https://www.sibyl.vc/blog Data-driven insights on investors, fundraising, venture capital and artificial intelligence for founders and investors. en-us Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:59:32 GMT https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-som https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-som Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:59:32 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Clarity over convention The Sibyl Un-Glossary Some terms have been defined in many places, yet misinterpretations of them keep appearing in decks. At Sibyl, we’re doing the un-glossary instead: starting with what a term is often mistaken for, then working toward what it actually means. We hope it helps. SOM is where market opportunity stops […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #fundraising business entrepreneurship finance investors pitchdeck seed series-a SOM startups technology https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-sam https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-sam Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:58:48 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Clarity over convention The Sibyl Un-Glossary Some terms have been defined in many places, yet misinterpretations of them keep appearing in decks. At Sibyl, we’re doing the un-glossary instead: starting with what a term is often mistaken for, then working toward what it actually means. We hope it helps. SAM becomes useful the moment a […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #fundraising business entrepreneurship investors marketing pitchdeck SAM seed series-a startups technology https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-tam https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-tam Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:56:43 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Clarity over convention The Sibyl Un-Glossary Some terms have been defined in many places, yet misinterpretations of them keep appearing in decks. At Sibyl, we’re doing the un-glossary instead: starting with what a term is often mistaken for, then working toward what it actually means. We hope it helps. TAM is one of those startup […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #fundraising business entrepreneurship finance investors pitchdeck seed series-a startups TAM technology https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-a-seed-round https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-a-seed-round Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Clarity over convention The Sibyl Un-Glossary Some terms have been defined in many places, yet misinterpretations of them keep appearing in decks. At Sibyl, we’re doing the un-glossary instead: starting with what a term is often mistaken for, then working toward what it actually means. We hope it helps. Seed sounds like one of the […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #fundraising entrepreneurship investors pitchdeck seed Seed Round series-a startups https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-a-capitalization-table https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-a-capitalization-table Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) A cap table looks like a simple list of names and percentages — until you look at what’s included in the denominator and what’s still waiting to convert. What founders get wrong about reading their own cap table. Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #fundraising Capitalization Table entrepreneurship investors pitchdeck seed series-a startups https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-a-moat https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-a-moat Thu, 03 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Clarity over convention The Sibyl Un-Glossary Some terms have been defined in many places, yet misinterpretations of them keep appearing in decks. At Sibyl, we’re doing the un-glossary instead: starting with what a term is often mistaken for, then working toward what it actually means. We hope it helps. A moat is one of those […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #fundraising entrepreneurship investors Moat pitchdeck seed series-a startups https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-an-accredited-investor https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-an-accredited-investor Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Accredited doesn’t mean approved, and it doesn’t just mean millionaire. A practical look at what the label actually requires under U.S. securities law — and what it doesn’t. Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #accreditedinvestor #fundraising entrepreneurship investors pitchdeck seed series-a startups https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-an-angel-investor https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-an-angel-investor Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:00:00 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) An angel check can feel informal because it’s early and personal — but the ownership and promises it creates are anything but casual. What actually changes once an angel is on your cap table. Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #fundraising Angel Investor entrepreneurship investors pitchdeck seed series-a startups https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-are-advisers https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-are-advisers Tue, 11 Aug 2026 18:20:00 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Clarity over convention The Sibyl Un-Glossary Some terms have been defined in many places, yet misinterpretations of them keep appearing in decks. At Sibyl, we’re doing the un-glossary instead: starting with what a term is often mistaken for, then working toward what it actually means. We hope it helps. Founders bring on the wrong advisors […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #advisers #fundraising entrepreneurship investors pitchdeck seed series-a startups https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/market-cap-the-number-your-startup-probably-does-not-have https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/market-cap-the-number-your-startup-probably-does-not-have Tue, 04 Aug 2026 10:26:06 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Clarity over convention The Sibyl Un-Glossary Some terms have been defined in many places, yet misinterpretations of them keep appearing in decks. At Sibyl, we’re doing the un-glossary instead: starting with what a term is often mistaken for, then working toward what it actually means. We hope it helps. Market cap is one of the […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary finance Fundraising investing investors startups vc venture-capital https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-market-size https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/what-is-market-size Wed, 29 Jul 2026 07:34:16 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Clarity over convention The Sibyl Un-Glossary Some terms have been defined in many places, yet misinterpretations of them keep appearing in decks. At Sibyl, we’re doing the un-glossary instead: starting with what a term is often mistaken for, then working toward what it actually means. We hope it helps. Founders rarely get market size wrong […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight Un-Glossary #fundraising #marketsize entrepreneurship investors pitchdeck seed series-a startups https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/the-future-of-education-building-capable-humans-in-an-age-of-abundant-intelligence https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/the-future-of-education-building-capable-humans-in-an-age-of-abundant-intelligence Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:34:25 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) As builders and parents, we spend a lot of time thinking about what makes software a good, enduring solution, while also pondering how best to educate our kids. Thinking through what makes an enduring technical solution naturally made us ponder what makes a resilient human in the age of AI. Machines can now do a […] Sibyl Insight #ai #artificialintelligence #education Education https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/the-real-ai-moat-is-exception-management https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/the-real-ai-moat-is-exception-management Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:14:39 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) AI has made it remarkably easy to build an impressive product demonstration. Give a model a familiar task, provide enough context, and it can generate something that looks competent within seconds. But a strong demonstration is not the same as a defensible company. For founders raising capital, and investors evaluating them, the important question is […] Fundraising Sibyl Insight entrepreneurship Fundraising investors seed series-a startups venture-capital https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/the-anatomy-of-investor-lists-what-data-cannot-tell-you-part-2 https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/the-anatomy-of-investor-lists-what-data-cannot-tell-you-part-2 Tue, 07 Jul 2026 17:16:29 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) In Part 1, we looked at the investor behavior you can infer from data. How a fund leads, follows, prices, concentrates, reserves, and syndicates leaves a trail across rounds, and a good list uses it to show who can lead, who follows, who brings others in, who has follow-on capacity, who is likely to be […] Fundraising entrepreneurship Fundraising seed series-a startups venture-capital https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/the-anatomy-of-investor-lists-what-data-can-tell-you-part-1 https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/the-anatomy-of-investor-lists-what-data-can-tell-you-part-1 Tue, 30 Jun 2026 16:28:01 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) A good investor list is not just a list of names. Most founders build their investor lists the same way. They start with fund names, filter by the stages and sectors an investor says they invest in, and then go looking for introductions. That produces a list of plausible targets, but it is built entirely […] Fundraising #investors #startups #entrepreneurship https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/pitch-deck-for-investors https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/pitch-deck-for-investors Tue, 23 Jun 2026 13:33:27 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) Most founders think a pitch deck is ready when it has the right slides: problem, solution, market, product, traction, team, business model, ask, etc. That’s the starting point, not the finish line. When you create a pitch deck for investors, the real test isn’t whether it looks complete. It’s whether someone who’s never heard of […] Fundraising entrepreneurship pitch-decks startups venture-capital https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/mastering-fundraising-understanding-investor-behavior https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/mastering-fundraising-understanding-investor-behavior Tue, 16 Jun 2026 20:20:39 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) In Part 1, we looked at the “Day Zero” horizon: why fundraising due diligence should begin the day your previous round closes. The core idea was simple. Founder time is scarce. The earlier you understand the capital pathways around your existing investors, the less time you waste when the next round begins. But what happens […] Fundraising business entrepreneurship Fundraising investors pre-seed seed series-a startups technology venture-capital https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/optimizing-fundraising-a-guide-for-founders https://www.sibyl.vc/blog/optimizing-fundraising-a-guide-for-founders Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:44:24 GMT SibylVc noreply@sibyl.vc (SibylVc) When we talk about venture capital due diligence, we almost always look at it through one lens: the investor vetting the founder. Pitch decks are picked apart, traction is stress-tested, and references are checked. But the best founders rarely fundraise blindly. They understand that fundraising is not a one-way job application. It is a high-stakes, […] Fundraising entrepreneurship Fundraising investors startups venture-capital