Huston Collins

Building something new.
Previously: Pipe, Fika VC, Greenspring Associates (acq'd by StepStone)

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

Epic headline, but it’s so much bigger than that. Some numbers:

665,495 startups were founded in 🇬🇧 in the year-ended March 2020.

…1 startup per minute.

That year, only 2.2k co’s (0.3%) raised a 1st VC round.

The impact we @pipe hope to have in the UK can’t be overstated. 🧵

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@zallarak Epic. You stumble across this hidden gem yet?

https://t.co/XccqmQuKBH

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@usmanm @maksim_s 🔥Congrats Usman!! So excited to watch y’all build. It’s going to be amazing

[Peter Downs @peterldowns]

Are you working on llm/gpt/ai tooling? Are you figuring out how to add ai-powered features to your existing product? DM or email me, I might be able to help.

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@pdrmnvd @matsonj @teej_m That sweet, sweet processing efficiency 👌

Lines has been a total lifesaver when working in a memory constrained setting

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@etarczynski Wing of course also has Guarav who was ex Sequoia

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@etarczynski Been out of the Instl LP game a few years now, but a few names that jump to mind:

- Peter Wagner, Wing (ex Accel)
- Chi-Hua Chien, Goodwater (ex KPCB)
- John Vrionis, Unusual (ex Lightspeed)
- Mike Eisenberg, Aleph (ex Benchmark)

All on the early side of “generational” tho

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@lpolovets As a fmr Seed investor, gotta say (w bias) @Pipe is pretty much purpose built for this problem.

Lets cos control when they raise inst'l VC $, so their metrics and valuation can be optimized.

It’s also why VCs love working w/ us - maximizes the next rnd markup for their portcos.

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@archernikov Dimensionality is probably the easiest.

Most people can intuit that a line can be infinitely long.

“Now imagine that line is infinitely wide.”

When they imagine a plane, they can visualize that the plane is “bigger” than the line.

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@Wgnr_L Kindle supports this natively if you buy the audiobook. More expensive but velocity is worth it I think.

https://t.co/2SEqrxRKtt is great for articles, PDFs, and the like. Also have a chrome extension.

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@Wgnr_L Reading & listening at the same time is next level.

Most people can register words much faster audibly vs reading text, but research findings show that comprehension and retention are higher when reading.

Combining modalities gives you speed + retention.

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@zebulgar @charlje_d

[Brad Coffey @BradfordCoffey]

1/
I’ve spent my entire career trying to help businesses grow. As Chief Strategy Officer @HubSpot we developed software and training to help millions of organizations grow better. Now, @Pipe we provide access to non-dilutive capital to help businesses grow on their terms.

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

@charlje_d @zebulgar Buy ya ticket!

[Yas @yas_moaven]

A common misconception: @pipe is just for SaaS 🙅🏻‍♀️

From SaaS to D2C subs to real estate to streaming services & even VCs Piping their management fees…

We launched w/ SaaS companies in mind, but today it’s for ALL companies that have recurring revenue 👇

https://t.co/OVfIX52MhO

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

Finally, product is at the center of how they operate (s/o Cerebro).

If you're a founder considering working with them, do it.

If you're an LP, stay on top of their next fundraise. They're the real deal.

Congrats again - excited for what comes next 🥳

https://t.co/v0OPUwPjYg

[Alexis Ohanian 🗽 @alexisohanian]

Seriously, our operating system, Cerebro, automatically emails a recap to our founders of what we did over the quarter.

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

No surprise here - congrats @sevensevensix team! 🎉

As someone who's spent a lot of time working with emerging vc managers over the years, it's rare to see a firm truly break the mold like SevenSevenSix has.

👇Here's a couple reasons why before signing off for the night:

[Alexis Ohanian 🗽 @alexisohanian]

I’m proud to announce @sevensevensix has raised $500M for our two newest funds, bringing our total AUM to $750M. We’re just over 1 year old + I’m grateful some of the best institutional investors in the world have chosen us. (Tho yes, I was hoping we’d hit $776M AUM in Year 1).

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

From what we've seen at Pipe, their approach to portfolio support is also refreshing.

We're talking a deep bench of Operating Partners that are eager to help, with diverse + relevant backgrounds across product, CX, people & culture, and public policy.

https://t.co/jbi4TqUDb3

[Alexis Ohanian 🗽 @alexisohanian]

Thank YOU @harryhurst and the entire @pipe team for being our first 🦄 and paving the way for 776 cos

[Huston Collins @hustoncollins]

About a year ago today I accepted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with @harryhurst.

Here’s yours, don’t pass it up👇

[Chris Walker @ChrisWalker171]

Yesterday, Refine Labs acquired $3MM in growth capital from @pipe at a valuation of….. oh wait, there’s no big fancy valuation to celebrate and put on a screen in Times Square, because I didn’t sell any equity or give up any control of my company 🙂