Alan Jiang

Bridging the gap between capital and execution remains one of the most significant challenges in venture growth today. Traditional venture capital often provides funds but leaves founders to navigate execution alone. Meanwhile, many startups struggle to translate investment into scalable operations and sustainable growth. At Mandalore Partners, we've developed a hybrid model that combines strategic capital deployment with hands-on operational support. This approach ensures that alongside funding, startups receive tailored guidance on strategy, governance, and scaling. For example, in the insurtech sector, startups partnering with us have not only secured the necessary capital but also improved their product-market fit and accelerated customer acquisition through our active involvement. This model acknowledges that capital without execution is an incomplete equation. Real growth emerges when investment is paired with expertise and sustained support. For founders and investors alike, adopting this integrated approach can create greater value and resilience. How has your experience been balancing capital and execution in your ventures? Share your thoughts below. #VentureCapital #VentureCapitalAsAService #VCaaS

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Two main observations from my SF trip: 1) founding a company is fame now and 2) founders are getting younger and younger. Silicon Valley is turning into Hollywood and creating its very own Mickey Mouse Club in the process: an industrialised pipeline of teen founders. 1) Silicon Valley is turning into Hollywood: In a market that is as competitive as it has ever been, founders need to differentiate. Using consumer tactics, AI startups reach tens of millions in revenue over the course of months. Builders are becoming famous in the process. Many product launches now include Hollywood-level launch videos. Influential VCs are advising their founders to become Twitter-famous. PR manifestos herald the age of the "going direct”, making communication the founder’s job. 2) Founders are becoming younger and younger. The median age of founders in YC’s most recent batch was 24, down from 31 just a few years ago. This has a few reasons: 1) AI gives young folks superpowers and radically brings down the barriers of building a product. 12-year olds are now vibe coding and use their unfiltered imagination to build apps and games. 2) Second, starting a company is now a desired career path (which is AWESOME). 3) VCs are pushing earlier and earlier to get access to talent and build ownership at digestible prices. They are now scouting talent at the best high schools, maths olympiads and science competitions, often with the goal of convincing gifted teens not to study at university, but to start a venture-backed company instead. 4)Young founders worry that AI erodes the value of their intelligence. They are (half) joking that is the last window to escape the permanent underclass, i.e. the last time to build up wealth before their worth will be eroded by artificial general intelligence. Hollywood first invented a format for the industrialisation of teen talent: the Mickey Mouse Club. The MMC was a children’s TV show that made the career of countless Hollywood legends, including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake. However, the mental toll that child stardom took on the stars was immense and famously ended in meltdowns, drug addiction and shaved heads. In the fierce race for returns, the superpowers and pressures that AI is bringing upon us, and an increasing search for fame, we are industrialising entrepreneurial teen talent in the same way Hollywood industrialised teen performers. In the end, Silicon Valley will likely gain new breakout companies. And if entrepreneurship is something that enables teens to do more of what they enjoy, great! The world certainly needs more incredible entrepreneurs. But the venture capital machine is unforgiving. It aims for a narrow set of excellence. It copiously rewards greatness and swiftly moves on from its failures. It will relentlessly and carelessly forget about most of us, so it’s up to us to make our young years worth remembering. Full Substack post: https://shorturl.at/82cEJ

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Ended down ~25% yesterday and another 9% today $SUJA A great product but a company IPOing into maturity. Slice soda the only real interesting part here and who knows where that goes given what we've seen with Celsius (CELH), Oatly (OTLY), and others.

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