We're coming for ya Instagram!, How I Raised $50M, 5 VC Investors Share Hot Takes

The Social Leverage Letter | Issue #170

Author

Ethan Berk
January 12, 2025

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3 articles & 1 video

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READING

Punchup (Fund IV) has rapidly grown its user base by over 700% since January 2024, now driving nearly as many ticket sales as Instagram for comedians. With higher email conversion rates and a platform designed specifically for ticket sales, Punchup aims to continue outpacing traditional social media in helping artists monetize effectively in 2025.

We're coming for ya Instagram!

We previously published a post discussing where we were seeing ticket sales come from. The summary is Instagram was the significant leader in driving butts in seats. What we didn’t cover in that article was the number of tickets that were incremental sales from Punchup users. These are individuals

Tyler Denk recounts journey of raising $50M across multiple funding rounds for beehiiv (Fund IV), highlighting the challenges, key strategies, and lessons learned, such as the importance of securing a lead investor early, writing consistent investor updates, and leveraging strong user relationships. Despite initial struggles, including rejections and a difficult seed extension amidst personal loss, Denk emphasizes maintaining momentum, creating leverage in negotiations, and building a product-first business culture.

How I Raised $50M

Each round has a totally different story to tell.

Our own Gary Benitt highlights that while the venture landscape has shifted back to normalcy with higher investment standards, he hopes it avoids overcorrecting to 2021 extremes. He sees growth in San Diego's startup ecosystem since moving there in 2016 and emphasizes the importance of developing a stronger support system for entrepreneurs to foster more investment opportunities in the region.

5 VC Investors Share Hot Takes and Predictions Ahead of TechCon SoCal 2025

Fresh perspectives from LA, SF, and local venture capitalists on Southern California's thriving startup landscape and key themes going into 2025

WATCHING

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Head of Marketing - Sequel.io

About Sequel.ioWith 91% of companies investing in video as a strategy to engage with their audience and drive pipeline, Sequel is addressing a significant pain point: driving away hard earned audiences to outdated third-party webinar ...