Falon Fatemi

I recently saw this metric from Carta’s 1Q24 VC Fund Report, which is very concerning. DPI... is nowhere to be found in earlier vintages that probably should start showing DPI. Funding early-stage projects is great, but ultimately, these venture dollars need to exit their investments and pay back their limited partners. That’s where the metric Distributed to Paid-In Capital (DPI) comes in. While managing a fund, we get interim measures during the life of the fund (e.g. IRR, MOIC), but ultimately, “you can’t eat IRR.” If you want to build a lasting venture capital organization, you need to start showing DPI for your fund. Keep in mind that this is traditional VC data from Carta, and is not strictly crypto venture. Crypto venture tends to get liquidity earlier (tokens) and things tend to go parabolic sooner (faster, more unicorns) - but I’d wager that the data here is somewhat similar for Crypto VCs… Not as much DPI as there should be from these earlier vintages. Read the full article, as well as a recap of all the crypto fundraising rounds for August, here: https://lnkd.in/g3eVJ-iF

25

2 Comments

Want to build wealth faster? Skip startups. Buy Boring Old Businesses. Here’s why: 1. They’re already making money. 2. They come with customers, systems, and momentum. 3. They’re undervalued – 2.5x profits is standard. 4. SBA loans or seller financing make them accessible. 5. Easy profit boosters: raise prices or add new products. 6. They’re easier to scale than startups. Startups fail 65% of the time within the first 5 years. But "boring" businesses? They’re built to last. Don’t build from scratch. Buy something proven. If you could buy a "boring" business, what type of business would you buy?

7

2 Comments

NYC bars and restaurants are struggling and one of the reasons is legal cannab*s, according to this new report. Bars and restaurants should be able to sell weed, especially at events. These small business owners are relying on the OCM to expedite the events license so they can stop being harmed by legal cannab*s and start being apart of the market. https://lnkd.in/eSbFmtA6

14

6 Comments

Why Buying Your First Business is the hardest & Financing The Fear is Being seen as too risky by lenders and investors. The Solution: Prepare a solid business plan with detailed financial projections. Work with a financial advisor to enhance your credibility. Consider alternative financing options like SBA loans or seller financing.

11

3 Comments

Kettleborough VC has been active for ~6 years, invested in ~30 companies, gone through ~80 funding rounds, witnessed ~12 exits including ~4 instances of partial principal erosion, seen ~4 seed to $100M journeys, tracking ~29% XIRR across the portfolio. A couple of IPOs from the portfolio surely seem very much in line ahead.

257

16 Comments

That's why it's often very difficult to recognize new leaders – their ideas go beyond the conventional frameworks we're accustomed to. Keep your mind open. Don't let yesterday's templates define your future. #Leadership, #Innovation, #OpenMind, #FutureThinking, #venturethinking,   https://lnkd.in/eASPGsuu

4

For SMB Buyers: some nice guides from Grata: Diligence Guide: https://lnkd.in/gsBezxa9 Diligence Checklist: https://lnkd.in/gatpJDBa

17

1 Comment

When we asked CPG founders who they wanted at Founderland... Their answer was clear: People who can help them grow their business & achieve their goals. Specifically: - The top retailers - The most founder-friendly investors, and - Other founders they can learn from and share with This conversation that I'm hosting at Founderland is a perfect representation of this group, plus one BIG bonus. We're also including Joel Toledano and ChargeUp.ai which is one of my favorite tech companies that is supporting consumer brands today. They automate the retail deduction and chargeback process for brands, saving them an insane amount of time and money. Such a cool co. Excited to teach, share and connect...and get some deals done, while of course having lots of fun. Joel Toledano Jen Zeszut Kim Coffin Deb Conklin

89

41 Comments

Wonder to Acquire Grubhub for $650M – Transforming Food Delivery Marc Lore's Wonder is set to acquire Grubhub for $650M, taking food delivery to the next level. Here's what this means: ▪️ Wonder gains Grubhub’s 375,000 restaurants & 200,000 couriers ▪️ Grubhub restaurants will join Wonder’s platform, alongside Blue Apron meal kits ▪️ The deal includes $500M in senior notes and $150M in cash ▪️ $250M raised from investors to fuel further growth ▪️ Wonder now has a powerful, integrated model for delivery, pickup, and dine-in services The deal is expected to close by Q1 2025, marking the beginning of an exciting new era for Wonder as it becomes a major player in the food delivery space. #grubhub #wonder #acquisition #fooddelivery #investment #latest #trending #news #linkedinnews #business #entrepreneur

20

2 Comments

The Rise of SPVs in AI Startup Investments Special Purpose Vehicles (#SPVs) are increasingly popular among small investors, allowing them to pool their money to invest in coveted #startups like Anthropic, Groq, OpenAI, Perplexity, and #ElonMusk's x.AI. SPVs are formed by #investors with direct access to shares of these startups, who then sell a portion of their allocation to external investors, often charging significant fees and retaining a profit share. Early backers in sought-after #AI #startups exercise their pro-rata rights, creating opportunities for SPVs to acquire shares. VCs may offer access to SPVs to existing #limitedpartner investors or use brokers to reach a broader pool of potential investors. Some SPVs are formed on top of others, leading to complex layers of investment. Shares in certain startups, like Anthropic, became available due to events like FTX's bankruptcy auction, flooding the market with shares. SPVs can be formed alongside primary fundraising rounds, allowing small investors to participate simultaneously with major investors. While SPVs provide access to otherwise inaccessible investments, they come with high risks, as backers do not receive direct information about the companies. For more information https://lnkd.in/dqxCtget #AIInvesting #StartupFinance #SPVStrategy #VentureCapital #InvestmentTrends #TechInvesting #Entrepreneurship

4

We continue to deliver on our turnaround at BODi (NYSE: BODi). We just reported the BODi Q2 2024 financial results with: 1. Our third consecutive quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA 2. We posted our best quarterly gross margin since going public in 2021 3. We announced multiple partnerships, including the American Diabetes Association, Dr. B and True Med   We are excited to launch our Nutrition Supplements Direct-to-Consumer via eCommerce in Q3 of 2024, which positions us to target the $164B Nutritional TAM.    While our turnaround plan is still in the execution stage, we are excited by our progress and the strategy ahead.    @Carl Daikeler, @Marc Suidan and I will be hosting the conference call which will also be available to interested parties through a live and recorded webcast at https://lnkd.in/gHs8TXXj or https://lnkd.in/gkvVrNsg   Q2 2024 Earnings Release: https://lnkd.in/gvmadTwA htps://lnkd.in/gt-AYmFX   #Shareholdervaluecreation #DigitalFitness #DigitalHealth

63

19 Comments

VC platform teams rarely add meaningful value to portfolio companies. They’re mostly a tool for GPs to justify raising larger funds and collecting higher management fees.

23

5 Comments

Meta's decision to end third party fact checking is not going to end well, for them, or -- even worse -- for society writ large. https://lnkd.in/e8rdjt2t

121

8 Comments

🗞️ 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 …

5

1 Comment