David Emanuel

We raised $650K for our startup. Six months later, I was back to square one—building a new food tech startup. That fast switch said more about our failure than any podcast or case study ever could. 👇 Friends kept asking, “Didn’t you raise $650K last year?” Yeah, I sighed. We spent our first tranche building the product. The next tranche of funds never arrived. Because we signed the wrong term sheet. No clarity. No follow-up. No next round. We didn’t run out of money. 💸 We signed a bad deal. 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♀️ The biggest myth founders believe: 💭 “Once I raise funds, investors will be my companions.” But investors don’t come for your product. They come for profits and control. 💡 The truth? Most early-stage founders raise too early. We start chasing funding when we should be chasing customers. Before you raise, test the 3 things that truly matter: ✅ Behavior: How does this investor treat other portfolio founders? 💰 Term Sheet: Are these terms empowering you—or choking your growth? 🔁 Involvement: Is this investor going to be part of your journey, or just your cap table? You don’t need lawyers or fancy suits to impress investors. You need a solid product, fair terms, and a few real conversations. 👥 Because the real game isn’t “How much is he investing?” It’s “Who will be a partner in our growth?” You can’t buy partnership with funding. You earn it—by listening, adapting, and staying transparent. So next time you’re tempted to “raise funds,” like we were— 👉 Read every term in that sheet. 👉 Don’t assume every investor is a partner. 👉 And always build healthy, honest investor relationships. That’s what separates stories that end in headlines from the ones that end in shutdown. #MyFojo #startup #funding #vc #angelinvestor #fundraising

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This chocolate bar shouldn’t exist. Zero sugar Gut-healthy Under $1.50 Carbon negative Actually delicious What used to take 18 months of R&D, wasted cash, and endless supplier hunts now takes minutes. Journey Foods has built an AI engine trained on the entire food industry; every ingredient, supplier, nutrition profile, and carbon footprint. The result: founders can instantly generate recipes, identify suppliers, calculate costs, and validate impact. One founder launched a gut-healthy chocolate in 6 weeks. Another built a carbon-negative snack line. This is more than speed. It’s about democratizing food innovation, giving founders the tools to compete with giants. That’s why Brinc backed Journey Foods. Powered by AI. Founded by Riana Lynn. #FoodTech #AI #VentureCapital #Innovation #Sustainability

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FROZEN PIZZA MAKER YOUGH RAISES FROM FOUNDERS ROW Yough! a frozen pizza startup using Greek yogurt-based dough as a high-protein, clean-label crust, has raised an undisclosed amount from Founders Row, an Atlanta-based early-stage consumer investment platform. Yough was co-founded by Mike Rolland (CEO) and Jason Miller (COO) in 2023, the latter of whom developed the Greek yogurt dough concept after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The product positions as the first mainstream frozen pizza with Greek yogurt dough, hitting a $7B category that has seen almost no ingredient-level innovation in the mass aisle. Founders Row launched by operator Jamie Weeks, runs a deal-by-deal model via a Founder Partnership Vehicle rather than a traditional fund. Yough is their eighth investment in roughly five months since launch. Portfolio includes Hot Box Pretzels and boutique fitness brand SculptHouse. The raise follows a nationwide Target launch across just under 2,000 stores in three SKUs: Mozzarella Cheese, Uncured Pepperoni, and Farmer's Vegetable.

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Most founders don’t fail at exist…they fail at timing. If you’re a founder and thinking about stepping away in 1-3 years, this might be for you.

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Series A Investor (2022) - Chipotle and Cava jointly invested $25M in Hyphen, a food #robotics startup. - Hyphen's technology boost speed and accuracy while preserving human roles in fast-casual dining. - Cava plans to deploy the system in its back-of-house "second-make line" for digital orders. - Chipotle previously supported Hyphen through its Cultivate Next fund. - The collaboration reflects a broader industry shift toward automation to address labor challenges, with Cava reporting 20.3% YoY revenue growth and 37% digital sales. https://lnkd.in/e4FQEMvq

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Where does your team slide sit in your pitch deck? I've seen 100+ pre-seed decks this year. No consensus. Team as slide 2. Team at the end. Team somewhere in the middle. I get the case for later - lead with the problem, build urgency, make the reader feel the pain before you introduce who's solving it. But my instinct at pre-seed is to flip it. Product will change. Market sizing will change. ICP, GTM, business model - probably all of it will change. The team, mostly, won't. Pre-seed investors know this. They're not backing a product. They're backing people - and their ability to adapt and execute in an area with strong tailwinds. So why make them wait six slides to understand who they're backing? Move the team up. Make them care about you before they evaluate your thesis. Where do you put yours? Let me know in the comments! #founders #fundraising #venturecapital

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Permits in California aren’t just a checkbox. They shape what actually gets built. If you’ve developed, designed, or built anything in CA, you already know: The difference between a smooth project and a stalled one often comes down to how well the product aligns with local codes before you start. One of the most overlooked opportunities right now is in small backyard structures. In many California jurisdictions, accessory structures under 120 sqft can be built without a building permit, as long as they meet specific requirements: • Height limits (often 8–12 ft depending on location) • Setbacks from property lines • No permanent utilities in some cases • Zoning compliance Sounds simple. It’s not. Because the moment you move from “concept” to “real product,” the complexity shows up: • San Francisco has stricter height and placement constraints than most cities • Some municipalities interpret setbacks differently • Fire-prone areas introduce additional requirements • HOA overlays can quietly override city allowances This is where most projects slow down, not in construction, but in misalignment. At Cerca Homes, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this upstream. Instead of designing a single product and forcing it into different jurisdictions, we’ve built a system that adapts: • A line of luxury studio shed units up to 120 sqft designed to fall within no-permit thresholds in most CA cities • Configurations that can be adjusted to meet specific local height or setback requirements • A panelized system that allows those adjustments without redesigning from scratch Because in California, the real challenge isn’t just building. It’s building something that can actually get approved, or in some cases, intentionally designed not to need approval at all. This isn’t about avoiding regulation. It’s about understanding it deeply enough to design within it. The projects that move fastest today aren’t just well built. They’re well positioned from day one.

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