Operator turned Investor turned Operator. Sharing own learnings and learning more along the way.

I’ve had the privilege of working with exceptional founders across Europe, Israel, and the US while building and scaling startup ecosystems for corporates.

My journey has spanned partnering with founders in corporate ventures, building & scaling as an entrepreneur-in-residence, and leading investments from early-stage Blockchain & AI startups to late-stage CVC investments in the automotive sector (e.g. Agility Robotics).

To follow my passion for startups and VC, I migrated from Europe to the US in 2023, where I continue to support startups and drive growth through strategic partnerships.

Some milestones along the way:
- Built and exited a B2B drop-shipping startup with $2M ARR in year 2
- Raised $5M and built a 20k+ user community for a gaming startup
- Supported 2 startups from inception to $100M+ valuations
- Early-stage Angel and VC investments, as well as late-stage CVC deals
- Mentored founders at Startupbootcamp, 500 Global, CV Labs, and Alchemist Accelerator

Since moving to the US, I’ve founded two startups (one exited, one pivoted) and advise two emerging VC funds in the Bay Area.

Now, I lead Partnerships & Alliances at BforeAI, a Gartner #CoolVendor in Cybersecurity.

If you’re looking to collaborate on fighting digital threats or exploring strategic partnerships, let’s connect!

Uncomfortable truth: Vibecoding an app in 3 hours doesn't make you a "startup founder."

Today:
Weekend project? Startup.
MVP that crashes with >5 users? Startup.
Sidehustle started 48 hours ago? Startup.

Look, I get it. It’s an exciting time to build.

But unclogging your sink over the weekend doesn't magically make you a plumbing business.

As entertaining as it is to watch influencers have bragging contests over who can output more garbage apps per week: 

It is doing the ecosystem a massive disservice.

Not only will most of these "startups" be abandoned 14 days after launch, it also creates the false illusion that every fever dream with a Vercel link is now a company. Unshockingly, the people advocating this the most are also making money from getting people hooked on that notion.

What they don't tell you:

You'll spend exponentially more time marketing, selling and getting anyone to care.

The inflationary use of "startup" completely devalues the blood, sweat, and years of grinding it takes founders to build real commercial success.


In the last 12 months, I vibecoded a good 10 apps myself. Some for learning, some for daily use.

Some might even become a startup one day.
But right now? They are hobbies.

Ideas need to earn the right to be called a startup.

And having Claude Code code-vomit an app together or using "agentic" in the header doesn't cross that bar.

Sebastian S.

Insights on Entrepreneurship, VC and Tech Absurdities

How to get started & funded in the US

I migrated to the US 3 years ago and know how daunting the start in a new country can be.

After working with founders from all over the world, the most burning questions are always the same:

How do I get started?
How do I get funded?
How can I operate in the US?

This video is the best no-BS guide for every foreign entrepreneur I've seen yet. It reminded me of a playbook I prepared at 500 Global:

→ Incorporate C-Corp (for VC route, alternative: LLC)
→ get EIN (employer identification number)
→ do post-incorp (bylaws, board, officer consents)
→ issue founder stock
→ file 83(b) (mind the 30 day deadline!)
→ open US bank account
→ register for state/local taxes
→ hire as needed

Useful tools:

1) Incorporation: Stripe Atlas (do-it-all)
2) Banking: Mercury, Brex
3) HR: Bamboo, Deel, Justworks
4) Taxes: Start with a CPA, switch to tools later
5) Cap tables: Carta, Pulley


You can now run the company remotely.

If you need to establish presence, your Visa is the next step. If interested, more on that separately.

h/t to Adewale Yusuf for the video!

Last Call for founders, friends, and family:

Deep Tech Nexus returns for NVIDIA GTC.

We are hosting a dedicated Physical AI session together with NVIDIA, HPE, Omni Ventures, STN and Goodwin.

Last time we were completely oversubscribed and promised everyone to do it again - Here we are!

We only have a handful of spots left.

When: Monday, March 16
Where: Downtown San Jose

Capacity is limited to 80 attendees.
Guest list will be checked, no +1's, sorry.

Luma link in the comments.


Our panel will cover trends and challenges in the Physical AI ecosystem, from silicon to use cases:

Deepesh Chouhan , NVIDIA
Head of Product Management, Autonomous Machines & GM Robotics 

Sabur Mian , STN Incorporated
CEO & Founder (+ building Skild AI's robo-brain)

Jim Hart , Hewlett Packard Enterprise
VP of Sales US Manufacturing

Sabrina Paseman , Omni Ventures
General Partner (investing in frontier industrial tech)


If we run out of space, stay tuned - we are currently planning more events mid-year.

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