Bye-bye J99fundraising welcome Mighty9 & Mighty9 School

After three years running J99fundraising, it’s time for a change, welcome Mighty9, and the Mighty9 School 🥳

J99fundraising started on the principals that they were a need to help founders to get in touch with the VC industry. Founders were struggling to understand how VCs were investing. Fundraising was too hard.

During my time at La Cuisine Du Web, for seven consecutive years, we have welcomed 30 VCs per year to join us in Lyon, for BlendWebMix or the FundDay. We have helped founders to pitch in front of them. However, the formula wasn’t quite right. It helped founders a lot, but only a few deals were made during that period.

So my mentor, ex-boss and friend Jerry Nieuviarts, advised me to go full time building that bridge between founders and VCs. As he told me, “be a fundraiser, without being a fundraiser.” It was the beginning of a solution; I had to find the rest. It pointed out the right direction. It was my compass.

I have learned during this period, that to fuel VCs deal-flow with startups that have the right fundamentals, a new kind of practice has to be developed. It was essential to help founders design startups that could compete in the VC-game.

I needed to get more hands-on, by helping founders to understand like me the VC-game. To accelerate their awareness of the mechanic that is into play — assisting them in refactoring their strategy with the right variable to break into the VC-game — in the way, getting the same skills as second-time startup founders.

Therefore I have crafted a new practice: the VC-compatible diagnostic. During three years, I have iterated again and again, until finding the right formula. And it works. It helps founders think differently. Stop their wishful thinking. Know where they stand, what’s wrong, and improve their roadmap to improve their level of play.

That’s why I created Mighty9. A new brand that encapsulates this new practice :

But why also building a school then?

Because we can not just rely on luck to find startups well suited for the VC-game. There is too much asymmetry between founders and VCs. The goal is that founders get back the control and suffering less from the rules of this league. Aware of what will happen to them and in total capacity to work effectively with VCs.

Talented founders need professor along with them, to manoeuvre their mind up through those tonnes of knowledge they must digest to get ready.

VCs chase hyper-growth company. VCs have to become professors, to help founders build hyper-growth companies. They have to roll their sleeves up, to help founders quickly get to the right level. Guide them, challenge them, and caring a lot for them.

That is why I have created the Mighty9 School :

With the help of top-notch friendly and ambitious VCs:

I am glad to present to you the Mighty9 School 12 months program:

Mission:

• Startup founders are like high-level athletes. Are you well prepared enough to get into the VC game?
• Launching your startup by the playbook
• We’ll increase your chance to get funded by the best investors

Believes:

• The only thing that matter is the Product Market Fit
• Less than 20% of startup founders find their PMF, successful second-time entrepreneur get a 70% ratio
• Many first-time entrepreneur mistakes can be avoided. Build your startup like a successful second-time entrepreneur
• Leadership, Decision making, Focus
• Funding is the outcome of what you’re building today
• Always seek to progress. To then have progress to show
• A founder-commando do the first thing themselves

Offer:

• Our goal is to help you get to the PMF
• We’ll help you figure out how your PMF should look like, find the killing feature, figuring out the first stage of the project, optimize your roadmap to get there
• We will give you access to the latest knowledge and insider news in the industry
• We will provide you with access to an extensive network of VCs, startups founders, experts that saw & achieved PMF, experts in each technic & discipline
• We will help you find the unique thing that makes you extraordinary, not just great
• We’ll help you craft your Vision, Mission, Values

Criteria:

We are looking for founders that :

• Have a clear understanding of the industry they want to transform
• Know how to build the product themselves
• Have a strong eager & disciplined to learn
• Have an enormous ambition

Disclaimer:

The Mighty9 School is prep school, it means that you have to be fully committed and ready to work hard, we care about our students, but we are not soft with them.

Why Mighty9?

• Because founders should unleash their mighty power, develop it and control it.
• Mighty9 = 99
• 99 is a powerful number, yet weird. 99 is the last number of a cycle and the beginning of the infinite.
• When I was a kid, the day I counted till 99, I understood that I could go far beyond, I could count till the infinite
• 9 for billion€ valuations and 99 (%) not to forget that we’re here to serve the many (and care for them) not the few 🤜

Looking forward to meeting you. Drop us an email! 📬

julien@mighty9.co