David J Phillips

Founder & CEO @fondocom – accounting & tax on autopilot for 2,000+ startups. Angel: Flexport, LiquidDeath, Rippling, 100+. Host: @thestartpod

[David J Phillips @davj]

Starting a startup completely changed the trajectory of my life

Before:
– 22 years old
– $100k in debt
– Skinny-fat
– Hacker house

After:
– 25 years old
– $350k in debt
– Just fat
– Homeless

Here’s what I did after:

[David J Phillips @davj]

@isausmanov congrats on the launch Isa!

[David J Phillips @davj]

@mwahjiwoo @noramxiao @tryrollup congrats ont he launch!

[David J Phillips @davj]

10 VCs just closed new funds (~$2.3B) in the last 4 weeks

If you're raising pre-seed to Series A, these are worth a look:

1. @creandum: $750M Fund VIII. Pre-seed to Series A, generalist tech with a big AI tilt (Europe + US)
2. @InspiredCap: $450M Fund IV. Pre-seed to Series A, AI infra, healthcare, defense, fintech, robotics, consumer
3. @pearvc: $333M Fund V. Pre-seed + seed, AI, enterprise, consumer, fintech, healthcare, robotics
4. @redalpine: $250M RAC VIII. Seed + Series A, software and science startups in Europe
5. Bison Ventures: $160M Fund 2. Pre-seed to Series B, AI in the physical world (energy, manufacturing, bio, infra)
6. Entourage: €100M Fund II. Pre-seed + seed, AI, enterprise software, robotics, deep tech (Europe)
7. @Stage2Capital: $100M across Venture Fund IV + Catalyst IV. Pre-seed to Series A, B2B AI
8. BY Venture Partners: $60M Fund III. Pre-seed to Series A, AI-native enterprise software
9. U&I Ventures: $32M debut fund. Pre-seed + seed, AI-native security, engineering and IT infra
10. Evertrue Capital (@YvonneBajela): $17M Fund I. Pre-seed + seed, AI + fintech in the UK and Europe

Who did I miss?

[David J Phillips @davj]

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[Everett Cook @everettcookny]

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[David J Phillips @davj]

@dmarcos it was a lot of fun. it was great to see you last weekend Diego! hope your leg is better

[David J Phillips @davj]

2019 YCFC throwback... we got the W!

Only one missing from the photo was coach @gustaf

[David J Phillips @davj]

@IndexVentures @kimaventures @seedcamp @PartechPartners @8roadsventures Full database: https://t.co/MSzBPnh8TM

[David J Phillips @davj]

The European VCs with the most recorded deals, from a database of 2,000+ funds:

1. @IndexVentures (London): 1,053
2. Global Founders Capital (Berlin): 862
3. @kimaventures (Paris): 643
4. @seedcamp (London): 491
5. @PartechPartners (Paris): 485
6. @8roadsventures (London): 472
7. @HV_Capital (Munich): 382
8. @balderton (London): 376
9. @speedinvest (Vienna): 356
10. @localglobevc (London): 341

London has 5 of the top 10...Paris has 2...any surprises?

[David J Phillips @davj]

@cyrusnewday @OpenAI @prashantmital @jxnlco LFG!!! Congrats Cyrus!

[David J Phillips @davj]

Founders creating the perfect scalable infrastructure to support 100,000,000 concurrent active users (they haven't even launched yet)

[David J Phillips @davj]

@FarzaTV @imranye So dope

[David J Phillips @davj]

CFOs after they see the $106,023,225 token bill

[David J Phillips @davj]

@ChoyRb This is epic

[David J Phillips @davj]

Just found my YC Demo Day slide.

It was W18, and we'd just pitched BloomJoy. "Associated Press for lifestyle content."

- $5B market
- $25k/week in revenue
- A team with an $18M exit

Could Claude create a slide this complex? I don't think so!

[David J Phillips @davj]

@SpamRoss Sales tax is coming!! Sent you a DM

[YC Insights. @YCInsight]

Another wave of YC companies raising. Congrats to the founders, the ecosystem still compounds

[David J Phillips @davj]

Working with Dylan “Nathan Fielder” Phillips has been game changer for @thestartpod

[David J Phillips @davj]

Full report here: https://t.co/UNyj2senUy

[David J Phillips @davj]

Are you paying yourself too little as a founder?

We surveyed 800+ founders to find the clearest predictor of founder salary.

I thought it'd be city or funding, but it's actually headcount.

The median founder salary by team size:

Solo: $88k
2–5: $100k
6–10: $125k
11–25: $150k
26+: $175k

So going from solo to 26+ roughly doubles it.

Much more data in the (free) report below.

[Reid Christian @reidRMC]

it cannot be overstated how much of a juggernaut yc continues to be...