Rubén Domínguez Ibar

Bryan Johnson Thinks Aging is a Choice—and He's Betting Millions on It

Bryan Johnson, the founder of Braintree (acquired by PayPal for $800M), is taking on his boldest project yet: reversing his biological age. At 46, he's pouring millions into Project Blueprint, aiming to redefine what's possible in human health.

His results?
→ Skin of a 28-year-old
→ Heart of a 37-year-old
→ Lungs of an 18-year-old

His approach is radical: treating his body as his most valuable asset. Johnson's daily routine includes:

• 111+ supplements
• Intensive health monitoring
• A team of doctors optimizing every organ

While Johnson’s extreme protocol isn’t accessible for everyone, his journey challenges how we think about health, aging, and what’s possible when biology meets ambition.

The ultimate question: Can aging be slowed—or even reversed—by sheer dedication and resources?

Johnson’s journey suggests we might be closer than we think.

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Every pitch can make or break a deal.

But not all decks are created equal.

Here are the only 10 slides you need in your pitch:

Canva’s Chief Evangelist Guy Kawasaki distilled the art of the pitch down to a simple, yet effective formula.

Here's how it works:

(1) Title: Make them remember your name. It’s your first handshake.

(2) Problem: If they don’t feel the problem, they won’t see the need.

(3) Value Proposition: Here’s where you shine. Show your product, its benefits, and why it’s a game-changer.

(4) Magic: What’s your secret sauce? Tech, patents, a killer demo.

(5) Business Model: How will you make money? Be crystal clear.

(6) Marketing/Sales: Your strategy to dominate the market.

(7) Competition: Know your enemies and why you’re better.

(8) Team: Investors bet on jockeys, not just horses. Show them your A-team.

(9) Financials: Hit them with numbers that make sense.

(10) Status & Use of Funds: Where you are, where you’re going, and how their money helps.

There you have it.

A pitch deck that doesn't just talk but persuades.

What else would you add?

Credit: Chris Tottman

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I've compiled some fundraising pitch decks used by renowned unicorns 🦄

I hope you find them valuable!

1. Facebook - Valuation at IPO: $104B 
https://lnkd.in/dNxYhmgi

2. AirBnB - Valuation at IPO: $41B
https://lnkd.in/dsUqaGX7

3. Canva - Current valuation: $39B
https://lnkd.in/dm9D6r_U

4. Dropbox - Valuation at IPO: $12.6B
https://lnkd.in/dm3qSHvw

5. LinkedIn - Valuation at acquisition: $26.2B - https://lnkd.in/dGckmnyf

6. WeWork - Valuation at SPAC merger: $9B
https://lnkd.in/dCvbZhH9

7. Youtube - Valuation at acquisition: $1.7B
https://lnkd.in/di-C_haN

8. Coinbase - Valuation at IPO: $65.3B
https://lnkd.in/dS2k22hj

9. Uber - Valuation at IPO: $75B
https://lnkd.in/dWrzvqyT

10. Tinder - Current valuation: $42B
https://lnkd.in/dxnV-5TZ

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Some startups fail because they build products nobody needs 💔

In B2B, it normally takes two years to start feeling product-market fit

Here’s an overview of how long it took 24 of today’s top B2B startups to get to (1) a live product, (2) their first customer, and (3) their first feeling of PMF.

Key takeaways:

(1) The median time from idea to feeling product-market fit was roughly 2 years

(2) From a working product to feeling PMF typically took 9-18 months

(3) Most companies got an alpha product out the door in 1-3 months

(4) A few companies—Figma, Airtable, Slack—took 4+ years to find PMF

The journey to PMF starts by finding just one company that truly loves your product

Credit: Lenny Rachitsky

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“90% of VCs add no value to startups, and 70% even harm them.” — Vinod Khosla

In a blunt assessment of the VC world, Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, questions the real value that most venture capitalists bring to the table. After decades in the industry, he argues that most investors aren’t just unhelpful—they may actually hold startups back.

This raises a critical question: can the wrong investor be a greater liability than no investor at all?

What’s your take? Have you seen VCs truly make a difference, or are they often more of a hindrance than a help? Share your thoughts below.

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Women-Owned Startups Are a Better Bet 💥

Startups Founded or Cofounded by Women Garner Less in Investments but Generate More Revenue, shows BCG

In a review of five years of investment and revenue data, the gender-focused analysis showed a clear funding gap:
 
• Investments in companies founded or cofounded by women averaged $935,000, which is less than half the average $2.1 million invested in companies founded by male entrepreneurs. 
 
• Despite this disparity, startups founded and cofounded by women actually performed better over time, generating 10% more in cumulative revenue over a five-year period: $730,000 compared with $662,000.

Were you expecting this? Should VC investors focus more on sourcing women-owned startups?

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Airbnb launched 16 years ago, now is valued at $91 billion

Back on June 26, 2008, co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky sought $150,000 from Silicon Valley investors for a 10% stake—now worth over $3 billion. Despite their efforts, five investors declined and two ghosted.

This is the reality of fundraising. It's crucial not to take it personally.

Below you can check some rejection emails Airbnb's CEO received 👇

Source: Kevin Jurovich

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reveals how to create a GPT app in under 4 minutes, no coding needed.

This marks a major tech shift, enabling anyone to build and sell AI apps.

Expect an explosion of new products and solo entrepreneurs in the coming years.

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“We trained a machine learning model that outperforms 95% of VCs.”

Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky is shaking up venture capital with QuantumLight, a $200M AI-powered fund:

▪️ Founded in 2022, already invested in 12 startups
▪️ $60M of Storonsky’s own capital
▪️ AI-driven decisions faster and more precise than humans

The goal? To make systematic VC investing the new standard, just like quant strategies transformed Wall Street.

Thoughts?

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This might be the biggest moment for Open-Source AI.

Meta just released Llama 3.1 and a 405 billion parameter model, the most sophisticated open model ever released.

It already outperforms GPT-4o on several benchmarks.

Some features:

▪️You can fine-tune, distill and deploy it anywhere.

▪️Supports multiple languages & tools, with performance on par with GPT-4o.

▪️Optimized to run on a single server using cutting-edge quantization techniques.

▪️Advanced data preprocessing & quality assurance methods implemented in Llama 3.1 405B.

▪️Integrating image, video, & voice capabilities—still under development.

▪️Open-source & updated licensing to foster tech sharing and applications.

▪️What is your opinion of open source models vs. proprietary models? Which one will win?

Credit: Lior S.

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