How much alpha can you generate from operational excellence alone?

Joshua Berkowitz's perspective: Every investment decision gets better when you can answer portfolio questions with precision.

Narayan Chowdhury from Franklin Park shares his advice: "LPs can and should rethink their whole stack."

Because the tools that got you here won't get you where you need to go ⤵️

“If you’re an entrepreneur… you want to do everything all at once.”

Candice Faktor’s advice: Pick your destination, give yourself time to get there, and do less, but do it well.

The best investor relationships start with one thing: founders being able to speak freely 💬

Amar Varma breaks down why listening is the most underrated skill in venture capital—and what it means when choosing who's on your cap table.

ft. Nihal Mehta/Eniac Ventures

CXOs have unlimited budgets to experiment with AI right now. But what happens when experimental spend dries up?

Nihal Mehta's advice: Stop chasing ARR.

Start tracking:
→ NRR
→ GRR

When the tide goes out, retention reveals who built something indispensable vs. who rode the hype.

It's officially Hackathon day at Mantle, which can only mean one thing... croissants 🥐

Every major tech shift creates room for new leaders, and AI might be the biggest shift yet.

In Amar Varma's latest conversation with Farhan Thawar (Head of Engineering @ Shopify), they explored why AI represents something fundamentally different from previous technology waves.

Catch the full Mantle Mondays episode with @fnthawar ⤵️

YouTube: youtu.be/vnTV-HM8N_4?...

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2vNp...

Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/gh/podcast/f...

Co-founder of Athennian, Adrian Camara, on his first experience with Mantle:

"I gave you all our legal docs, and you dropped them into Mantle. 60 seconds later, we had a cap table system that was updated."

Mark MacLeod has interviewed over 80 CEOs on The Startup CEO Podcast. He ran every transcript through NotebookLM to find the 10 core pillars of success.

The results? ⤵️

Most founders obsess over product perfection or raising another round.

But the CEOs who win? They realize distribution is the game.

Revenue is the magnet that attracts everything else—capital, ambitious talent, and customers who want to back a winner.

George Babu, co-founder of Aire Labs, on what changed in his approach to hiring:

"This is going to be a long journey. I want to work with people I enjoy working with, and I will prioritize that."

"There's no bullshitting in early-stage startups. Your clock is running out."

On this week's episode of Mantle Mondays, George Babu (co-founder of Aire Labs) explains why he keeps coming back to startups.

🔗 Full episode linked below

Steven Trieu, CFO at Chamath Palihapitiya's 8090 Solutions, has tried everything—lawyers, hybrid models, and other cap table platforms.

His verdict? "Mantle was the best fit for us."

Why? Because early-stage companies don't need to overcomplicate or overpay for equity management.

“Raise just enough money so you feel like you’re under pressure.”

That was Steven Trieu's (CFO of 8090 Solutions/Social Capital) advice when we asked how founders should think about fundraising.

Steve’s framework is simple: Raise enough oxygen to reach your next meaningful milestone, but no more.

Outsite's co-founder, Stijn Beauprez, on why founders should stop using Excel to manage their cap tables.

2015: Instacart was worth $2B, Forbes Magazine called it “America’s most promising company" — until one brutal board meeting stopped it cold.

Nilam Ganenthiran says that reality check was the best thing that ever happened.

👉 “You can’t punt building a real business forever.”