Ted Zagat

It's been fun watching my partner KP Reddy get back in the founder game. His new startup is Zero RFI, an AI-native Owner's Representative firm backed by General Catalyst. Most owners and AEC firms can't imagine a world of zero RFIs. It's an impossible mission. Which makes for a perfect company name. Zero requests for information reflect a state in which project direction is so complete, coordinated, and unambiguous that no additional clarification is required. For Shadow Ventures, Zero makes the technology bets we've already made more deployable and harder to displace. We've always had great access with AEC firms. Now, through Zero, we have a direct line to some of the world's largest owners and developers. The OG is back at it. I can confirm that his energy is higher than ever. Some people just need to build...

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Home services remain one of the last great frontiers in India’s digital economy: massive, historically fragmented, and operationally challenging to manage. Snabbit is transforming this space by pairing strong customer love with disciplined, market-by-micro market execution. Their focus on sustainable unit economics and operational resilience sets them up to be category leaders. Susquehanna Venture Capital is excited to lead this round and back Aayush Agarwal’s vision of making Snabbit the national standard for reliable, on-demand home services. Aayush Agarwal | Snabbit Abhilash Karri | Sai A.

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My investment framework centers on 7 layers. CASIMIR fits into the first layer which is the Observation Layer. Out of 22 billion IoT devices on earth and ~10k satellites in space in 2026 we may have a 6 billion (and growing) ultra low power devices on earth and space that can one day run on MicroSparc 👍🏼 -> Eternal power chip Harold “Sonny” White + Capital Factory #HardThings #deeptech

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At Atomic Capital, we partner with founders who are willing to take audacious bets and who value building alongside an Operating VC. For us, capital is just the starting point. The real work begins post-investment - sharpening distribution, tightening unit economics, strengthening supply chains and building long-term brand moats. We are a conviction-led fund and don’t rely on external validation to make decisions. If something makes structural and fundamental sense to us, we move with clarity and speed. In this case, we issued a term sheet within a week of our first call. Interestingly, we learned that several investor responses followed soon after. We are building for India’s consumer story for 2030 and we believe pet parents will be a meaningful driver of discretionary spends. Post-Covid, first-time pet adoption surged across urban households, accelerating the shift from pet ownership to pet parenting. We had been actively looking for exposure in this category and are elated to announce that we recently led Benny's Bowl’s $1.4M Pre-Series A round. Here are a few things that stood out for us: 1. India’s Pet Parenting Shift is structural: India’s pet nutrition market is compounding at 15-20% YoY, with premium and functional segments growing even faster. Urban pet parents are prioritising ingredient transparency, clinical validation and long-term health outcomes. The category remains underpenetrated and trust-led brands will define it. 2. Community-Led Distribution: Petfed’s 2L+ pet parent base gives the team direct access to a deeply engaged audience, strengthening both reach and product feedback loops. 3. Strong Customer love: Over 80% of revenue is repeat-driven, signalling strong product-market fit. Margins are strengthening as the business grows without sacrificing economic discipline. 4. Early Traction Across Channels: Pet food is a replenishment category - availability drives retention. Despite limited distribution, Benny’s Bowl has built strong traction across D2C, marketplaces and quick commerce, positioning the brand for success. 5. Founder alignment from Day One: Akshay Gupta immediately aligned with our partnership-led approach to company building. That shared philosophy made the decision straightforward. 6. Team Built for Scale: The core team led by Snehashish on Growth and Parimal on Operations is structured to scale Benny’s Bowl to a ₹100-200 Cr brand in less than 18 months. 7. Clear NPD Roadmap: Fresh meals built the initial wedge. Expansion into cat food, dry formats, supplements and functional SKUs will unlock a significantly larger share of the pet’s bowl. We’re excited to partner with Akshay and team to serve the evolving needs of India’s new-age pet parents and raise the bar on pet nutrition. Pet nutrition in India is just getting started and we believe Benny’s Bowl is building the right foundation for the next decade. Atomic Capital Akshay Gupta Shivangi Goyal Nikhil Patil Manish Jain Benny's Bowl

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Thrilled to share the launch of Criticality, a $65M fund built to back founders solving hard, high-leverage problems at the intersection of technical complexity and real-world urgency. Criticality builds on the foundation we’ve laid at Antler - applying our conviction-driven approach to companies at Seed & Series A. The fund is sector-flexible but applies a deep tech lens to each opportunity, targeting non-obvious, high-leverage problems from the earliest stages of company formation. Grateful to the New Mexico State Investment Council for their support in anchoring Criticality. More to come soon from Cash Allred & I.

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At nvp capital we believe the future of vertical businesses includes physical AI, the robots and hardware that will automate previously untouchable processes across under-digitized industries. Training physical models on high-quality real-world data is a core driver of that thesis. That's why we're energized to invest in Human Archive (YC W26). Human Archive is building the training data layer for physical AI, capturing humans doing everyday work across the industries where robots will operate next. Raj Patel Shloke Patel Rushil Agarwal and Samay Maini have a unique view of where this is market is going and we're glad to be partnering with them and teaming up with Zachary DeWitt at Wing Venture Capital We wrote about our conviction in physical AI earlier this year (check out the blog link in the comments) and Human Archive is exactly the kind of investment that thesis was pointing toward. https://lnkd.in/eXsa6zRG

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"Build the event you wish existed" That's what we at Monadical did last week at #NYTW. We wanted an AI Engineers discussion for Engineers. There's always a lot of events out there for VCs to network, or for startups to learn about G2M, but very little on lessons learned from actual engineers in the field. So that's the event we hosted. Big thank yous to our awesome panel, Roy Pereira, Ben Cohen and Corey J. Gallon. Here's the key takeaways and the AI tools we're using. 🚀 All three panelists independently called AI Agents the most transformative LLM application they’ve used. They specifically called out Claude 3.5 Sonnet for its accuracy and reliability. 🪨 We dug into how LLMs are “jagged”, not general. They can be shockingly good at some tasks and completely fail at others. Everyone agreed: good evaluations are critical (and hard.) 🧪 Corey noted how public benchmarks and reality are two different things. Most public evals are saturated or gamed. ♊ Ben emphasized that AI projects are actually two projects: building the tool and building the evaluation process. 🧱 We explored how falling dev costs may impact startup defensibility and labor demand. Roy shared that founders are already shifting strategies in response. ⚒️ In a world of daily AI launches, the panel discussed how they decide what’s worth attention, and what’s just noise. They called out tools like Goose, Aider, Claude Code, and Monadical’s own Cubbi, which helps run agentic workflows safely in dev environments. (links in the comments). CTA: What would you want to hear in an AI Applied Engineering talk you attended?

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Honored and excited to partner with Drew Baglino and the incredible team at Heron Power as they re-imagine the electric grid for the modern world. Power in America is not zero sum. We deserve access to cheap and abundant electricity and we should win the AI race. And we must build the capacity to manufacture critical technology here at home. When faced with existential challenges, we deploy technology against them. And we win.

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So excited to announce this partnership with Marie Rocha & Realist Lab. I have known Marie for over a decade and the work she’s doing for entrepreneurs. She’s been at the forefront of building the next wave of founders and I’m excited to share What VCs Won't Say with the community. Also, big shoutout to the True Ventures team for supporting Realist Lab and I in this effort to educate more founders. Puneet Agarwal

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Gaurav Ranjan from PrimeVP and Naman Lahoty from Stellaris Venture Partners, two of my oldest friends in VC joins us this week on The Neon Show. This conversation is on what it really takes to be a VC today. We discuss: 1. What unique edge do founder-turned VCs have? 2. Why do startup projections rarely come true? 3. Are VCs naturally good founders? 4. Why are VC feedback loops extremely long? 5. The VC timeline from First pitch to Deal close. 6. What have VCs unlearned about pattern-matching? 7. Why Founder empathy is the most underrated edge in VC? And more learnings from evaluating 3000+ startups and 7+years of being VCs. The episode drops tomorrow at 8pm on The Neon Show. https://lnkd.in/gnAFEj3f

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Intel received $20 billion in government subsidies and customer prepayments this year but still posted a net loss, revealing that capital intensity alone cannot solve foundry economics. The mechanism is structural: foundries require both massive upfront investment and sustained utilization to generate returns. Government funding covers the capital expenditure but cannot guarantee the customer demand needed to fill those fabs. Without consistent throughput, each additional dollar of capacity investment actually worsens unit economics because fixed costs get spread across fewer chips produced. This creates a paradox where Intel's $100 billion fab buildout could become either a competitive moat or a structural burden, depending entirely on whether the company can secure long-term customer commitments. The subsidies buy Intel time and capacity, but they don't solve the fundamental challenge of competing against TSMC for external customers while simultaneously serving internal chip design needs. The critical question isn't whether Intel can build advanced fabs—the funding ensures they can. The question is whether their foundry business model can generate sufficient utilization rates to justify the economics of operating those fabs at scale, especially when competing against an incumbent with established customer relationships and proven execution. Link in comments 👇

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Gene Rapoport and I are excited to announce the launch of our new podcast, The Practical Frontier, a video interview series on Substack where we engage with AI founders who are building tomorrow's technology driving real results today. In our first episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Tanay Kothari, CEO of Wispr (Wispr Flow). Here are three key takeaways from our conversation: 1. Voice is the on-ramp to AI. Users provide the model with significantly more context when speaking compared to typing, leading to improved output quality. 2. A "system of you" is emerging. This new layer interacts with the user, moves across applications, accumulates context, and becomes smarter with increased engagement. 3. Hardware is regaining importance. As voice becomes a primary input method, the traditional screen-and-keyboard setup is no longer the only relevant form factor. Be sure to stay tuned for the demo at the end of the episode. Please sign up and share - we also welcome feedback as we build this podcast. https://lnkd.in/gshhS-8A

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Seed Stage Venture Debt? Most early founders think venture debt is something you raise at the Series B or later. It is seen as something you layer on once the business is fully “bankable” and later stage. But what if this paradigm is limiting growth for early stage companies? And what if founders can utilize a flexible product at the early stages to reduce dilution? At Top Corner we see it differently: - We underwrite The Founder and to enterprise value, not formulaic metrics - We believe debt can work much earlier, typically right after product-market fit (Seed/Series A) - Our debt is designed to support founders, not constrain them - Our structures are flexible, with none of the traditional debt mechanics that weigh down early stage founders (financial covenants, MAC defaults or investor support clauses) - Our process is fast (think weeks, not months) - Our capital is significantly less dilutive than equity, but can be used just like a dollar of equity: to hire, build, experiment and scale When used for growth, debt can help teams hit more milestones and empower founders to raise their next round on stronger term, all while preserving meaningful ownership for both founders and early investors. A recent example: Top Corner partnered with NxLite in February 2025, providing Seed stage debt capital that allowed the company to acquire critical equipment and fully prepare its 45,000 squarer foot production facility prior to raising additional equity. NxLite produces advanced coatings for windows and transparent barriers that dramatically reduce energy consumption and support a more sustainable built environment. With this early capital, NxLite achieved production capacity to serve a strong roster of Fortune 500 enterprises, creating a strong foundation for its next phase of growth. NxLite closed a $9.2M Series A in September 2025 at a meaningful valuation increase. We’re excited to support David Mather and the NxLite team as they build on this momentum. https://lnkd.in/g-Fipd9K

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**Key Takeaways for Founders Preparing for an Exit** As founders look ahead to potential exits, insights from industry leaders like Jai Das and Roseanne Wincek remind us of the critical steps in this journey. Founders must focus on understanding their financials, building a strong narrative, and engaging potential acquirers early. At ElevenX Capital, we emphasize the importance of strategic preparation and a clear vision for the next chapter. What strategies have you found effective in preparing for an exit? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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Most founders treat warm intros like a nice-to-have. They think if the deck is strong enough, the right investor will notice. They’re wrong. Investors don’t have a filtering problem. They have a trust problem. Every week, they see hundreds of decks. Some great. Many decent. A few even brilliant. But that’s not the bar. The real question isn’t “Is this startup promising?” It’s “Do I trust this founder enough to take the call, stake my reputation, and possibly invest?” That’s what a warm intro solves. It reduces the trust gap. When a credible founder, respected operator, or trusted LP vouches for you, you’re no longer a stranger in someone’s inbox—you’re a filtered signal from someone they already believe in. • Without that credibility transfer, the burden of proof falls entirely on your deck. And no matter how strong it is, most investors won’t roll the dice if no one is standing behind it. But here’s the part most people miss: You don’t get warm intros. You earn them-long before you need them. Because warm intros aren’t just about access. They’re about shared experience, long-game relationships, and quiet reputational equity. The founders who raise well are the ones who tend the garden: They help others before asking for help. They’re kind when no one’s watching. They make time for feedback, referrals, second looks. They show up generously—and consistently. Fundraising isn’t a visibility game. It’s a credibility game. And credibility isn’t built in the room. It’s built over time. This post is a primer on that blind spot: What warm intros actually signal to investors. Why founder-to-founder intros beat cold outreach every time. How to turn a “no” into long-term trust. Why using brokers or “fundraising middlemen” almost always backfires. How to build a reputation that makes capital feel like a shared bet—not a leap of faith. If you want to raise smarter-and faster-understand this: Warm intros aren’t about playing favorites. They’re about reducing friction in a world where trust is scarce and time is shorter. And the best time to start building trust? Before you need it. #startups #fundraising #venturecapital #warmintros #founderlife #networking #trustdriven

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Seed Stage Venture Debt? Most early founders think venture debt is something you raise at the Series B.  It’s seen as something you layer on once the business is fully “bankable”. But what if this paradigm is limiting growth for early stage companies? And what if founders can utilize a flexible product to reduce dilution? At Top Corner Capital we see it differently… ✅ We underwrite The Founder and to enterprise value, not formulaic metrics ✅ We believe debt can work much earlier, typically right after product-market fit (Seed/Series A) ✅ Our debt is designed to support founders, not constrain them ✅ Our structures are flexible, with none of the traditional debt mechanics that weigh down early stage founders (financial covenants, MAC defaults or investor support clauses) ✅ Our process is fast (think weeks, not months) ✅ Our capital is significantly less dilutive than equity, but can be used just like a dollar of equity: to hire, build, experiment and scale When used for growth (not survival), debt can help teams hit more milestones and empower founders to raise their next round on stronger terms…all while preserving meaningful ownership for both founders and early investors. A recent example… Top Corner partnered with NxLite in February 2025, providing Seed-stage debt capital that allowed the company to acquire critical equipment and fully prepare its production facility prior to raising additional equity. NxLite’s advanced coatings for windows and transparent barriers dramatically reduce energy consumption and support a more sustainable built environment. With this early capital, NxLite achieved production capacity to serve a strong roster of Fortune 500 enterprises, creating a strong foundation for its next phase of growth. NxLite closed a $9.2M Series A in September 2025 at a meaningful valuation increase. We’re excited to support David Mather and the NxLite team as they build on this momentum.

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From our PearX S25 cohort, meet Pravāh, the AI-native operating system for the electric grid When Mohak Mangal, Dhruv Suri, and Aman Gupta looked at the strain on the U.S. electric grid, they saw a system pushed to its limits. Exploding demand and unpredictable supply have made blackouts increasingly common. This costs the economy more than $150B a year, a number that could 10x in the next five years. Mohak Mangal and team founded Pravāh to help fix it. Their platform helps utilities and grid operators make real-time decisions on load, generation, and congestion, reducing blackout risks, optimizing power procurement, and bringing much-needed stability to the backbone of modern life. We’re proud to support the Pravāh team as they take on one of the toughest and most important infrastructure challenges of our time.

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What a joy to speak with this brilliant cohort of innovators in the The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) ENTICE (Energy Transitions Innovation Challenge) 2.0 program and taking on their sharp questions at the investor bootcamp. 80% of global GHG emission reduction goals for 2050 can be met through energy system decarbonization, efficiency and electrification. This represents a US $100 trillion opportunity according to the IEA.     A stronger, more stable grid is at the heart of building a #resilient #energy future. This year’s program challenges innovators to tackle:  1) Behind-the-meter digital twins: #AI tools to analyse consumption and create appliance-level insights  2) Industrial flexibility at scale: AI solutions using smart meter data to identify flexible assets and operational inefficiencies    Kudos to the entrepreneurs and the GEAPP team for curating and executing such a thoughtful program.     Looking forward to seeing how these #innovations scale #impact.  Synapses Dalberg Media Vaishali (Vish) Mishra Anukul Tripathi (He/Him) Jayant Sinha Saurabh Kumar

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