Back

Aravind Saji

Incubation Manager |... • 8m

šŸš€ š—”š—» šŸ“šŸ¬šŸ¬šŸ¬š˜… š—„š—²š˜š˜‚š—æš—» š—³š—æš—¼š—ŗ š—® š—–š—¼š—¹š—± š—˜š—ŗš—®š—¶š—¹? Here’s the Story Imagine getting an email from a š™§š™–š™£š™™š™¤š™¢ š™˜š™¤š™¢š™„š™–š™£š™® with 0.05 Bitcoin attached. Would you trust it? šŸ¤” In 2012, š‘®š’‚š’“š’“š’š š‘»š’‚š’, a venture capitalist, received exactly that. Most would have ignored it, but Garry’s curiosity pushed him to dig deeper. That single decision became the starting point of an šŸ“šŸ¬šŸ¬šŸ¬š˜… š—æš—²š˜š˜‚š—æš—» and a $šŸ®.šŸ° š—•š—œš—Ÿš—Ÿš—œš—¢š—” story. Here’s how it unfolded: šŸ”„š—§š—µš—² š—•š—¶š—“ š—•š—²š˜ š—¼š—» š—–š—¼š—¶š—»š—Æš—®š˜€š—² (š—³š—¼š—æš—ŗš—²š—æš—¹š˜† š—•š—¶š˜š—Æš—®š—»š—ø): Through his fund, Initialized Capital, Garry invested $300,000 over three rounds: - $50,000 at a $9M valuation - $50,000 at a $12M valuation - $200,000 during a cash crunch Fast forward to 2021: Coinbase went public at a $šŸ­šŸ¬šŸ¬ š—•š—œš—Ÿš—Ÿš—œš—¢š—” š˜ƒš—®š—¹š˜‚š—®š˜š—¶š—¼š—». šŸ’° š™š™šš™©š™Ŗš™§š™£ š™¤š™£ š™„š™£š™«š™šš™Øš™©š™¢š™šš™£š™©: ~$2.4 BILLION from $300k. That’s šŸ“šŸ¬šŸ¬šŸ¬š˜… š—¶š—» š—·š˜‚š˜€š˜ šŸµ š˜†š—²š—®š—æš˜€ā€”an annualized return of 170%. --- šŸ’” š‘³š™šš’”š™Øš’š™£š’” š’‡š™§š’š™¢ š™„š’š™žš’•š™žš’‚š™”š’Šš™Æš’†š™™ š˜¾š’‚š™„š’Šš™©š’‚š™”ā€™š™Ø $7š™ˆ š™š’–š™£š’… š‘°: Garry’s fund didn’t just bet on Coinbase. It became one of the most successful seed funds of all time: āœ… Early investments in three giants now worth billions: 1ļøāƒ£ š—–š—¼š—¶š—»š—Æš—®š˜€š—² – $75B 2ļøāƒ£ š—„š—²š—±š—±š—¶š˜ – $27B (co-founded by his partner, Alexis Ohanian) 3ļøāƒ£ š—œš—»š˜€š˜š—®š—°š—®š—æš˜ – $11B The key takeaway? š™„š™£ š™«š™šš™£š™©š™Ŗš™§š™š š™˜š™–š™„š™žš™©š™–š™”, š™žš™©ā€™š™Ø š™£š™¤š™© š™–š™—š™¤š™Ŗš™© š™¤š™¬š™£š™šš™§š™Øš™š™žš™„ā€”š™žš™©ā€™š™Ø š™–š™—š™¤š™Ŗš™© š™—š™šš™žš™£š™œ š™žš™£ š™©š™š™š š™§š™žš™œš™š™© š™§š™¤š™¤š™¢ š™–š™© š™©š™š™š š™§š™žš™œš™š™© š™©š™žš™¢š™š. --- šŸ‘‹ š‘¾š™š’‚š™© š˜¼š’ƒš™¤š’–š™© š™©š’‰š™š š™Šš’š™š š™š’‰š™–š’• š‘®š™¤š’• š‘Øš™¬š’‚š™®? While Garry hit big wins, he also has a story of regret: In 2004, Peter Thiel (of PayPal and Facebook fame) offered Garry $80,000 to leave Microsoft and co-found š™‹š™–š™”š™–š™£š™©š™žš™§. Palantir eventually revolutionized data security and went public with a valuation of $šŸ­šŸ²šŸ¬ š—•š—œš—Ÿš—Ÿš—œš—¢š—”. Garry turned down the offer, prioritizing stability over risk. Later, as employee #10, he helped design Palantir’s logo but missed out on $šŸ“šŸ¬šŸ¬ š— š—œš—Ÿš—Ÿš—œš—¢š—”. --- šŸ”„ š™†š™šš™® š™š™–š™ š™šš™–š™¬š™–š™®š™Ø š™›š™¤š™§ š™š™¤š™Ŗš™£š™™š™šš™§š™Ø š™–š™£š™™ š™„š™£š™«š™šš™Øš™©š™¤š™§š™Ø: 1ļøāƒ£ Bold decisions drive outsized returns. Don’t shy away from risks. 2ļøāƒ£ Curiosity pays off. Sometimes, the ā€œrandom emailā€ is worth your attention. 3ļøāƒ£ Regrets? They’re inevitable. Learn from them and move forward. So, what’s the boldest decision YOU have made recently? Drop your stories below—I’d love to hear them! šŸ‘‡

Reply
2

More like this

Recommendations from Medial

Image Description
Image Description

Vishu Bheda

 • 

Medial • 9m

Elon Musk on how choosing the wrong VC almost killed Tesla "If you have a choice of a lower valuation with someone you really like or a higher valuation with someone you have a question mark about, take the lower valuation." Elon tells part of the

See More
10 Replies
4
18
Image Description

Aravind Saji

 • 

IIITKottayam • 7m

From a $750M valuation to unpaid salaries and bankruptcy—what went wrong with #Dunzo? Dunzo’s story is a cautionary tale for startups chasing growth at all costs. Once a pioneer in hyperlocal delivery, it lost its way due to aggressive expansion,

See More
1 Reply
1
11

CA Vamshi

Practicing Chartered... • 3m

90% of startup founders overestimate their valuation. The other 10%? They raise smart, retain more equity, and stay investor-ready at every stage. Valuation isn’t just about numbers — it’s about narrative, traction, and timing. It reflects how well

See More
Reply
2

Karunakar

1% Better • 4m

✨ From near-death to a $10B #valuation — #Notion’s story isn’t just about product-market fit, it’s about #community-market #obsession. In our latest #Foundera blog, we break down how Notion won hearts and desktops by: #Building with users, not just

See More
Reply
8
Image Description
Image Description

Inactive

AprameyaAI • 1y

How CRED Cred-ed ? Short Case study on CRED CRED, founded by Kunal Shah in 2018, shows how a failing loyalty program can morph into a fintech unicorn. šŸ¦„ Here's how: āžŖ Gap Filled: CRED made credit card bill payments easy and rewarding. āžŖ Initial S

See More
9 Replies
1
14

Vipin Titoria

Entrepreneur | Build... • 4m

Breaking News: My AI just fired me. Apparently, I wasn’t ā€œdata-drivenā€ enough, didn’t ā€œscale,ā€ and failed to ā€œsynergize with the cloud.ā€ Meanwhile, it’s holding meetings with itself, automating my calendar, and pitching VCs on a startup called ā€œHum

See More
Reply
4

Inactive

AprameyaAI • 1y

- $93M for UK fintech, $1.2M for Chennai skincare, and a mysterious Google-backed Flipkart round. Welcome to May 24, 2024, where startup news is buzzing (Aag lga di aag lga di aag) - Flipkart's latest stunt? Securing funding from Google in a Walma

See More
Reply
5
Image Description
Image Description

Nishant Mittal

Entrepreneur, musici... • 2m

Pharmeasy had raised a total $1.6 Billion at a peak valuation of $5.6 Billion. And now the company is pretty much done and the founders are out. It's quite an interesting story.. When Pharmeasy acquired 66% in Thyrocare (a 30 year old, strong and pr

See More
5 Replies
2
12
Image Description
Image Description

LIKHITH

"You never know" • 1y

Welcome to BUSINESS STORIES ! EP-3 (Liquid deathšŸ’€ case study) What is Liquid Death? It's a beverage company that sells water in metal cans, which will kill your thirst ā– Origin storyā–  Founder Mike Cessario observed people at a music concert drinki

See More
20 Replies
4
20

Download the medial app to read full posts, comements and news.