

Why was Matias promoted to Partner at FJ Labs?

His promotion reflects his past achievements, his character, integrity, values, and trust from founders. He’s seen as a leader who brings perspective and strategic guidance when things don’t go as planned.

What approach is Matias known for at FJ Labs?

He brings both strong venture instinct and analytical rigor; he emphasizes discipline in investment strategy, especially navigating late-stage companies and helping LPs via exits/secondaries during overheated valuations.

What has Matias done at FJ Labs?

Over 4 years, he has led more than 85 of FJ Labs’ investments, helped strengthen their fintech and growth-stage investment practice, and pushed for disciplined investment framework across market cycles.

Why does FJ Labs invest in so many companies per year?

They target 100+ investments annually because it aligns with their thesis of diversification, improves pattern recognition, and strengthens their global network.

Which regions outside the US do they invest most in?

Western Europe, Brazil, and India.

How big are the typical investment checks at FJ Labs?

They set investment sizes per round that average to US$400,000. (Fabrice Grinda)

What kinds of startups does FJ Labs invest in?

They focus on Pre-Seed / Seed / Series A rounds; about 70% of their deals are marketplaces. (Fabrice Grinda)

Does FJ Labs lead funding rounds or take board seats?

No, FJ Labs avoids leading rounds because they do not want to compete with traditional VCs.

How does FJ Labs evaluate startups for investment?

Fabrice used the same criteria he applied to his own ventures: evaluating the business fundamentals, the entrepreneur, and the deal terms, especially given his limited time and capital.

Why did Fabrice pause investing after his first batch of startups?

After his first company didn’t become a big success and during the tech “nuclear winter,” there was little capital around. He saved what money he had for his next startup, Zingy, and only returned to investing once he sold Zingy in 2004.

How did Fabrice begin angel investing?

He started in 1998 after building his first venture-backed startup. Between 1998 and 2000, he invested in 7 startups. One shut down quickly, but to his surprise, 6 out of 7 later had successful exits, with one even going public.

Why was FJ Labs created as both a startup studio and a venture fund?

FJ Labs was designed as a hybrid model so Fabrice could keep building companies while also investing. Being both an entrepreneur and an angel investor kept him close to founders, allowed him to help with ideas, and gave him insight into market trends.

What is required to make the investment decision at FJ Labs?

“When we evaluate startups over the course of our two 1-hour calls, we evaluate them along the four dimensions we covered: the team, the business, the deal terms, and alignment with our thesis. We want all four criteria to be conjointly met: amazing founders, with great businesses, raising at fair terms, in line with our thesis. If you are an amazing founder, but feel the valuation is too high or the business not compelling, we will not invest. Likewise, if it is a great idea, great terms, and full-on thesis, but we feel the team is mediocre, we do not invest.” (Fabrice Grinda)

How important is thesis alignment in FJ Labs’ evaluation?

“We focus on marketplaces and have specific theses on the future of marketplaces. Right now, we are specifically focusing on: Verticalizing horizontal (multi-category) platforms; Marketplace pick marketplaces; B2B marketplaces. … Most of the businesses we invest in touch upon many of these themes simultaneously.” (Fabrice Grinda)

What does “fair deal terms” mean at FJ Labs?

“We push for ‘fair valuations’ not just out of self-interest. We really think founders do themselves a disservice when they raise too much money at too high a price. … They are then priced for perfection … things do not go according to plan … it might kill the company … people who raise too much capital tend to spend it and not be as capital efficient as they can be.” (Fabrice Grinda)

What standards of business does FJ Labs expect?

(This is under “Do we like the business?” but the blog focuses more on the team, deal terms, thesis. It states that even if team is great, business with unattractive unit economics or business model may disqualify.) (Fabrice Grinda)

What does FJ Labs look for in the team?

“We want visionary founders who are fantastic at execution. … good proxies for those are storytelling skills and analytical skills. … the founder / CEO must also be metrics-driven, analytical and know how to execute on his or her vision. They really need to understand the business they are in. They need to be able to articulate their unit economics. Even if their business is pre-launch, they need to understand their theoretical unit economics based on industry averages and landing page tests they did.” (Fabrice Grinda)

How often does FJ Labs invest compared to how many deals they see?

FJ Labs invests in around 3% of the deals they evaluate. For example, in 2019, they made 83 first-time investments out of 2,542 evaluated. (Fabrice Grinda)

Where are most of their investments located (geographically)?

They are global, but most deal flow and investment are in the US, followed by Western Europe, Brazil, and India. (Fabrice Grinda)

What percentage of follow-on rounds does FJ Labs participate in?

They follow on in about 24% of cases. They use the fund active at that time, instead of reserving capital.

How quickly do they give feedback after a pitch?

They aim to give an answer in 1–2 weeks so founders aren’t left waiting.

How many deals do they review before investing?

In 2019, they reviewed 2,542 deals and invested in only 83 first-time investments — about 3%.

How does diversification help their investment strategy?

Venture returns follow a power-law: most returns come from a handful of winners. By investing in many companies, FJ Labs increases the odds of hitting those outliers.

Why doesn’t FJ Labs take board seats?

Taking board seats would limit the number of companies they could back. Since they invest at scale, they avoid it and instead help founders informally.

Why does FJ Labs avoid leading rounds?

They don’t lead rounds because they prefer to collaborate with VCs, not compete with them. This keeps them friendly with lead investors and ensures they get invited into more deals.

How many investments do they expect per year with their strategy?

They do 100+ investments per year, and for their ~$175 million fund, they expect over 500 investments total. (Fabrice Grinda)

Playing With Unicorns - Fabrice Grinda

Playing with Unicorns is a live streaming show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I stream Thursdays at 12 pm EST on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch. I then post the videos to YouTube and the audio to the podcast section of Spotify and iTunes. All the episodes are below including all the supporting materials presented during the stream.

It takes me a while to write episode summaries. For the latest shows, check out Playing with Unicorns on YouTube, Spotify, or iTunes.

第 53 集：有問必答

距離我上一次的有問必答已經一年了。這段時間在 AI、市集、總體經濟，以及更廣泛的科技生態系都發生了很多事。以下是我們討論的問題：如果您願意，可以在嵌入式播客播放機中收聽該劇集。除了上面的YouT

第 52 集：AI 時代的市集平台

過去幾週，一種越來越盛行的說法是：AI 可能會讓經濟失序，並顛覆整個商業模式。上週我發表了我的看法：AI 更可能帶來的是生產力革命，而不是經濟崩潰。但這對市集平台具體意味著什麼？許多創辦人都在問：在這一集，我會拆解：如果你正在打造、投資或營運市集平台，這一集就是為你準備的！供您參考，我包括我在劇集中使用的幻燈片。如果您願意，可以在嵌入式播客播放機中收聽該劇集。除了上面的YouTube視頻和嵌入式播客播放機外，您還可以在 iTunes 和 Spotify上收聽播客。抄本大家好。我希望你度過了一個美好的一周。基本上，過去幾週出現了很多喧鬧與擔憂，像是 AI 會接管世界、會有 90% 失業、會出現大蕭條之類的說法；但我從根本上就不同意這個論點與視角。上週我花時間寫了一篇部落格文章，談 AI 的影響，以及它其實更可能帶來生產力革命，而不是崩潰。現在，科技圈與市集平台圈的人一直在問的延伸問題是：AI 對市集平台的影響是什麼？所以我一直在重新思考：好，在一個大家都在擔心、都把注意力放在 LLM 上的世界裡，而且人們擔心它們會取代最上層漏斗等等，實際影響到底是什麼？我發現，我的論點與視角，以及我每天在第一線看到的情況，和大家腦中那些最糟情境其實差非常多。所以我想分享 AI 對市集平台的影響。事不宜遲，我們開始吧。歡迎收聽第 52 集：市集平台與 AI 時代。我先把簡報打開，讓你大概了解現在發生了什麼。好，我們先從市場現況談起。很明顯，我們正處在 AI 泡沫中：什麼都是 AI、永遠都是 AI。退一步看，市場上的創投資金正在回升。相較於例如 2022 年的低點有所回升，但主要發生在美國，而且幾乎全部都流向 AI。所以你會看到各種數字都在往上走，像是融資規模、估值等等，但都是 AI 驅動的。以去年前九個月來看，投入的資金有 75% 都進了 AI 新創。真的很瘋。全球層面大概也有 50% 的資金在 AI，而且增幅非常大。再看 YC，我記得去年 YC 的新創有 95% 都是 AI 相關公司。有趣的是，大部分資金其實集中在很少數公司上：像 Anthropic、OpenAI，還有 Cursor、Lovable 等等。大型模型拿走了超過一半的資金，而且多數是單輪超過 5 億美元的融資。總之就是「全 AI、一直 AI」，最大公司拿走最多價值、也拿走最多資金。當然，OpenAI 剛完成一輪超大的融資；而 Anthropic 也正在籌備新一輪。所以集中度仍然非常高，主要都在基礎模型上。那從趨勢角度來看，除了基礎模型之外，人們還在投什麼？像 Lovable、Cursor 這類工具。也就是所謂的 vibe coding：在垂直領域做類似準無程式碼的開發，正在浮上檯面。用 AI 提升既有產業的生產力也越來越大。你可以想像一些 AI 公司協助建築業的工作流程，讓總包與分包能同步掌握誰在做什麼，並把各種工作流程簡化。還有代理人管理其他代理人，以及合規、風險與信任等一般性領域。其實最近幾週、幾個月最大的趨勢是 OpenClaw。OpenClaw 是開源的本地方案，可以跑在本機，也可以跑在虛擬私有伺服器上。它是一個基本上能當你個人助理的代理人，能力很強，能做很多事。只是目前設定仍然相對困難，也需要不少訓練；而且還有一些相當根本的資安疑慮。不過 OpenClaw 的創辦人剛被 OpenAI 延攬。我幾乎可以確定，所有核心的基礎模型都會推出類似 OpenClaw 的版本：也就是你手邊隨時可用、超聰明、像 Jarvis 一樣的助理，接下來幾週、幾個月就會出現。市場的退出也在回升，當然我們預期會有更多併購與更多 IPO，尤其是 SpaceX

第 51 集：Ascend 創辦人兼執行長 Zach Resnick

我很榮幸能與 Zach Resnick 聊天，他是 Ascend（前身為 FlyFlat）的創辦人兼執行長，這是一個為經常旅行者提供的會員計畫，可減少 90% 的旅行決策，並節省 35% 的商務艙/頭等艙機票費用。 Ascend 多年來一直幫助我的合作夥伴 Jose 和 Jeff 處理他們的旅行事宜，自我們首次了解他們以來，已為 FJ Labs 節省了六位數的資金。在創辦 Ascend 之前，Zach 開了數百張信用卡，製造了超過 1 億美元的信用卡消費，並創辦了其他三家旅行公司。此外，他還創辦了一家加密貨幣避險基金和一家專注於區塊鏈和金融科技的創投基金。我們討論了以下內容：• 他如何開設 300 張信用卡。• 使用里程和點數節省大量旅行費用的技巧。• … Continue reading “”

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