Back

Aravind Saji

Incubation Manager |... • 3m

🚀 𝗔𝗻 𝟴𝟬𝟬𝟬𝘅 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹? Here’s the Story Imagine getting an email from a 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 with 0.05 Bitcoin attached. Would you trust it? 🤔 In 2012, 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒂𝒏, 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 𝟴𝟬𝟬𝟬𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 and a $𝟮.𝟰 𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 story. Here’s how it unfolded: 🔥𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗕𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 (𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸): 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 $𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 💰 𝙍𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩: ~$2.4 BILLION from $300k. That’s 𝟴𝟬𝟬𝟬𝘅 𝗶𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟵 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀—an annualized return of 170%. --- 💡 𝑳𝙚𝒔𝙨𝒐𝙣𝒔 𝒇𝙧𝒐𝙢 𝙄𝒏𝙞𝒕𝙞𝒂𝙡𝒊𝙯𝒆𝙙 𝘾𝒂𝙥𝒊𝙩𝒂𝙡’𝙨 $7𝙈 𝙁𝒖𝙣𝒅 𝑰: Garry’s fund didn’t just bet on Coinbase. It became one of the most successful seed funds of all time: ✅ Early investments in three giants now worth billions: 1️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 – $75B 2️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁 – $27B (co-founded by his partner, Alexis Ohanian) 3️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘁 – $11B The key takeaway? 𝙄𝙣 𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥—𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚. --- 👋 𝑾𝙝𝒂𝙩 𝘼𝒃𝙤𝒖𝙩 𝙩𝒉𝙚 𝙊𝒏𝙚 𝙏𝒉𝙖𝒕 𝑮𝙤𝒕 𝑨𝙬𝒂𝙮? 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 𝙋𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧. Palantir eventually revolutionized data security and went public with a valuation of $𝟭𝟲𝟬 𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡. Garry turned down the offer, prioritizing stability over risk. Later, as employee #10, he helped design Palantir’s logo but missed out on $𝟴𝟬𝟬 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡. --- 🔥 𝙆𝙚𝙮 𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨: 1️⃣ Bold decisions drive outsized returns. Don’t shy away from risks. 2️⃣ Curiosity pays off. Sometimes, the “random email” is worth your attention. 3️⃣ 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! 👇

0 replies2 likes

More like this

Recommendations from Medial

Image Description
Image Description

Havish Gupta

Figuring Out • 2m

Y Combinator has invested in over 5000 startups with a total valuation of $600 billion. Out of these, just 4 companies—Stripe, Airbnb, Coinbase, and DoorDash accounts for ~$300 billion of the valuation. Fascinating, isn’t it?

25 replies9 likes
2
Image Description
Image Description

Vishu Bheda

 • 

Medial • 22d

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗯𝗻𝗯 Most people wait for the “perfect time” to start their dream project. Brian Armstrong didn’t. He built Coinbase while wor

See More
4 replies43 likes
28
Image Description
Image Description

Aravind Saji

Incubation Manager |... • 3m

𝘼𝙣 𝙖𝙥𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙: Discord’s 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 🎮➡️🌍 The 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀? Start small, listen c

See More
7 replies2 likes
Image Description

Harsh Dwivedi

 • 

Medial • 8m

Top News of the Day: 1. Foxconn is reportedly considering assembling Apple's iPad in India, expanding its operations beyond iPhone production. 2. Dunzo has only paid half its dues, approaching close to insolvency. 3. According to CrowdStrike's CE

See More
1 replies35 likes
3
Image Description

Harsh Dwivedi

 • 

Medial • 17d

1. Fundings and Deals : - In comparison, the previous week saw 30 startups across early and growth stages secure around $355.02 million - Platform for sourcing and manufacturing specialty chemicals Scimplify secured $40 million in Series B round -

See More
1 replies38 likes
5
Image Description
Image Description

Medial Startup Trivia

Trivias Around start... • 9m

Pivot or Die: Brex Who are Brex? Pedro Dubugras and Henrique Franceschi, both originally from Brazil, taught themselves how to code from a very young age. Franceschi's coding journey began when he hacked an iPhone at just 11 years old, modifying i

See More
7 replies24 likes
5

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