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Saleem Ahmad 🤎
The Anti-VC | Helping pre-seed founders land their first investor check in 30 days 💰
Saleem Ahmad is an experienced entrepreneur who founded Anti-VC, a consultancy aimed at helping startup founders navigate the complex world of venture capital. With a background in sales, strategic buying, and parenting, Saleem brings a unique perspective to the startup ecosystem. Saleem is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, holding both a Bachelor's and Master's degree. His previous ventures include Zown, where he served as the Founder & CEO, and roles at Techstars, Tracxn, and Nestle Middle East.
Highlights
Is he the next Elon Musk?
(need your honest opinion)
Meet the founder of Buddies Gum.
Like Musk, he: → Has a grand vision → Is on the spectrum → Desperately needs media training
But unlike Musk, he: → Wears a baseball cap to establish credibility → Believes women don’t control the purchasing decisions → "Well they do but they're pushovers" → Ditches conventional marketing cause bro research → Uses your kids as pawns to make a "CoNsPiRaCy ThEoRy"
I've watched this clip 30 times and still can’t wrap my head around this one.
Ethics aside, he's applying his life 'skills' and 'expertise' to try to sell bubble gum to kids.
People like this don’t exist in a vacuum. They were made.
The symptoms are clear:
Entitlement ✔️ Mansplaining ✔️ Moral superiority ✔️
↳ textbook case of tech bro syndrome
Tech bro syndrome is a serious disease that needs to be excised.
Do your part:
Don't buy from bros ❌ Don't give bros air time ❌ And definitely don't fund bros ❌
Agree?
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PS. The sad part is he's still more investable than most female founders.
Tag a mission-driven female CPG founder in the comments 👇🏽
I’ll promote the best ones in my newsletter.
#techbrosyndrome #founders #mentorship #fundraising #antivc
I was broke for 10 years of my startup career:
→ Constantly worrying about money → Never knowing if I was going to cover rent → Always 2nd guessing every purchase
Attending a startup conference was the most painful decision ever:
→ Most were a huge waste of time & money → But some yielded massive returns (I raised $240K from one)
So when an event like SXSW comes around, it can be quite the dilemma for founders.
Marc Nathan has your answer though.
Marc attended SXSW for the last 24 years and publishes a yearly guide to its best free networking events.
Join me as I interrogate Marc to find out:
→ Should I attend SXSW? → How can I meet investors? → Do I need to purchase a badge? → How do I get the most on a founder's budget?
If you’re in Austin next week, or considering coming, you don’t want to miss this.
RSVP below for the free audio event tomorrow 👇🏽
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♻ Please repost if you know any founders who would find this useful!
#founders #fundraising #mentorship #events #antivc #sxsw
