Hustle Fund

This Week In Startups is made possible by: MongoDB - MongoDB.com/ai Rippling - Rippling.ai/twist Agree.com - agree.com Today's show: Hustle Fund's Eric Bahn and Chapter One's Jeff Morris Jr. join our venture capital roundtable directly following the news breaking that Stripe wants to buy PayPal. The possible transaction highlights how little interest today's leading startups have in going public any time soon. With host Alex Wilhelm, Bahn and Morris dug into when startups should burn the boats à la Fin, physical AI as the next frontier, the power of Silicon Valley groupthink, and how startups are approaching the first days of widespread, company-specific AI evals! Guest links: Eric Bahn https://x.com/ericbahn Hustle Fund https://www.hustlefund.vc Jeff Morris Jr. https://x.com/jmj Chapter One https://chapterone.com Show links: Stripe wants to buy PayPal https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/stripe-advent-offer-buy-paypal-more-than-53-billion-sources-say-2026-07-15/ Flex https://www.flex.one/ Webflow https://webflow.com/ Oak https://www.oak.id/ Fin selling to Salesforce https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2026/06/15/salesforce-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-fin/ Erebor https://erebor.bank/ "Competition is for losers" https://www.wsj.com/articles/peter-thiel-competition-is-for-losers-1410535536 Chapter One piece on the value of software https://jamesin.substack.com/p/some-areas-weve-been-investing-in Timestamps: 0:00 Eric Bahn (Hustle Fund) & Jeff Morris Jr. (Chapter One) join the show! 1:35 Stripe's reported $53B offer for PayPal 6:29 Why founders don't want to go public 10:08 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life! 15:16 When is it time to burn the boats? 20:12 MongoDB - AI-assisted and agentic coding is helping you build faster than ever. Start building at https://MongoDB.com/ai 21:16 Does VC need an AI revolution? 30:50 Rippling - Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://Rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business. 32:36 Custom evals, open source models, and avoiding vendor lock-in 36:37 Physical AI and robotics as the next frontier 37:42 Oak's $60M seed and startup clusters chasing agent infrastructure 40:43 Escaping the Silicon Valley "think tank" 48:28 Consumer AI's missing wave 1:00:18 AI regulation and how to get it right 1:12:01 Where to find our guests and wrap-up! Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons Follow Alex: X: https://x.com/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Eric Bahn

Co-founder and Partner

Hustle Fund

Jeff Morris Jr

Founder

Chapter OneTinder

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent - https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist LinkedIn Jobs - https://linkedIn.com/twist Sentry - https://sentry.io/twist Plaud - http://Plaud.ai/twist Ro.co - http://Ro.co/Twist Today’s show: Hustle Fund general partner Elizabeth Yin joined Jason and Alex to discuss how rapid advances in AI have changed the venture capital game, and how the same AI updates are changing how founders build. Founders may need less capital than before, which could reduce their reliance on venture dollars over time. Ceel founder Ryan Mahdavi joined next to help Jason and Alex dig into the Delve story. Well-funded Delve was publicly criticized for allegedly overselling their compliance tool’s capabilities and not being honest with customers. Delve has responded to the allegations, though Mahdavi said that he had his doubts about the competing startup even before the news story broke. Next, TWiST invited Brick founder Seg Sheng on to explain his startup’s plan to use a combination of physical hardware and artificial intelligence to help buildings and data centers reduce their energy bills. Given how much juice the AI era demands, Brick could be onto something big. And to close out the show, Gavin Zaentz and Pranav Ramesh from LeadPoet (Bittensor Subnet 71) to show off their technology (the pair put in motion a lead hunt for Brick while on-air). It’s a packed show with something for everyone. Let’s go! Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:18 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off! 3:45 Elizabeth Yin from Hustle Fund on how AI tools have changed her workflow 9:21 How founders use AI to learn how to suck less 10:34 Sentry - New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST 13:17 Ryan Mahdavi from Ceel joins to explain the Delve SOC 2 scandal 18:39 Is Silicon Valley's "bend the rules" culture at fault? 20:38 Red and pink flags, and how investors can spot potential fraud 21:41 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist 23:45 How to not do securities fraud: a simple guide 26:50 Ryan asks: How did the company get through diligence? 31:03 Northwest Registered Agent — Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 32:25 Were there early warning signs about issues with Delve? 33:26 On Delve's use of tactical donuts 36:55 What about the Delve board? If there is one? 45:24 Seb Sheng stops by to tell us about how Brick Data saves companies massively on energy costs 49:38 Who are Brick's customers and how much are they paying? 54:16 Lightning Round: A quick history of Brick 56:02 Why Jason is so bullish on $TAO 56:45 Ro.co: Ro's insurance checker will let you know if your coverage includes GLP-1s for FREE. Go to https://Ro.co/Twist for your free insurance check. 1:06:35 How do LeadPoet's "miners" track down the best leads? 1:13:09 How Bittensor subnets map to traditional startup forms 1:17:15 How can agents build up authority if they can't get hired for their first job? 1:21:03 Jason: "I think the game of Bitcoin has ended…" 1:23:22 Why Jason likes to place a bet, then learn 1:24:16 The inherent risks in crypto investment Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Elizabeth Yin

General Partner

Hustle Fund

Ryan Mahdavi

Founder

CECeel

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Squarespace. Turn your idea into a new website! Go to Squarespace.com/TWIST for a free trial. When you’re ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Northwest Registered Agent. When starting your business, it's important to use a service that will actually help you. Northwest Registered Agent is that service. They'll form your company fast, give you the documents you need to open a business bank account, and even provide you with mail scanning and a business address to keep your personal privacy intact. Visit - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist to get a 60% discount on your next LLC. LinkedIn Jobs. A business is only as strong as its people, and every hire matters. Go to LinkedIn.com/TWIST to post your first job for free. Terms and conditions apply. * Today’s show: David Weisburd hosts Elizabeth Yin, Zach Coelius, and Jason Calacanis to discuss trends in venture capital, including the growth of fund sizes (2:32), the resurgence of the Bay Area (33:42), the decrease in capital efficiency (51:12), the rise in unicorn companies but lack of liquidity (45:11), and top recent investments (57:27)! * Timestamps: (0:00) David Weisburd hosts Elizabeth Yin, Zach Coelius, and Jason Calacanis to dive into the state of venture funds (2:32) Venture funds are growing in size despite the slow market (10:37) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/twist (11:43) Exploring the performance: smaller funds vs. larger funds (28:56) Northwest Registered Agent - Get a 60% discount on your next LLC at - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist (29:49) Hustle Fund’s quantitative approach to evaluating startups (33:42) Is the Bay Area officially back? (43:51) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedin.com/twist (45:11) Number of unicorns has increased but liquidity has decreased (51:12) The decline in capital efficiency over the past decade (57:27) Rapid-fire segment on top recent investments * LINKS: https://www.wsj.com/articles/pro-take-why-venture-fund-sizes-rose-despite-the-slow-market-fd4c4677 https://www.cowboy.vc/news/welcome-back-to-the-unicorn-club-10-years-later * Thanks to our partners: (10:37) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/twist (28:56) Northwest Registered Agent - Get a 60% discount on your next LLC at - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist (43:51) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedin.com/twist * Follow Elizabeth X: https://twitter.com/dunkhippo33 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethyin/ Check out: https://hustlefund.vc Check out: https://letsgo.hustlefund.vc/raise-millions Check out: Bruinhealth.com Check out: Goafterwork.com * Follow Zach X:  https://twitter.com/zachcoelius LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachcoelius/ Check out: https://coelius.vc/ Check out: Echomark.com Check out: Findbugzero.com * Follow David X:  https://twitter.com/DWeisburd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/ Check out: https://10xcapital.com/ * Follow Jason: X: ⁠https://twitter.com/jason⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/jason⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Check out: Podcast.ai Check out: Zestapp.co Check out: getriver.io * Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast * Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: ⁠https://rb.gy/v19fcp⁠

Elizabeth Yin

General Partner

Hustle Fund

Zach Coelius

Managing Partner

Coelius Capital

This Week in Startups is presented by: Squarespace. Turn your idea into a new website! Go to Squarespace.com/TWIST for a free trial. When you’re ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. OpenPhone. Create business phone numbers for you and your team that work through an app on your smartphone or desktop. TWiST listeners can get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at openphone.com/twist Lemon.io - Hire pre-vetted remote developers, get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist * Today’s show: Jason first reflects on the Titan submersible tragedy as he discusses the concept of ‘Toxic Wealth’ (1:41). Then, he explains why Meta will remove news content from Instagram and Facebook in Canada due to Bill C-18 (14:59). Finally, Elizabeth Yin gives a presentation live from Angel Summit on her five major learnings from 700+ startup investments (22:59). * Follow Elizabeth: https://twitter.com/dunkhippo33 Check Out Hustle Fund: https://www.hustlefund.vc * Time stamps: (0:00) Elizabeth’s passion (1:41) Jason discusses the Titan submersible tragedy and how money can lead to recklessness and toxic wealth (13:40) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/TWIST (14:59) Meta removes news content from Instagram and Facebook in Canada (21:33) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://openphone.com/twist (22:59) Elizabeth Yin of Hustle Fund at Angel Summit (31:32) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist (32:51) How to invest in startups (50:17) Q&A with Angel Summit audience * Read LAUNCH Fund 4 Deal Memo: https://www.launch.co/four Apply for Funding: https://www.launch.co/apply Buy ANGEL: https://www.angelthebook.com Great recent interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland, PrayingForExits, Jenny Lefcourt Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow Jason: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jason Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Follow TWiST: Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast

Elizabeth Yin

General Partner

Hustle Fund

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. For this week’s deep dive, the Equity team brought on Gumroad CEO Sahil Lavingia and Hustle Fund General Partner Elizabeth Yin to talk about equity crowdfunding. It’s been about a week since the SEC increased the equity crowdfunding cap from $1.07 million to $5 million, creating the perfect opportunity to go beyond the dollar amount and understand how the change impacts founders, venture capitalists, retail investors, and future fund managers. Here’s a brief rundown of the show: We talk about the basics of this new SEC regulation, and understand which platforms might be leading the pack for these bootstrapped campaigns. Indiegogo’s founder wrote an op-ed grading the new regulations on the site. Some banter on Gumroad’s 12-hour campaign that led to a successfully crowdsourced $5 million for the company. Lavingia talks about his decision to crowdfund a round in his company, why it made sense for the company, and what it will take to make this raise mainstream. Of course, Yin shared a ton of helpful nuggets around crowdfunding, providing a venture capital perspective that was still bullish on growing the amount of check-writers in the ecosystem. Some recent equity crowdfunding campaigns have shown that there are thousands of individuals willing to fund the enterprises they want to see succeed. Juked.gg is one such example. There are also notes on the Testing the Waters dynamic that could usher some wiggle room to early-stage founders thinking about this. Will equity crowdfunding supplant venture capital, or will it merely augment it? Our discussion leads us to ponder both possibilities. What seems clear is that equity crowdfunding could widen the band of companies that are "backable," if not the band of companies that traditional venture capital players find enticing. And we end with a whole bunch of meta debates, from the role of the platform in vetting campaigns. As with every innovation, including crowdfunding itself, there will be fraud and failure. But if there will be enough bad news to limit consumer interest is far from certain. This is one of those nerdy topics that gets us really excited about the future of dollar allocation and startup creation. We hope you love the show and leave with a better understanding of what’s ahead. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sahil Lavingia

CEO

Gumroad

Elizabeth Yin

General Partner

Hustle Fund

Hustle Fund Co-Founder & General Partner Elizabeth Yin answers 50 questions from founders!

Elizabeth Yin

General Partner

Hustle Fund

0:50 Jason opens the show with some thoughts on livelihood, getting back to work as a lose-lose situation and approaching the situation with kindness and empathy 5:47 Jason intros Hustle Fund's Elizabeth Yin and they discuss the process of raising Hustle Fund I and targeting first-time LPs 10:25 Why high net worth individuals would look to become venture LPs 14:26 What's the deal with Elizabeth & hippos? Where can you find Jason as his alter-ego "CyberSurfer" 15:49 What is Hustle Fund's portfolio strategy? 18:55 When do you know if you have a 100x outlier? Why roll prior angel investments into the fund? 24:15 Thinking of venture funds from a gambling perspective 28:24 What is Hustle Fund's approach to pro-rata as a smaller fund? 34:49 Founders ability to "game" investors increasing in last 5 years 37:47 How does Elizabeth decide to make the follow-on second bet in a company? 42:01 How does Elizabeth advise her startups to raise from downstream Seed/Series A investors, importance of positive unit economics 47:41 Challenges of fundraising in today's climate 50:34 Reasons for optimism/pessimism, lockdown creating a necessity for innovation 56:55 What will COVID's permanent ramifications be on startups?

Elizabeth Yin

General Partner

Hustle Fund

On this episode, Ryan sits down with Eric Bahn from Hustle Fund in San Francisco. Hustle Fund invests in what they call “hilariously-early hustlers.” Prior to co-founding the fund, Eric worked in a number of operating roles, including as a product manager at Intuit, co-founder of a gaming company, founder of a startup to serve MBA students (that was later acquired), product manager at Facebook, co-founder of a media company called The Hustle, and EIR at 500 Startups (phew!). On this episode we take you behind the curtain to break down exactly how venture capital works. We talk about: Eric's advice on how to break into venture capital if you've never worked in the space before. Some of the common misconceptions about VC, including how much venture capitalists are actually paid (spoiler alert: unless you're at a big fund, it's not as much as you think). Hustle Fund's investing thesis, including their unique data-driven approach to investing in early stage companies. We also talk about the rise of “no code” and some of the best apps that are letting makers create amazing products without writing code. We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to AngelList and FreshBooks for their support. 😸 Quotes from This Episode “Fundamentally our jobs are the most blessed in the world because we just surround ourselves with people who have a worldview, have a product, have an idea, that they wholeheartedly believe in. They’ve taken all the sacrifices to make that happen and you and I may not agree all the time with whether their vision is the correct one to be successful but it only leaves you with optimism.” — Eric “Our thesis is driven by the notion that the single best leading indicator of success for a team — that is discernible at the pre-seed stage, is this characteristic called hustle. Whatever the core metrics that are relevant for your business, the teams that are growing aggressively against those metrics tend to grind out the best results over time.” — Eric “These folks will look amazing on paper — maybe they worked at Facebook or Google or something previously, went to Stanford or MIT, checks all the boxes, and then you watch them work and you realize that person who was successful in the context of a larger company with more resources doesn’t necessarily have the skills that translate to cold-starting a business from scratch in a world of entropy where there’s no rules and no structure.” — Eric Companies and Products Mentioned in This Episode Bubble — Build a fully functional web app without any code. Retool — Build custom internal tools in minutes. Webflow — Build professional dynamic websites without any code. Articles Mentioned In This Episode Mark Suster, Both Sides: Invest in Lines, Not Dots Kate Clark, TechCrunch: This Is How Much VCs Are Paid

Eric Bahn

Co-founder and Partner

Hustle Fund

Elizabeth Yin watched 200 startups go through 500 Startups' accelerator and noticed that venture capital SaaS fundraising success wasn't correlated with how good founders were at running their businesses. That insight led her to launch Hustle Fund, a pre-seed fund built around one metric - speed of execution. Elizabeth breaks down SaaS fundraising 101 into three seed stages: pre-seed (zero to $30K MRR), seed ($30K-$1M run rate), and post-seed ($1M-$3M run rate). She shares how to pack 10-20 investor meetings into one week, test startup funding valuation with a small lower-priced tranche, and keep pitch emails to five bullet points. Elizabeth Yin is the co-founder and general partner at Hustle Fund. Previously she founded LaunchBit (acquired 2014) and led the accelerator program at 500 Startups. She evaluates venture capital SaaS deals based on velocity, not pedigree. 🔑 Key Lessons 🎯 Know the three stages of venture capital SaaS before you start: Pre-seed is zero to $30K MRR, seed is $30K to $1M run rate, and post-seed is $1M to $3M - each stage has different investor pools and expectations. 💰 Test valuation with a small first tranche: Offer a small portion of your round at a lower cap using a YC SAFE, then raise the valuation if it fills easily - this creates urgency and gives real market data. ⚡ Pack 10-20 investor meetings into one week: Moving all investors through decisions simultaneously creates urgency and prevents the common problem of one investor being ready while another hasn't started. 🧠 Keep your venture capital SaaS pitch to five bullet points: Problem, solution, traction, market size, and team - investors spend 5-30 seconds on emails, so brevity gets the meeting. 🤝 Choose investors who fill your specific gaps: Technical founders should seek investors with SaaS customer acquisition experience. Founders outside major cities should recruit a Bay Area investor for downstream introductions. Chapters Introduction Elizabeth's favorite quote - shoot for the moon What Hustle Fund is and who it invests in Elizabeth's background - LaunchBit, 500 Startups, Hustle Fund The disconnect between venture capital SaaS and execution quality Pattern matching in VC - pedigree, demographics, extroversion What makes Hustle Fund different - velocity over pedigree Customer acquisition unit economics at pre-seed Why SaaS margins make venture capital SaaS investing easier When bootstrapped founders should start raising a seed round The 2018 fundraising landscape - three stages of seed How to get started with SaaS fundraising Fundraising from outside Silicon Valley How much capital to raise - work backwards from milestones Pitching do's and don'ts - two-stage pitch strategy Five-slide deck and brevity as the top differentiator Valuation strategy - supply, demand, and testing tranches Choosing the right investor - value add vs money Lightning round Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/178 Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email

Elizabeth Yin

General Partner

Hustle Fund

Elizabeth Yin is the Co-Founder & Managing Partner @ Hustle Fund, as they describe, the ventue fund for hilariously early hustlers. Elizabeth is also the co-founder of HustleCon, a conference series for non-technical entrepreneurs to launch and scale their startups. Prior to Hustle Fund, Elizabeth was a Partner @ 500 Startups where she ran the 500 Startups seed program in Mountain View and where she and her partner saw over 20,000 startup decks. Before that Elizabeth was a successful operator, as the Co-Founder and CEO of Launchbit, an adtech platform that was acquired by BuySellAds. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Elizabeth made her way from successful founder with LaunchBit to Partner @ 500 Startups to now founding partner of Hustle Fund? 2.) Why does Elizabeth believe that VCs fundamentally assess founders the wrong way? What is the right way to assess founders in such early stages? How can one really stress test the level of hustle from the founding team? 3.) How does Elizabeth assess innovation in the practice of venture capital? Why does Elizabeth believe that there has been very little creativity towards innovation? Who has innovatively addressed sourcing the best companies? 4.) In a world of noted rounds with a cap structure, how does Elizabeth feel about gaining the pro-rata in deals? Why does Elizabeth believe that ownership stake and portfolio size are not in conflict with one another? 5.) How does Elizabeth view the future of the VC industry? How can the early stage funnel be flipped on it's head? Why does Elizabeth believe that SAFEs and convertible notes are the future of investing? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Elizabeth's Most Recent Investment: The Pill Club As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Elizabeth on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. Available in carry-on and check-in sizes, Raden is the case for better, smarter travel. By pairing the lightest and most durable materials with technology, travelers can charge their devices on the go, weigh, and track their cases. Visit Raden.com to use code 20VC at checkout. With purchase, receive credit towards Tablet Hotels for the next year. If a UK listener, head over to Selfridge's and shop Raden today. The Simba Hybrid. The most advanced mattress in the world. With a unique combination of two thousand five hundred conical pocket springs and responsive memory foam, it offers the perfect support for two people. A mattress that responds to you and your partner's sleeping patterns. Delivered free, with a one hundred night sleep trial, free returns and a ten year guarantee. Start your free trial at simbasleep.com

Elizabeth Yin

General Partner

Hustle Fund