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FundersClub Weekly Newsletter - September 8, 2016

By Grace Barr  •  Sep 8, 2016

FundersClub Portfolio News

FundersClub announces the launch of FCVC Advisors — a new arm of the business that lets institutional investors like hedge funds, endowments, and foundations invest on the platform, allowing them more direct access to startups, as well as giving startups easier access to those institutional investors in "This company is trying to reinvent venture capital for the millennial era."

AppZen, the first artificial intelligence solution for back office automation, announces the integration of its expense report audit tool with Concur in "AppZen Integrates its Artificial Intelligence Expense Report Audit Tool with Concur to Deliver Automated Auditing Solutions to Enterprises."

Instacart gives TechCrunch an "aisle-side view" of how the company’s people and technology come together on location at Costco in San Francisco, and also notes future plans of a “bypass checkout” feature for its personal shoppers in "Instacart’s app has changed grocery stores for good."

Investor Thoughts

Scott Kupor of Andreessen Horowitz explains VC accounting methodology in response to a WSJ article commenting on their returns to their investors in "When is a "Mark" Not a Mark?"

Clement Vouillon of Point Nine Capital defines SORs, and looks at the major trends and challenges within the ecosystem today in “System of Records Part 1.

Sam Altman of Y Combinator interviews Jessica Livingston about starting Y Combinator, trends she sees with the very best companies, and her vision of the future in "How to Build the Future series."

CB Insights finds that there is huge potential for artificial intelligence algorithms to solve problems in the healthcare industry as one-third of startups receiving first fundings since 2015 are in imaging and diagnostics in "Investors Back A Rush Of New AI-Focused Health Startups."

Alexander McKelvie of Whitman School of Management writes how founders should think ahead and figure out exactly what they need, when they need it, and how much they are willing to give up before asking for funding in "3 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask Before Seeking Investment."

PitchBook ranks top university programs by production of VC-backed entrepreneurs, with a detailed breakdowns of top programs by sector, exit rates and more in "PitchBook Universities Report."

Founder and Operator Thoughts

Jason Fried of Basecamp cautions against assuming something will be easy only because you've never tried to do it before, as it often shows that you have little insight about what you’re trying to accomplish in "The myth of low-hanging fruit."

Kim Scott and Russ Laraway of Candor focus on how to ask for direct and indirect feedback, and how to embrace the discomfort of it in "Management – On Receiving (and Truly Hearing) Radical Candor.

Hunter Walk of Homebrew looks at team success research which shows that team norms  – how teams agree to behave and function  –  are more important determinants of success than purely team composition in "Google Finds That Successful Teams Are About Norms Not Just Smarts."

Quincy Larson of Free Code Camp discusses how living asynchronously affects productivity and work flow in "Live asynchronously."

Min Ha Duong of Startup Grind outlines her journey as a Techstars Associate, and lists the most important lessons she learned and the people she met along the way in "I Was a Techstars Associate — Here’s What I Learned."

David Kadavy of Design for Hackers contemplates the meaning of a famous quote from Steve Jobs, and finds that when he is tempted to do the thing that’s more comfortable, he reminds himself not to be ruled by his fears in "“Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” What does it mean, and why should you do it?"

In Other News

Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces everything new with the iPhone 7, including extended battery life, dual cameras, and the removal of the headphone jack, in addition to new Apple Watches in "Everything you need to know from Apple’s iPhone 7 event."

Google announces that it intends to purchase Apigee, an API management platform that went public last year, for $625 million or $17.40 a share in "Google will acquire Apigee for $625 million."

Snapchat has secured a line of credit where they can borrow against that credit line and pay it back later if it needs cash in the lead up to a likely 2017 IPO, giving it flexibility to go public when the time is right without worrying about having to raise another round of equity financing to pay its expenses in "Snapchat could buy startups without raising money via new credit line."

Did You Know?

Did you know that the microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket?