Joe Cardini

Early-stage VC @ Afore Capital | Adventure Capitalist

[Michelle Fang 🌁 @michelleefang]

Wednesday 8/13

‣ Vibe Coding Hack Night https://t.co/kXoyFq4SMf

@heyneighbor

‣ AI Agent Founder Dinner w Partners at Defy VC, HOF Capital, Sierra Ventures and The Westly Group https://t.co/WVdhuczgzL

@JohnBohlmann @tnm @itismouad

‣ Afore Hours https://t.co/6LeWgv133f

@JosephCardini

‣ Shepherd x Browserbase - AI Fireside Chat https://t.co/LyqWQlBHxI

@theaievangelist @erin_goode @MoFromYYZ

‣ Stateful Agents Meetup: Deep Research https://t.co/AyqQjfE0VY

@just_cameron @sarahwooders @charlespacker

‣ Supper Club – Hosted by Wefunder & Andrew Yeung https://t.co/yjLdVA3I8v

@andruyeung @tarlonkhoubyari @Ivaldis83

[Joe Cardini @JosephCardini]

https://t.co/EhlvJXMYml

[Joe Cardini @JosephCardini]

Putting together a small happy hour for founders interested in our upcoming FIR program.

come hang! https://t.co/2bQLCZmYfm

More info on our FIR program below!

[Turner Novak 🍌🧢 @TurnerNovak]

64% of pre-seed companies @AforeVC invested in across Funds 1 and 2 skipped the seed and went straight to Series A 🤯

[anamitra @anamitra]

The first visceral moment in a VC pitch meeting is the VC's impression of the founder. That impression can be lasting and indelible. Founders should take advantage of the opportunity to generate a visceral moment.

[The Peel @ThePeelPod]

Episode #96: How to Skip Your Seed Round, Pre-Seed Lessons Building Afore to $500M+ AUM | Anamitra Banerji

@anamitra started @AforeVC with @gjain in 2016 to kickstart the Pre-Seed category. This conversation gets into its evolution as a funding stage, why its more than option checks, what Afore looks for when backing founders before they even have a product, how to skip your Seed and go straight to a Series A, and how to run a fundraise process.

We also get into Afore’s Founder in Residence program, why every VC started an accelerator, how AI is changing venture, joining Twitter as the first PM, and how Oprah helped create the legendary verified checkmark.

Thanks to @gjain and @TheDerrickLi at Afore for their help brainstorming topics for Anamitra.

And special thanks to @boltdotnew and @joinwarp for supporting this episode.

Full episode here on X, or grab a link in the replies.

Timestamps:
4:00 Afore: Starting in 2016 to build the pre-seed category
8:11 The unstructured data Afore underwrites at pre-seed
11:21 Pre-seed is determining bronze from gold
16:03 Why pre-seed is more than option checks
20:33 The secret to raising a Series A
23:20 Running a tight fundraise process
32:05 Skipping your Seed round
34:01 How to measure obsession in a founder
39:20 Knowing when to follow-on
40:54 Figuring out what really matters in a business
42:36 Afore’s Founder in Residence program
49:44 Pros / Cons of more access to capital for founders
52:27 Two reasons YC made every VC launch an accelerator
1:01:05 Why AI is forcing VCs to invest earlier
1:06:55 Will AI commoditize software?
1:08:29 Growing up in India, starting his first company
1:10:39 Coming to the US for school, joining Overture + Yahoo
1:14:05 Joining Twitter as first PM, creating the Verified check for Oprah
1:18:55 Building Twitter’s first ad product
1:20:28 Why non-founders can’t take foundational risks
1:23:02 Starting Afore for the Pre-Seed opportunity
1:27:47 Raising Afore Fund 1
1:31:14 How to raise your first fund
1:33:33 Was Turner the best Afore intern ever?

[Afore Capital @AforeVC]

Thank you for having us along for a small portion of the ride, and congratulations on all the hard work, good times, sweat, and tears that went into this journey. Happy #chime #ipo day!

[anamitra @anamitra]

Our very own @JosephCardini is competing to Escape from Alcatraz tomorrow 🤯https://t.co/zq4dWbDiQz

[anamitra @anamitra]

If you are interested in meeting other founders in San Francisco, @JosephCardini is co-hosting a founder happy hour. Sign up asap -> https://t.co/nqJqhsWpWW

[Michelle Fang 🌁 @michelleefang]

Tuesday 1/14

‣ Data for AI Meetup Presents: The Open Source Afterparty w/ Zilliz, Fight Health Insurance, Datastrato, Diffbot, & More! https://t.co/ImJ2QSfeYo

‣ Afore Capital x Grace Gong Early-Stage Founders Happy Hour https://t.co/bEPacRO9GG

@gracegongGG @JosephCardini

‣ Voice AI Meetup — Voice AI in 2025 https://t.co/m4jssbxrvz

@kwindla

‣ Hardware Happy Hour Post CES @ Studio 55 https://t.co/LXKEal3Fvw

@michaelraspuzzi

‣ Founders Run & Coffee! https://t.co/bUvkhMijP0

@FoundersCommon

‣ Coffee Club | Early-Stage B2B SaaS Founders & Funders https://t.co/IlS3ULHXR6

‣ AI Founder Investor MeetUp https://t.co/sxtcu3wVxZ

@rissa_cao @GenAICollective @0xthefool

‣ Berkeley Bio Startup Showcase @ JPM https://t.co/OU9VWpl5vu

[Antler US @antler_us]

last week our portco @cedarbuild announced a $3m seed raise led by @caffeinatedcap @tishmanspeyer & other notable angels

@KyleVansice @rahulattraya @_natepeters talk about building the future of infill development in our Austin studio last year

🎙 https://t.co/PTnyxss9Jk

[Antler US @antler_us]

🍻 last night's mixer at #SeattleTechWeek!! big shout out + thank you to our partners @brexHQ

[Joe Cardini @JosephCardini]

@brianlewerke14 go get em B!

[CoffeeSpace @CoffeeSpaceApp]

🔥 Are you thinking about building a startup?
Join CoffeeSpace to be automatically considered for Antler’s US Residency program.

To participate:
✅ Join our waitlist - takes 1 minute (https://t.co/WpbdMEirwJ)
✅ Once approved, refine your profile, and Antler will review

[Rio ✌️ @riohodges__]

At @AntlerGlobal over the last year we've invested in 50 pre-seed startups in the US alone. We've worked with these companies since day 1, and now seeing some grow into 6-figure revenue businesses in a blink. Today, we're happy to share more about 7 of them below 👇

[Antler US @antler_us]

.@itsdanlong shares the frameworks he & his team at @CohenCircle use to evaluate potential fintech investments, advice on building startups in regulated industries, and how we're only in the first inning of open banking innovation on this episode of The Deal by @tylerfromantler

[Antler US @antler_us]

This Wednesday night in #Austin

@tylerfromantler on the @NEARProtocol panel @consensus2023 w/ @fabric_vc's @richardmuirhead & @decasonic's @paulhsu to talk about exceptional #web3 founding teams + top priorities in a startup's early days.

Register 👇

https://t.co/i6Y2Wzcfa6

[Antler US @antler_us]

How is fundraising for your startup different from selling your product?

@HustleFundVC's @dunkhippo33 breaks down the nuance and explains how creating a sense of urgency with investors is crucial to closing rounds.

[Antler US @antler_us]

Lucky to welcome @HustleFundVC's @dunkhippo33 on The Deal!

We cover opportunity in emerging markets, deciphering communications with VCs when you're fundraising, how to iterate on customer acquisition, and more.

🎙https://t.co/yTtmUydbWe

[Antler US @antler_us]

Back to work after Friday's Residency socials...
♠️🂡 a rainy poker night in #Austin
🏔 hiking in #Boulder (obviously)
🎳 bowling in #NYC