Russ Wilcox, Repeat Founder and VC - Pillar VC

<p><span style="color: #e67e23;"><strong>Sal's Investment Syndicate:</strong></span> <a href= "https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates">Click for Sal's Syndicate Page</a></p> <p>If you’ve used an Amazon Kindle you’ve used tech pioneered by Russ Wilcox and co-founders at E Ink. Russ is now a VC who remembers well the trials of being a founder and is a deep well useful knowledge about building startups. I learned a lot.</p> <p>Highlights include:</p> <ul> <li>brief bio of Russ Wilcox</li> <li>the founding story of E Ink</li> <li>the mistake of focusing on a financing strategy rather than product development</li> <li>burning $2 million per month but clients hated the product</li> <li>Golden Lesson for Founders: don’t kill your company by sticking to an unrealistically high valuation; propping up valuation is self-delusion</li> <li>beware liquidation preferences (jargon-free explanation)</li> <li>comparison of VC funding to debt</li> <li>Pillar is a seed-stage VC firm founded by people who have started companies</li> <li>Pillar’s “phantom partners” are 22 startup CEOs who put money into the fund and roll up their sleeves to help</li> <li>Write checks of $1 to $2 million in rounds of $3 to $4 million</li> <li>Put in a lot of time and energy to support founders</li> <li>Emotional support is provided by the Pillar CEO investors</li> <li>Cool Portfolio Company: Kula Bio which has a really clever way to make earth-friendly fertilizer</li> <li>Cool Portfolio Company: Higharc creates 3D plans for your home without needing an architect</li> <li>Russ Wilcox’s wisdom on platform technologies</li> <li>Sal talks about his portfolio company Akili Interactive that has a game to treat ADHD in children and invites accredited investors to join his syndicate at <a href= "https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates">https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates</a></li> <li>What Russ learned from his post-exit world tour with his family</li> <li>Golden Lesson for Founders: look for a co-founder first</li> </ul>