user avatar
immad
Mercury
@immad
CEO @Mercury. Investor: @RappiColombia, @Airtable, @Rippling, @SubstackInc, @AppliedInt, 300+. Cohost of Founders in Arms Podcast.
San Francisco, CA
foundersinarms.substack.com
Joined July 2007
2,524
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395.5K
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Posts
  • Pinned
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    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Mar 30, 2021
    Over the years, I have tried to share learnings from my startups and seed investing. Decided to combine my startup tweets+tweetstorms into a tweethurricane. Here are my learnings + advice, from pitching investors to getting through the journey:
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Feb 1, 2021
    “If you need encouraging words, don’t do a startup” - best Elon Musk quote on Clubhouse.
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Sep 4, 2025
    Respond to this tweet with a startup idea. I will tell you whether I would take a investor meeting or not and why for that idea, assuming it came in from a strong warm intro. I can tell in 280 chars whether an idea is interesting to me and why. Maybe it will be useful feedback.
    1.2M
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Jul 13, 2023
    Hear me out here @elonmusk: What if Twitter launched an Instagram competitor? 🤣 The basically have no competitor.
    1.2M
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Jul 6, 2023
    There is some cognitive dissonance in using 🧵 (the new meta app) It’s currently a bad copy of Twitter. The only reason to use it is if you are anti-@elonmusk. But it’s hard to believe someone is anti-Elon but pro Meta having a full social monopoly. Am I missing something?
    1.5M
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Jun 6, 2021
    We are hiring an US-educated engineer who didn’t get an H1b and instead is going to work for us in Canada. He is now going to build a life and pay taxes in Canada. In the remote world talent can be anywhere. Our bad immigration policy is directly leading to lower US GDP!
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    May 26, 2021
    Google Calendar has trained me to think that a Google Meet link on the invite is probably a mistake. That one decision has completely ruined the GMeet brand. Doing bad/dark UI patterns to pump up usage numbers might be good short term but an awful long term decision.
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Apr 17, 2021
    Founders should take weekends+vacations off: 1. Time to think high level outside the daily grind 2. The last 10% of time is the least productive 3. Avoid burn out I used to feel guilty about it, but now I see it as essential. Startups are a 10+ yr marathon not a 3 month sprint
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Oct 23, 2021
    I am constantly flipping between: 1. We are in a huge asset bubble that will crash soon 2. US printed so much money which will result in a lot more inflation and assets will appreciate more Where do you think we are?
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Nov 22, 2023
    Emmett Shear should next broker peace between Israel and Palestine. His new found skills must be put to good use.
    175K
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Feb 19, 2022
    Something that blew in mind when I heard it: 2% management fees on VC funds are not one off but every year for 10 years. The 2% management fee is 20% of all LP funds! Even if the fund has negative returns the fund managers get 20% of the fund. That’s $200m on a $1bn fund!
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Jul 11, 2022
    US Series I Bonds seem like a great deal: - $10k/yr/family member - 1 year lock-in - 9.62% (adjust every 6 months with inflation) - compounds - no state tax - US govt backed issued by the treasury Mostly a no-brainer. You can get them here: treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research…
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Aug 16, 2023
    My first ever “venture” round was a $500k raise at $2m valuation. It cost $35k in legal fees! We just launched ability to do SAFE for free using your Mercury bank account. It’s smooth too, every SAFE gets a new account number, no more wondering which investor sent the $10k.
    user avatar
    Mercury
    @mercury
    Aug 16, 2023
    Introducing: SAFEs by Mercury for C-Corps. You can now customize, sign, & share @ycombinator-templated SAFE docs on Mercury — and have the funding routed to your account. Plus, you can track the status of your investor checks in real time. Watch how it works 👇
    00:00
    353K
  • user avatar
    immad
    Mercury
    @immad
    Mar 26, 2025
    1/ Today, @mercury announced a $300 million Series C in a mix of primary & secondary funding at a $3.5B valuation, led by @sequoia, with participation from @sparkcapital, @MarathonMP, @coatuemgmt, @CRV, & @a16z. I’m deeply humbled by the growth we’ve experienced. 🧵
    330K