Deal Abstract
Citibike for paddleboards. Bootstrapped by founders, friends, and family. Has revenue but uncertainty lies in building an outdoors experience business during COVID. Based out of Miami, FL!
Financials (VRB)
|Question|Notes|
|---|---|---|
|1. Fundraising Target? |$1500000|
|2. Fundraised So Far?|$98980|
|3. Pre-Money Valuation?|$5000000|
|4. Previous Year's Annual Revenue |$2783|
|5. Previous Year's Annual Burn |~$|
The 6 Calacanis Characteristics ("Sow Passion, Not easy mediocrity", or S2 P6 N18)
| Criteria | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| 1. A startup that is based in SV? | False: Key Biscayne, FL! (I used to live in Miami FL) |
| 2. Has at least 2 founders? | True: Two |
| 3. Has product in the market? | True: |
| 4. 6 months of continuous user growth or 6 months of revenue? | False: Though first half of 2020 already higher than 2019. Also, cutting some slack because COVID. |
| 5. Notable investors? | False: Mainly bootstrapped with CPO's wife investing in the round. |
| 6. Post-funding, will have 18 months of runway? | True: Burn was only $40k, at present they already have 18 months runway. |
The 7 Thiel Questions (Every Time Man Profits, Don't Dismiss Serendipity)
| Question | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Engineering? | 4 | I'll give it to them, I have never heard of a smart paddleboard. |
| 2. Timing? | 3 | Demand for outdoor sports and wellness good. |
| 3. Monopoly? | 1 | Never heard of it before this investing, that said, very very early. |
| 4. People? | 2 | Strong corporate experience but relatively less former entrepreneurial experience. |
| 5. Distribution? | 3 | Paddleboards everywhere, check out by mobile app. |
| 6. Durability? | 4 | If this really is the Citibike for paddleboard/outdoor water sports, for sure. |
| 7. Secret? | 1 | Paddleboarding TAM is way larger and that the cruddy UI/UX of renting a paddleboard has needlessly stifled the market. |
What has to go right for the startup to return money on investment:
1. Secret has to be right; 2. No thieving of paddleboards; 3. Expand to other markets
What the Risks Are
1. Niche market with non-obvious expansion markets; 2. Infrequency of use, as opposed to a bicycle network; 3. Geographic expansion
Bonus Muhan's Notes
At the time of writing, it is snowing heavily in my hometown of Boston. How lovely it'd be to be renting a paddleboard and going for a swim at Virginia Key right now.
Updates
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So, did I invest?
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