We raised 1.25m. 🥳
Max Webster at Hivemind led with Ross Stevens (the NYDIG one), Raymond Tonsing of Caffeinated Capital, Mishti Sharma with Caffeinated's Collective Fund, and Steve Lee filling up the rest.
Valuation was 25m post-money (which I like to reveal because I'm usually curious when other companies announce their raises).
In total, this brings total raising to 1.55m and I've sold 10% of SN to people I really like.

HUGE congratulations to you on this!!! 👏🚀

As I mentioned in my very first post on SN, I've been a fan of this concept from the moment I first saw it.
I immediately understood the value proposition. Create-to-earn, engage-to-earn --> let the actual value-generating stakeholders get rewarded for their time.
However, while it's awesome that people can earn by contributing content, I believe the much bigger benefit will become visible over time:
The incentive structure will enable...
  • Higher quality content
  • Deeper & more valuable discussions
  • No/less need for moderation
  • Leading to a fundamentally more sustainable platform.
TL;DR This model is not only an inherently fairer model, but more importantly, it will create experiences that were just not possible before!
(Let me know if/how I can help out, would love to contribute!)
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Now your star will continue to rise.
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never is this site worth 25 Millions
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Hey stop being mad about rewards.
An easy way to get rewards again if you aren't going to contribute content is to upvote good stuff and be the first to upvote good stuff.
Here's some sats.
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i am not mad, this is my honest opinion.
thanks for the sats though
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This is not how startup investing works. No one would buy Stacker News for 25M. There's not much in between, so the current valuation number isn't all that critical.
Also, many people get funded for a vision before they even have a prototype so a 25M$ valuation isn't unusually high. The valuation is not based on what @k00b has built so far but on what @k00b plans to build.
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thanks for the explanation
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to be fair it's essentially a custodial wallet with a social media aspect. I could definitely see Stacker.news taking more money without anyone even knowing because of how much our sats move around and the boosts and etc. This might be a really high-margin website.
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This is amazing news @k00b! Pitch looks great btw.
I would say disregard people who said investors dilute you and kill your idea, I for one have had bootstrapped businesses, struggling ideas, and our last project had investors who gave us all the liberty and space we needed to work. Hardly ever bothered and we had an A+ time with them.
I've been looking at your repo for some time and I'll try to contribute as soon as I come back from vacation. The idea is plain awesome.
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Huge congrats! For anyone doubting on the short term or even maybe mid term sustainability of the platform this will keep them "calm and quiet" 😅. Any roadmap of cool stuff you are going to be working on now that the funding opens doors to more possibilities?
PS. Is the SN LN node public and sharable? I would love to open a hunble channel to you guys at some point.
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Thanks!
The plans are in the deck. They're vague but so are our plans.
Node connection string is in the footer.
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For anyone else as dumb as me, who couldn't find it at first glance:
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SN seems like the perfect business to bootstrap and keep 100% ownership. I'd really reconsider. You can never get that ownership back. There are other options.
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This is perfectly valid approach and usually ensures your business stays under your full control.. and generally, small. Get cash flow positive in a sweet niche you enjoy and there's a lot of happiness and stress-free existence that flows from that.
However, when your ideas and market and goals are MUCH bigger, it's better to travel in a group - more ideas, more connections, and more existing wheels to re-use rather than re-inventing/re-discovering everything alone.
Raising capital can be a smart thing to do, but you want smart money not dumb money. Smart money brings expertise, ideas and connections. Dumb money sits quietly and offers no additional input/value. Both have their place but don't confuse the two.
Hard won perspectives.
Congratulations @k00b on the raise - that shit is a lot of hard yards.
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Too late lol ... SN wouldn't be where it is today without all the investors helping me. They've given me tons of great ideas and helped with so much.
I've tried bootstrapping, and its painful and lonely because you're the only one with skin in the game. Mad props to people who do it though.
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Investors are not your friends, no matter what they tell you. Their advice and encouragement come at a steep price. You now work for them.
Come on, man. You are very close to having a business that will run itself, while you are sitting on a beach drinking Margaritas. Self-sovereignty!
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I disagree. Friends/partners/whatever. It's humans helping humans. Even if they're only helping for returns, they're helping me do something I can't do on my own and I want them to get returns. Something that I hope benefits us all.
I'm done building things alone.
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I sure hope you are right. My experience is that outside investors bring with them a whole new level of stress. If what you want are collaborators, how about bringing in a technical partner? Someone who will actually work side by side with you, every day. Give them some ownership instead of a VC.
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Have you ever worked directly with investors? Perhaps you got a bad experience.
A lot of investors are very helpful and provide great mentorship. Interests are generally aligned and allow early platforms (which challenge incumbents) to survive
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I'll have both investors and collaborators. It's not black and white, and imo shouldn't be for me/sn.
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Congrats! let us pour you guys some sats too
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Too cool! Amazing! Congrats to you, @k00b! Transparency here is also fun.
Seeing this, is making it harder and harder to resist the temptation for me to attempt something similar. I guess that makes you an inspiration!
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Thanks.
I hope I do convince you to start something. We need more people building stuff, especially those with good intentions.
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Congratulations! And thanks for being so transparent about everything along the way
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Congrats! Super excited to see it continue to grow 🥳
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Congrats to everyone working on SN!
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⚡️
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Awesome news! Really looking forward to seeing stacker news grow and evolve over the next couple of years.
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⚡️awesome sn lives for at least another 2 years
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very very nice! crack one open for us 🍻
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Congrats. Great work. Looking forward to the future of this platform!
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Nice, welcome to the new shareholders 😂
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Absolutely love it.
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Congrats man. You're building a hell of a product. I can't get wait to see what you do with these funds.
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Congratulations!!!
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Wow🤯 Congratulations!
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Congratulations! You're doing great with this project!
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Congratulations! 👏
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❤️❤️❤️❤️
I want to see this site flourish!
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congrats @k00b, really well deserved.
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This is some serious proof of work. Great job, Keyan!
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Congrats! Big news. Excited to see where this project goes. Keep it focused and simple... and position yourself well to ride the next hype cycle! Circa 2024.
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Congrats. And this seems like a really high post, doesn’t it?
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What do you mean by high?
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I am more familiar with 10M post-money but these were different times and different industries
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What are you going to sell? 😉
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Huge congrats @k00b!
Well-deserved, and this will be a great stepping-stone in your and SN's journey.
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Congratulations @k00b ! Well deserved
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Congrats! How did you arrive at that valuation? Was there any pushback from investors on it?
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+1 on this, curious on the methodology for coming up with that number as well as how much of the company you sell to investors.
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It’s median of seed stage according to angel’s list. I did get pushback. I wanted a 30m valuation.
I sell as much as I need to to get to the next stage of growth with a little padding. Put another way, I raise as much as I think I need without being super optimistic on growth.
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I should note that I have no idea what I'm doing. This is just what I decided to do. This is my thinking, not facts, and it might be terribly misguided.
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Thanks for the info! That is the best way to learn, just get out there and do it. I love the way you are going about this, the transparency is amazing and I think is the way a lot of startups will be operating in future.
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That's why you're going to be super successful @koob! Humility, curiosity and honesty are rare traits but necessary for a founder. Wishing you much success!
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Love the slides, so perfectly straightforward, makes me excited to be here.
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Wow, way to go
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Congrats Keyan! Well deserved!
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Congrats!
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круто! давай приложение на *. apk
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давай обгон м твитер за 99 дней! мы сможем это сделать!
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Вау, как амбициозно
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huge, congrats K00b!
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woot! Congratulations!
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congrats on the deals
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Outstanding news ser,
I made a short spanish-thread of this telling everyone to come and publish here.
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congrats @k00b, awesome project. well deserved! upwards and onwards! 🚀
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It will be very interesting to see how this develops with subs.
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Awesome!
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That's so awesome!
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Valuation was 25m post-money (which I like to reveal because I'm usually curious when other companies announce their raises).
Wow, that's a lotta value. 1282 Bitcoin!
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That's awsome and great backing with NYDIG, wishing you and your growing team all the best :) and look forward to seeing SN grow to new heights
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Congrats! This was a prices round at seed stage? I suppose you raise an equity round then and weren't using a convertible note?
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Post-money SAFE this round if that’s what you’re asking
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Hot damn Ross Stevens was GigaChad in his talks with Saylor...
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Congrats k00b & co!
That should be a huge weight off your shoulders - gathering the resources and runway to get this site some serious Stacker traction. Got a bit of free time on my hands for the time being, so will have a look around to see how I can be of help.
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Love the transparency of the process. Excited to be here and be apart of your (this) journey.
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Hell yea, congrats @k00b!
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Congratulations, we are looking forward to the growth from here! Onwards & Upwards
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Congratulations! This is a great site.
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That's so awesome! Congrats, dude! You deserve it, this site is really slick, works well, and has a lot of promise.
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Really huge, thx a lot !
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Will current Stacker News remain its own thing/community? (fingers crossed)
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Your pitch deck is awesome. Congrats on your raise!
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This post was featured on This Day in Stacker News.
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Um, so did they pay BTC over lightning?
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Congratulations. I'm glad someone with deep pockets saw the value SN would bring to the space. This is an absolute beast of a platform. Glad I found it.
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Congrats!!
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Oahhh. Excellent
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wow you're a millionaire, over 20 BTC woop woop
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When (if ever) will the community be able to raise funds/invest for/in you, @k00b?
I've just went through the deck ! A must read !
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