Niko Ludwig

In 1999, Jack Ma pitched Alibaba to 17 friends in his apartment. “Our competitors are not in China, but in America’s Silicon Valley.” Alibaba then: - 18 founders in Hangzhou - An apartment for an office - A marketplace helping small businesses find buyers 2026: - $148.4B revenue - $14.8B net income The pitch aged pretty well.

Kalshi raised $1B at a $40B valuation last week. Before the exchange had even launched, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara were projecting $5.1B in monthly trading volume within five years. Here is their Series A pitch deck:

Sequoia is one of Silicon Valley’s best-known VC firms. It manages approximately $82.2B and has backed Apple, Nvidia and Reddit Here’s its investment memo on DoorDash 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗼𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗗𝗮𝘀𝗵? 𝟭) 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 “We were amazed by how deeply they understood the logistical challenges of restaurant service.” 𝟮) 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 “$57B is addressable by the company. DoorDash's TAM in revenue would be $11.4B, if take rate is 20%.” 𝟯) 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "More than $10M in annualized gross processing volume." 𝟰) 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 “Until consumers reach their limit of takeout food, all of this suggests a very sticky business.”

Lindy tales of what it takes to build an enduring reputation:

A company's valuation starts with a story about its future. Aswath Damodaran, known as the "Dean of Valuation," shows how to put numbers behind that story in his 20-page guide. Here are five slides: