Villi
@villi.bsky.social
Venture Capital Investor. Founder of Category Ventures. Ordinary thinker. Athlete. Dad. Strong opinions about sneakers.
https://www.categoryvc.com/
San Francisco, CA
https://www.categoryvc.com/
San Francisco, CA
Pinned
Villi
@villi.bsky.social
· Dec 17
Bulgaria-born investor Villi Iltchev had to scrap his way to Silicon Valley. Then he became one of its top investors, turning $20M into $900M+ backing GitLab early on.
Now Iltchev has raised $160M for his own debut pre-seed and seed fund, Category Ventures. I spoke to him about it for @forbes.com.
Now Iltchev has raised $160M for his own debut pre-seed and seed fund, Category Ventures. I spoke to him about it for @forbes.com.
This ‘Immigrant Kid’ Turned Early GitLab Investor Now Has A $160 Million Debut Venture Fund
Bulgaria-born Villi Iltchev, a former Salesforce and Box executive, plans to invest in pre-seed and seed enterprise software businesses from new fund Category Ventures.
www.forbes.com
A wonderful article on the launch of @categoryvc.bsky.social. Excited to launch Category Ventures!
A bunch of law school students have compiled a list of law firms. Find yourself a firm that is not afraid and is willing to fight. If my law firm ends up on this list, they would be fired promptly. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
April 11, 2025 at 3:43 PM
A bunch of law school students have compiled a list of law firms. Find yourself a firm that is not afraid and is willing to fight. If my law firm ends up on this list, they would be fired promptly. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
On a positive note, I think World Cup tickets will be cheaper.
April 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
On a positive note, I think World Cup tickets will be cheaper.
Reposted by Villi
🚨Georgetown University Law Center students are detailing which law firms have caved and which have stood up to the Trump regime. They have created this spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely.
Legal Industry Responses to Fascist Attacks Tracker (Public)
docs.google.com
April 3, 2025 at 4:41 AM
🚨Georgetown University Law Center students are detailing which law firms have caved and which have stood up to the Trump regime. They have created this spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely.
With the cuts at the FDA, this is either the best time to be a bio investor (anything goes) or the worst time ever (complete gridlock).
March 29, 2025 at 10:57 PM
With the cuts at the FDA, this is either the best time to be a bio investor (anything goes) or the worst time ever (complete gridlock).
The coalition on the right is held together by the promise to hurt the people they hate. We should speak up when the people we hate suffer from injustice.
March 27, 2025 at 6:25 AM
The coalition on the right is held together by the promise to hurt the people they hate. We should speak up when the people we hate suffer from injustice.
Airline prices to Europe for the summer seem surprisingly inexpensive. Is there a comparison for y/y change out there? Seems to me tourism and hospitality industry has a tough period ahead.
March 23, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Airline prices to Europe for the summer seem surprisingly inexpensive. Is there a comparison for y/y change out there? Seems to me tourism and hospitality industry has a tough period ahead.
What leads to smart and otherwise reasonable people to lose their mind? Drugs, power, insecurity, age, etc? So bizarre.
March 23, 2025 at 2:43 AM
What leads to smart and otherwise reasonable people to lose their mind? Drugs, power, insecurity, age, etc? So bizarre.
I think everybody’s DCF model is wrong right now. This will not play out over the next month or year, but in the new world order the terminal value of basically all assets is overstated.
March 23, 2025 at 2:42 AM
I think everybody’s DCF model is wrong right now. This will not play out over the next month or year, but in the new world order the terminal value of basically all assets is overstated.
One of these beliefs can be true, but not both:
1. We will have $100M+ ARR companies run by very few people.
2. AI will significantly increase the velocity of software development and enable rapid product development at marginal cost.
I need to write a blog post on this. In short, 1/
1. We will have $100M+ ARR companies run by very few people.
2. AI will significantly increase the velocity of software development and enable rapid product development at marginal cost.
I need to write a blog post on this. In short, 1/
March 15, 2025 at 4:25 PM
One of these beliefs can be true, but not both:
1. We will have $100M+ ARR companies run by very few people.
2. AI will significantly increase the velocity of software development and enable rapid product development at marginal cost.
I need to write a blog post on this. In short, 1/
1. We will have $100M+ ARR companies run by very few people.
2. AI will significantly increase the velocity of software development and enable rapid product development at marginal cost.
I need to write a blog post on this. In short, 1/
These people somehow made Fauci the bad guy and put this joker in charge
Having had a kid die of measles in my arms as a doctor in the DR Congo, I respectfully disagree that this would be better. Vaccines save lives.
www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-it-wo...
www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-it-wo...
RFK Jr.: It Would Be Better if ‘Everybody Got Measles’
“The measles gave you lifetime protection against measles infection,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Sean Hannity on Fox News.
www.thedailybeast.com
March 13, 2025 at 6:15 AM
These people somehow made Fauci the bad guy and put this joker in charge
I saw a prominent tech person today say that he continues to believe this administration is pro growth. If we are cutting funding for research and science, I don’t know what makes us pro growth.
UMASS IS RESCINDING ALL GRAD POSITIONS FOR THIS YEAR
March 13, 2025 at 6:06 AM
I saw a prominent tech person today say that he continues to believe this administration is pro growth. If we are cutting funding for research and science, I don’t know what makes us pro growth.
Reposted by Villi
I recently found out it’s a MacOS thing and not Zoom and now I’m even more mad.
March 12, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I recently found out it’s a MacOS thing and not Zoom and now I’m even more mad.
I know we have not quite recovered from the post 2021 pain in enterprise SW, but my advice to founders is to tighten your belts. We are entering a highly uncertain economic environment that will lead businesses to defer investments. Budgets will tighten. Growth will be slower.
March 11, 2025 at 6:50 AM
I know we have not quite recovered from the post 2021 pain in enterprise SW, but my advice to founders is to tighten your belts. We are entering a highly uncertain economic environment that will lead businesses to defer investments. Budgets will tighten. Growth will be slower.
I wonder who is behind this and is the primary beneficiary of gutting NASA.
AAS Alarmed by Rumored Deep Cuts to NASA and National Science Foundation
Recent reports have indicated that the White House may soon be proposing drastic cuts to future budgets for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD). aas.org/posts/news/2...
Recent reports have indicated that the White House may soon be proposing drastic cuts to future budgets for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD). aas.org/posts/news/2...
March 8, 2025 at 4:56 AM
I wonder who is behind this and is the primary beneficiary of gutting NASA.
It tells you how much talent has left Google. They are so desperate and afraid to lose people, they have to beg.
“I recommend being in the office at least every weekday,” Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, wrote in a memo. He added that “60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity.” nyti.ms/41yElFc
March 1, 2025 at 8:22 AM
It tells you how much talent has left Google. They are so desperate and afraid to lose people, they have to beg.
I think it is time for AI scientists and engineers to move up the stack and build or partner with industry experts to develop vertical solutions and applications. Too many founders with great ideas, but lacking technical depth to execute.
February 25, 2025 at 6:16 AM
I think it is time for AI scientists and engineers to move up the stack and build or partner with industry experts to develop vertical solutions and applications. Too many founders with great ideas, but lacking technical depth to execute.
Today the United States ceased to be the leader of the free world. We sold out. A new era begins.
February 25, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Today the United States ceased to be the leader of the free world. We sold out. A new era begins.
Seems like we are executing exceptionally well on China and Russia’s strategic priorities.
February 23, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Seems like we are executing exceptionally well on China and Russia’s strategic priorities.
Reposted by Villi
What Trump has done for US farmers so far:
-frozen their foreign aid program (and left their food to rot)
-encouraged EU to ban their products
-frozen legally-owed reimbursements for their energy efficiency upgrades etc.
-threatened to deport half their workforce
-suppressed research on bird flu
-frozen their foreign aid program (and left their food to rot)
-encouraged EU to ban their products
-frozen legally-owed reimbursements for their energy efficiency upgrades etc.
-threatened to deport half their workforce
-suppressed research on bird flu
Trump on the EU possibly banning food imports from the US: "I don't mind. Let them do it. Let them do it."
February 16, 2025 at 10:06 PM
What Trump has done for US farmers so far:
-frozen their foreign aid program (and left their food to rot)
-encouraged EU to ban their products
-frozen legally-owed reimbursements for their energy efficiency upgrades etc.
-threatened to deport half their workforce
-suppressed research on bird flu
-frozen their foreign aid program (and left their food to rot)
-encouraged EU to ban their products
-frozen legally-owed reimbursements for their energy efficiency upgrades etc.
-threatened to deport half their workforce
-suppressed research on bird flu
It was terrible.
We’re experiencing perhaps the worst flu season in 25 years, with severe cases also rising, and young children and seniors faring the worst. One in six of all ER visits in the 0-17 age groups are now for influenza.
www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...
h/t @cmyeaton.bsky.social
www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...
h/t @cmyeaton.bsky.social
February 15, 2025 at 8:41 AM
It was terrible.
Tax evasion Renaissance. This is going to be wild.
🚨NEWS: Massive layoffs are about to hit the IRS -- around 10,000 employees -- potentially in the middle of filing season.
Of particular interest to the DOGE: Cutting IRS enforcement capabilities.
-- with @jeffstein.bsky.social + Hannah Natanson
Of particular interest to the DOGE: Cutting IRS enforcement capabilities.
-- with @jeffstein.bsky.social + Hannah Natanson
Layoffs to hit IRS as DOGE targets tax collections
Several people briefed on the matter said cuts to the IRS cuts numbering in the thousands. One target is tax collections.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 15, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Tax evasion Renaissance. This is going to be wild.
New @categoryvc.bsky.social office. No furniture yet, but a folding table and a few old chairs will do for now.
January 10, 2025 at 11:32 PM
New @categoryvc.bsky.social office. No furniture yet, but a folding table and a few old chairs will do for now.
Reposted by Villi
We've been touring universities over the past year. I hadn't paid attention to the gender ratios until I found myself on campuses: William and Mary - 41% male / 59% female, Mary Washington - 36/64. And the explanations given didn't make sense to me... until this article.
Once any space becomes less than 40% male, (straight) men tend to cede it entirely while shouting about how it “went woke”. Fascinating read:
Why aren't we talking about the real reason male college enrollment is dropping?
We would rather talk about literally everything else.
celestemdavis.substack.com
January 2, 2025 at 1:28 PM
We've been touring universities over the past year. I hadn't paid attention to the gender ratios until I found myself on campuses: William and Mary - 41% male / 59% female, Mary Washington - 36/64. And the explanations given didn't make sense to me... until this article.
Recently a founder told me that the advice I was giving him was the opposite of what another investor was telling him. I told him he needs to close the first 10-15 customers before he considers getting help. Nobody will ever be able to sell the product better than the founder.
December 31, 2024 at 9:07 PM
Recently a founder told me that the advice I was giving him was the opposite of what another investor was telling him. I told him he needs to close the first 10-15 customers before he considers getting help. Nobody will ever be able to sell the product better than the founder.