Harlem Capital's Henri Pierre-Jacques on Building a Competitive Advantage

I've sat across the table from founders during due diligence who didn't know their own dilution math. Not because they weren't smart — because no one had built them a simple tool to see it clearly. Having worked on both sides — investments and operating finance — I've seen firsthand how crucial it is for founders to have a real-time view of their cap table. Most dilution surprises aren't surprises at all. They're just math that wasn't modelled early enough. With AI tools, I was able to compress years of cap table thinking into an interactive application in a matter of hours. The application lets any founder plug in their current shareholders, model an upcoming round, and instantly see post-round ownership, dilution impact, and exit proceeds for every stakeholder. Sharing it here for anyone building or investing in startups — free to use, no sign-up needed. Link in comments. Feel free to drop a comment if you want to discuss further or have ideas to make it better. https://lnkd.in/gtmra5Gf #VentureCapital #StartupFinance #CapTable #FounderTools #Dilution #Investing

I’ve spent the last few months deep in something most people only see the headline of. Horizon Capital just joined our Series A extension at Headway Inc. I was running investor relations and covering the due diligence process for this round, so let me show you what that actually looked like from the inside. Due diligence sounds procedural but it isn’t. It’s months of being asked the hardest questions about your business by people who have seen hundreds of companies and know exactly where the cracks are. Every number, every assumption, every strategic bet gets pressure tested. The biggest realization was this: great investors don’t just judge your past, they study how you approach the future. And specifically, whether AI is actually embedded into how you build, not just mentioned in a slide. At Headway Inc, algorithms handle the routine, people create the value that can't be automated. Horizon backed that thesis. Horizon Capital, the leading private equity firm in Emerging Europe with $1.8B AUM and a portfolio that includes Ajax Systems, Preply, and Creatio, wasn’t just looking at our metrics. They were looking at whether we had the infrastructure to scale them. The answer is yes. 170M+ downloads across 170+ countries. 8x download growth in three years. A product ecosystem that TIME called one of the top five EdTech companies in the world. And this round isn't a standalone moment - Bullhound Capital led the Series A extension, Endeavor Catalyst joined as co-investor, now Horizon. There's a pattern forming, and we're not slowing down. The next step: establishing our business HQ in the US - building the operational presence and team on the ground that a company at our stage needs to compete at the top level. Deals like this don’t close on decks. They close on trust built over time, clarity under pressure, and the ability to make complexity legible to people who’ve seen it all. Grateful to have been in the room where this one came together.

We’ve officially opened early reservations for LIONNLORD. LIONNLORD is an AI-powered capital intelligence platform designed to improve how startups are evaluated and funded. Today, early-stage investing is still driven by networks, noise, and inconsistent judgment. High-potential founders are overlooked, while investors struggle with signal overload. We’re solving this with LIONNLENS — a structured, AI-driven evaluation engine that enables smarter, data-driven capital allocation. Our MVP is live, and we’re now onboarding a small group of early investors before going public. This is not a commitment — just a reservation to secure an allocation. If you’re interested in early access, comment or message me and I’ll share the link. Building the future of capital allocation.

Nanonets crossed $42M in total funding with a $29M Series B led by Accel. $1.5M seed in 2017: Soma Capital, SV Angel, Sound Ventures, Y Combinator. $10M Series A in 2022: Elevation Capital led. $29M Series B in March 2024: Accel led, Y Combinator and Elevation Capital doubled down. Seven years from seed to Series B. Two investors re-upping at every stage. But here is the real question: What did the deck actually look like? Most founders only read the TechCrunch headline. They never see the slides that moved a partner meeting to a term sheet. We pulled the full Nanonets deck apart on SheetVenture, slide by slide, with the exact framing that convinced Accel to lead a $29M Series B in an AI workflow category already crowded with competition. If you are raising in 2026, this is the reference deck you want open on a second monitor while you rebuild your own. See the exact deck that raised $29M 👉 https://lnkd.in/dpd5_whu

Founded in 2023 by 20-somethings, data labeling startup Mercor exploded to $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate in September. Now it’s confronting a wave of challenges, including an employee stealing money, security blunders and cultural growing pains. Full story here: https://lnkd.in/gqunz69t (Photo: Cody Pickens for Forbes)

Founded in 2023 by 20-somethings, data labeling startup Mercor exploded to $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate in September. Now it’s confronting a wave of challenges, including an employee stealing money, security blunders and cultural growing pains. Full story here: https://lnkd.in/gqunz69t (Photo: Cody Pickens for Forbes)

let me explain what really happened from founder's lens: l was born into upper class white family in the middle of manathan. l was ugly and affected by woke culture so girls were NOT into me. l became a nerdy for being non social, then l went to a great college, girls were still NOT into me so l had tremendous amount of free time, l founded a company to become more powerful so girls would be interested. l could contact big investors thanks to my family's network. My company became a unicorn after receiving 100M+ investment out of nothing. That time l became the most arrogant person, good girls around me were into badboys so l only could impress a white badass who was an unsuccesful onlyfans content creator. She was asking for so expensive gifs. My company was so valuable on paper but there was no credible chash. So, l made deal with an employee, we together stole investor's money. Now, l have millions of dollars in my caribbean island bank acount. Which enables me to spoil my girlfriend so she keeps being with me.. There's a high likelihood that this's what it's but we'll learn the real story soon

Founded in 2023 by 20-somethings, data labeling startup Mercor exploded to $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate in September. Now it’s confronting a wave of challenges, including an employee stealing money, security blunders and cultural growing pains. Full story here: https://lnkd.in/gqunz69t (Photo: Cody Pickens for Forbes)

[𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹] 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗩𝗖𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲. After funding, startups must rapidly achieve product-market fit using data and agility, with VCs now focusing on structured market interactions to speed iteration.Why it matters: The real grind starts post-raise; founders who treat cash as fuel for precise market testing build lasting edges over those celebrating too early.Founder Takeaway: Post-raise, run weekly data experiments to nail PMF faster.Watch Next: See how VC-founder partnerships evolve toward real-time market coaching. https://lnkd.in/gpu_rT9Y #NathanWildman #PhoenixVentureStudios #MarketIntelligence #BusinessFunding #AIForBusiness

[𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹] 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗩𝗖𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲. After funding, startups must rapidly achieve product-market fit using data and agility, with VCs now focusing on structured market interactions to speed iteration.Why it matters: The real grind starts post-raise; founders who treat cash as fuel for precise market testing build lasting edges over those celebrating too early.Founder Takeaway: Post-raise, run weekly data experiments to nail PMF faster.Watch Next: See how VC-founder partnerships evolve toward real-time market coaching. https://lnkd.in/gpu_rT9Y #NathanWildman #PhoenixVentureStudios #MarketIntelligence #BusinessFunding #AIForBusiness