Dilution occurs when you sell a percentage of your company, reducing your ownership stake; for example, selling 20% of your company means you own 20% less afterwards.

If a company generates a billion in revenue and is valued at five billion, that's a cheaper valuation compared to a company making five million in revenue with the same five billion valuation.

A valuable company creates a certain amount of value for the world and captures a percentage of that value; these two factors are independent.

Valuation, which is the value of your enterprise, and dilution, which refers to how much of your company you have sold, are critical concepts in fundraising.

There are not many consumer companies that have reached a valuation between $5 billion and $25 billion, indicating a unique challenge in the market.

Despite some companies being overvalued, the overall ecosystem benefits as it allows for easier capital raising, which can accelerate innovation and growth across the industry.

In a non-priced round, investors often have a valuation cap that sets an upper limit on the company's valuation for future share conversions, rewarding early investors with more shares if the company grows significantly.

Good numbers alone can be misleading; always assess whether a company is genuinely creating value rather than exploiting temporary inefficiencies.

Working at a big company often makes you a small part of a large machine, which limits your learning and slows your pace of growth compared to creating your own startup where you are responsible for everything.