Ksenia Moskalenko's banner

Ksenia Moskalenko

@kseniam0s • 1,788 subscribers

Will help you build your next data room Founder @ https://t.co/URYV7YGm1d

Videos

Anya Rossi

sweetdream.ai

SweetDream.ai•Sponsored•Livecam

Watch Anya Live

Anya is streaming live right now! Join her private show and enjoy exclusive content.

Exclusive private shows

1.2k viewers online

Private Show

Join now for exclusive access

Free preview available • Premium content

How Sequoia doubted Musk and passed on investing in SpaceX. This video is from a 2011 tour of SpaceX taken by David Spector (David Spector), a partner at Sequoia Capital. The exploding tank was actually a pressure test of the fuel tank. Spector recently shared the story on LinkedIn of how Sequoia had the chance to invest in SpaceX back then and passed. Elon Musk was looking to raise capital, a low single-digit billion dollar valuation. David shares "Touring the factory and spending time with Elon was mind-blowing, and we came away excited about the team and convinced cheap launch would blow open a market". He prepared the materials, the memo, presented to his partners at Sequoia. And got turned down. Sequoia did eventually invest in SpaceX, but not until 2019. Eight years later. Hindsight 20/20. It's easy to only share the wins, but stories like these are important too.

How Sequoia doubted Musk and passed on investing in SpaceX. This video is from a 2011 tour of SpaceX taken by David Spector (David Spector), a partner at Sequoia Capital. The exploding tank was actually a pressure test of the fuel tank. Spector recently shared the story on LinkedIn of how Sequoia had the chance to invest in SpaceX back then and passed. Elon Musk was looking to raise capital, a low single-digit billion dollar valuation. David shares "Touring the factory and spending time with Elon was mind-blowing, and we came away excited about the team and convinced cheap launch would blow open a market". He prepared the materials, the memo, presented to his partners at Sequoia. And got turned down. Sequoia did eventually invest in SpaceX, but not until 2019. Eight years later. Hindsight 20/20. It's easy to only share the wins, but stories like these are important too.

Ksenia Moskalenko

143,908 views • 3 months ago

Woke up today to 95,000 people reading an email that was written about my startup. Jason Freedman from Orange Collective, YC alum fund that invests in the top 2-5% AI startups of each Y Combinator, batch wrote it. In the nicest way possible. He was wearing a customer hat, not an investor one. It was harsh but right on point. I called him this morning and asked to please keep going. Sharing what I learned: → talk to your customers IN PERSON (seems obvious until it's not) → don’t overbuild self-serve too early (+YC's take on it) → customers want outcomes, not more AI fluff → small “obvious” product gaps can kill adoption Guys, feedback IS gold. I spent 14 years as a professional gymnast, so I LOVE hearing exactly what I’m doing wrong, taking it, and getting back to work. And at the end, Jason said: “You have re-earned my business. I want to work with you.” Watch how we got there. I’m attaching the call because I think other founders can learn from it too (+ hear a bonus story about Paul Graham's Viaweb at min 11). And if you’re building a fundraising data room, try Pageform. If something sucks, tell me. That feedback is more valuable to me than another 100 compliments.

Woke up today to 95,000 people reading an email that was written about my startup. Jason Freedman from Orange Collective, YC alum fund that invests in the top 2-5% AI startups of each Y Combinator, batch wrote it. In the nicest way possible. He was wearing a customer hat, not an investor one. It was harsh but right on point. I called him this morning and asked to please keep going. Sharing what I learned: → talk to your customers IN PERSON (seems obvious until it's not) → don’t overbuild self-serve too early (+YC's take on it) → customers want outcomes, not more AI fluff → small “obvious” product gaps can kill adoption Guys, feedback IS gold. I spent 14 years as a professional gymnast, so I LOVE hearing exactly what I’m doing wrong, taking it, and getting back to work. And at the end, Jason said: “You have re-earned my business. I want to work with you.” Watch how we got there. I’m attaching the call because I think other founders can learn from it too (+ hear a bonus story about Paul Graham's Viaweb at min 11). And if you’re building a fundraising data room, try Pageform. If something sucks, tell me. That feedback is more valuable to me than another 100 compliments.

Ksenia Moskalenko

12,361 views • 1 month ago

Today, we're opening up Pageform. The world's first AI-native narrative data room. Built for founders, fund managers, and dealmakers — so your story keeps selling when you're not in the room. Start free today. No credit card required: Reply "PAGEFORM" and I'll send you our room-building playbook.

Today, we're opening up Pageform. The world's first AI-native narrative data room. Built for founders, fund managers, and dealmakers — so your story keeps selling when you're not in the room. Start free today. No credit card required: Reply "PAGEFORM" and I'll send you our room-building playbook.

Ksenia Moskalenko

31,118 views • 3 months ago

No more content to load