Yousuf Khan

So great to speak to Mohammed Islam on The Mo Show podcast last week! Watch the full episode here!

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I just can’t stop my self from thinking about what I just read. I found this article by Richard Attias CEO of FII institute aligning with my views. Key Takeaways: Addressing Global Inequality Through Innovation and Partnerships 1. Global Challenges Demand New Solutions • Over 100 active conflicts and economic struggles in the global South exacerbate inequality. Governments are inwardly focused, limiting international support. 2. The Power of Public-Private Partnerships • Private capital, with its agility and reduced bureaucracy, can complement public efforts to address healthcare, education, and AI development in underserved regions. 3. Healthcare Investment as a Foundation for Growth • Investing an additional 5% of GDP in healthcare could extend life expectancy by nearly a decade. Integrating AI and robotics could further increase investment efficiency by 20%. 4. Improving Education Through Private Sector Involvement • Elevating teaching standards and focusing on STEM can transform educational outcomes. Public-private partnerships can fund schools and create apprenticeship pathways. 5. AI for Good: Inclusive Development • Establishing a global AI knowledge hub ensures equitable access and avoids bias. AI can support development in diverse languages and underserved communities. 6. Regional Leadership and Collaboration • Emerging economies like Brazil can play pivotal roles in uplifting their regions through talent, ideas, and local investment. 7. A Call to Action for Business Leaders • Creating enabling conditions for investment—like forums that unite political and business leaders—can unlock opportunities for growth in the global South. These approaches aren’t a panacea, but they offer a starting point for bold, innovative solutions to address global inequality.

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This is such an instructive interview. Servicetitan and lessons for vertical SaaS cos. https://lnkd.in/ghBXGrk7

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I had a lot of fun recording a podcast episode with Shiva Singh Sangwan. We discussed the evolution of Humba Ventures & Susa Ventures; tips for raising and building a fund; how to improve investment sourcing & picking; the role of luck in investing, and so on. https://lnkd.in/eiqsStej

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As the Shasta Ventures approval deadline approaches, we're presented with a unique opportunity to observe the complexities and inherent conflicts in GP-led secondary transactions. This scenario sheds light on the considerable leverage GPs hold within the private equity infrastructure. According to the article, proposed continuation fund requires LPs to approve the transaction if they wish to roll their interests into the new structure—a stipulation that could be seen as putting undue pressure on LPs. This raises critical questions about the balance of power in private equity deals and the alignment of interests between GPs and LPs. What are your thoughts? Is it appropriate for GPs to demand such conditions for LPs to participate in a continuation fund? How do you see this impacting the broader private equity landscape and the perception of GP-led secondary transactions? Looking forward to hearing your insights and perspectives on this pivotal issue. #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #InvestmentTrends #ShastaVentures #GPledSecondaries

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Gold nuggets abound in this Deloitte/Docusign survey of 1,000 global companies: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: • 48% report “customer relationships deteriorated significantly due to agreement delays” • 21% of revenue deferred to the next reporting period due to “contracting delays” • $800B (global) in “missed opportunities to reach and sell to customers” 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀: • 190K hours per company wasted annually from “disconnected agreement management workflows” • 61% of Legal respondents reported “strained cross-functional relationships due to delays in approving agreements” 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁? 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: • 50% feel “overwhelmed with managing the volume and complexity of their agreements” • Organizations are “actively seeking tools and features to accelerate collaboration (e.g., legal-approved clause verification) and negotiation” • >50% plan to increase spending on agreement management solutions over the next three years 𝗞𝗣𝗜𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆? • # and % of standard and non-standard terms by type • % of deviation from standard workflows But the line that really made us smile here at Bonterms: "Vendors often use their own templates as a starting point for an agreement. This seemingly simple choice creates various challenges, as organizations must extensively review and negotiation terms, and conduct risk assessments to limit exposure." 𝗢𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆, 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀.  The future is here now and integrates with DocuSign. Thanks for the excellent survey Deloitte! #bonterms #standardagreements #sales #procurement #contracts Docusign Partners

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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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The Qwen2 series from Alibaba Group focuses on efficient parameter usage in large language models, offering foundational and instruction-tuned models with parameters ranging from 0.5 billion to 72 billion. This series demonstrates improved performance over its predecessor, Qwen1.5, and competes effectively with proprietary models across a variety of benchmarks, including language understanding, generation, multilingual capabilities, coding, mathematics, and reasoning.   The flagship model, Qwen2-72B, achieves impressive benchmark scores: 84.2 on MMLU, 37.9 on GPQA, 64.6 on HumanEval, 89.5 on GSM8K, and 82.4 on BBH. Its instruction-tuned variant, Qwen2-72B-Instruct, also shows strong performance with scores of 9.1 on MT-Bench, 48.1 on Arena-Hard, and 35.7 on LiveCodeBench. The series supports around 30 languages, including widely spoken languages such as English, Chinese, and Spanish.   To promote accessibility and innovation, the model weights for Qwen2 are available on platforms like Hugging Face and ModelScope, along with additional resources on GitHub. Built on the Transformer architecture, the series features both dense models and a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model, employing advanced techniques such as Grouped Query Attention and Dual Chunk Attention to enhance performance and extend context capabilities. The pre-training phase utilized over 7 trillion tokens, significantly boosting its coding and mathematics skills.   Post-training processes included supervised fine-tuning and reinforcement learning from human feedback, aligning the models more closely with human preferences and enhancing their instruction-following capabilities. Evaluations have shown that Qwen2 outperforms various baseline models, including Mixtral-8x22B and Llama-3-70B, in both language capabilities and instruction-tuned functionalities.  Arxiv: https://lnkd.in/gjmyAK5C

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I really enjoyed breaking in our new studio to sit down with Temporal Technologies Co-Founders Samar Abbas and Maxim Fateev for the latest episode of Founded & Funded. Temporal was founded in 2019 based on an open-source microservices orchestration engine project but is the result of a more than decade-long partnership between the two co-founders that spanned their time working on different iterations of the same thing at AWS, Microsoft, and Uber. In this episode, Samar, Maxim, and I dive into the challenges of building an open-source ecosystem while also working on a commercial offering and scaling a successful company, how to navigate and adjust a product roadmap in an ever-changing world of AI and large language models, and how to successfully build an early startup team, navigate through a CEO transition, and bring on a startups first independent board member. It's a very compelling conversation and a must-listen for every builder out there. Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gymf9sES Find other platforms and the transcript on our website: https://lnkd.in/ggRtnKtM Be sure to subscribe to our channel for more deep dives into cutting-edge technologies and the minds behind them. Don't forget to like, comment, and share this conversation if you found it valuable!

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“One ​of ​the ​promises ​of ​globalization ​was ​that ​it ​would ​create ​more ​stability ​in ​the ​world” As Tyler Goering notes in the latest episode of Orwellian Optics, we’re seeing rising instability—from wars in the Middle East to conflicts in Europe. With 70% of Americans believing things are off track, it begs the question—has globalization failed to deliver on its promise? So, all that remains to be seen is, where do we go from here? Tune in now! #ElectionUpdates2024 #ElectionCountdown #Globalization

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Customer experience (CX) is becoming a key priority for CIOs as businesses shift towards customer-centric approaches to drive success and growth. A Foundry survey of IT leaders reveals that one-third now see CX as a top priority. Bojangles'​ Restaurants, Inc. CIO Richard Del Valle exemplifies this shift, having transformed his team from infrastructure-focused to guest-focused, launching initiatives like AI-driven ordering and self-serve kiosks. These innovations enhance the customer experience while retaining the brand's authentic, high-touch identity. With increasing customer expectations for seamless interactions, CIOs are now leading digital transformations and collaborating cross-functionally to meet these demands, balancing technology upgrades with brand values. Read More: https://lnkd.in/eAdXFPnf CX Dive Rosalyn Page Branded Hospitality Ventures Hospitality Hangout Podcast #Technology #Hospitality #IT #Innovation Andrew Nieman Phil Crawford Sherif Mityas Kevin Fish Randy Gier Scott Finlow Christina Cornwell

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Elevate your networking game with our #SiliconValley VC contact list. Access 200+ #VC firms and 1800+ professionals, along with 1500 emails to help you make valuable connections. Learn more: https://payhip.com/b/eUIyc #venturecapital #startups #funding #startupfunding #startupinvestors #privateequity #founders #entrepreneurs

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The Information has breaking news of Amazon Web Services (AWS) mirroring Microsoft‘s #AI #Licensing deal with Adept. Could this be the second of many more to come as acquiring companies try to avoid the complexity and regulatory risk of Department of Justice review whilie still providing investors and employees upside and an off ramp as the cost of scaling these #AI #Unicorns really hits home? What do you think? #management #venturecapital #capitalmarkets #aifunding #privateequity https://lnkd.in/gyrQndYr

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💡 Simplify Your Oracle to AWS Migration! 💡 Generative AI automates complex tasks, reduces errors, and optimizes your migration journey. ✅ #DatabaseMigration #Automation #Efficiency #DataAccuracy #CostSavings #ResourceOptimization #AIforBusiness #DataInnovation #CloudSolutions #DataManagement https://hubs.ly/Q02XTNJy0

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Happy almost New Year 🎉 As we gear up for a fresh start in 2025, here are some thought-provoking questions to help you reflect, reset, and recharge. Let's make 2025 a year of growth, learning, and joy. Here's to new beginnings. #MSPartner #NewYearNewYou #2025Goals #FreshStart

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🔑 The Power of a Written Exercise in Interviewing Revenue Leaders 📝 Hiring the right revenue leader can make or break an organization. As we search for smart folks to drive our revenue growth at Vanta, one approach has consistently proven to be a game-changer: the written exercise. 🔍 Why a Written Exercise? Clarity of Thought: A well designed exercise reveals a candidate's ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and concisely. This skill is vital for revenue leaders who must communicate strategies across diverse teams and stakeholders. Strategic Insight: Through real-world scenarios, candidates demonstrate their strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities. This helps us gauge their approach to challenges and opportunities unique to our business. Analytical Prowess: Written exercises allow candidates to showcase their analytical skills. By dissecting data and presenting actionable insights, we can see how they drive decisions that lead to growth. Cultural Fit: How a candidate approaches a written task can also give us a glimpse into their work ethic, attention to detail, and alignment with our company values and culture. Elliot Goldwater has really nailed this practice, and it's incredible how much the exercise can swing a process towards or away from a candidate. 👥 Have you implemented written exercises in your hiring process? What has been your experience? #RevenueGrowth #Leadership #HiringTrends #Interviewing #TalentAcquisition #Strategy

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Every business has a chief culture officer in place already- they are called the CEO! As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella puts it, "I like to think that the 'C' in CEO stands for culture." Given that the CEO is being pulled in lots of different directions then the best way to understand their responsibilities and the challenges ahead is to understand the culture they have... ...this is what we do. At Cultiv8tiv we help organisations to understand the culture they have so they can build the culture they want. And when the world is changing faster than it has ever done before then you need your people on side. #culture #HR #Saas #Management #HumanResources #Leadership #Strategy #Business #Technology #values

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I am always amazed when someone discovers whitespace in B2B SaaS that is eligible for pre-seed funding. It's interesting to see that Chiratae Ventures led Pre-Seed round for Pepsales. Pepsales is trying to help B2B SaaS companies improve their sales by creating personalized product demos using AI and ML. The pain point they are trying to address is that most demos don't impress buyers because they tend to be generic and one-size-fits-all. Congrats Ajay Singh and Abhinandan Sahgal! Source: INC42, Entrackr, VCCircle #VentureCapital #B2BSaas

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