Nathaniel Vasel

Thanks for sharing this Hemant. Good read for many entrepreneurs raising capital and reporting to investors. #startups #valuations #revenue Hemant Elhence Rajiv Roy

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🚀 Ready to take your VC and PE investment strategy to the next level? Our latest blog dives into the top five metrics that every savvy investor should be tracking in quarterly reports. From Revenue Growth Rate to Net Dollar Retention, these insights will help you make smarter decisions and maximize your returns. Don't miss out on these key performance indicators—your portfolio companies will thank you! 📊💼 https://lnkd.in/gNPE6prj #VentureCapital #PrivateEquity #InvestmentStrategy #BusinessGrowth #FinancialMetrics

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The state of venture capital is wild right now. We are witnessing a surge of innovation across the spectrum: - Funds merging - VC doing PE - PE doing VC - Secondary funds - Buyout funds - Spin-out funds - Debt funds - Continuation funds - Infrastructure funds - GP turnover - Hard Tech surging - Family Office uptick

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🗞️ Breaking News: Red Ventures Selling CNET at a huge Loss❗️ Context: Red Ventures, the privately held digital media and marketing juggernaut based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is selling CNET, one of the largest tech publishers on the web, to Ziff Davis for just $100 million. For context: Red Ventures bought CNET for approximately $500 million. Reason for the Sale: Total traffic to CNET has dropped by a staggering 50% over the last three years. The main driver behind this decline is a 68% drop in organic traffic (loss off Google rankings and traffic). Tables turned: This sale is a stunning turn of events for CNET, which once bought Ziff Davis (then a tech magazine firm) in a deal worth roughly $1.6 billion - more than two decades ago. Catch Up: - Ziff Davis trades publicly with a market value of $1.94 billion. The company lost about half of its marketcap over the course of the last 48 months. Strategic rationale: If Ziff Davis is able to ink a content licencing deal with Google, Bing/Microsoft or ChatGPT (or else e.g. X.AI) - like Reddit did - it might turn out to be a very smart deal …

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Venture debt volume is on pace for a record year as high-growth companies navigate the current #VC investment environment. With equity becoming more expensive, venture debt has proven to be a useful tool for late-stage #startups looking to fuel growth and extend their runway. Check out this new article from SVB’s Mike Devery + Kyle Larrabee for a quick overview of recent venture debt trends and tips on how to size a debt facility for your company: https://lnkd.in/gf7F2gbn

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The Information is out with breaking news about Bolt finalizing a $450M round at a whopping $14B valuation for their Series F. This is complete with Ryan Breslow returning as the CEO. While this fundraising is obviously impressive, the ultimatum is that existing investors "Have to buy at twice their existing positions at the higher valuation." Most egregious is their written threat of forcing the existing Preferred Shares into $0.01 common shares if they do not." It will be interesting to see how BlackRock and General Atlantic respond to this direct threat. #management #venturecapital #privateequity #fintech #capitalmarkets https://lnkd.in/eZZec5kT

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In conjunction with Cooley's Q1 2024 Venture Financing Report, we sat down with Chris Ahn of Haun Ventures to get his take on the state of venture capital investing, including insights on: 💥 The significance of up rounds representing 65% of deals. 💥 His approach to risk management and mitigation strategies when investing. 💥 The most effective monetization models for community-based ventures. Read the full conversation on #CooleyGO with the link below. #CooleyGO #venturecapital #VC #investing

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The largest acquisition in crypto history occurred just last month: Stripe's $1.1B deal for Bridge. This isn't just a headline—it's a signal of how payment rails are evolving at the intersection of crypto and traditional finance. This week at Lw3 in Dallas, I’ll be speaking on why this acquisition is more than a milestone—it's a glimpse of the future. Crypto-native payment rails are no longer a niche experiment; they’re becoming foundational to global commerce. At Reciprocal Ventures, we’ve been investing in the crypto payments ecosystem since the early days, partnering with pioneering companies like Coinflow Labs, Higlobe and True Markets. This space has been at the forefront of innovation, and we’ve seen firsthand how scalable, efficient, and transparent payment rails are reshaping the way value moves in a digital-first world. I’m excited to explore what this acquisition means for the growth of this ecosystem and why it's only the beginning of a broader wave of innovation and opportunity. If you’re at Lw3, come say hi. I'll be with Steven Feldman — we’d love to connect and share ideas.

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Today's Boring Biz: Pool Leak Detection Company - $2.3M Revenue - $610K Cashflow - South Carolina - Day 39 of "50 States In 50 Days" Note: We do not represent this deal, highlighting for informational purposes only for viewers What do they do? 1. Leak detection services 2. Electronic detection equipment 3. Pool inspections Investment Highlights 1. Strong market demand 2. Established reputation 3. Business systems in place Investment risks/concerns 1. What is the competition 2. Customer concentration 3. Length of contracts #SMB #ETA #finance #Cashflow #investing #search #searchfund #privateequity #microprivateequity #smallbusiness #venturecapital #vc #entrepreneur #business #businessowner #pool #leakdetection #southcarolina #servicecompany Disclaimer: Hypothetical and illustrative only. Please do your own research (DYOR) or work with tax and legal professionals before making a decision. This video are intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice, nor should be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any security by SMB PE LLC or any third party

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Since Q2 of 2022, I have been focusing on flat rounds as my lead indicator of a market bottom. Based on the Cooley report, flat rounds peaked at almost 12% in Q1 '23, bounced around a bit, but we have now recorded 5 straight quarters of decline from almost 10% to under 2%. Why is this number important? Because flat rounds don't occur in nature. The statistical likelihood that the same company fundraising 18 or 24 months apart has the exact same valuation is negligible. These valuations are "engineered," often with other pro-investor terms, to serve the common founder and investor interest of avoiding write-downs. Since the market slumped, we have been in the "kick the can down the road" phase. This can also be seen in the surge in convertible note financing in later stages - again trying to avoid a down round. The problem with this approach is that it keeps nominal valuations detached from actual market. A reset in valuations so that they reflect market is essential to forming a bottom from which the venture market can build a recovery. The significant drop in flat rounds is a very encouraging sign.

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After the first deep dive discussion w/ founders I often hear a comment "I wish I had heard about this alternative [to all-in must-become-a-unicorn] way to build a startup earlier as I have wasted years in pursuing the wrong thing". Our mission is that no founder would ever need to say that again as it is such a waste. Us preaching the gospel 1:1 just doesn't scale, hence we use mass media to multiply our efforts - that's how Gorillacast came to be. The 1st episode is out, featuring yours truly. "How can you know what food you like unless you taste everything" said a chef. How can founders make informed choices about the best strategy for them to follow unless they know of all alternatives? This might not be of interest to you but pls spread the word so that the founders who should hear it can find it. I have a dream!

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Valuations are starting to (only slightly) be in check. Investors looking for revenue, quality of revenue, margins, and repeatable GTM. This has the best founders focused on what matters, and reaching out to their Boards and advisors for real advice and guidance. Good stuff.

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This is quite interesting advice and also quite a non-consensus view in the B2B software world. Cross-border founders who are considering the US vs International incorporation question should consider this as valuable input.

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KNOW YOUR REAL BUSINESS ECONOMICS • GAAP Revenue • Cash Flow • Cash • Contribution Margin • CAC • CAC Payback FUNDRAISING: PRESENT & SUBSTANTIATE FINANCIALS • Investor needs to know what your forecasts are • They need to believe them David Weiden, Khosla Ventures

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Well-written and sourced article describing what's going in seed-stage venture market. At 9point8 Collective we tend to orbit the seed-stage (both ideating and developing companies to reach seed and helping post-seed companies refactor and scale in anticipation of A) and for many companies it's a critical inflection point which determines their long term success or failure. The main takeaways I was able to gather: 1️⃣ Many startups that raised seed rounds in 2021-2022 are struggling to secure Series A funding due to tighter market conditions and increased investor expectations. 2️⃣ Seed investors are becoming more cautious, leading to longer diligence processes and a preference for startups with strong traction or experienced founders. As a result, valuations have stayed relatively high even as deal flow reduces. 3️⃣ Startups are adopting various strategies to navigate this challenging environment, including cutting costs, raising bridge rounds or convertible notes, and M&A/acqui-hires. 4️⃣ Despite the challenges, there are opportunities for both startups and investors in this new landscape, particularly for those who can adapt to the changing market conditions. Investors are accumulating dry powder -- and with rates on the decline -- will be looking to deploy into companies with stronger fundamentals than their 2021-2022 counterparts.

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Bradley Tusk sat down with Brian Bell of Team Ignite Ventures for a really great conversation on how to leverage regulatory hurdles as opportunities for startups, Tusk's visionary approach to democracy, and the burgeoning field of AI and regulatory implications. ICYMI, here are some quick takeaways: 🚢 Regulation as a Moat: Instead of viewing regulation solely as a barrier, consider how it can be leveraged to create a competitive advantage. 🎤 Understand Political Incentives: Successful navigation of regulatory landscapes requires speaking the language of politicians and aligning with their incentives. 👥 Mobilize Your Base: Customers can be powerful advocates. Engaging them in your regulatory strategy can influence policy outcomes. ‼️ Proactive Compliance: Especially in emerging fields like AI, being ahead of regulatory requirements can position a company as a leader and set industry standards. 🗳️ Technological Solutions for Systemic Problems: Innovations like mobile voting demonstrate how technology can address fundamental societal issues FULL EPISODE: https://lnkd.in/ea3M7RFr

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Surprising to see two mega mergers getting past antitrust: - The $53B Chevron-Hess merger - The DirecTV-Dish merger where AT&T is selling its stake in DirecTV for $7.6B to TPG and DirecTV buying Dish for $1 and taking on its $10B in debt What does it mean for consumers? And what does it mean for the M&A market? These approvals may signal a shift in antitrust policy. Looks like they're prioritizing global competitiveness over strict market share considerations. This might invite additional scrutiny on how these mergers impact innovation in bigtech. These mega mergers usually tend to have a strong impact on consumer choice and pricing. The industry dynamics will be closely watched by regulators and investors.

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Is Bolt’s new $450M raise bold or reckless? I just saw this news (https://lnkd.in/eq9PxW8U)- Ryan Breslow is back at the helm, driving Bolt.com to a $14 billion valuation, not long after a $300 million stock buyback valuation that crushed the spirits of their employees who exercised their options at their last valuation. I'm all for founder-led companies with a little dash of crazy, but I don't like the smell of this new raise at all This dramatic turnaround, fueled by international investors, raises more questions than confidence. Breslow’s move feels more like an Adam Neumann-inspired hype play than a true growth strategy. The focus is on challenging Stripe and fueling FOMO, not on sustainable fundamentals. For founders and investors, this is a reminder: don’t let flashy narratives blind you to the reality of valuations. I’m all for supporting founder-led companies—it takes a little crazy to be a founder at this scale—but this one might be a step too far IMO. What’s your take on this announcement? All hype or the next Stripe killer?

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