Thomas Nutt

We raised a $4.7M seed and built a $15M ARR engine with 12 people, by doing the opposite of what we were advised. 1. We were told to raise more & land-grab faster The advice we received was “raise when you can” and land-grab. More capital would help us chase land-grab growth. But we didn't want to do that, we wanted to build the best product. Land-grabbing may win headlines, but it didn't feel like it was enduring. 2. We were told to hire GTM leadership early But we kept it founder-led, as we wanted to own the narrative among the founders until $10M ARR. In a dynamic space, bringing in even great sales & marketing leaders too early just sets them up to fail, as there aren't enough signals to catch and scale. 3. We were told to do “everything voice AI” We decided to build with focus and go deep on contact center operations for high-volume phone-based businesses. And that focus let us build things that actually matter in production. Most advice comes from a different era, different macros, different terrain. And therefore, it comes from a different context. Our job was to understand our context, and keep iterating until we found what’s going to work for us. Retell AI, Evie Wang, Todd Li, Zexia Zhang, Weijia Y.

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The standard two-week sprint cadence just simply doesn’t work for an early-stage startup... As a founder of a company at the earliest stages, there’s a nearly infinite number of things you could be doing that might move your business forward. They say you should always be tackling “the biggest risk to the business” – I’ve come to understand that figuring out what that is ends up being more than half the battle. Recently, the Ditto team has developed a new way to operate that gives us space to develop a perspective and make big bets with confidence. The catch? It involves NOT writing code for weeks at a time… Since launching Ditto, we’ve doubled our user base twice in the past two months. As the firehose of feature requests, bug fixes, and new ideas comes in, it’s become more and more difficult to zoom out and do higher level thinking. It’s easy to justify fixing one more bug or shipping that small piece of polish that so many users are asking for. But we were seeing all of that busy work trade off with our ability to zoom out and take a third-person perspective of where we were heading. From this, we’ve learned two important lessons: 1. It’s important for us to intentionally create space to think, reflect, and explore. 2. We can take data into consideration and from our own opinions. But, at the end of the day, we always follow our instincts. Taking inspiration from Basecamp's (37signals) Shape Up, we decided to split our sprints into two separate phases. Phase A: For two weeks, we focus on discovery, research, analyzing data, talking to users, and forming opinions. During this period, we are having hours of conversations, spending time writing memos, and formulating bets. During this time, we also don’t write a single line of code. Phase B: Then, for the next four weeks, we’re focused entirely on building without looking at any metrics or doing any planning outside of the work we committed to shipping. When I explain this process to other technology leaders, they think we're either brilliant or completely unhinged. This approach doesn’t feel natural. The easiest thing to do as a founder is to just maintain the path in front of you. Especially for social apps — you’re constantly receiving validation from a small cohort of users who request new features and pull you in different directions. Startups at the earliest stage are walking around in a maze in the dark. Without being able to zoom out and assess what’s happening at a higher level, that path can kill your company unless you’re very, very lucky.

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Episode 392 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Damien Lewke, Founder & CEO of Nebulock: https://lnkd.in/e7xadHYf - Damien is purpose built for this company, which is a statement he’s heard from one of his investors that being Will Lehmann Lehman. When you hear about Damien’s background story, it’s hard to argue. Damien’s path to where he is today has been very thoughtful, methodical, and intentional. It’s a path that allowed him to learn and understand as much as possible about cybersecurity. In addition, he has worn several different hats throughout his career (I’m talking Solutions Architecture… Product Marketing… Product Management… and other roles) that have all put him in a strong position to lead a venture backed startup. Nebulock is an autonomous threat hunting platform designed from scratch for behavior-based detection. By connecting directly to identity, endpoint, and cloud telemetry, Nebulock continuously hunts threats, surfaces hidden anomalies, and automatically increases your detection coverage. The company announced $8.5M in funding, including their seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures alongside Decibel Partners, Zetta Venture Partners, IQT, and several angel investors. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A conversation about being a solo-founder. * Damien’s background story including his experience playing professional soccer in Germany, how he relates athletics to building startups, and why Mario Götze is on the cap table. * Getting his career started in systems engineering & cyber operations, then his move into the solution side of things at companies like CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and Arctic Wolf. * The idea of how Nebulock came to fruition, which he recognized as a problem over a decade ago, yet it still hasn’t been solved. * An explanation of what Threat Hunting is. * The current state of Nebulock, its platform, and what’s ahead. * Damien’s 3 biggest lessons learned since starting a company. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

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dLocal has kicked off 2025 with record-breaking Q1 results – and a big step forward in its cross-border strategy. I caught up with CEO Pedro Arnt to unpack the company’s standout $217m revenue (up 18% YoY), with cross-border volumes continuing to outpace local-to-local. Rapid expansion in markets like Chile, Pakistan and Turkey helped boost cross-border TPV by 76%, driven by sectors such as remittances and streaming. The company is also benefitting from a shift in global trade flows, as more merchants tap into the Global South to localize payments – a space where dLocal’s on-the-ground presence and liquidity advantages come into their own. It was particularly interesting to hear how #stablecoins are playing an increasing role in dLocal’s operations, both as a revenue opportunity and as a way to enhance working capital cycles. Read my full conversation with Pedro here: https://lnkd.in/e3sHfXei #CrossBorderPayments #Fintech #EmergingMarkets #Remittances #DigitalPayments

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Purpose has always been really deeply imbedded in the work I do. It’s driven me to cross oceans, change careers … and now even start a company. It’s something that was central for Andrew Anderson, myself and the Deep Science Ventures team when we founded HotGreen in 2024. We spun out of DSV’s climate vertical, which is focused on optimising degrees of global heating averted. DSV identified the opportunity area of industrial heat as an area with a significant climate potential (~19% global emissions) that had been chronically underserved by innovation -  the ‘elephant in the room’ I knew all too well from my own experience in the space. But, after collectively having over 100 conversations with industry leaders, we heard two key factors that together would support adoption. The technology needed to be: ✅ *Commercially viable* – it had to save money while cutting emissions ✅ *A direct steam boiler replacement*– it needed to realise the same temperatures, have similar flexibility, and broadly fit into their existing plant setup in the same way as their current boiler systems Our core belief as a business is that industrial heat decarbonization will only accelerate when it's profitable AND easy for plants to do so. We needed a solution that could compete head-to-head with incumbent systems, rather than just appealing to those willing to pay green premiums. After studying the current incumbents and innovation space, we found that no solution existed yet that hit both of the points above, and so we embarked on our own R&D journey to develop a new class of heat pumps that could. Please do follow our journey at HotGreen Solutions! #CleanTech #IndustrialDecarbonization #HeatPumps #ClimateInnovation #NetZero

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2 years of Remuner: → 95% reduction in admin time → Teams using our platform more than their CRM → One customer saw 8% topline growth in just 3 weeks → €5.5M raised → Backed by Seaya and Pear VC But we're just getting started. Here's the vision: 1️⃣ Sales reps won't need to ask their managers "how am I doing?" or "what will I earn?” They'll have an AI compensation manager that answers instantly: - "What do I need to do to earn €3K more?" - "What happens if I close this deal?" Run any simulation, get any answer. 2️⃣ Finance won't spend hours calculating and validating. They'll have real-time forecasting, automatic accruals, and instant scenario planning - all handled by their AI agent. 3️⃣ Managers won't coach blind. They'll have full visibility into how their team's incentives are actually performing, not just CRM metrics. The goal isn't just automation. It's making incentives truly strategic and tactical for business growth. Right now, incentives drive behavior, and behavior is the #1 source to change team performance. Yet most companies underuse incentives because of admin burden. We're removing that burden completely. When every company can design, test, and launch comp plans in minutes instead of weeks or months - without spreadsheets, without errors, without trust issues - that's when incentives become the growth lever they're meant to be. Transparent. Real-time. Strategic. That's the future we're building. What would you do with incentives if admin wasn't the bottleneck?

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Founders: Before you take on UA funding — read this With several new entrants coming into this space, founders have more options than ever before for funding UA. Having successfully negotiated nearly 30 of deals in the past twelve months, I put together an inside look into what founders should REALLY consider when considering UA funding. Link in the comments... #UAfinancing #growthcapital #mobilegames #consumerapps #useracquisition

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Crunchbase CEO Jager McConnell has the most non-obvious AI vision – he thinks VCs should plan for 2yr exits on everything 👀😳 today’s World of DaaS pod: super deep insights into every deal in venture https://lnkd.in/ebJ9rWrs

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🚀 What if 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 could teach us more about how 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 can help 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 more than consumer apps? New Episode of Le French Product, a great new podcast to follow. Thank you Cedric Blanchard for hosting me. We try to unpack: - 🎨 Design as a Competitive Advantage in a regulation-heavy space - ⚖️ Scaling across countries without losing product coherence - 🧭 Decision-making frameworks (reversible vs irreversible choices) - 🤖 AI’s impact on HR, payroll, and product orgs - 👥 (Some, humbly) Leadership lessons from 20+ years in Product, Design, Data and General Management. 🎧 Links to the podcast in the comments #ProductManagement #ProductDesign #InformationArchitecture #Leadership #SaaS #LeFrenchProduct

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No one makes money from the first sale. The real game is keeping customers coming back. But how do you make them stay without forcing them + our renewal rate : At TalentGum, our renewal rate sits around 55-60%, which is quite decent by industry standards. But why? It comes down to 2 key factors: The nature of our industry and how we engage with our customers. 1️⃣𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲: Unlike exam prep platforms, where students leave after a single attempt, extracurricular learning is a journey. A 5-year-old starting music lessons won’t master it in three months. But if we spark enough interest, that child could continue learning for years. That’s where long-term retention comes in. 2️⃣𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: Retention doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through relationships. We’ve structured our teams to prioritise renewals from day one, not just at the end of a subscription. Here’s how: ✅ 𝗗𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 → Assigned from the first interaction, ensuring students stay engaged. ✅𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 → Scheduled after the 6th and 12th classes to catch concerns early. ✅𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 → If students lose interest in one subject, we offer alternatives to keep them learning. At the end of the day, retention isn’t about aggressive sales tactics or last-minute persuasion. It’s about creating genuine value to such an extent that leaving feels more like a last resort. When a child finds joy in learning, a parent sees real progress, and a family chooses to continue not because they have to but because they want to—that’s when you know you’ve built something meaningful. And that’s the kind of impact we’re working towards every single day at TalentGum. Because true success is ensuring it’s never the last. #success #industry #sales

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Pitches & Pistols 🤣 Pulp Fictions Vincent Vega & Jules Winnfield 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰? Only 8% of UK venture capitalists have prior startup operational experience. In contrast, over 60% of partners at top Silicon Valley VC firms are former founders or CEOs. Financial Times Nov 2024 As Yorkshire AI Labs’ Managing Partner David Richards MBE said at this week’s Rainmakers Conference at Old Trafford: “Too many UK VCs are advising founders on journeys they’ve never taken.” Founders don’t need theory, they need someone who’s been in the trenches, not read about them.....Someone who’s come under contact… and knows how to return fire. At Yorkshire AI Labs LLP and The Digital Forge CIC, we champion the belief that firsthand entrepreneurial experience is invaluable in venture capital. Let's advocate for an inclusive venture ecosystem where battle-tested founders & Operators help raise the standard of support across UK venture for emerging entrepreneurs. Thanks to TheBusinessDesk.com for a great event. Thanks to Daniel Olmedo Nieto for the video, hilarious! #ForgedForGrowth #Patagonia #RainmakersConference25

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We thought founder-CEOs would stay until the next exit — they usually don’t. At the beginning of FLEX, we assumed that founder-CEOs who sell the majority of their company to us would stay on and continue as CEO until the next exit. What we’ve seen instead: most of them step back earlier than expected. Many have built their companies over 8 to 20 years. After selling the majority, receiving an eight-digit payout, and working closely with us for another 1 to 3 years, their wish to bring in a new management team comes up more often than not. We had originally planned for longer founder involvement. Now we create also a scenario for an earlier transition just to be prepared.    Next up: how to make sure you hire the right CEO 😊 and don’t end up scrambling with an empty pipeline when it matters most. 

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