Sell Side VC
Opening Up Black Boxes in the Web3 Start-Up World
Introduction to Me
To the readers who are new here, hi! I am Ishita.
Till Q2 2023, I was an active investor. I’ve led the research and investments at 2 crypto-native early-stage venture firms. I founding member at both of them. I evaluated 1000+ decks/pitches over 3 years and led 60 investments and saw 30 token launches closely.
But I wanted to get closer to the world start-ups and hence decided to leave my cushy. VC job and become an operator.
In the last 12 months, I have helped fundraise ~ US$ 80 million, seeing the whole spectrum of mega fundraises to failed fundraises. This is my memoir.
Introduction to This Essay Series
In this series, I will share my first-hand experience of being on the sell side of crypto fundraises, and share insights on everything from mega fundraises to sub 500k angel rounds.
There is endless content about how to build a pitch deck, prepare a data room, reach out to VCs, etc, and honestly, most of it is generic as f*ck :)
What I want to share with frens is the on-ground reality of fundraising and launching tokens in 2024.
A lot of the content will be based on things that were black boxes for me when I was a buy-side investor, merrily flipping away through pitch decks and asking experienced founders about their GTM with confidence only a college grad turned VC could have.
I'll break down the black boxes I once faced as a buy-side VC: how exchange listings really work, the models behind market makers, token 're-launches,' and more. I will also tell you about how pitching is just a specialized sales stream & there are ways to game it and talk about why preparing for smart due diligence is actually a very healthy process. Also, most VCs are so, painfully, dumb. So, pick what you want to learn and leave the rest. Challenges to my thoughts (& compliments) are always welcome. Without further ado, I present the upcoming essays:
Happy Endings: Mega fundraises & Big fundraises
The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow: Failed fundraises & Small fundraises
Good VC, Bad VC: :)
Pre-Token Launch: Everyone will HATE your Airdrop & the Macro Considerations for launching a Token
This Essay Got Private Bids at a Million Dollars: An In-depth Walkthrough of navigating the Exchange Listing and Market Making workstreams
Upwards and Onwards: Post-Token launch journey
Lfg, Anon.
