apriliris

Observer / Extreme Centrist / Entrepreneur / Futurist

[Nicole DeTommaso 🪄 @nic_detommaso]

A Stanford professor analyzed 1,000's of angel investments to find out who's had the MOST unicorns.

The results are fascinating.

- David Morin tops the list with 23 unicorns
- Peter Thiel and Lee Linden follow with 21 each
- David Sacks at 20
- Marc Benioff at 19

A few things that stand out:

1) Almost every top angel was a founder or exec at a large tech company first. The clear signal here - they were mostly operators who earned their access.

2) Many co-invested together repeatedly. Thiel, Sacks, and Levchin all overlapped at PayPal and went on to back the same unicorns (Facebook, Airbnb, Palantir Technologies, SpaceX).

3) No women appear in the top 50. Sad.

4) The entry threshold to make this list is 9 unicorns (nuts!). The average unicorns across the top 50 is 13 (more nuts!).

I share this for folks to have inspiration to angel invest themselves!

There has NEVER been a better time - we are at a major tech inflection point.

If you're thinking about angel investing and forming angel syndicates, you should check out Verivend. Automated capital calls, one-click funding for co-investors, real-time visibility into who's in. Seamless software with a great team to hold your hand through it.

Try it yourself: https://t.co/qZ4U3OB2AY

Full credit to Ilya Strebulaev and his team at the Stanford for this research.

[The All-In Podcast @theallinpod]

Friedberg's interview w/ Nobel Peace Prize Winner @MariaCorinaYA from October 🇻🇪

Good catch up on what's been going on in Venezuela 👇

[Defender of the Republic 🇺🇸 @realdefender45]

I’m genuinely happy for the Venezuelan people. This feels like a long-overdue victory for freedom after years of suffering under a corrupt dictatorship.

But watching this outpouring of joy hits hard when I think about our own struggles here in America. We don’t face the same outright starvation or mass repression, but corruption and unaccountable power are eroding our freedoms in deep, insidious ways

▪️Compromised elections: where dark money, foreign influence, and ongoing questions about integrity leave millions feeling their voice doesn’t matter.
▪️A healthcare system rigged for profits: skyrocketing costs, denied care, and preventable deaths while Big Pharma and lobbyists control Washington.
▪️The deep state & CIA: unelected agencies with little oversight, meddling in our lives, fueling endless wars, and eroding privacy and liberty.
▪️Indoctrination and confusion for our children: schools pushing radical gender ideology on young kids
▪️Our money stolen to make us poor: endless government spending, massive debt, and money-printing by the Federal Reserve fueling inflation that hits working families hardest.
▪️Prices stay high on essentials while wages lag, widening the gap between the elite and everyone else
▪️Classic corruption where the powerful get richer and the rest get squeezed.

Venezuela’s nightmare was extreme, but the root is the same: corrupt, unaccountable elites betraying the people they claim to serve.

If we can help deliver liberation to another nation from that kind of tyranny, why can’t we demand real transparency, accountability, and protection for our own children and families here at home?

[Michael Welling @WellingMichael]

“Venezuela has already been invaded…” (IG Rafael De La Fuente) #FreeVenezuela

[Paul Graham @paulg]

If I could send my 18 year old self a message, it would have three parts:

1. Prestige is often mistaken. Follow curiosity instead.

2. There's no way to avoid hard work. It's not sufficient, but it is necessary.

3. Don't take your parents for granted.

[apriliris @apriliris]

@MBonvoyAssist You already contacted me and gave me points that does not even cover a full night’s stay.

[apriliris @apriliris]

@Marriott could learn a lot from @Hotwire

@hotwire booked a downtown LA Sonder property. When called about the issue, they put the customer in a different hotel nearby and paid the difference themselves.

That’s customer service @MarriottIntl

[apriliris @apriliris]

@MBonvoyAssist The @MBonvoyAssist is a low level AI bot.

[apriliris @apriliris]

So @Marriott is just going to get away with kicking people out of their Sonders overnight, mid stay.

And @MarriottIntl is just ending reservations without rebooking guests at comparable hotels.

Marriott is supposed to be a hospitality company.

[apriliris @apriliris]

@MBonvoyAssist Yes, you’re rebooking people at hotels that are 3X the cost of their original reservations.

You have the chance to make things right, and instead you’re choosing to do nothing to help your customers.

[apriliris @apriliris]

Sonder had 7700 apartments and 140 properties.

@Marriott has about 1.8 MILLION rooms.

You don’t think @MarriottIntl could accommodate abandoned customers?

@MarriottBonvoy lawyers drew up a contract to pull the rip cord on financials, but no contingency plan for customers.

[apriliris @apriliris]

@MBonvoyAssist Just to be clear, they asked for my details, which include the highest loyalty status and multiple stays at properties just in the last few months.

They responded with a generic link to their reservations line.

@MarriottIntl @Marriott are not hospitality companies anymore.

[Juan C.Avalos Méndez @juancuit]

Terrible experience with Marriott, just let us resolve by ourselves.
Dear Sonder Guest, Your Hotel Is Closed https://t.co/mqOIfQDkmO

[Javier Sparks @PilatesPapii]

Sonder defaulted so Marriot immediately cut ties which affected not only hotel guest that booked reservations through them but all Marriot employees via Sonder lost their jobs overnight before the holiday with no explanation, no warning & no severance. 🥹

[Bobby Fijan @bobbyfijan]

Marriott ends partnership with Sonder … And cancels all existing reservations.

[Matthew Purcell @Mpurc71]

@MarriottBonvoy I have never had a worse experience with a hotel. We booked with a Marriott affiliate sonder months ago. Was actually in Rome 3 days into our stay and they email us and kick us out of the sonder place without any warning. So here we are trying to reserve a room

[Cedric Garcia @GarciaCedric]

@MarriottBonvoy Elite member w/ a confirmed reservation at a Sonder hotel booked via your app. You cancelled the deal with Sonder and are now refusing to apply your own Ultimate Reservation Guarantee, saying the property “no longer qualifies.” Isn’t this what guarantees are for?

[Utkarsh Seth @im_utkarshseth]

@MBonvoyAssist I’m left stranded since my reservation is cancelled by The Henry Hotel Bayswater, Sonder I booked via @bookingcom but they’re saying they can’t do anything unless hotel informs them, could you please assist?

[Donkey Lips @salutemyshortz]

@CurtisCrimmins @SonderStays @MarriottBonvoy Marriott was foolish to get into bed with them without fully having access to what’s under the hood financially. SPACs tend to be scammy, and this thing has less financial wherewithal than your local Sheraton franchisee.