Don Rainey

Early Stage Venture Capitalist. Living a life of unintentional adventure. Looking for the big ideas and rock star teams across the South East

[Don Rainey @drainey1]

@AmericanAir Yes, one innovation - clearly a time saver - was to deliver the drink, the warm nuts and the meal - at the same time on the same tray. Everyone else does it in three steps.....

[Don Rainey @drainey1]

@AmericanAir - As a frequent flyer on AA (PL EX
), you really have to review the FC crew on AA 1474 from CLT to LAS - 12/15/25. We're an hour + in w/o turbulence and they are ghosts. Nothing was offered before takeoff, and certainly nothing for the first hour and beyond.

[Don Rainey @drainey1]

Looks like meals may be coming before drinks, sometime soon, you should establish protocols for the FA's.

[Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente]

RIP Charlie Kirk. It doesn’t matter what your opinion is of Charlie or his politics if you don’t view this as one of the darkest days in American history than you are part of the problem.

[Don Rainey @drainey1]

On American Airlines since you can't call for a miles or systemwide upgrade, and it doesn't show as an option online, the check in desk agent can't do it, how does one apply for one?

[Matt Ocko @mattocko]

This needs immediate investigation —$MSft is essentially outsourcing top secret US defense work to China 🧐

[Chris Koerner @mhp_guy]

I've hired countless sales reps. These are the 5 best personas I look for:

1 Former D1 athletes. Fiercely competitive. Hire 2 for the same role & you'll get 3x the output

2 Former LDS missionaries. They get rejected 10,000 times in 2 years & work insanely hard

3 Former marines. I don't know what it is about marines, but they're built different.

4 High energy extroverts. We ask all applicants to score themselves on an introvert - extrovert scale from 1 - 10. We only interview 9s and 10s.

5 Single moms. Most have a chip on their shoulder and insane time management skills. They'll get the same job done in half the time.

[Nicole Auerbach @NicoleAuerbach]

Unbeaten JMU sent a letter to the NCAA Board of Directors on Monday requesting relief from NCAA bylaws restricting transitioning teams from bowl participation. Here's a copy of the letter:

[VentureSouth @VentureSouth_VC]

#VentureSouthPortfolio company @GetSpiffy is rolling out a new tire inspection technology called “Easy Tread.” Learn more with the @WRALTechWire article below
https://t.co/DVKBhE4qXt

[Don Rainey @drainey1]

@DUALBOOT_PTRS Well done, they’re lucky to have you as a Partner

[Don Rainey @drainey1]

Fwiw - I’ve worked and paid taxes since the fall of 1974. I was paid $1.45 an hour then. I don’t care about Hunter Biden’s drugging, whoring or potentially selling influence. Tax evasion hits home. We all pay taxes. If he doesn’t have to pay , we shouldn’t pay. #HunterBiden

[Harry Stebbings @HarryStebbings]

Conventional wisdom in venture is you make money by:

Being contrarian and right

And

Going where others are not.

If that is the case, where would you go today?

Crypto growth? What others? 😉

[Megan Maloney @meganbytes94]

the best early VCs are like optional co-founders. Happy to get dirty and help. Also happy to chill & listen.

the worst are like lines of credit. There if you need them but one must continuously pray they never need to draw in a downmarket

[Lee Edwards @terronk]

I def understand now why early career VCs are more overconfident and less humble than later career VCs, on average. Halfway through year four, I think I’m just beginning to experience for the first time what the actual hard parts are…

[Aaron Harris @harris]

Across the ~30 unicorns I’ve funded, there’s only one common founder trait: optimism.

[Harry Stebbings @HarryStebbings]

If you write consistent, high-quality monthly updates to your investors.

I guarantee you that when times are not good and you need that bridge round, you are 50%+ more likely to retain their support if you wrote those updates.

Day one or One Day! 🔥

[Don Rainey @drainey1]

@lolitataub The Drunkard's Walk, has great insights into cognitive bias and decision-making.

[Kate Brodock @Just_Kate]

Today I had a Founder say "do you all remember Clubhouse" and I died. 😂

[phil bronner @pbronner]

Good pre-seed investors base 90% of their decision on the founding team. However, 95% of a pre-seed pitch deck is focused on the idea and not the team.

Here is what I would love to see in a pre-seed deck 🧵

[Don Rainey @drainey1]

A Drunkard's Walk, great book about cognitive bias

[BuccoCapital Bloke @buccocapital]

What book do I have to read next year?

Why should I read it? Maybe it’s your favorite novel. Maybe it changed the way you view the world. Hit me!