Andy Budd

Design/Product Advisor, Investor & Coach. Venture Partner @Seedcamp. I help startups hit 1M+ ARR and Design/Product leaders excel in their careers 🚀 He/Him

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

I’ve just launched my first podcast.

It’s called The Design VC. It’s about the intersection of creativity + capital, and how design shapes early-stage startups (for better and worse).

First episodes: @destraynor (Intercom), @jakek + @jazer, @katearonowitz (GV).

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

@martymadrid @depression2019 Bet it looked good though ;)

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

@benblumenrose Yeah, a foldable ipad you can take calls on is the right mental model i'd say.

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

@anthonyrose @StephNass Ssh, don't give away all our secrets ;)

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

I believe that token costs have become the new Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Rather than spending money on paid advertising, you now need to spend a ton of money giving away free tokens in the hope that users get enough value to want to pay.

https://t.co/3VTYkad8eP

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

So Bending Spoons have just bough Miro. Curious who folks think the next most likely acquisition targets will be? Typeform, Calandly, SurveyMonkey, Webflow, Pipedrive, Dropbox?

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

For instance when I signed up for Ako, it quickly saw that was a leadership coach, and offered to help me run a promotional outreach campaign. It also saw that I was thinking of moving away from Substack and offered to help with the migration. All without me asking.

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

Really cool AI teammate tool for folks who live and work inside WhatsApp and Slack. The thing I like the most about the tool is that it doesn't wait to be told what to do. Instead it learns about your business and suggests tasks it can take off your plate.

[Krishna @ntkris]

Today, we're launching Ako: our AI teammate that completes work for you in Slack and WhatsApp.

Ako works across your team, connects to all your tools and gets work done.

Try: https://t.co/lwiqQkMCa7

You've heard this pitch before, so I'll cover the principles Ako is built on:

[Krishna @ntkris]

Today, we're launching Ako: our AI teammate that completes work for you in Slack and WhatsApp.

Ako works across your team, connects to all your tools and gets work done.

Try: https://t.co/lwiqQkMCa7

You've heard this pitch before, so I'll cover the principles Ako is built on:

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

After five years advising early-stage founders, I’ve noticed a recurring pattern: the thing founders obsess over most isn’t always the thing that determines whether they succeed.

The harder part often starts after launch.

https://t.co/Qqzo9m4H8W

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

I personally like the look of the new Ferrari Luce by Jonny Ives, but charging is a bit of a pain.

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

More here.

https://t.co/KVK3iHjt6n

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

There’s a familiar Libertarian story about Europe:

Too much bureaucracy.
Too much regulation.
Too many worker protections.
Too much privacy law.

That’s why Europe doesn’t produce as many tech giants.

It’s a neat argument. I’m just not sure it survives contact with detail.

[Andy Budd @andybudd]

A better diagnosis would include: Fragmented markets. Less late-stage capital. Weaker stock-option culture. Fewer giant domestic tech buyers. Less aggressive public procurement. Lower risk appetite. Less founder upside. Fewer repeat scale-up operators. That’s more realistic.