Don Stein

Venture Capital Reality Check Building early-stage startups is HARD, huh? We are 3 days from Adam Draper joining us for a private invite-only conversation for top CEOs and Founders. I really hope you can attend. And, I really hope this helps you with your fundraise, and above and beyond with your overall CEO mindset while operating at the early stage, Conversation Information (on Zoom) 5 of his first 25 investments became Unicorns Coinbase, Amplify, PlanGrid, Sendwave, and Benchling all...

We just passed 222 RSVPs! RSVP Today! Our RSVP-only event with investor and VC, Adam Draper, is going to be a FULL CROWD! RSVP There's still time to RSVP and get involved in the Ugly Startups movement. For the 230 people who are planning to show up, I'm pumped to see you, and am looking forward to leaving your inspired! Let's raise you some capital, and build an iconic startup -Don Stein Founder, UglyStartups.com Linkedin Have questions? Hit reply to this email and we'll help out! 113 Cherry...

I’m trying SO hard to make this an insanely valuable community for all seed stage founders. My goal is to bridge the insider knowledge of Silicon Valley to the ugly startups out there. Every single founder deserves a chance to raise capital, scale a business, and literally change their life and maybe if you exit for enough $$$ then you’ll even change your future generations lives. I’ve seen people do it from absolutely nothing. Esteban an immigrant with everything to prove met me, got...

Special Guest, Richard White Founder of Fathom AI, and UserVoice Yesterday was an absolute treat - we hosted repeat founder, Richard White ($20M+ raised, Linkedin). He founded UserVoice, scaled that, and then started a second company which he runs today. Fathom AI is backed by Zoom's fund, Justin Kan (Twitch Founder), and many more incredible people on his cap table of 100+ investors. We've had incredible guests over the last year (45 of them), but certain CEO's are able to speak from a place...

RSVP for tomorrow: We are joined by a 3x founder who just raised $20M+ Three-time founder Richard White compares launching a startup to playing an open-world video game. It takes time to figure out what to do and how to do it. You need to learn the rules. But when you’re dropped in for a second time, you arrive knowing how to play the game — “speed run it," he says. In 2020, Richard stepped away from his previous startup UserVoice to establish Fathom, a AI app that records, transcribes and...

LIVE FROM NYC A Day in the Life of Ugly Startups 5 AM: Wake up 6 AM: Gym 7 AM: Prep for the day on my laptop at a cafe 8 AM: Walked to Target looking to buy a webcam, couldn't find, had to improvise 10 AM: Set up podcast studio in downtown NYC 11 AM: Guest begin to arrive 2:30 PM: The podcast room is so sweaty we have to abandon it 3:00 PM: 5 founders gather for convo in a classy lounge by a fire pit 5:00 PM: Get back to my hotel - I find out the audio has major issues 6:00 PM: Send the audio...

I work hard for the founders in my community, and I recently spent the last 6 months building a checklist full of videos and templates to boost the chances you can close capital (Angel, Seed, Series A, Crowdfund). I'm going to work with you every Wednesday to help guide you through all these necessary checklist items to fundraise. Where else can you get this level of experience :)! Membership Highlights Mentorship Don's raised $10,800,000 raised From General Catalyst, Spark Capital, and top...

Startup Roundtable Founders + Investors Looking forward to our Startup Roundtable tomorrow. I'll lead the discussion around 2025 strategies for raising investment, including ways to leverage AI for better investor targeting. . Tomorrow's Conversation Don Stein, Emcee I've raised $10M in my career, and love the art of entrepreneurship. I love hearing founder stories, and sharing my investor network. RSVP now Submit your Q's I'll look through your questions tonight and come tomorrow with a...

Invite to Attend our Roundtable for VC Fundraising My last startup had 20 employees, and raised $5M+, I'm more than happy to share some key CEO lessons; make sure you attend next week if you want to save yourself a few common fundraise mistakes. 👉 RSVP now to join the roundtable Fundraising is a continuous process—not a one-time event. Successful founders stay prepared with a solid pitch, strong investor relationships, and a repeatable strategy. By joining this program, you’ll gain direct...

Unlock Your Fundraising Potential with Our Exclusive Program Are you a pre-seed or seed-stage startup founder looking to master the art of fundraising? Our new Fundraise Accelerator is designed to equip 1,000 startup founders with the tools, strategies, and network they need to secure funding and scale their ventures in 2025. This is your opportunity to gain access to weekly live coaching, expert insights, and a proven system that has helped numerous founders close their rounds successfully....