Jason Tahir

Summary: Trucks Venture Capital has announced a new $70 million fund to support early-stage startups in the transportation industry. Led by co-founder Reilly Brennan, the firm plans to invest in a diverse range of companies, including those working on autonomous vehicle tech, electric air taxis, and mobility data platforms. This is the firm's largest fund to date and its investment strategy has evolved to focus on great founders rather than specific sectors or ideas. Key takeaways: Trucks VC has a new $70 million fund to invest in early-stage transportation startups. The firm's investment strategy has shifted to focus on great founders rather than specific sectors or ideas. Previous investments from the new fund include charger installation-as-a-service startup Treehouse and zero-emissions jet aircraft company JetZero. Counter arguments: Some may argue that focusing on great founders rather than specific sectors or ideas may limit the firm's potential for success. The transportation industry is constantly changing and evolving, making it a risky investment for any venture capital firm. #startups #venturecapital #transportation

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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.

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Forerunner Ventures just closed a $500M fund, doubling down on consumer tech at a time when many VCs have pulled back. With nearly $3B in historical AUM, FV recently led rounds into AI-driven startups like Daydream, Pie, and Mindtrip, Inc., building on their success with popular brands (and exited investments) such as Glossier, Inc. and Warby Parker and Dollar Shave Club. Kristen Green said it best: “Today’s consumers expect more—better quality, personalization, and smarter solutions." Are we on the verge of the next big wave in consumer tech? Let me know your thoughts. #Consumer #VentureCapital #AI #Startups #Innovation https://lnkd.in/g7Db7UhU

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LP Tip #5 of #50: Spend time to anticipate what off-book references may say about you. ➡️ GPs should assume that professional LPs will reach out to their own network to learn more about them.  ➡️ High net-worth (HNW) individuals and operators are not likely to spend as much time on references than professional LPs. In fact, I know many cases where HNWs and operators didn’t even reference the manager. ➡️ Each LP has its own approach to conducting references. ➡️ Opinions are my own.    ❓ If LPs are back channeling you, what do you expect people will say about you as an investor and person? Fund managers control on-book references because they select who an LP speaks with. And, these references typically give an LP a positive perspective of a fund manager. In contrast GPs do not know who comprises an LPs trusted network. They also cannot control what the back channel reference will or will not say. Below are two things you can control which can impact the back channel. 1️⃣ Control possible negative flags -  If you anticipate something negative to come up during references that may be  perceived as a potential flag by an LP it is best that you bring it up first rather than having the LP bring it up. I would bring up the things that you envision could derail your funding and that you expect the LP to discover.  2️⃣ Control how you show up  - Unfortunately, some managers do a great job of undermining their own professional reputation which impacts how well they will back channel. For example, I was having a follow-up meeting with a talented manager and they started to trash talk another investor to me in a way that was unsettling. I believe in giving people grace as sometimes people have off days. But I was struck that the fund manager was emboldened to share with me because I was a relatively new connection. I then began to wonder if they acted like this with other LPs. Other LPs verified that they had a similar experience and felt it showed a lack of  judgment. If this new manager lacks judgment on professionalism then I start to question if they lack judgment on many other aspects of running a fund. 

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If you're building a fintech startup, you likely know of this investor, but just in case... This week's findfunding.vc spotlight is on Neil Kapur from TTV Capital. He: 🛫 Is based in SF & Atlanta 💲 Has spent time at Google in consumer-facing payments & at two fintech startups  🏔️ Loves alpine mountaineering and has climbed Kilimanjaro, Denali, Rainier, and more!! Amongst founders, Neil and the team at TTV Capital , including Gardiner Garrard, Mark Johnson, Sean Banks, Lizzie Guynn, and Laney Lewis are known for saying “lift, not lean.” They believe that their job as investors is not to create work for founders, but instead ask the right questions and help navigate to the best outcomes. Knowing Neil well personally, he's not only my go-to person for anything related to fintech but I can also highly recommend having him on your cap table - he's the kind of human you want to have in your corner during both good times and bad. Make sure to: ✉️ Pitch him at [email protected] ➡️ Follow TTV Capital on LinkedIn For more, check out our funder spotlight card below along with TTV Capital's profile on findfunding.vc (link in comments).

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The Information broke news that Insight Partners has just secured $10B in funding for their latest flagship fund. This is perfectly timed given their multiple $1B+ companies sold over the past week. This is a clear sight that #limitedpartners still have in their #privateallocations even during the current slow markets for #IPOs and #M&A. This would also appear to be good news for #AIfinancing and #SaaSFinancing. What do you think? #Management #VentureCapital #PrivateEquity #CapitalMarkets https://lnkd.in/gXu_s8Qj

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BluWave has a deep bench of 800+ interim CFOs that allow us to quickly and expertly connect private equity firms and their portfolio companies to the exact-fit interim CFOs they need.    In one case study example, a PE firm came to us in need of a stopgap interim CFO for their automotive operations portfolio company. Here's the details of how we helped:   The Situation - Needing to make a leadership change in their portfolio company, a PE firm came to us in urgent need of an interim CFO who could focus on the portco's cash flow and working capital optimization while the search for a permanent CFO was underway. Given the protfolio company's industry, the PE firm not only needed an interim CFO with financial acumen, but one with the ability to handle a complex operational landscape and turnaround skills.   How BluWave Helped - Thanks to BluWave's deep network of exact-fit interim CFOs, we quickly connected them with a select few interim CFOs with the exact experience they were looking for.    The Outcome - The client selected their preferred interim CFO from our presented options. Their leadership marked a significant turning point for the automotive manufacturer, helping them tighten cash flow, meet reporting requirements and guide them through a crucial transition period.   When you need an exact-fit, PE-grade interim CFO, contact BluWave and we'll be ready to support.   #interimCFO #interimchieffinancialofficer

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Having a Cars and Capital event tomorrow in Southern California with Oren Klaff. If you want to join message me. https://lnkd.in/gDQ4D39u Oren Klaff Bridger Pennington #InvestorEvent #FamilyOffice #InvestmentOpportunity #CarlsbadEvent #PrivateEquity #WealthManagement #InvestmentConference #CapitalRaising #NetworkingEvent #IndustryLeaders #FinancialGrowth #InvestorsMeetup #WealthBuilding #BusinessGrowth #InvestmentForum

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Seed VCs are turning to new ‘pro rata’ funds that help them compete with the big firms Alpha Partners, SignalRank and now SaaS Ventures help seed VCs pay for shares when big VCs try to price — or push — them out Lee Edwards, partner at Root VC, has a saying at his firm that “pro rata rights are earned, not given.” That may be a bit of a stretch since pro rata refers to a term that VCs put in their term sheets that gives them the right to buy more shares in a portfolio company during consequent funding rounds to maintain an ownership percentage and avoid dilution. Still, while these rights are not exactly “earned,” they can be expensive. One of the latest trends in VC investing these days are funds dedicated to helping seed VCs exercise their pro rata rights. https://lnkd.in/dRM3RvdA By Christine Hall

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Friends, Q2 was a quarter of progress and learning for us at HawkTower, where we invest in early-stage startups applying breakthrough computing technologies to maximize California's natural resource markets. Our focus is on technology-enabled interventions (e.g., AI-enabled geospatial radars for lithium-ion batteries in the waste stream) for critical, market-level imperatives (e.g., disaster prevention) that can drive rapid commercial adoption (e.g., placed on every recycling truck in the world). Our current investment priorities are: - Agricultural productivity and efficiency - Biomanufacturing - Labor and mobility automation - Waste stream optimization and decarbonization - Disaster prevention and management Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to: Milestones and Investments: - In late April, we officially launched our fund, filing with the SEC. Yay. - By June, we completed our first fund close ahead of schedule, with backing from family offices, foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and organizations aligned with California's future. - Our portfolio now includes three early-stage investments (Farm-ng, Agriful Software, and Nexstera Tech). Strategic Partnerships: - We believe that startups operating closer to their customers and resources, especially in agriculture and biomanufacturing, have a strategic advantage. For instance, the Salinas Valley, a major agricultural hub, is less than an hour from Silicon Valley and serves as a center of thought leadership in the convergence of agriculture and AI (from Western Growers, Taylor Farms, and others). - Similarly, the North San Joaquin Valley is emerging as a biotech and agtech innovation hub, and we are proud to support BEAM Circular, a startup hub for the circular bioeconomy. Key Relationships: - Karen Warner, CEO of BEAM Circular, joined HawkTower as a strategic advisor. - Jackie Cruz, Ed. D. Cruz, Hartnell College’s VP of Advancement, advises on Salinas Valley and workforce development. - Ben Palone from Western Growers, with his technical background in agriculture, became a trusted advisor. - Matthew Hoffman from Driscoll's Global R&D team provides insights on global agriculture, product positioning, and investment strategy. - We collaborated with Monterey Bay DART for workforce development and automation in agtech. - Dominic Milano and the Milano Technical Group from Merced collaborated on key initiatives and advised us on investments. - HawkTower is participating in Santa Cruz Works's accelerator cohort as a mentor and advisor. Thank you Doug Erickson. - We published an overview of entrepreneurship across the UC system with input from across the University of California system. Moving into the fall, we remain deeply committed to supporting founders shaping California's future natural resource markets. Stay tuned and be in touch! : ) Db

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✨ Breaking: Halogen Ventures Announces New Fund.- Halogen Ventures Halogen Ventures focuses on early-stage consumer technology startups with at least one woman on the founding team. The fund announced a $10 million investment to support female founders in Alabama. https://halogenvc.com/ Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups #Venturecapital

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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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Crunchbase charted smaller VC funds that successfully raised capital this year. Joanna Glasner, A few callouts: 🏁"Smaller" funds (sub $500 million!) have reached the lowest raised tally in years: totaling $13.7 billion.. For context and as charted: $40 billion was raised in 2022. 🏁Larger round sizes are getting larger, i.e. OpenAI - clearly favoring funds with deeper pockets. However: smaller funds are driving the #alpha, are able to put smaller sums to work in transformational companies, and deliver returns without requiring #unicorn exits. 🏁History has shown that funds that are raised in sluggish environments tend to outperform. Accel and Andreessen Horowitz #VentureCapital #Fundraising

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In the aftermath of the March 2024 failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and the acquisition of First Republic by J.P. Morgan in May, I've become increasingly intrigued with proxy statement disclosures regarding compensation metrics and risk. As a board director, it's essential to examine how compensation is helping organizations move forward positively to create stakeholder value. JPMorgan's compensation packages, for example, incorporate profit metrics such as managed revenue, pre-tax income, net income, and ROTCE in addition to risk metrics like a capital ratio hurdle. The disclosure that the JPM Compensation Management Development Committee meets annually with the Risk Committee to review compensation also caught my eye! Essential Compensation Questions Board Directors Can Ask Senior Executives 1. How does the firm integrate risk, controls and conduct considerations into key HR practices including performance development, compensation and promotion? 2. Are compensation features and elements designed to discourage imprudent risk-taking (e.g., multi-year vesting, claw backs, prohibition on hedging, etc. ? 3. What critical regulatory updates have impacted or may impact HR practices in the future? Board Self Evaluation Question How often is the Compensation Committee meeting with the Risk, and or Audit Committee? #riskmanagement #incentives #governance #oversight #lessonslearned

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Team San Diego! I though you may find this as surprising as I did...we are not alone. Read this quick article from Jon Prentice's (Silicon Valley Bank) interview with with James Newell (Voyager Capital), published in GeekWire on Seattle's innovation ecosystem....they lament the SAME issues as we do in San Diego: * Lack of angel investors, (Especially, it calls out, given the local giant tech co's) * "We need low-conviction check writers." * Lack of "cachet associated with being an angel investor" - We have similar efforts (as described in the article) to drum up angel activity: NuFund Venture Group and, Interlock Capital (read the article and you'll see why the Interlock effort is tops as relates to "paying back into the ecosystem") Connect.org strives to 'connect' innovative companies with investors of all types (angel, VC, PE...) - just see "Innovation Day". Their Springboard program provides another great way for experienced entrepreneurs to give back through mentorship...as for the companies going through Springboard: "Ask for advice, and you often get $$" Your thoughts on the article or San Diego innovation ecosystem? https://lnkd.in/gfwq6mfq

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I recently joined Tyler Hogge and Sterling Snow on the IO Podcast to discuss frameworks for growth-stage companies and what sets great companies apart from the rest. Listen to our conversation here: https://lnkd.in/edRyAmbz And linking to the blog posts we get into on the pod for easy reference: 1️⃣ R&D is one of the most critical yet challenging capital to allocate. How to get it right: https://lnkd.in/gQ-bN87N 2️⃣ For growth-stage companies burning cash, these are the essential questions to answer before going public: https://lnkd.in/gdjT-Fy2 3️⃣ AI is revolutionizing computing. More on what we can learn from SaaS market dynamics as we enter this new era: https://lnkd.in/ePjw7SvT

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Q3 is out and Q4 is in!  This is a great read about Base10's strategic switch showcasing how Carta is simplifying fund administration for emerging managers, which is especially important now rolling into the year-end busy season. 

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Large, motivated and differentiated networks are the way

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