Hanjing (Eva) Ye

Open-source models can be a strong lever for increasing gross margins at AI companies, especially those that have hefty cost structures (e.g., enterprise sales orgs that require significant customer success or implementation resources, as well forward-deployed AI services models common in healthcare and life sciences). One of many reasons to maintain a modular and flexible stack with minimal dependencies when building an AI company. More on the importance of flexibility in the AI stack: https://lnkd.in/eA2XATRk h/t Delip Rao #ai #artificialintelligence #generativeai #healthcare

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💡Benchmarks in the investment industry serve as a standard for measuring the performance of securities, mutual funds, or investment managers. They provide a reference point for analyzing allocation, risk, and return of a portfolio, enabling investors to make informed decisions. Thanks Peter Walker for keeping us all informed!! Can’t wait for this!! Follow and get on the waitlist for this one! #benchmarks #fundraising #Capitalraise #founders #womenshealth #femhealth #medtech #wellness

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PE - How to Use AI to Unlock Growth in Portfolio Companies All PE firms and portfolio companies should be thinking about unlocking GTM and growth via AI (i.e. not merely ChatGPT or other LLMs but actually implementing apps that are "AI Agents"). 1. What are "AI Agents"? - AI agents are autonomous systems powered by ML and natural language processing, designed to perform tasks with minimal human intervention - They can interpret data, determine the workflow & direction (i.e. make decisions), and execute actions across various functions, continuously improving through self-learning 2. Examples of using AI Agents in PE portfolio companies: - For Sales: AI agents handle lead qualification, respond to inquiries, book meetings, and provide personalized product recommendations, ensuring no opportunities are missed - For Marketing: Generate campaign briefs, segment audiences, create tailored content, and analyze performance to optimize outreach efforts - For Customer Success & Support: Provide 24/7 support, resolve customer issues autonomously, escalate complex cases to human agents with full context, and ensure consistent, brand-aligned responses 3. How PE portfolio companies benefit: - Efficiency: Automate repetitive tasks, enabling teams to focus on high-value activities - Scalability: Handle growing customer volumes without increasing headcount - Personalization: Deliver tailored experiences using real-time data insights - $ Cost Savings: Reduce operational costs by streamlining workflows 4. Business Impact for PE Portfolio Companies: - Accelerate GTM Execution: Faster lead conversion, better customer retention, and enhanced marketing ROI - Improve Metrics: Boost Customer NPS, CSAT, and efficiency - Enable Growth: Scale operations seamlessly while improving team productivity. 5. How PE Firms Must Think About Adoption - Define clear portfolio objectives to use AI agents (not just LLMs) - Ensure integration with existing CRM and data systems - Prioritize high-quality data and ongoing performance monitoring - Use AI agents to complement existing GTM teams, focusing them on automation ------------------ #pe #privateequity #investing #ai

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Transactions can play a significant role in large-scale transformation, presenting a time of intensified focus on change and a heightened sense of ownership and accountability. #M&A #privateequity #transformation #valuecreation https://ow.ly/1qqY50QRY4J

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PE - How Private Equity Firms Can Maximize AI Opportunities By focusing on these strategies, PE firms can create value and future-proof their portfolios with scalable, responsible AI adoption: - Focus on Scalable AI Integration: Ensure portfolio companies are ready or implementing AI across core operations, delivering measurable business value - Evaluate Data Strength: Assess the quality of data infrastructure, ensuring it can support advanced analytics and AI applications - Drive Continuous Learning and Adaptation: ensure portfolio companies invest in upskilling their workforce and cultivating a culture of ongoing AI learning and adaptation - Focus on Operational Efficiency: ensure your businesses are using AI to transform critical processes or automate others, increasing efficiency - Enable Human-AI Collaboration: portfolio companies sould empower employees to work alongside AI (i.e. software engineering, customer service, sales), fostering innovation and adaptability ------------------ #pe #privateequity #investing #ai

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Super excited to welcome back Prof Aswath Damodaran for a second year on TRIUM Angels Ascend Program and R3i Venturers. 9 Key Takeouts from our workshop on #StartupValuation 1. Numbers Meet Storytelling: Every valuation starts with a narrative. You can't understand a company's value if you don't know the story behind it—whether it's a growth market, a disruptive force, or a brand with cultural cachet. Your company isn't just about products and financials; it's about where it's going and why. 2. Revenue Growth & Target Margins: Growth potential is sexy, but profitability is the goal. Investors care about the path to target margins. Can you scale without bleeding cash? Show them the road—profitable, and efficient. 3. The Corporate Lifecycle: Understand where the company is—startup, growth, maturity. Different phases need different strategies, different stories. Not every company is meant to be the next Nvidia, but every company needs to understand where it stands. 4. A Good Narrative: Keep it simple, make it compelling, and hook the audience. Nobody remembers buzzwords, but they do remember a powerful story about unmet needs and market gaps. Make it memorable, not just measurable. 5. The Runaway Story: Charismatic leadership, disrupting an unliked status quo, with a bonus benefit for society? That's a formula for a runaway narrative. People root for the underdog—and that includes the market, sometimes even irrationally. But be careful—don't let hype override rationality. 6. Check the Narrative Against Reality: A great story is compelling, but it’s even better when backed by numbers and common sense. Always pressure-test your narrative—does it hold up to market dynamics, macro factors, and historical precedent? 7. Link Story to Value: If it doesn’t impact cash flow or risk, it doesn’t impact value. Make sure every part of your story affects a key value driver—revenue, margins, reinvestment. The narrative must translate into financial outcomes. 8. Keep Feedback in the Loop: Defending your narrative without critique is a one-way ticket to poor decisions. Open yourself to opposing views—have the people who disagree with you the most challenge your assumptions. Hubris kills investors. 9. Be Ready to Adapt: Market conditions change, competition moves, your strengths may turn into weaknesses. Always be ready to adjust the narrative—because what works today may not work tomorrow. Huge thanks to Professor Aswath Damodaran sharing knowledge this #Deepavali on TRIUM Angels program. What does it take to be the most loved Corporate Finance Professor on the planet? A heart of #servantleadership, #passion, #humility, and a consistent commitment to  #accessibility, #disruption, and #excellence. The spirit of TRIUM Global Executive MBA and our fellow alumni at NYU Stern School of Business HEC Paris and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) shines brightly this #deepavali.

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At Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference, an engaging discussion shed light on the evolving venture capital (VC) landscape. One of the key takeaways was the underscore of vibrant growth of the VC sector, with the number of firms soaring from 6,000 in 2013 to about 60,000 today. This surge in competition is driving VCs to innovate and refine their fundraising strategies, creating a dynamic environment for investment opportunities. Additionally, the session touched on how family offices provide flexible capital for smaller investments while emphasizing the thorough scrutiny required for larger funds. An emphasis on candid conversations among VCs and limited partners highlighted a commitment to fostering a more collaborative and forward-thinking investment community. Read More Here: https://lnkd.in/gHjJbtr3 Fortune Allie Garfinkle Branded Hospitality Ventures Hospitality Headline Newsletter #VentureCapital #Investment #hospitality #community Clara Shih Paulo Rosado #BrainstormTech Christine Moseley Rick Rose

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PE - PE Portfolio & the Value in AI BCG on "Where’s the Value in AI?": > AI Adoption Challenges: 4% of companies are at the forefront, consistently driving substantial value with AI, scaling and realizing returns on AI investments - these are the market leaders in using AI > Value in Core Processes: market leaders achieve 62% of AI-generated value in core functions, including operations (23%), sales/marketing (20%), and R&D (13%). This focus yields a 50% revenue growth advantage and 60% higher shareholder returns over less mature companies. > Strategic Differences Among Leaders: Leading companies focus on: 1. Prioritizing AI in core functions and support 2. Driving AI initiatives aimed at revenue growth and cost reduction 3. Investing heavily in a few, high-impact AI projects with the potential to scale > Important - GTM Benefits: sales/marketing gains from AI are significant ins sectors like software, media, and telecom > AI Playbook for Success: 1. Set a bold strategic commitment from the top 2. Maximize the potential value of AI with initiatives that include streamlining everyday business processes, transforming entire business functions, and developing new offerings 3. Implement one to three high-value, easy-to-implement initiatives to fund the journey 4. Ensure that the minimal viable infrastructure required for these initiatives exists 5. Perform an AI maturity assessment to baseline current critical capability gaps versus peers 6. Ensure that implementation governance focuses on people and processes over technology and algorithms 7. Set up guardrails to deploy AI responsibly --- Source: BCG, "Where is the Value in AI?", https://buff.ly/4fifzNC ------------------ #pe #privateequity #ai #ceo #cro #saas #gtm #growth #middlemarket #boardofdirectors #board #revenue #revenuegrowth #investing #investment #finance #business

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PE - PE Acceleration Toolkit (i.e. not Playbook) What commercial, GTM and growth areas do you cover in your "PE Portfolio Company Toolkit" (i.e. some funds like Vista Equity Partners call it a Playbook but I refer to it as toolkit with the aim of it being a participatory, not a prescriptive playbook)? Some ideas* come to mind - what else? (* i.e. Commercial/GTM/Revenue Growth - not including Product, Engineering, R&D and other functions) 1. Sales Optimization   - Sales Org Structure   - Sales Management Process   - Sales Prospecting & Outbound   - Sales Process Engineering - Pipeline Management - Forecasting & Commit Process - Forecasting Rollups - CEO & Board   - Sales performance metrics and KPIs   - Channel Sales, Partner and alliance programs   - Rev Ops & Sales Enablement   - Sales Quota, Compensation & Incentives   - Sales Tech & Automation 2. Marketing Optimization   - B2B Demand Generation strategy   - Marketing Management - Marketing Process Engineering - Defining Lead Nomenclature - Campaign Management - Strategic Messaging Architecture   - PLG - Product Led Growth   - Digital & Inbound marketing    - Account-based marketing (ABM) - Customer Marketing - Product Marketing - Marketing/Sales Alignment & SLAs   - Marketing Metrics / KPIs   - Marketing Tech & Automation 3. Customer Management, Success and Retention   - Customer onboarding processes   - VOC - collecting and analyzing customer feedback   - Customer Segmentation   - Customer Management Processes   - Proactive customer Engagement   - AM & Expansion Sales   - Renewal strategies   - Customer loyalty strategies   - Customer support optimization   - Customer metrics and KPIs 4. Pricing and Packaging   - Pricing strategies   - Value-based pricing   - Discounting strategies & pricing transparency   - Subscription and usage-based models   - Pricing experimentation and A/B testing   - Competitive pricing analysis 5. Operational Efficiency   - SaaS metrics (CAC, LTV, churn rate, etc.)   - Process automation and workflow optimization 6. Talent & Culture   - Leadership & Management    - Attracting and retaining top talent   - Building a high-performance culture   - Performance Management   - Remote work best practices   - Continuous learning and development 7. Community Building   - Community creation & engagement   - Building an ecosystem around the product   - Customer Advocacy Programs 8. Data and Analytics   - Data-driven decision-making   - Business intelligence (BI) tools and dashboards   - Data governance, security and privacy   - AI applications Other: 9. Product (& GTM Alignment) 10. M&A (Commercial/GTM integration) 11. Finance (Supporting the GTM org) 12. GTM Board Updates & KPIs 13. Etc. ------------------ #pe #privateequity #business

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Worth reading: Situationsl Awareness by Leopold Aschenbrenner PDF : https://lnkd.in/gkxQ3yMD Web site: https://lnkd.in/gyJUCBhb Interesting perspective, time of course will tell.

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Board of Directors - insights from "The Essays of Warren Buffett" Buffett’s principles for Boards of Directors emphasize the importance of independence, accountability, and a focus on long-term shareholder value: - Long-Term Focus: Boards should act in the long-term interest of shareholders - Board Composition: Boards with mostly outside directors and select members for business savvy, not prominence or diversity (PE insight: CROs on the Board) - Regular Evaluation: Outside directors should meet without the CEO to assess performance True Independence: Directors must have equity in the company to align with shareholders' interests P.S. This is a very insightful book structuring Warren Buffett's shareholder letters by specific categories - here are the top summary takeaways from the rest of the book: Investment Discipline – Maintain patience and discipline, avoiding speculative investments and market timing Business Quality – Seek businesses with a durable competitive advantage Management – High-quality, trustworthy management & look for managers who think like owners Corporate Governance – Transparent communication and fair treatment of all stakeholders Risk Management – Avoid excessive leverage and maintain a margin of safety to minimize risk and preserve capital Fundamentals – Focus on fundamentals rather than market trends Economic Earnings – Focus on economic earnings and free cash flow rather than accounting profits for a true picture of financial health Long-Term Focus – Long-term investments and value creation vs. short-term gains Capital Allocation – Efficient capital allocation is key - reinvest earnings wisely Market Irrationality – Recognize and capitalize on irrationality as "Mr.Market" can be inefficient in the short term #investing #markets #business #stocks #finance #pe #ceo

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At TechNexus Venture Collaborative, one of the most common questions we receive from our corporate partners is "How can we measure success?" Corporations track metrics, OKRs, and KPIs across all business lines, and corporate venture capital and innovation need not be an exception. If you're interested in learning more about strategic and financial returns in corporate venture capital, read the latest in our series below!

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Looking forward to diving into the state of the late-stage venture market at TechCrunch Disrupt next week with Karthik Subramanian. With late-stage companies facing tougher paths to exit, we’ll be debating whether the market is actually rebounding, sharing our thoughts on the outlook for future IPOs, and discussing how founders can navigate these shifting dynamics. Hope to see you there! #TCDisrupt #VC

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Prediction #2 for 2025: M&A activity will surge. Strategic acquirers are under pressure to fast-track AI transformations, driving a wave of acquisitions to build capabilities. On the private equity side, there’s significant dry powder waiting to be deployed, leading to many companies being taken off the market. 2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for both strategic and financial buyers. How do you see M&A trends evolving? #2025predictions #aigrowth #privateequity #strategicacquisition #venturecapital

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I often get pings from founders and investor friends asking for very specific private company benchmark data. Until now, the data was often anecdotal, and didn't surface super specific cuts of data. Today, we're excited to share benchmarks that go beyond the norm with Emergence Capital's inaugural Beyond Benchmarks report. (1) The first portion of the report answers top-of-mind questions around GenAI productization and commercialization in B2B. (2) The second portion goes into a deep update on the state of the B2B Software Fundraising market (e.g., public market performance, private market number and size of deals by stage, etc). (3) The third portion dives into company specific benchmarking data. It goes beyond just your traditional ARR growth rate benchmark, and delves into granular benchmarks, e.g., what is the median OpEx breakdown % by S&M, R&D, G&A? Excited to be sharing this report with the public, and as always, would love your feedback! #b2b #software #enterprise #metrics #data #benchmarks #genai #venture #fundraising

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Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on AI. “With both predictive and generative AI at an inflection point, senior leaders are setting ambitious targets for their top and bottom lines. They might double fault... or, properly prepared, they might win game, set, and match.” 🚀 15–Love: Start by getting started 🚀 30–Love: Target quick wins early 🚀 40–Love: Set an agenda 🚀 Match Point: Confront the latest risk Don’t double fault. Win game, set, match 🎾. #AIDecade #InvestorDecade

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Looking forward to meeting women entrepreneurs who are on their journey to create some pathbreaking ideas and inspiring others to do the same. #advaitawomenentrepreneurs #womeninbusiness #entrepreneurship #womenentrepreneurs #EmpowerWomen #womenleaders #businesswomen

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We see this very often in deals, the request of a staple, but I personally think there are ways to navigate this, with everything being above board , both for the selling LP, buyer and the GP. We have had situations where the GP preferred buyer who could also do a staple, actually price the fund better... because they want to strengthen that relationship, and ultimately of course have had situations where the GP preferred buyer is the bad actor in the equation, leveraging their preferred position to down play price for the seller... it's all part of the negotiation process. #secondaries #setterstrong

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