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15 years ago today, Reaktor was born.
We just wanted a place to work, but we've built the Warsaw startup ecosystem instead.
It was July 2011. I just came back from my first trip to San Francisco where I was inspired by startup mansions like the Blackbox Mansion, and I thought - arsaw?
We teamed up with @kubafilipowski who has been thinking about something similar for a while, and my college pal @anwalkowska. The three of us were just launching their own startups, @filmaster, HumanWay and Homplex. But we also wanted more from the office than just work. So we invited friends from the small Warsaw startup world to join us... and they did.
In the following 10 years we launched 82 legendary #OpenReaktor events, 10 amazing birthday parties, dozens of mentoring and matchmaking sessions. We hosted startup legends like @jerrycolonna or @bragiel as well as the rising starts of polish startups at the time like @elamadej @sbatory or @sadek.
In 2016 @dianakoziarska joined as house manager and she took it to the next level launching the pre-accelerator program ReaktorX which helped 200+ founders launch their startups.
Without Reaktor there wouldn't be @smokvc as we wouldn't have met this many amazing people who later became our mentors and LPs in the fund.
Till this day every week I meet someone who tells me they met their cofounder, investor, employer or friend for life at one of the OpenReaktor events.
We closed the house in COVID time when we were busy launching our first fund. But the @Reaktor_X brand is alive and kicking - currently run by @Stirbat_Luca in San Francisco where he's supporting the most ambitious under 25-year-old founders from Central and Eastern Europe.
We just wanted a place to work, but we've built the Warsaw startup ecosystem instead.
It was July 2011. I just came back from my first trip to San Francisco where I was inspired by startup mansions like the Blackbox Mansion, and I thought - arsaw?
We teamed up with @kubafilipowski who has been thinking about something similar for a while, and my college pal @anwalkowska. The three of us were just launching their own startups, @filmaster, HumanWay and Homplex. But we also wanted more from the office than just work. So we invited friends from the small Warsaw startup world to join us... and they did.
In the following 10 years we launched 82 legendary #OpenReaktor events, 10 amazing birthday parties, dozens of mentoring and matchmaking sessions. We hosted startup legends like @jerrycolonna or @bragiel as well as the rising starts of polish startups at the time like @elamadej @sbatory or @sadek.
In 2016 @dianakoziarska joined as house manager and she took it to the next level launching the pre-accelerator program ReaktorX which helped 200+ founders launch their startups.
Without Reaktor there wouldn't be @smokvc as we wouldn't have met this many amazing people who later became our mentors and LPs in the fund.
Till this day every week I meet someone who tells me they met their cofounder, investor, employer or friend for life at one of the OpenReaktor events.
We closed the house in COVID time when we were busy launching our first fund. But the @Reaktor_X brand is alive and kicking - currently run by @Stirbat_Luca in San Francisco where he's supporting the most ambitious under 25-year-old founders from Central and Eastern Europe.
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MIA ⛱️ -> SFO 🌉 🦄
Looking to meet old buddies and meet new ones. It's been a while!
Wanna hang out? DM!
And don't forget to RVSP to @CeeStartup meetup on Wednesday: luma.com/u1pso5wc
#ceevalley
Looking to meet old buddies and meet new ones. It's been a while!
Wanna hang out? DM!
And don't forget to RVSP to @CeeStartup meetup on Wednesday: luma.com/u1pso5wc
#ceevalley
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Last night we had another @smokvc CEE diaspora dinner, this time in Miami, Florida with @sbatory @gregokon @natalbrzezinski @1annafrankowska @uldis @ihor_bauman & other Miami-based entrepreneurs originally from Eastern Europe.
San Francisco next!
San Francisco next!
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I'm in San Francisco next week and you're all invited to our @smokvc party at European Startup Embassy this coming Wednesday!
I'm especially happy to meet Eastern European entrepreneurs building in the Valley as well as local venture capitalists and angels investing in diaspora y made over 10 investments in San Francisco founders from Poland🇵🇱, Ukraine🇺🇦, Romania🇷🇴 and looking to add more over the coming years.
See you in SF next week!
RVSP: luma.com/u1pso5wc
I'm especially happy to meet Eastern European entrepreneurs building in the Valley as well as local venture capitalists and angels investing in diaspora y made over 10 investments in San Francisco founders from Poland🇵🇱, Ukraine🇺🇦, Romania🇷🇴 and looking to add more over the coming years.
See you in SF next week!
RVSP: luma.com/u1pso5wc
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VC bierzesz tylko wtedy kiedy wiesz że nie dasz rady wygrać rynku bez kapitału.
W przeciwnym razie - bootstrap to najlepsza droga.
W przeciwnym razie - bootstrap to najlepsza droga.
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My US trip starts tomorrow in Miami 🏖️🇺🇸
Exited to meet CEE diaspora folks over the next few days and experience the Vice City during the new GTA launch.
Also, let's hope 8 see Giannis 🔥🏀 win their first game this season against Pacers on Friday.
See you around!
Exited to meet CEE diaspora folks over the next few days and experience the Vice City during the new GTA launch.
Also, let's hope 8 see Giannis 🔥🏀 win their first game this season against Pacers on Friday.
See you around!
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Software jest dziś najtańszy w historii.
Dystrybucja jest najdroższa w historii.
Nadchodzą ciężkie czasy dla bootstrapu, a złote czasy dla venture capital.
Firmy z kasą z VC jeszcze bardziej zdominują konkurencyjne globalne rynki.
Dla bootstrap zostanie nisza.
Dystrybucja jest najdroższa w historii.
Nadchodzą ciężkie czasy dla bootstrapu, a złote czasy dla venture capital.
Firmy z kasą z VC jeszcze bardziej zdominują konkurencyjne globalne rynki.
Dla bootstrap zostanie nisza.
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Borys Musielak @ Miami retweeted
We need a true 28th regime so that a company can incorporate once and operate under one set of rules in every member state. We must harmonize the treatment of employee stock options so that European talent shares in European success.
@vonderleyen
@eucopresident
@_CStocker
@Bart_DeWever
@IlianaIotova
@AndrejPlenkovic
@Christodulides
@AndrejBabis
@Statsmin
@KristenMichalPM
@PetteriOrpo
@EmmanuelMacron
@_FriedrichMerz
@kmitsotakis
@magyarpeterMP
@MichealMartinTD
@GiorgiaMeloni
@AndrisKulbergs
@GitanasNauseda
@LucFrieden
@RobertAbela_MT
@RobJetten
@donaldtusk
@LMontenegropm
@NicusorDanRO
@RobertFicoSVK
@JJansaSDS
@sanchezcastejon
@SwedishPM
@vonderleyen
@eucopresident
@_CStocker
@Bart_DeWever
@IlianaIotova
@AndrejPlenkovic
@Christodulides
@AndrejBabis
@Statsmin
@KristenMichalPM
@PetteriOrpo
@EmmanuelMacron
@_FriedrichMerz
@kmitsotakis
@magyarpeterMP
@MichealMartinTD
@GiorgiaMeloni
@AndrisKulbergs
@GitanasNauseda
@LucFrieden
@RobertAbela_MT
@RobJetten
@donaldtusk
@LMontenegropm
@NicusorDanRO
@RobertFicoSVK
@JJansaSDS
@sanchezcastejon
@SwedishPM
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DM if you're in town for Warsaw Tech Week!
Let's meet on Monday or Tuesday
as I'm flying to Miami ⛱️ on Wednesday morning.
#polandtechweek #techwawa #polandmaxing
Let's meet on Monday or Tuesday
as I'm flying to Miami ⛱️ on Wednesday morning.
#polandtechweek #techwawa #polandmaxing
In Warsaw for #PolandTechWeek?
Join our Wednesday event with 5 @ycombinator founders from CEE on whether you should apply to YC.
Sign up:
luma.com/sde7u7ib
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Dobry advisor na początku drogi budowania start-upu może być więcej wart niż najlepszy VC. Taki impact miał na nas @markdeq jak budowaliśmy @filmaster (acquired by @sambaintel in 2015).
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A startup isn't supposed to make money.
It's supposed to grow fast and maximize the odds of returning a multiple to its investors.
Once you take VC money, your job is to increase value, not generate profit. If a company in my portfolio is sitting on profits, I'm annoyed. That cash should be going back into growth.
If you own 100% of your company, do whatever you want with the profits. Pay yourself a dividend. Buy a boat. Your call.
With VC funding, it doesn't work that way. Dividends sometimes become acceptable after an IPO, long after anyone still calls the company a startup.
Profit isn't the goal, it's what's left when you've run out of better places to put the money.
It's supposed to grow fast and maximize the odds of returning a multiple to its investors.
Once you take VC money, your job is to increase value, not generate profit. If a company in my portfolio is sitting on profits, I'm annoyed. That cash should be going back into growth.
If you own 100% of your company, do whatever you want with the profits. Pay yourself a dividend. Buy a boat. Your call.
With VC funding, it doesn't work that way. Dividends sometimes become acceptable after an IPO, long after anyone still calls the company a startup.
Profit isn't the goal, it's what's left when you've run out of better places to put the money.
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Borys Musielak @ Miami retweeted
Claude-designed decks have permanent-underclass aura. I will not elaborate.
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Borys Musielak @ Miami retweeted
San Francisco populated with 800+ Jev-powered NPCs making System 1 decisions in real-time
We can populate any city on earth
More soon
We can populate any city on earth
More soon
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I'm in Miami 🏖️ 🇺🇸 next week - who should I hang out with? Founders, angels, VCs, LPs, CEE diaspora people... let's meet!
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Jak sprzedać firmę za 100 milionów i nic nie zarobić?
Banalnie!
1. Bierzesz finansowanie venture capital, $100m za 10% udziałów z liqpref 1x (standard w VC).
2. Budujesz, dochodzisz do niezłych przychodów rzędu $10-20m rocznie, ale więcej nie jesteś w stanie wycisnąć.
3. za $100m.
4. VC dostaje całość zainwestowanej kasy.
5. Ty zostajesz z niczym.
Po co więc sprzedawać? Cóż. Tu wchodzi inne trudne słowo: drag along. Inwestor może wymusić sprzedaż całej firmy, jeśli nadejdzie oferta, która go satysfakcjonuje.
W realnym świecie w takim przypadku zwykle kupujący zaoferuje Ci jako founderowi udziały w nowej firmie na 4-letnim vestingu (czyli realnie pracę z bonusem od dobrych wyników).
Warto znać te zasady zanim zdecydujesz się budować firmę z VC. Tutaj wygrywasz tylko jeśli zbudujesz firmę znacznie większą od wyceny z ostatniej rundy.
Banalnie!
1. Bierzesz finansowanie venture capital, $100m za 10% udziałów z liqpref 1x (standard w VC).
2. Budujesz, dochodzisz do niezłych przychodów rzędu $10-20m rocznie, ale więcej nie jesteś w stanie wycisnąć.
3. za $100m.
4. VC dostaje całość zainwestowanej kasy.
5. Ty zostajesz z niczym.
Po co więc sprzedawać? Cóż. Tu wchodzi inne trudne słowo: drag along. Inwestor może wymusić sprzedaż całej firmy, jeśli nadejdzie oferta, która go satysfakcjonuje.
W realnym świecie w takim przypadku zwykle kupujący zaoferuje Ci jako founderowi udziały w nowej firmie na 4-letnim vestingu (czyli realnie pracę z bonusem od dobrych wyników).
Warto znać te zasady zanim zdecydujesz się budować firmę z VC. Tutaj wygrywasz tylko jeśli zbudujesz firmę znacznie większą od wyceny z ostatniej rundy.
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Całe nagranie z panelu VC vs Bootstrap z @AulaPolska znajdziecie tu:
youtu.be/c2ceNOcwpzQ?is… cc @piotrek_nowy @kurasinski
youtu.be/c2ceNOcwpzQ?is… cc @piotrek_nowy @kurasinski
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Borys Musielak @ Miami retweeted
What our portfolio shipped in September featuring @MagdaKordon @RobertOlejnik @maja1308 @KoscielnyRemi
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Venture Capital to niszowy produkt dla niszowego odbiorcy tj. foundera który ma chorobliwie wielkie ambicje i chce wygrać albo duży globalny rynek, albo nic.
cc @kurasinski @piotrek_nowy @AulaPolska
cc @kurasinski @piotrek_nowy @AulaPolska
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