Pre-Seed should not take months and months to raise! We are thrilled to announce that @2048vc is launching Pre-Seed Fast Track to help you get funding in 10 business days. If you are raising $500K - $1.5M Pre-Seed round in Vertical AI, Deep Tech, Health or Bio we would love to meet you! We offer clear and transparent process and money in the bank within 10 business days of the first meeting. To start the process submit your pitch through our short form - 2048.vc/fasttrack_pitch If there is a potential fit we will reach out within a few days and follow these steps to fund you: Step 1: Intro meeting via Zoom: 30 mins where you meet with 1 member of our team. Step 2: Deep Dive via Zoom: 60 mins where you meet with 3-4 members of our team. Step 3: References + In-Person Meeting: We will chat with your early customers and professional references, and will spend a few hours to get to know each other in person. Startups are long journeys and we know how important the investor-founder fit is, so we will gladly pay for your travel. Step 4: Term sheet: We make you an offer from $250K - $750K Step 5: Wire: We are high conviction and don’t wait for the rest of the round to come together - we wire as soon as we sign the docs. To learn more about Pre-Seed Fast Track visit 2048.vc/fasttrack. We can’t wait to review your pitches and to meet you! @2048vc // #preseed

⏰ Last day to apply for the @2048vc VC Fellowship Fall '26! 🎓 Some of our best companies and partnerships started on campus, in labs, and in student founder communities. That's why we built this fellowship for the next generation of investors and builders. 🏙️ We're all-in on Boston. It's one of the epicenters of innovation and one of the HQs that 2048 Ventures calls home. 🤝 As a Fellow, you'll get a front-row seat to the earliest stages of venture capital and build a network that lasts well beyond your time in school. 🚀 If you're passionate about startups and technology, see great companies forming around you, and want to help shape what comes next, apply today! 📖 Learn more: 2048.vc/blog-fellowship ✍️ Apply by September 18: 2048.vc/fellowship-apply

🚀 Only 2 days left to apply for the @2048vc VC Fellowship Fall '26 for students in Boston! 🪑 The 2048 Ventures VC Fellowship Fall '26 is a chance to get a front-row seat to the earliest stages of venture capital while building a network that lasts far beyond your time in school. 👀 If you’re obsessed with startups and want to break into venture capital, we want to hear from you! 📖 More details on the role: 2048.vc/blog-fellowship 📅 Apply by September 18th: 2048.vc/fellowship-apply

📚2048 Ventures Blog Post: A Complete Guide to Business MOATS startuphacks.vc/blog/moats @2048vc // @alexiskold // #startuphacks // #VC

🚀 4 days left... Boston: applications for the @2048vc VC Fellowship Fall '26 close Sept 18 ❗ 📄 More on the role: 2048.vc/blog-fellowship ⏳ Apply by Sept 18: 2048.vc/fellowship-apply

What should you do when a pre-seed investor is writing a sizable check and insists on a board seat? 👇 First, let’s discuss round and check size. If the round is $4M - $5M and the check is $2M - $3M, we can see this coming up. When the round is $1M and the check is $250K, it makes no sense. Regardless, if the founders don’t have a choice and need to take the capital, but don’t want to give up a board seat and investors insist on one, what should you do? The best compromise is to give the seat but make it expire at the following financing. This should work well and is fair if investors insist on having oversight until the next round. If the small check investor doesn’t agree and wants to hang on the board permanently, that's a massive red flag 🚩 in our opinion, and the founders should consider walking away. If the investors agree to expiration at the next round, it’s fine for the founders, as they will maintain control and can expand the board as the company scales. ✌️

🚀 Apply to the @2048vc VC Fellowship Fall '26, a program designed for the next generation of student investors and builders! Here is what you will do: 👉 Tell us which founders and startups we should be meeting. You’ll act as our eyes and ears on campus. 🤖 Present and discuss startups you find with other Fellows and the 2048 Ventures team. 🎓 Embed yourself in the campus startup ecosystem. Meet founders early: in dorm rooms, labs, hackathons, accelerators, and coffee chats. 🤝 Build relationships and new networks. This Fellowship is about people first, knowing who’s building, what they’re working on, and where momentum is forming on campus. 📖 More details on the role: 2048.vc/blog-fellowship 📅 Apply by September 18th (or before): 2048.vc/fellowship-apply

What should you do when a valuable employee is fully vested and asks for more equity? 👇 In general, this is very positive and your inclination should be to do a refresh. The fact that the employee is still here means they're good, and asking for equity shows they want to stick around and keep building with you. So the question is mostly how much, and over what period of time. There are many ways to solve this depending on your constraints (and if you want advice on your particular situation, reply to this post), but our default is to give a meaningful percent of what was given and make it backload vest over the same vesting period. Let’s unpack this. What is meaningful? 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 of what they were originally given. It’s easy to explain, and the fraction should depend on how far along the company has come and how much you value the employee. What is backloading vest? You vest less initially and more later. For example, if you give 1%, then you vest 1/8, 1/4, 1/4, 7/8, or some other flavor of this. The reason for this is that you're saying, "Yes, we really want you to stay, but you need to stay all the way to earn the full amount." Don’t take these numbers verbatim; this is just a framework for how to think about it. You should always adapt all advice to your specific situation. ✌️

🚀 Boston students: want to break into VC? Applications for the @2048vc VC Fellowship Fall '26 close in 9 days 🧵 📄 More on the role: 2048.vc/blog-fellowship ⏳ Apply by Sept 18: 2048.vc/fellowship-apply

🗞️ 2048 Ventures Portfolio Company News: TwoStep Therapeutics Announces Oversubscribed $62.5 Million Series A Financing and FDA Clearance of IND for First-in-Class Peptide-Drug Conjugate businesswire.com/news/home/2… @TwoStepTx // @2048vc // #startups // #VC

What to do when an investor is offering you a lower valuation than you'd like? 👇 TL;DR -- Negotiate! Now, the more nuanced answer is that it depends on the situation, but there is no downside in negotiating. First, do you have leverage? Meaning, are there other investors at the table? Or maybe you just don't need the capital? Both are forms of leverage. You can tell the investor you have other options, and that typically makes them move. But don't bluff, because if they call your bluff, you may lose the offer. Second, if you don't have leverage, you can still negotiate -- it's perfectly okay. Now, HOW you negotiate and message what you want is what's most important. The wrong way is to say -- I want better terms. No one who is smart in business will negotiate against themselves. A much smarter thing to say is -- I am ready to sign if you give me X. By putting things this way, you are signaling that you mean business and are ready to transact. Here are relevant blog posts from Startup Hacks that expand on this topic: startuphacks.vc/blog/2019/07… startuphacks.vc/blog/7-tips-… ✌️

🗞️ 2048 Ventures Portfolio Company News: Aslan Emerges With $20M and a Bunch of AI Agent Spies tectonicdefense.com/aslan-em… @AslanProtects // @2048vc // #startups // #VC

What to do when angels or VCs who invested in you are asking for constant email updates and update meetings? 👇 If every single investor asks for frequent in-person updates, that chews up a ton of founders' time and creates a lot of stress. The short answer is you aren’t obligated beyond what you agreed to legally. The long answer is a bit more nuanced. Founders obviously feel pressure from investors and feel like they have to give updates and meet - but that’s not right. The most important thing is to establish a cadence of both written updates and meetings. Without it, things will be chaotic. For early stage, it's appropriate to send updates every month; for later stage, quarterly. It's super important to do them in a clear, consistent format including key metrics, runway and asks. For in-person for early stage every 2-4 weeks, for later stage every 2-3 months. Now, provided that you set up a clear system, you aren’t obligated to connect with investors outside of that system. You do not, for example, have an obligation to talk to your Series A lead outside of board meetings. Of course you can and should reach out to them when you need help, but if they are bugging you and asking you for frequent catch-ups, you are under no obligation to do that. The way to handle these asks is to simply point investors to the system and that you are providing updates at the correct cadence to everyone, and in between you're executing on the business. Do that and you will earn respect and get yourself a lot more free time. ✌️

🚀 Calling all students in Boston who want to get into VC! Apply to become a @2048vc VC Fellow Fall '26 🧵 🎓 The 2048 Ventures VC Fellowship Fall '26 is a chance to get a front-row seat to the earliest stages of venture capital while building a network that lasts far beyond your time in school. 🔥 If you're obsessed with startups and want to break into venture capital, we want to hear from you! 📄 More details on the role: 2048.vc/blog-fellowship ⏳ Apply by September 18th (or before): 2048.vc/fellowship-apply

🗞️ 2048 Ventures Portfolio Company News: Exclusive: Agentic AI startup launches with $20.8M axios.com/newsletters/axios-… @AslanProtects // @2048vc // #startups // #VC

🚀 Apply to become a @2048vc VC Fellow Fall '26! We're looking for Boston students who want to work with us on deals, so if this is you… apply! ➡️ 🎓 You are a full-time student at a university in Boston and graduate in 2028 or beyond (talented undergrads, MBAs, MS, or PhDs). 📚 💡 You have a passion for startups and venture capital. 🔥 🏃 You have the hustle, love networking, and love running around and meeting a lot of people. 🤝 🌐 You have a strong network on campus, specifically within startup communities. 🏫 ☕ You meet founders regularly, love learning about their businesses, and have a vast network of talent. 🧠 🔍 You're naturally curious about emerging trends in AI, Deep Tech, Health, or Bio. 🧬 📄 More details on the role: 2048.vc/blog-fellowship ⏳ Apply by September 18th (or before): 2048.vc/fellowship-apply

📚2048 Ventures Blog Post: How to write a forwardable introduction email startuphacks.vc/blog/2015/06… @2048vc // @alexiskold // #startuphacks // #VC