The real job of a VC is to be a conduit of abundance
Expert Dojo Healthcare is coming to JPM 2023!
Expert Dojo Healthcare Growth Program
Growth Hacking Masterclass
Startup Accelerator Program Benefits by Brian Mac Mahon — Startups Expo 2022
Brian MacMahon will be speaking at StartupsExpo
Brian Mac Mahon ofĀ @expertdojoĀ LOVES recessions!
Linerun
The Growth Zone: Venture Capital Space and the American Dream
Fireside Chat
If You Market Podcast: Brianās Thoughts on Startups, Venture Capitalism, and Unicorns
BDO: The Road to Wealth Generation
Big Sky Franchise
The Entrepreneurās Story: Giving the Opportunity to Share the Startup Journey From the Perspective of an Investor
Rad Intelligence Investor Panel
The Round Table Talk Show
If You Market, They Will Come: Why Unicorns are Bad
Itās a Brave Zoom World: How Startups are Adapting in the Time of Corona Virus
BDO Israel: VC Investments Between Israel and the USA in the Age of COVID-19
VC investments between Israel and the USA in the Age of COVID-19
Fundraising Radio: Investing in Early Startups
RAD Intelligence: Covid-19 special podcast episode with Brian Mac Mahon
LA VENTURE | VENTURE CAPITAL | VC: How #leanstartup Can Be Misapplied, and Why Women Are Better Than Men
WILL THE NEXT UNICORN BE RAISED FROM THE CROWD?
Only by decentralizing venture capital, can we truly focus on the greatness of entrepreneurship.
By Brian Mac Mahon, CEO of Expert Dojo
In the last 30 years, The United States went from having merely a handful of unicorns to over 1,300 global unicorns. At the same time, companies throughout the world saw an increase in their valuations. This increase in access to money fueled the growth of thousands of Venture Capitalists around the world eager to find the next great unicorn that would value at $100 billion, to $1 trillion then to $10 trillion. Although this was one of the most exciting times of innovation, it was not accessible to everyone. In fact, only founders with privileged backgrounds and those with inside connections have had access to the funds required to create a company that would become a billion-dollar company.
For many creators throughout the world, this lack of access has closed doors for many phenomenal founders who could only wish to be able to show the world their great inventions. Not only is this a travesty for incredible innovators, but also an extremely dangerous time period for the countries in which they reside, including the United States. By focusing only on building unicorns from sources that are trusted by Venture Capitalists, the innovation standards in these countries will continue to drop as well as their technological capacities. Unless we find a different path, this unequal playing field will live on.
Expert DOJO is an early accelerator based in Southern California that has sprung to prominence over the last three years, growing from zero investments to over 200 investments. The company started with initial investment checks of up to $100K, followed by $1M with a 3-4 year period to help fuel growth. One of the areas that Expert DOJO pride itself in is their focus on growth as a differentiator. Their belief has always been that the abundance of money through an extremely centralized Venture Capital system hurts innovation and essentially, deserving startups. Expert DOJO have been dedicated to searching for the greatest founders on the planet and showing those founders how to build the greatest companies through phenomenal growth techniques.
If timing with any vision is important, then the current market timing couldnāt be more relevant to Expert DOJOās vision of democratizing the entire Venture Capital space. Expert DOJO gives access to startups to be able to build the best companies on earth without them having to worry about unfair competition through excessive funding to their competitors.
Crowdfunding has been a huge game changer for non accredited investors who had previously been discriminated against as investors in the same way that unconnected startups had been discriminated against as entrepreneurs. This evening of the playing field has become stronger over the years with crowdfunding platforms like WeFunder, StartEngine, Republic and SeedInvest, having invested in thousands upon thousands of startups and raising hundreds of millions of dollars to help these companies grow. Expert DOJO is united with the crowdfunding ecosystem as it also believes that decentralization is the only way forward for the venture capital space. Only by decentralizing venture capitalism, can we truly focus on the greatness of entrepreneurship. Equity crowdfunding through these platforms also believes in the same principle as improving and increasing the proportion of investors throughout the world. Expert DOJO will continue to fly the flag of nondiscrimination as only the best founders make it through to promote this phenomenal industry of equity crowdfunding.
Who are these hot š„ growth š hackers?
Who are these hot š„ growth š hackers? @expertdojo @expertdojosensei
Welcome to the new year! If you are a relentless startup, apply now to take part in our upcoming cohort beginning January 16th.
At Expert DOJO we commit to supporting you in the long run so here is what we are doing. We have expanded our team including the addition of a portfolio growth specialist with the objective being to find the blockages to our portfolio companies’ growth to help overcome that roadblock.
We have also added monthly growth hacking sprints to include social media advertising, search advertising, partnership, enterprise, and cold calling techniques along with closing proficiency and so much more. Expert DOJO is part of your team, not just an investor and that’s what we are going to bring to the table in 2023 in large quantities.
If you are an early-stage startup who believes you have the ability to strengthen your company from the inside out, then apply now. Applications are due next Wednesday, January 11.
I have learned several things along this journey to becoming a venture capitalist. For one, this journey can be empty and meaningless.
Constant pressure. Our worth is tied only to performance. Iām only as good as my last deal. We look at ourselves and others in this cold hardness that is metrics and nothing else. Founders have this same pressure.
When things look good, we happily hitch our personal worth to it and convince ourselves for a while that weāre happy and itās worth it. When they look bad, we crash down. Hard. Reality sets in. We wonder if itās worth it.
And then, because itās too painful to consider further, we brush it aside and go do more stuff. We tell ourselves this will make it better.
We get caught in the numbers and forget about what we are really doing. We forget about the actual deep and real reason we get up each day. The real reason our feet hit the floor every morning day after day isnāt a paycheck, your bonus or your stock options. Itās not even your goalsā¦.
Itās What or Who that is all for. Itās the desire. Pure and simple.
And in its purest formā¦desire is a sign of the most true form of love. The kind that is divine. Understanding this, and then embodying it is Alignment.
Money is only a form of energy. Selling or investing is only a mechanism for directing it. As an energy form, money doesnāt change anything or anyone, it amplifies who and what already is, bringing it into the light like a mirror.
When we invest or sell from a space of purpose, alignment and desire, we are directing this energy that is divine into people and things that are also aligned to who we are. The actual act of investing is simply typing numbers into something, doing things to symbolize our agreement, and then sending it to someone else.
To operate in this space requires constant check in, otherwise the act of ādoingā will block your heart. And when our heart is blocked, weāre out of the flow.
I am fortunate enough to have realized early in this journey that my job in VC is to be a conduit for abundance. Iām a channel for it, and I bring it to everyone around me. Whatever I am given is magnified and amplified. My function is not a do-er of things, I am a multiplier. I see it as a spiritual calling as much as a job I go to every day.
I want to pave the way and give permission to others to redefine what it means to create in this way, to invest and build like this.
If I lose my way, I can take responsibility for my shortcomings and flaws at any point that made me temporarily forget who I am. And I can try again.
Rather than project upset feelings onto an industry that has the power to amplify, I can help lead the beautiful change.
I can tell stories of others who have chosen this way. Mine, yours and others. To find the others and help light their way. āØ
May we choose greatness together. May we become extraordinary versions of ourselves.
Today at Expert Dojo we have invested in 64% underrepresented founders in life sciences, medtech, digital health and health tech and we are not stopping anytime soon. Itās my goal to show the world that investing in health equity and impact with a diverse pipeline of entrepreneurs not just what our world needs at this time, but it produces abundance (in all the ways).
Together we are building a powerful health venture ecosystem unlike anything else and opening possibilities that myopic thinking and old ways of doing cannot.
Expert Dojo Healthcare is coming to JPM 2023!
Expert Dojo Healthcare is coming to JPM 2023! We are thrilled to partner with Intercom, to host these meetings at their office in SF (about 1/2 mile from the Westin). Intercom enables businesses to connect with their customers at exactly the right moment using powerful messaging and automation.
Expert Dojo Healthcare Growth Program
Join us to learn more information about Expert Dojo and our Healthcare Growth Program. Alumni will share their experiences and there will be a Q&A session.
Who should attend? Healthcare startup founders in Digital Health, Health IT, Medical Device (510K path), Lifesciences, AI/ML, Digital Therapeutics, Mental Health and more (we don’t look at pharma). If you are on a non-FDA path, you should be in revenue and growing – FDA path companies should be 6-9 months out from approval with clear go to market plan.
Expert Dojo is the most active early stage start-up accelerator and fund in Southern California. We invest in pre seed and seed stage companies all over the world, and most of our start-ups are minority and female founded technology companies. The Dojo is looking for companies that are ready for growth and scale. In addition to the mentorship, programming, education, resources, fundraising help and introductions our startups receive, we also partner with growth hackers and marketers to help our companies scale.
Here are a few stand out metrics from our 200+ portfolio-wide investments over the last few years:
Our companies have increased in value by over 300% during this period, based on sales and last investment round.
85% of all our pre seed companies secured follow-on rounds and this percentage is increasing.
In the Health Cohorts to date we have invested in over 65% underrepresented founders (30+ companies).
Growth Hacking Masterclass
Weāve covered a lot of ground in this post, but there is one thing we want to make sure you take away from it. If youāre going to earn more money in your business, focus on increasing the metrics that impact revenue growth. In our experience, those are cost-to-customer acquisition, the lifetime value of a customer, the number of leads you can generate into your funnel, and how long it takes to close a customer. Everything else pales in comparison.
Listen to our masterclass covering growth hacking on the Hue Seth Show to learn more.
Startup Accelerator Program Benefits by Brian Mac Mahon — Startups Expo 2022
Brian MacMahon will be speaking at StartupsExpo
Our very own, Brian MacMahon will be speaking at StartupsExpo on July 30th at 9:15 AM PT. Brian will be discussing the benefits of startup accelerators. The event will be broadcasted live on YouTube, Facebook and Linkedin so join from wherever you are! https://startupsexpo.com/
Brian Mac Mahon ofĀ @expertdojoĀ LOVES recessions!
They level the playing field for subscription businesses to thrive and increase their revenue!!
Find out more in this clip from @sub_summit 2022! āļø
Linerun
Date: Sep 28th, 2020
The Growth Zone: Venture Capital Space and the American Dream
Date: September 23rd, 2020 Host: Christian Bartsch Podcast Link