Anti-VC

I help underserved founders achieve success without needing permission from a VC.

Founding Partner

Zown (Techstars '19)

Secured $250K of non-dilutive funding to enable contactless pickups at restaurants during COVID

Founder & CEO

Jrop Canada

Bootstrapped to profitability the first ridehailing traffic optimization platform

Co-Founder & CEO

Tracxn

Launched US sales team, selling startup research services to snooty Silicon Valley VCs

Associate Sales Director, Americas

Multi-National Parts Supply Inc.

National Sales Director

Nestle Middle East

Strategic Buyer - Technical

🦄 <- This you bro ??

.

I'm sorry to break it to you, but you probably suffer from Unicorn Dysmorphia.

Symptoms include:
→ An irrational belief that your startup is a "rOcKeTsHiP 2 da mOOOON 🚀"
→ Holding out for a mythical VC to swoop in and save you
→ Wondering why every other startup is successful and you're not

Let me liberate you with a fact: only 0.00006% of startups become unicorns.

You're playing a game where the odds are stacked against you.

But the good news is you don't have to play the game.

You can absolutely:
→ Run your startup without trying to always please others
→ Find investors who actually want to help you and don't just see you as a potential paycheck
→ Fulfill your mission and find success on your own terms


The Anti-VC can get you there.

I've helped 1000+ founders find the best path to capital that worked for them.

And I can do the same for you.


So if you're ready to drop (Uni/Corn) from your pronouns...

If you're ready to undo years of VC brainwashing...

If you're ready to capitalize your startup ridiculously fast... visit my Featured section 👇🏽

Saleem Ahmad 🤎

BREAKING: LinkedIn just laid me off 🚨


From my unpaid job as a Top Voice.

My crime? “Infrequent contributions”
(according to Rajesh, the helpful LinkedIn customer service rep)

The reality: I was on my 40-day desert detox.

I wasn't at my post, providing the feed its daily slurry of 5 Secret Frameworks for Discovering Founder-Unicorn Fit.

And the algorithm, in its infinite benevolence, punished me.

But getting firing just exposed the truth:
↳ the LinkedIn Top Voice program is a two-tier apartheid system

- Tier 1 are the elites 👑
The tenured, status hires. Steven Bartlett, Harry Stebbings, Mark Cuban.
LinkedIn gifts them the blue badge as a permanent carrot for having a profile. A participation sticker for existing.

- Tier 2 are the proletariat 👨🏽‍🌾
The unpaid contractors. Jenny Stojkovic, Amy Miller, Greg Head. Me.
The blue-collar blue badges. The ones who have to punch the clock and offer real value to the platform to re-earn our sticker every month.

When Rajesh informed me of my non-compliance verdict, it clicked:

Being a Tier 2 Top Voice wasn’t an award ❌

It was my performance review. My Employee of the Month plaque for being one of the platform's most compliant cogs.

It was the gamification of my own intellectual death. My digital receipt for successfully lobotomizing my brain into the sum of 2 motivational quotes and 3 actionable insights.

It was my leash. My digital shock collar, remote clutched by the algorithm's cold, clammy hands. Waiting.

It was my visible leprosy. My tattoo signifying I was a made man in the LinkedIn mafia, just one infrequent contribution away from getting whacked.

Top Voice status is simply the ultimate humblebrag ✔️

Mine wasn't an achievement. It was a symptom. It was my ‘before’ photo. It was the reason I needed the detox.

Losing it wasn’t a punishment; it was an exorcism.

The badge is gone. The hair is back. I have zero regrets 💪🏽

--

Hi, I’m Saleem! 👋🏽
LinkedIn stripped me of my Top Voice badge due to “infrequent contributions" ⛔
So I’ll be posting every day until the algorithm recognizes my compliance and re-issues my sticker 🏅
This is Day 1️ of clocking back in as an at-will content creator
Please direct all complaints about the slurry to Rajesh 👳🏾‍♂️

The Anti-VC | Fundraise without selling your soul to VC | Over 1000+ founders served 💰

I went from male pattern baldness to luscious locks in 40 days 👌🏽


The man on the left was a good man. I took that selfie on a Tuesday.

But the next morning I woke up and realized I looked like someone who had just read 5 Secret Frameworks for Discovering Founder-Unicorn Fit.

Like I just used the word synergy in an email. Unironically.

Like I had peaked the day I scanned my first QR code at a networking event.

My body, in an act of profound self-loathing, was siphoning nutrients off from my brain as a last ditch defense mechanism.

And my hair was dying of secondhand embarrassment.

I had become the very thing I swore to destroy: an aspiring LinkedIn professional.

So I had to take drastic steps:

It wasn’t argan oil ❌
It wasn’t red laser therapy ❌
It wasn’t a round trip to Turkey ❌

I deleted LinkedIn and moved to the desert ✔️

For 40 days and 40 nights, I did not build in public. I did not hop on a quick call. I did not share my learnings.

I un-optimized. I de-synergized. I re-circled back until I had completed a full 0 degrees.

And I emerged a new man.

All the hair returned. My body, no longer under siege from my own thought leadership, finally called off the attack.

You're not balding; your LinkedIn feed is just poisoning you.

Move to the desert without internet or AC.

This is not medical advice.

I've never assaulted a woman before ❌


I’ve never publically endorsed a genocíde ❌

I’ve never run an accelerator as a massive scam ❌

I've never had a midlife crisis and abandoned my portfolio ❌

Turns out, this puts me in the top 1% of Austin community builders.

Not because I'm particularly great at community building
↳ but because apparently the bar in Austin is so low

It’s incredible what you can achieve when you have basic morals ✔️

Connect with me if you're a founder with basic morals too.

--
- Hi I’m Saleem! 👋🏽
- I host startup events in Austin
- LinkedIn removed my Top Voice badge due to ‘infrequent contributions’
- This is Day 4️⃣ of ‘contributing frequently’ until they re-issue my sticker
- Sign up to attend our events this week: https://luma.com/antivc

My favorite kind of hostage is the non-technical female founder.

Docile, submissive, helpless 🤷🏼‍♀️

Clara called me in a panic. A critical integration failed. Her app was crashing.

Her engineering FRIEND had to jump in and spend 5 hours fixing the mess.

And her CTO? With a vested equity schedule? He submitted a ticket 🙄

She was appalled but terrified to take action.

"He's the only one who knows the codebase and he's been with me from the beginning!"

I hate to break it to you, but bro is not a CTO.

Bro is just cosplaying as a technical cofounder while collecting your equity.

He's not helping build your company. He’s throttling his output until he’s on a comfy big tech salary so he can feel important enough to take his job seriously.

He's not an asset. He's a bottleneck. You are not his manager. You are his hostage.

I advised her to fire him immediately. It's not a ‘hard conversation’. It's an emancipation.

Your first key hires are not team members. They are not family. They are either rolling up their sleeves to fix critical issues or they are unemployed. There is no in-between.

Having a Bro on the team slide is great for optics
↳ but optics don't pay the bills
Find a dev with less pedigree and more hustle 💪🏽

Are you being held hostage by an underperforming CTO?
Book a time to chat through a solution here: https://lnkd.in/g9utytUX

--
- Hi, I’m Saleem! 👋🏽
- LinkedIn removed my Top Voice badge due to ‘infrequent contributions’
- So I’ll be ‘contributing frequently’ until the algorithm re-issues my sticker
- This is Day 2️⃣ of consecutively posting as my authentic self
- Follow me for more real startup stories reinforcing gender stereotypes

Open article: hubble | Schedule with Saleem Ahmad by hubble.social

I refuse to take calls with Aussies.

Or the Japs.

Not because of their accents (although, valid)

But because their 2 PM is my 3 AM.

My hustle does not grind in the middle of the night. I am not crushing it. I am unconscious; I am sleeping.

You think I should destroy my circadian rhythm to talk to a founder who wants to 'pick my brain’ about his kangaroo walking app just because he decided to wake up on the wrong side of the Pacific?

Senpai, please.

My sleep is precious. And contributes more to GDP than you'll ever hit in ARR.

I protect my time.

If you’re not putting up boundaries with your work hours, you're not a 'global exec’. You're just bad at scheduling.

Far East founders: Fix your calendly. Or move.

Agree?

--
- Hi, I’m Saleem! 👋🏽
- I write about productivity and other tips for founders
- LinkedIn removed my Top Voice badge due to ‘infrequent contributions’
- This is Day 3️⃣ of ‘contributing frequently’ until the algorithm re-issues my sticker
- Follow me for more of whatever this is

Jack Frimston

We Have a Meeting

Co Director

Head Of Sales

Sales Is Therapy

Sales Is Therapy - Out Now: https://amzn.to/4jIaGQH

If you're genuinely looking to get better at sales - this might help.

Author

A Sales Consultancy

At A Sales Consultancy our mission is to empower businesses to unlock their full
sales potential and achieve consistent, predictable, and sustainable growth.

Director

We Have A Meeting Podcast

Co Host

2025 might be the hardest time to generate new business

Inboxes are graveyards.  Everyones got something to sell. Cold calls turn into send me an email.

Meanwhile, pipeline anxiety is at an all-time high.

No sales? No business. No business? Well… you get it.

If you’re a B2B service business with a real solution, not just another “all-in-one AI platform to disrupt synergy,”

I help you get in front of the right people.
Then we turn those conversations into qualified meetings that land directly in your diary.

No growth hacks. No wishful thinking. Just honest, uncomfortable work that works.

What I ACTUALLY do:

- Book qualified meetings (without embarrassing your brand)

- Train sales teams to prospect like it’s 2025, not 2015

- Help people to make sales human again

Want to go deeper?

Book a slot: www.wehaveameeting.com

Buy the book: https://amzn.eu/d/7x9Kzwh

Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@wehaveameeting


Remember you will die.

Sales Consultant

As a Consultant for AP+, I help businesses in the furniture, homeware, and tech industries find the right 3PL, storage, and fulfilment solutions.

I absolutely hate when employees ask if they can nip out for a few hours for a doctor's appointment 

You know why I detest these questions...


You're a fully grown adult

I'm not your dad

You shouldn't need to ask

The answer is simple



You get 15 holidays a year

Book a half day

Remember you will die

Helping Your Business Generate Qualified Meetings | Author - Sales Is Therapy | Director of the UK's 2nd Best Sales Agency 📞☎️📱

How did we get Rory Sutherland to come on the podcast?

If you follow me you know I'm phone over email

But

If you're sending an email the first goal is to get them to open the email. 

Your email can be amazing but if they don't open it, it's pointless ...

Think outside the box

Remember you will die

Some employees will shock you....

Last week Ada Nwandu booked 9 meetings 

The maddest part was that this was across 4 different clients 

No cold email
No LinkedIn outreach

All by picking up the phone and having a conversation....

Do they have a problem?
Are they motivated to solve it?

I was lucky enough to catch Ada in action at 4pm on Friday booking her last meeting of the week 

Well done Ada! Incredible scenes

Remember you will die

Ps. One last weird question always helps increase attendance - it's the commitment principle from Dr. Robert Cialdini Influence.

Four years of grafting and we've just hit 1 million views in the last month

Episodes with 0 listeners
Guests saying no
Technical difficulties 

It finally feels like all the work is starting to pay off

Thank you to everyone that's listened to We Have A Meeting Podcast 

Me and Zac Thompson appreciate you 

And big thanks to all the work Melissa Jacksons done on it recently

Some of the best episodes lined up - subscribe where you get your episodes 

Remember you will die

Monday – No replies
Tuesday – No replies
Wednesday – A “maybe”
Thursday – A “let’s talk next week”
Friday – Closed won

Sales is an absolute graft of highs and lows

But it compounds

The more you do
The more people you speak with
The more you improve

Even if it feels like it's not working

Keep showing up and keep doing the bit

Remember you will die

Unprofessional cold calling is ruining sales for the rest of us.

Dialing and vomiting your pitch when someone picks up doesn't work


If you're saying:

"Hi John, It's Jack from WHAM, how are you today?"

Stop

You don't care how they are

So stop asking...


If you want to cold call, seek permission...

Cold Calling becomes a lot easier when you have permission 

Justin Michaels will disagree

Remember you will die

I'd like to take some time to shout out the main man behind the scenes....

Sunny Raja

In sales it's always the salespeople that get the praise

You booked a meeting
You got a renewal
You closed a deal

At We Have a Meeting Sunny is the man that sits by the team day in day out

- Live call listening
- Coaching
- Helping

If every sales team had a leader like this on hand they'd thrive

Sunny joined the business back in June coming from Deliveroo as a sales manager and has been nothing short of incredible 

With Sunny leading the team in Manchester it's allowed us to spend more time growing the business and make sure our clients are consistently getting the results

Thank you Sunny

Remember you will die

The linkedin algorithm has changed....


Every day I read posts from people whinging and moaning that it's not like the good old days 

If you run a business and you're not posting on LinkedIn you're missing out

It's free advertising for your dream clients

Imagine if you could have a billboard with your face on it outside your ICPs office everyday for free

You'd do it

People will charge for LinkedIn advice but just do this....

- Connect with the people you want to work with
- Post regularly 
- Talk every single day about the problem you solve
- Educate, Entertain or Inspire
- Become known for the problem you solve 

If you want to generate more leads for your business - don't sleep on LinkedIn

Remember you will die

9am -  0 meetings
10am -0 meetings
11am -0 meetings
12pm - Lunch
1pm - 0 meetings
2pm - 0 meetings
3pm - 0 meetings
4pm - 0 meetings
5pm - 0 meetings

You can't win every day...

Remain consistent

The rest will follow

Remember you will die

I sat down on a Zoom with the CEO of a huge company 6 months ago

At the end of the call, he told me thanks, but no thanks…

I asked him what he meant?

He said he just didn’t see a fit right now

That’s fine

This is where nurturing comes in

Over those last 6 months

I sent him a bouquet of flowers every 2nd Thursday

I designed a personalised newsletter which featured his life achievements on a weekly basis (Sundays)

I took him to see Elton John in a box and paid for his wine

I took out a small ad in his local newspaper

And sponsored his son's football team

This morning we had 6 month follow up

He still doesn’t see a fit right now

But maybe in another 6 months

We’ll sign the deal

Nurturing is key

Never stop never stopping

Remember you will die

"I sent you a ransom note in the post"....


Your job in sales is to cut through the noise....

Every founders inbox is saturated with the same CHAT GPT message on repeat

That's why we favour the phone

If your goal is to have a conversation with a stranger

Why wouldn't you just call them?

"bUt wHaT aBoUt tHoSe tHat dOnt tAkE sAlEs cAlLs"

This is where the power of direct mail comes in

Disrupt them via the post

Send them something that captures their attention 

Call them the next day

Direct mail without a follow up strategy is a waste of time

Remember you will die

Most salespeople aren't scum
Most salespeople don't use scare tactics
Most salespeople don't lie
Most salespeople don't send spam
Most salespeople aren't manipulative

There’s a stereotype of salespeople that actually isn’t true

A large majority actually want to help

Yet most get tarred with the same brush because of a few pushy arseholes

Good salespeople solve problems
Good salespeople help people in need
Good salespeople are a fountain of knowledge

Even if you don’t think you work in sales

You work in sales

Remember you will die

If you want to hit target
Work out how many deals you need

If you want to get a deal
Work out how many opportunities you need

If you want to get an opportunity
Work out how many meetings you need

If you want to get a meeting
Work out how many conversations you need

If you want to have a conversation
Work out how many dials you need to make

Reverse engineer everything

Know your numbers

Sales shouldn't be left down to feeling
Break it down into easy chunks...

Remember you will die

I made a cold call whilst Christmas shopping the other day

Most people spend their weekends watching Netflix and eating Chinese food

If I'm being dragged around a garden centre I'll use the time wisely

- Build a list of your dream prospects
- Call them on the weekend
- Find out if they have a problem you solve
- Wish them a happy holidays 

Most people think Christmas is a time to wind down

It's the opposite

Merry Christmas - it's dialling time

Remember you will die

Is this out of order?

I'm doing screening calls for interviews the morning and went through to voicemail for a candidate 

Their voicemail just said

"Wagwan"

I won't be calling them back

Do they deserve a second chance? 

Remember you will die

Oh well one more rejection for the list...

Thanks LinkedIn Learning Community 

Remember you will die

If you spend your whole day cold calling thinking

“Please don’t pick up”
“Please don’t pick up”
“Please don’t pick up”

It might be a sign you’re in the wrong job

Sales isn’t a dirty word

Sales is one of the hardest skills to learn

And you only get better, from doing

Remember you will die

I noticed a homeless man in the street the other day shaking an empty coffee cup

"Change?" He asked

I scrambled around in my pocket and threw a few quid in.

"No, I want change" he muttered

"I just gave you all the money I have"

"I NEED CHANGE" the man shouted

I was starting to get frustrated

"What do you mean change!?!?!?!?"

"I need salespeople to change the way they spam message on LinkedIn"

I agreed, gave him a fiver and took a selfie.

We all need change

Remember you will die

Why the fuck is every sales person scared to give price...

"I nEeD tO bUiLd vAlUe fIRst"

If somebody with the budget for a Hyundai walks into a Ferrari show room

You can build value
You can showcase its potential 
You can sell them the dream

They still can't afford it

Reactance is what happens when someone feels their freedom is under threat. 

You push, they pull away.

It’s human nature.

As humans we have a fear of the unknown 

We flipped the script and start our sales calls with the price

And then give prospects the opportunity to leave if it's too expensive 

You know how many leave?

1%

And those that do were never going to buy

If anything they respect the time more and will typically refer or come back later on down the line

The years of hiding price like Boris hides Whatsapps is over

There's a more ethical way to sell

Sales Is Therapy

Remember you will die

If you're thinking of working in sales - Don't

Here's 5 reasons why you shouldn't:

1. High pressure
2. Rejection
3. Lack of job security
4. Uncertain income
5. Difficult conversations

These are just a few of the reasons you shouldn't be working in sales.

However

If you're resilient, tenacious, and you're in love with the idea of cold calling

It might be for you...

Remember you will die

taplio

The Battle

Saleem Ahmad 🤎

Jack Frimston

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taplio

The Battle

Saleem Ahmad 🤎

Jack Frimston

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Saleem Ahmad 🤎's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJack Frimston's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreSaleem Ahmad 🤎's LinkedIn Performance