Podcasts about kruze

Todays show: In the latest edition of Startup Finance Basics, Jason sits down with Scott Orn from Kruze Consulting to answer the six most important founder/startup questions around finance, accounting, and taxes. * Timestamps: (0:00) Kruze COO, Scott Orn, joins Jason to dive into Finance Basics FAQs. (1:05) How can I avoid paying payroll tax as a startup founder? (6:54) How do you shut down a startup? (11:33) Why do I owe Delaware $50,000 in franchise taxes? (12:58) I've got my first customer lined up! How do I get paid? (16:26) Can I tell VCs that implementation revenue is ARR? (19:59) Should I raise venture debt when I raise my Series A? * Check out Kruze: https://kruzeconsulting.com Check out more Finance Basics here: THISWEEKINSTARTUPS.COM/basics * 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 Scott: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorn X: https://twitter.com/scottorn * Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Todays show: In the latest edition of Startup Finance Basics, Jason sits down with Scott Orn from Kruze Consulting to tackle essential year-end planning for startups. "Year-End Planning: Setting Your Startup Up for Success," covers crucial topics like assessing next year's fundraising needs, crafting an operating plan, preparing for taxes and compliance, and more. Don't miss these practical tips to ensure your startup is ready to thrive in the new year! * Timestamps: (0:00) Kruze COO, Scott Orn, joins Jason (2:17) Evaluate Your Fundraising Needs for Next Year (7:05) Financial Statement Review and Clean-up (8:34) Set High-Level Goals and Strategy (11:27) Cost Optimization Review (13:39) Create Next Year's Operating Plan (17:19) Tax and Compliance Planning (19:02) Team and Equity Management (20:22) Cash Management Strategy * Check out Kruze: https://kruzeconsulting.com Check out more Finance Basics here: THISWEEKINSTARTUPS.COM/basics * 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 Scott: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorn X: https://twitter.com/scottorn * Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Michael David of Banc of California (https://bancofcal.com) explains how Banc of California works with startups to deliver specialized banking services. Kruze Consulting offers solid financials to help de-risk your startup's next venture capital round. Work with a startup expert! Kruze bookkeepers (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-bookkeeping) will help your startup have accurate, up-to-date financial statements that you can use to manage your business' growth and cash flow.

Todays show: Kruze's Scott Orn joins Jason on the latest edition of Startup Finance Basics! In this episode, they break down the best financial advice that VCs give founders including, managing cash flow (0:21), accounting methods (5:19), building an effective financial plan (15:22), and more! * Timestamps: (00:00) Kruze COO, Scott Orn, joins Jason (0:21) The best financial advice VCs give startups, managing cash flow, and the risks of over-fundraising (5:19) Growth strategies for early-stage startups and accounting methods (8:28) Legal aspects of financial representation and maintaining credibility with VCs (15:00) Building an effective financial plan for your startup (17:47) Historical perspectives on funding and the importance of regulatory considerations * Check out Kruze: https://kruzeconsulting.com * 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 Scott: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorn X: https://twitter.com/scottorn * Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

AJ Audino of Perplexity (https://perplexity.ai) explains how the company is revolutionizing search engines by using AI. Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page (https://kruzeconsulting.com/customer-reviews). Or, read the Kruze blog to see examples of the best VC pitch decks or learn what the average startup CEO salary is. Trust Kruze for great podcasts like this one, and other great content designed to help startup founders grow their businesses, raise capital and more.

Todays show: Kruze's Scott Orn joins Jason on the latest edition of Startup Finance Basics! In this episode, they break down the unique aspects and dynamics of the current AI boom, contrasting AI startup revenue, costs, and growth rates with traditional SaaS models (4:11). They also dive into AI tools' impact on productivity and labor efficiency (8:12), the accounting challenges and operational issues AI startups face (14:27), and more! * Timestamps: (00:00) Kruze COO, Scott Orn, joins Jason (1:06) Unique aspects and dynamics of the current AI boom (4:11) AI startup revenue, costs, and growth rates vs traditional SaaS (8:12) AI tools and their impact on productivity and labor efficiency (14:27) Accounting challenges and operational issues in AI startups * Check out Kruze: https://kruzeconsulting.com * 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 Scott: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorn X: https://twitter.com/scottorn * Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

The support for this episode comes from Leadfeeder - turn anonymous pageviews into concrete sales pipeline.Imagine knowing which companies are checking out your site, tracking their behavior on your site, and integrating all this into your CRM.That's exactly what Leadfeeder does for you. Head to https://bit.ly/4dQVsWe for a FREE demo and get a FREE EXTENDED premium trial by mentioning the Pursuit of Scrappiness podcast. Head to https://bit.ly/4dQVsWe====Elvis Kruze is the founder of eksplodemedia.com - a content creation strategy and execution agency. Elvis has helped his clients get over 1Bn views in the past 2 years on social media. He is working with famous YouTubers such as Mike Thurston and his agency specializes in helping brands, influencers & entrepreneurs produce consistent short form content to grow organically. On this episode we talk about:How Short Form Video is Taking Over Social MediaContent Creation Strategies to Elevate Your ReachHow is AI Impacting Content Creation Today and in the FutureWhy Being Authentic is the Key to Success in Content CreationPractical Tips on Sourcing and Executing Content IdeasThe Most Common Mistakes in Social Media Marketing==Find all episodes on >  https://www.pursuitofscrappiness.co/Watch select full-length episodes on our YouTube channel > https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP6ueaLnjS-CQfrMCm2EoTAConnect with us on Linkedin > https://www.linkedin.com/company/pursuit-of-scrappiness/ ===============This episode is brought to you in collaboration with our supporters of the show - SAMSUNG and their new AI enabled Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone!Take your productivity & creativity to the next level with Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Find out more at https://www.samsung.com/lv/smartphones/galaxy-s24-ultra/

Sam Heshmati of Citizens Private Bank (https://www.citizensbank.com/homepage.aspx) discusses their tailored banking solutions and high-touch service. Find out why Kruze Consulting is one of the leading accounting firms in San Francisco and the US, serving funded, early-stage companies. Kruze clients have raised over $15 billion in venture capital and seed financing, and our research and development tax credit (https://kruzeconsulting.com/research-and-development-tax-credit-us) work has saved clients millions of dollars in burn rate and payroll taxes. Contact Kruze to learn more.

Sam Bhaumick, EVP of Venture Lending at Avidbank (https://www.avidbank.com), explains how Avidbank offers venture debt and cash management services to startups. Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page. Or, visit the Kruze website to find information about the Best Startup Credit Cards or learn what the average startup CEO salary (https://kruzeconsulting.com/blog/post/startup-ceo-salary-report) is. Trust Kruze Consulting for great podcasts like this one, and other great content designed to help startup founders like you, grow their businesses, raise capital and more.

Sunita Patel of HSBC (https://www.us.hsbc.com) explains how the bank has expanded its startup banking services following its acquisition of SVB UK. Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of over 10 years of experience, our controllers, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers understand the challenges of high-growth startups. Kruze Consulting is also 100% focused on working with funded Delaware C-Corps who have raised at least half a million in seed or venture capital financing. Learn more about Kruze affordable prices (https://kruzeconsulting.com/pricing) and choose the plan that best matches your startup's funding level.

A reminder for new readers. That Was The Week includes a collection of my selected readings on critical issues in tech, startups, and venture capital. I selected the articles because they are of interest to me. The selections often include things I entirely disagree with. But they express common opinions, or they provoke me to think. The articles are snippets sized to convey why they are of interest. Click on the headline, contents link, or the ‘More' link at the bottom of each piece to go to the original. I express my point of view in the editorial and the weekly video below.Hat Tip to this week's creators: @reidhoffman, @dougleone, , @credistick, @rex_woodbury, @NathanLands, @ItsUrBoyEvan, @berber_jin1, @cityofthetown, @keachhagey, @pmarca, @bhorowitz, , @signalrank, @steph_palazzolo, @julipuli, @MTemkin, @geneteare, @lorakolodny, @jasminewsun, @JBFlint, @asharma, @thesimonetti, @lessinContents* Editorial: * Essays of the Week* Crossing The Series A Chasm* The Consumer Renaissance* The Creator Economy on AI Steroids* AI Is Transforming the Nature of the Firm* The Opaque Investment Empire Making OpenAI's Sam Altman Rich* Video of the Week* The American Dream - Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz* AI of the Week* SignalRank Version 3 Improves Performance Again* How Long Can OpenAI's First-Mover Advantage Last?* OpenAI Employees Warn of Advanced AI Dangers* A Right to Warn about Advanced Artificial Intelligence* Nvidia hits $3tn and surpasses Apple as world's second-most valuable company* VCs are selling shares of hot AI companies like Anthropic and xAI to small investors in a wild SPV market* News Of the Week* Crunchbase Monthly Recap May 2024: AI Leads Alongside An Uptick In Billion-Dollar Rounds* Elon Musk ordered Nvidia to ship thousands of AI chips reserved for Tesla to X and xAI* Introducing video to Substack Chat* Instagram's Testing Video Ads That Stop You From Scrolling Further* Startup of the Week* NBA Nears $76 Billion TV Deal, a Defining Moment for Media and Sports* X of the Week* Doug Leone - I am supporting Trump. * Reid Hoffman - I am supporting BidenEditorialI woke on Tuesday to Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital on X saying:I have become increasingly concerned about the general direction of our country, the state of our broken immigration system, the ballooning deficit, and the foreign policy missteps, among other issues. Therefore, I am supporting former President Trump in this coming election.Doug has the right to support Trump. It is also clear that the immigration system is broken, the deficit is ballooning, many things are wrong with foreign policy, and there are “other issues.” Trump as the solution is less obvious. But there it is—hot on the tails of Chamath Palihipitaya and David Sacks announcing a fund-raiser for Trump on the All-In podcast (they said they would do the same for Biden).Reid Hoffman followed up a day later with:On one level, this is a straightforward choice, but any literate attempt to analyze Leone's issues might arrive at the following conclusions:* Like many Western nations, the USA is aging rapidly and has a shrinking working-age population across all skill sets. Immigrants are needed, and pro-immigration leadership is needed, creating a path to entry for large numbers of skilled and unskilled workers to fill empty jobs as we get close to full employment.* The deficit is large, and there are many palliatives available. Selling more to China would help, but both party leaders are protectionist. Taxes to reduce the divide between the 1% and the rest would help a bit. However, what would help the most is economic growth, which requires investment in technology and productivity. Neither leader seems too focused on innovation and investment.* Foreign Policy - well, sheesh, it's a big issue. However, saber-rattling about Taiwan and provoking China seems to be a hobby shared by both parties and does not seem smart. Ukraine and the future of Europe are better in Biden's hands, but not by a lot. Europe looks very shaky. The US is increasingly isolationist. The appetite for world leadership is on the decline. Again, the solution would focus on economic growth, which seems absent.Voting for Trump is a big no-no for me. But voting for Biden is, at best, a lesser evil instinct, not a belief system. The election will not be where the future is built, but it is important. Politicians are collectively disappointing.This week's video of the week from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz is called “The American Dream” and champions their view about American Dynamism. And I must confess that this comes closer to a vision of the future than either political outfit. Their vision requires political support, massive government financial commitment, and private capital investment. I see no evidence of those happening.The real winning effort seems to be happening on the ground. This week, Nvidia hit $3 trillion, eclipsing Apple as the world's second-most valuable company. This is even though Apple has 7 times the revenue of Nvidia.This week's first essays also focus on prospects for boom time. Rex Woodbury's ‘The Consumer Renaissance' examines the impact of consumer spending on our lives. In ‘The Creator Economy on AI Steroids, ' Nathan Lands focuses on how emerging tools will transform creativity. But in ‘AI Is Transforming the Nature of the Firm, ' Evan Armstrong gets closest to a future vision.”AI is the first universally flexible technology. It can interact with our digital environments in similar ways to humans, so it can have all the flexibility that we do. In that way, it may be the last technology we ever need.This seems to be the crux of hope in a world where dreams and nightmares are strangely devoid of detail. What the world needs (not only America) is hope. And hope is born from optimism. Optimism is born from success. The most likely success of the next decades will result from specific uses of AI that improve human life.I know and like Doug Leone. I know and like Reid Hoffman. Doug's bar for success needs to be higher. Voting for Trump is not right, and even if it were, it would not be sufficient.Reid also needs a higher bar. Voting for Biden will not be sufficient even if it is right.Let's focus on where success can be found, grow optimism, and breed hope. There is a need for a broad technical revolution and the social rebirth it enables. Silicon Valley and its friends globally need to invent the next version of human existence to the benefit of all. The social rebirth requires a conscious effort; technology will not magically bring it about. More in this week's video.Essays of the WeekCrossing The Series A ChasmDan GrayDan Gray, a frequent guest author for Crunchbase News, is the head of insights at Equidam, a startup valuation platform, and a venture partner at Social Impact Capital.June 5, 2024As we get deeper into 2024, there is increasing concern about the state of Series A fundraising. The bar for investment appears much higher, and fewer startups are reaching it.This is a problem for founders, and investors like Jenny Fielding, managing partner of Everywhere Ventures, who said, “Every Seed investor's dilemma: All my Series A buddies want to meet my companies early! All my companies are too early for my Series A buddies.”To attach some data to this, we can see that the median step-up in valuation from seed to Series A has gone from $19.5 million in Q1 2022 to $28.7 million in Q1 2024. Series A firms seem to be looking for much stronger revenue performance, with targets of $2 million to $3 million in ARR, compared to $1 million to $2 million just a few years ago.The outcome is that while 31.8% of Q1 2020 seed startups closed their Series A within two years, that fell to just 12% for Q1 2022 — which should worry everyone.Why are Series A investors so much more demanding?Today's Series A investors are looking at startups that raised their seed between 2021 and 2023, which identifies the root of the problem: it spans the Q2 2022 high-tide mark for venture capital.For example, there were 1,695 seed rounds of more than $5 million in 2021, rising to 2,248 in 2022, then falling to 1,521 in 2023. As a comparison, there have been just 137 so far in 2024.The result is two categories of startups that are looking to raise their Series A today:* Pre-crunch startups that raised generous seed rounds and stretched the capital out as far as they could, to grow into inflated valuations.* Post-crunch startups that raised modest seed rounds on more reasonable terms, with shorter runways and less demonstrable growth.Strictly speaking, neither is more appealing than the other; the first group has less risk, the second offers more upside, and both are adapted to current market realities. It shouldn't cause a problem for investors, provided they can distinguish between the two.The cost of market inefficiencyVenture investors have a market-based lens on investment decisions, which means looking fairly broadly at trends in revenue performance and round pricing to determine terms, e.g. a typical Series A is within certain bounds of revenue performance and valuation. While that approach may be serviceable and efficient under ideal conditions, the past few years have been far from ideal.Without distinguishing between the two cohorts, investors are now looking at the performance of Series A candidates that spent more than $5 million on a war chest for two to three years of growth alongside the valuations of candidates that raised around $2 million to prove scalability. It just doesn't work as an average, and thus the unreasonable expectations...MoreThe Consumer RenaissanceFrom Predicting Consumer AI Applications to Analyzing Consumer SpendREX WOODBURY, JUN 05, 2024“Consumer” has become something of a bad word in venture capital circles.We see this reflected in the early-stage markets: recent data from Carta showed that just 7.1% of Seed capital raised last year went to consumer startups. That's less than half the share from 2019 (14.3%).But I think consumer is actually a great place to be building and investing. Whenever something is out of favor, that's a sign it's probably a good place to spend time: this is an industry built on being contrarian, not built on following the herd. We're entering a compelling few years for consumer entrepreneurship.First, I'd argue that consumer is too narrowly defined. When people think consumer, they often think consumer social (a tough category) or consumer brands (a tough fit for venture compared to internet and software businesses, with typically lower return profiles). But consumer is broader. Consumer encompasses businesses that sell to consumers and those that rely on consumer spending. This means the obvious names—apps on our phones like Uber, Instacart, Spotify—and the enablers: Shopify, for instance, powers online retail; Faire powers offline retail; Unity powers game development. Each of the latter three is B2B2C, in its own way, but I would categorize each is also a consumer technology business.The wins in consumer can be massive. The biggest technology businesses in history began as consumer businesses—Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon. The original companies comprising FAANG—with Microsoft conspicuously absent—were allconsumer.And some of the best returns of the last five years have stemmed from consumer tech IPOs. At Daybreak, we invest ~$1M at Pre-Seed and Seed. Here's how much a $1M investment in the Seed round of five recent consumer IPOs would yield:Big consumer wins compare favorably to big enterprise wins—relative to Snowflake's market cap, Uber is ~3x in size, Airbnb is ~2x in size, and DoorDash is roughly equal. (Snowflake is the biggest enterprise IPO of the last decade.) The last few years produced a windfall of consumer outcomes, yet investors today almost write off the category.At Daybreak, we don't focus exclusively on consumer; my view is that you need to balance more binary consumer outcomes with B2B SaaS and B2B marketplaces. But we do approach investing through the lens of the consumer—how people make decisions. The buyers of products like Figma and Ramp, after all, are people, and software companies are increasingly selling bottom-up into organizations. The line between consumer and enterprise has been blurring for years.This week's Digital Native makes the argument that consumer tech is a compelling place to build and invest. We'll look at the data to back up this argument, then delve into three categories of consumer that I'm particularly interested in right now:* Checking in on Consumer Spend* Consumer Tech: The Data Doesn't Lie* What to Watch: AI Applications* What to Watch: Shopping* What to Watch: Consumer Health* Rule of Thumb: Follow the SpendThis week we'll cover #1-3, and next week in Part II we'll tackle #4-6.Let's dive in

John Li of Vimcal (https://www.vimcal.com) explains how the software allows busy founders and executives to effectively and efficiently manage their schedules. Kruze offers experienced M&A Accounting expertise for Startups. Founders building world-class startups trust Kruze Consulting to help them be prepared for financial and tax due diligence. We know what it takes to exit your company - on average, one to three of our clients are acquired every month! Talk to our experts (https://kruzeconsulting.com/#contact) and let them help you save time and money!

David Forsberg of Ascent Energy Ventures (https://www.ascentev.com) discusses Ascent's unique investment focus on digital tools for the energy industry, and explains how he reviews potential investments. Find out why Kruze Consulting is an experienced finance and accounting firm for startups in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the US. Our clients have raised over $15 billion in venture and seed financing (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-venture-capital-finance-experts), and our team knows how to navigate the VC diligence process. Get in touch with Kruze experts now!

Ben Parr (https://www.benparr.com), writer and analyst, discusses his involvement with early AI systems and explains how AI will impact the startup ecosystem. Kruze Cares More - We take our clients' success (https://kruzeconsulting.com/reviews) - and happiness - seriously. Kruze has worked with hundreds of early-stage companies, many of which have gone on to raise tens to hundreds of millions in venture financing - and a number of which have been successfully acquired by major public companies.

Kelly Caviglia at Bridge Bank (https://bridgebank.com) talks about the services Bridge provides for startups, including venture lending, credit card solutions, treasury management, and more. Kruze Consulting offers solid financials to help de-risk your startup's next venture capital round. Work with a startup expert (https://kruzeconsulting.com/#contact)! Kruze bookkeepers will help your startup have accurate, up-to-date financial statements that you can use to manage your business' growth and cash flow.

Jake Cronin, co-founder of Siro (https://siro.ai), explains how Siro makes great sales coaching available to salespeople, helping them realize their potential. Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax, and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page. Or, read the Kruze blog to see examples of the best VC pitch decks (https://kruzeconsulting.com/blog/post/top-5-venture-capital-pitch-decks) or learn what the average startup CEO salary is. Trust Kruze for great podcasts like this one, and other great content designed to help startup founders grow their businesses, raise capital and more.

Don Muir of Arc (https://www.arc.tech) explains Arc Capital Markets, a marketplace for bespoke venture debt and startup-focused credit products. Arc Capital Markets joins Arc's other products, including treasury management and financial solutions for startups. Find out why Kruze Consulting is one of the leading accounting firms in San Francisco (https://kruzeconsulting.com/san-francisco-accounting) and the US, serving funded, early-stage companies. Kruze clients have raised over $10 billion in venture capital and seed financing, and our research and development tax credit work has saved clients millions of dollars in burn rate and payroll taxes. Contact Kruze to learn more.

What are VCs looking for in today's market? Gautam Gupta of TCV (https://www.tcv.com) discusses what it takes to fundraise right now, including an emphasis on company fundamentals, significant gross profit margins, what to call out in a pitch meeting, and what to look for in a term sheet. Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page (https://kruzeconsulting.com/customer-reviews). Or, visit the Kruze website to find information about the Best Startup Credit Cards or learn what the average startup CEO salary is. Trust Kruze Consulting for great podcasts like this one, and other great content designed to help startup founders like you, grow their businesses, raise capital and more.

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Talia Kruze, a wife, mother, mental health coach, and a convert to the Catholic faith to talk about her absolutely incredible journey of conversion to the Catholic faith.The theme throughout Talia's journey is the effect of good Catholic witnesses. Beginning when her own sister converted to Catholicism after the witnesses of the good Catholics she met at university, Talia's story is full of other Catholics sharing the faith in rich and meaningful ways, leading Talia (and other members of her family!) to become Catholic.Whether it was a Catholic university community, her experience discerning religious life, the diagnosis of a mental illness, or her incredible encounter and friendship with Father Mike Schmitz, Talia's story is one of the powerful impact of living out your Catholic faith in earnest – and how living that life can truly change the lives of others!For more from Talia check out her website or follow her on Instagram.For more, visit The Cordial Catholic. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on  episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests! To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!This show is brought to you in a special way by our Patron Co-Producers. Thanks to Eli and Tom, Kelvin and Susan, Stephen, Victor and Susanne, Phil, Noah, Nicole, Michelle, Jordan, Jon, James, Gina, and Eyram.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

How do startups get to Series A? Eric Ver Ploeg, founding partner of Tunitas Ventures (https://tunitas.vc), discusses Series A investing, including timing, choosing VCs, shutting down a startup, startup valuations, and more.. Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of over 10 years of experience, our controllers, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers understand the challenges of high-growth startups. Kruze Consulting is also 100% focused on working with funded Delaware C-Corps who have raised at least half a million in seed or venture capital financing. Learn more about Kruze affordable prices (https://kruzeconsulting.com/pricing) and choose the plan that best matches your startup's funding level.

Today's show: Kruze COO, Scott Orn, joins Jason to discuss best practices for early stage startups to prepare for and execute successful board meetings. The two dive into the reasons VCs want governance through board meetings (00:56), what should be in a full board packet (6:51), formal things investors look for (11:10), and much more! Timestamps: (0:00) Kruze COO, Scott Orn, joins Jason (00:56) The reasons VCs seek governance in startups and key tips for developing a standardized board presentation (6:51) Building a startup financial package and the importance of presenting a financial flash page at the start of a board meeting. (11:10) Essential factors investors consider during a board meeting (15:08) The most common question regarding in-depth operational metrics (20:51) Examining R&D and engineering support expenses in the calculation of the cost of goods sold * Check out Kruze: https://kruzeconsulting.com * Follow Scott: https://twitter.com/scottorn * Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/jason Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * 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 * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast

Abe Othman of AngelList (https://www.angellist.com) discusses the current status of the startup ecosystem and talks about how the venture market is trending, based on extensive analysis of data from startups, venture firms, private equity firms, investors, and fund managers. Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of over 10 years of experience, our controllers, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers understand the challenges of high-growth startups. Kruze Consulting is also 100% focused on working with funded Delaware C-Corps who have raised at least half a million in seed or venture capital financing. Learn more about Kruze affordable prices (https://kruzeconsulting.com/pricing) and choose the plan that best matches your startup's funding level.

Time stamps: (00:00) Kruze COO, Scott Orn joins Jason to discuss how should startup founders determine their pay. (3:46) Average startup CEO salary from 2018-2023 (6:34) The importance of being thoughtful before starting a company and knowing your personal burn rate (11:40) Average startup CEO salary by amount of funding raised and CEO pay: Men Vs. Women * Check out Kruze: https://kruzeconsulting.com Follow Scott: https://twitter.com/scottorn * Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/jason Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * 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 * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast

Today's show: Kruze's Scott Orn joins Jason to discuss navigating potential ERC fraud (00:45), expected year one spend for startups (11:54), importance of accounting from day 1 (15:22), and more!  * Time stamps: (0:00) Kruze's Scott Orn joins Jason. (00:45) Navigating Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and spotting fraud, and the importance of CPA expertise (9:01) The difference between building software and R&D (11:54) Expected year one spend for startups (15:22) Importance of accounting from day 1 * Check out Kruze: https://kruzeconsulting.com * Follow Scott: https://twitter.com/scottorn https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorn * 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 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

Todays show: Kruze's Scott Orn joins Jason on the latest edition of Startup Finance Basics! In this episode, they discuss the current state of the market (00:40), diversifying bank relationships (6:09), managing risk (), and much more! * Time stamps: (00:00) Kruze's Scott Orn joins Jason (00:40) The current state of the market (6:09) The SVB lesson: Diversify your bank relationships (16:25) Capital preservation, liquidity, and risk management * Check out Kruze: https://kruzeconsulting.com * Follow Scott: https://twitter.com/scottorn https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorn * Read LAUNCH Fund 4 Deal Memo: https://www.launch.co/fourApply for Funding: https://www.launch.co/applyBuy ANGEL: https://www.angelthebook.com 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 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

David Bergeron, explains how ReSeed Partners (https://reseedpartners.com) brings together talented real estate professionals and long-term investors to build real estate businesses. Kruze offers experienced M&A Accounting expertise for Startups. Founders building world-class startups trust Kruze Consulting to help them be prepared for financial and tax due diligence. We know what it takes to exit your company - on average, one to three of our clients are acquired every month! Talk to our experts (https://kruzeconsulting.com/#contact) and let them help you save time and money!

Kyle Vamvouris, founder and CEO of Vouris Sales Consultancy (https://www.vouris.com), talks about things that founders should know about the sales process, hiring sales people, and developing a sales team. He also gives some valuable tips on ways to improve the way you use leads and jumpstart your sales. Find out why Kruze Consulting is an experienced finance and accounting firm for startups in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the US. Our clients have raised over $12 billion in venture and seed financing (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-venture-capital-finance-experts), and our team knows how to navigate the VC diligence process. Get in touch with Kruze experts now!

Shomik Ghosh, partner at VC firm Boldstart (https://boldstart.vc), discusses the types of companies Boldstart invests in, and looks at the current venture capital marketplace. Kruze Cares More - We take our clients' success (https://kruzeconsulting.com/reviews) - and happiness - seriously. Kruze has worked with hundreds of early-stage companies, many of which have gone on to raise tens to hundreds of millions in venture financing - and a number of which have been successfully acquired by major public companies.

NOT AN ORDINARY MECHANIC, 5min., Latvia, Action Directed by Jurijs Kruze Nick Mecha is a person of many talents, who works as a mechanic at the workshop, but dreams to become a great dancer and perform on a big stage. But Nick's “luck” always gets him into different tricky situations. This is one of them. https://www.facebook.com/jurijs.kruze https://www.instagram.com/jkruze Get to know the filmmaker: To be honest it was more like an improvisation, all started in a gym with a small action camera DJI Osmo Action, we filmed a funny fight video and it turned out so good that I said to our team that we gotta make a short film, only thing we need is an idea of why they are fighting and for what. All that we had in the beginning was an unfinished fight sequence. The script was created in the last moment before shooting started. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it's only $3.99 per month. Subscribe to the podcast: https://twitter.com/wildsoundpod https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod/ https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod

Bryan Harper of IntraFi (https://www.intrafi.com) discusses banking deposit networks, and how IntraFi's network of over 3,000 banks provides expanded FDIC insurance to businesses with large deposits. Kruze Consulting offers solid financials to help de-risk your startup's next venture capital round. Work with a startup expert! Kruze bookkeepers (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-bookkeeping/) will help your startup have accurate, up-to-date financial statements that you can use to manage your business' growth and cash flow.

Michael Bjorn Huseby of DLA Piper (https://www.dlapiper.com/en-us) explains some of the legal issues of venture capital, including 506(b) regulations, capital calls, VC partnership structures, management fees, carried interest, and more. Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page (https://kruzeconsulting.com/customer-reviews). Or, read the Kruze blog to see examples of the best VC pitch decks or learn what the average startup CEO salary is. Trust Kruze for great podcasts like this one, and other great content designed to help startup founders grow their businesses, raise capital and more.

Kathryn Petralia explains how Keep Financial (https://keepfinancial.com) helps companies offer effective employee incentive programs, and leverages bonuses and financial compensation to motivate workers and improve hiring. Find out why Kruze Consulting is one of the leading accounting firms in San Francisco (https://kruzeconsulting.com/san-francisco-accounting) and the US, serving funded, early-stage companies. Kruze clients have raised over $10 billion in venture capital and seed financing, and our research and development tax credit work has saved clients millions of dollars in burn rate and payroll taxes. Contact Kruze to learn more.

Jose Ancer of Optimal Counsel (https://www.optimalcounsel.com) discusses legal services for startups, and how important it is for founders to seek legal advice before signing term sheets, contracts, and other commitments. Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of over 10 years of experience, our controllers, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers understand the challenges of high-growth startups. Kruze Consulting is also 100% focused on working with funded Delaware C-Corps who have raised at least half a million in seed or venture capital financing. Learn more about Kruze affordable prices (https://kruzeconsulting.com/pricing) and choose the plan that best matches your startup's funding level.

Don Muir of Arc discusses how Arc (https://www.arc.tech) has used technology to provide banking to startups, adding savings, checking, cash management, and brokerage services, making them easy and convenient. Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page (https://kruzeconsulting.com/customer-reviews). Or, visit the Kruze website to find information about the Best Startup Credit Cards or learn what the average startup CEO salary is. Trust Kruze Consulting for great podcasts like this one, and other great content designed to help startup founders like you, grow their businesses, raise capital and more.

David Pezeshki talks about 409A valuations and how Initio (https://www.initio.software) makes the process easier by offering customized valuations with optimized, defensible outcomes. Kruze offers experienced M&A Accounting expertise for Startups. Founders building world-class startups trust Kruze Consulting to help them be prepared for financial and tax due diligence (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-m-a-accounting). We know what it takes to exit your company - on average, one to three of our clients are acquired every month! Talk to our experts and let them help you save time and money!

Michael Frankel of Trajectory Capital (https://www.trajectorycapital.com) discusses private equity, which can be an alternate route to success for many startups that may be viable businesses but lack the growth that venture capital funds need. Find out why Kruze Consulting is an experienced finance and accounting firm for startups in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the US. Our clients have raised over $10 billion in venture and seed financing (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-venture-capital-finance-experts), and our team knows how to navigate the VC diligence process. Get in touch with Kruze experts now!

With interest rates increasing, founders need ways to safely improve yields on cash. Ben Verschuere, Co-Founder and CIO of Treasure FI (https://treasure.tech), talks about how startups can use this cash management platform to reduce risk and increase yields. Kruze Cares More - We take our clients' success (https://kruzeconsulting.com/reviews) - and happiness - seriously. Kruze has worked with hundreds of early-stage companies, many of which have gone on to raise tens to hundreds of millions in venture financing - and a number of which have been successfully acquired by major public companies.

Routable (https://routable.com) focuses on helping businesses scale their payment solutions, and Omri Mor, Co-founder and CEO, explains how the company developed its platform for sending B2B payments worldwide, helping businesses automate their accounts payable processes from vendor onboarding to final payment. Kruze Consulting offers solid financials to help de-risk your startup's next venture capital round. Work with a startup expert! Kruze bookkeepers (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-bookkeeping) will help your startup have accurate, up-to-date financial statements that you can use to manage your business' growth and cash flow.

Simon Gleeson of Blick Rothenberg (https://www.blickrothenberg.com) talks about different ways that startups can pay workers in other countries, including professional employer organizations (PEOs), employers of record, and non-domiciled employers. Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page (https://kruzeconsulting.com/customer-reviews). Or, read the Kruze blog to see examples of the best VC pitch decks or learn what the average startup CEO salary is. Trust Kruze for great podcasts like this one, and other great content designed to help startup founders grow their businesses, raise capital and more.

Kruze COO Scott Orn is back with Jason to educate founders on how to get the most out of their cash reserves. (0:00) (0:00) Your fiduciary duty to protect and invest your cash responsibly + developing an investment policy (8:00) Evaluating your chart of accounts + Jason's credit card hack (12:30) Final thoughts for founders going into 2023 Check out Kruze: https://www.kruzeconsulting.com FOLLOW Scott: https://twitter.com/scottorn FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkkhmBWfS7pILYIk0izkc3A?sub_confirmation=1

Kruze COO Scott Orn is back with Jason to explain the MOST important financial information that founders should include in their pitch deck ( (0:00) Kruze's Scott Orn joins Jason to discuss the role of financial information in your pitch deck (11:02) Conveying your vision with numbers Check out Kruze: https://www.kruzeconsulting.com FOLLOW Scott: https://twitter.com/scottorn FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkkhmBWfS7pILYIk0izkc3A?sub_confirmation=1

Kruze COO Scott Orn is back with Jason to explain how founders can nail their investor updates! (0:00) Kruze's Scott Orn joins Jason to discuss the MOST important metrics and information that founders should include in their investor updates to make them concise and effective (11:49) Other non-financial items to include (14:50) How to break bad news to investors Check out Kruze: https://www.kruzeconsulting.com FOLLOW Scott: https://twitter.com/scottorn FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkkhmBWfS7pILYIk0izkc3A?sub_confirmation=1

Leon Mueller, co-founder and CEO of Bloom (https://www.enjoybloom.com), talks about Bloom's self-directed therapy app that provides mental health assistance to people in need. Find out why Kruze Consulting is one of the leading accounting firms in San Francisco (https://kruzeconsulting.com/san-francisco-accounting) and the US, serving funded, early-stage companies. Kruze clients have raised over $10 billion in venture capital and seed financing, and our research and development tax credit work has saved clients millions of dollars in burn rate and payroll taxes. Contact Kruze to learn more.

Benjamin Döpfner of Vesto (https://www.getvesto.com) talks about cash management strategies and explains how Vesto can help startups get a better yield on their cash while maintaining liquidity and preserving their capital. Learn more about why we are one of the best accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms serving VC-backed companies by visiting the Kruze Consulting reviews page. Or, visit the Kruze website to find information about the Best Startup Credit Cards (https://kruzeconsulting.com/best-startup-credit-cards) or learn what the average startup CEO salary is. Trust Kruze Consulting for great podcasts like this one, and other great content designed to help startup founders like you, grow their businesses, raise capital and more.

Co-founder of Coefficient (https://coefficient.io), Navneet Loiwal, discusses how Coefficient connects Google sheets with source systems to automatically sync data with a single click and easily monitor changes with Slack and email alerts. Scott and Navneet also talk about Coefficient's popular digital escape room at https://coefficient.io/spreadsheet-escape-room/ Founders love our US-based account management team - with an average of over 10 years of experience, our controllers, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers understand the challenges of high-growth startups. Kruze Consulting is also 100% focused on working with funded Delaware C-Corps who have raised at least half a million in seed or venture capital financing. Learn more about Kruze affordable prices (https://kruzeconsulting.com/pricing) and choose the plan that best matches your startup's funding level.

Emily Wang, CEO of Bento (https://www.trybento.co), shares the company's vision of everboarding, an ongoing software adoption process that helps B2B SaaS companies build more effective onboarding workflows. Kruze offers experienced M&A Accounting expertise for Startups. Founders building world-class startups trust Kruze Consulting to help them be prepared for financial and tax due diligence. We know what it takes to exit your company - on average, one to three of our clients are acquired every month! Talk to our experts (https://kruzeconsulting.com/#contact) and let them help you save time and money!

Jason welcomes back Kruze COO Scott Orn for another edition of Startup Finance Basics! Jason and Scott break down the state of the market (0:00), 2023 budget planning (9:21), and how to nail investor comms! (14:58) (0:00) Jason welcomes Kruze COO Scott Orn and they discuss the state of startups and VC (9:21) What a 2023 budget plan should look like at a Seed stage startup (14:58) Bias for action, investor comms

Joyce Zhang Gray, CEO and Co-Founder of Alariss (https://alariss.com), talks about how Alariss matches global companies with US talent. Alariss can function as the employer of record to handle payroll and legal compliance to make it easy for global companies to hire in the US. Find out why Kruze Consulting is an experienced finance and accounting firm for startups in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the US. Our clients have raised over $10 billion in venture and seed financing (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-venture-capital-finance-experts), and our team knows how to navigate the VC diligence process. Get in touch with Kruze experts now!

Tracking and paying state sales tax is a complicated issue for businesses, but startup company Anrok (https://anrok.com) streamlines and simplifies the process. Co-founder and CEO, Michelle Valentine, talks about launching the company and how Anrok helps other companies stay tax-compliant. Kruze Consulting offers solid financials to help de-risk your startup's next venture capital round. Work with a startup expert! Kruze bookkeepers (https://kruzeconsulting.com/startup-bookkeeping) will help your startup have accurate, up-to-date financial statements that you can use to manage your business' growth and cash flow.