evan buhler

If you are a startup raising capital, particularly in Utah, try to have a consultation with Tim Nielsen re: strategy. This recent post will give you some flavor. Think: which KPIs truly drive business success, and therefore funder interest. I would add an emphasis on aligning metrics with growth stages and strategic priorities. This resonates with my experience that the most valuable KPIs often evolve as a startup progresses. And it's crucial to regularly reassess and adjust your KPIs. What's critical at one stage may become less relevant as the business evolves. For instance, a B2B SaaS startup might initially focus on user acquisition, but later shift towards measuring customer lifetime value or net revenue retention as the product matures.

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Summary: Keith Rabois, managing director of Khosla Ventures, is on a mission to turn Miami into the next Silicon Valley and has been actively promoting the city as a tech hub. Despite some challenges and opposition, Rabois remains optimistic about Miami's potential and the growth of its tech ecosystem. Key takeaways: Keith Rabois is determined to make Miami the next Silicon Valley and has seen progress with a growing number of seed investments in the city. Khosla Ventures, where Rabois works, has made multiple investments in Miami, including one into a startup aiming to "reinvent education." Rabois continues to split his time between Miami and San Francisco, but believes that Miami offers a better quality of life and potential for building a thriving tech community. Counter arguments: Some big name investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, have pulled out of Miami, suggesting that the city does not offer the same opportunities as other established tech hubs. Miami still has a relatively small share of total U.S. seed investments (2.6%-3.5%) which may indicate a lack of resources and opportunities compared to other cities. #venturecapital

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Today's Boring Biz (# 98): Pirate Ship Party Boat Tour - $4.0M Revenue - $3.5M Cashflow - $2.9M Ask Price - 0.8x Multiple - Baja California (Mexico) Note: We do not represent this deal, highlighting for informational purposes only for viewers What does the company do? 1. Pirate ship party tours 2. Themed entertainment experiences 3. Alcohol + merchandise sales Investment highlights 1. Exclusive liquor license to sell off dock 2. Equipment: 2x large ships + 1x speed boat 3. Seller ran similar business 1990 - 2013, longtime operator Investment risks/concerns 1. Owner dependency risk 2. Vulnerability to Mexico tourism laws 3. Owner health issues/ fire sale #SMB #ETA #finance #Cashflow #investing #search #searchfund #privateequity #microprivateequity #smallbusiness #venturecapital #vc #entrepreneur #business #businessowner #pirate #ship #party #boat #mexico 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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Spot on David...each security/offering has to be structured for each issuer/timing/maturity.....certainly not early stage; BUT for growth co's that have major milestones....results.....clinicals.....FDA approval.....product rollout/market traction in 12 18 months, debentures can bridge need to IPO or Corporate or VC larger round. No ONE size fits all for sure............

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🚨🚨HOT TAKE ALERT 🚨🚨 “As a startup, we need as much cash flow as possible. Pour gas on the fire. Get as much revenue as possible.” This is a common thing we hear from startup founders early on. In a lot of ways, they’re not wrong; more revenue gives you more cash to grow, and it's an important metric that investors look at. 💰 🤔 🔍 But sometimes, there’s more to consider than just “get money!” 🤑 When you get a contract offer with a big client or customer, it can be tempting to sign off and just watch the cash roll in. 💸💸 But sometimes that revenue comes with strings. 🎣 Specifically what you want to look out for is the urge to specialize your product/services to custom fit just that big company. 😔The problem is, you don’t just want one big customer—you want a bunch of customers, big and small. 🚀🚀 That’s the only way to sustain growth. 🌱 You don’t want to become a factory for just one client. So sometimes, you have to say no. 😔 It hurts, but sometimes it’s the smart thing to do! 🤓☝️ You never want to enter into a contract you can’t hold up or promise services to a client that you won’t be able to fulfill… and you should never sacrifice a good product and smart business plan in order to chase the green. 🌟 #MatthewGlickLegalServices #StartupAttorney #CorporateAttorney #TechStartupLawyer #DealFramework #BusinessNegotiation #LegalTerms #FreeLegalAdvice #Revenue #CashFlow

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Good morning from sunny Silicon Valley! I recently read this article from The Wall Street Journal that breaks down how the slowdown in IPOs has led to an important shift in VC exits. With 2024 IPOs still below typical levels, more VCs and mature startups are turning to PE as an alternative exit path. Here are some key trends: 🔹As of Q3, tech made up over 28% of PE deal value. This increase reflects PE firms prioritizing stable, revenue-generating companies to take to the next level. Software and subscription models are top targets, as well as AI-related infrastructure. 🔹The high valuations from 2021’s boom have reset, with many tech companies now in the revenue multiple range of 6-12x. 🔹As companies stay private longer, there’s increasing pressure from investors eager to exit. For some, a PE deal is more appealing than waiting indefinitely for a potential IPO. While PE can offer liquidity, it doesn’t always match the returns of an IPO, and there are concerns about potential cost-cutting and delayed re-entry into public markets. This shift in turn leads to a shift in venture-backed exits. Check out the article here for more - https://lnkd.in/gP8q_FS6 #mergersandacquisitions #privateequity #startups #vc #innovation #venturecapital #foleyforward #garage2global Foley & Lardner LLP

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Really enjoyed this article from First Round Capital, Irene Liu and Hypergrowth GC! It's great to see leaders in the VC community educating founders on how to work w/ attorneys. A quick summary of the takeaways for early-stage startup founders: ▶ Legal advice should be user-friendly. 👋 “Contrary to popular belief, lawyers can and should be able to have a conversation with you about your business in plain English ... If you are leaving the initial call feeling confused or misunderstood, that’s not on you. That’s a red flag that this lawyer and firm isn’t going to communicate with you in the way you need. If that’s the case, then walk away and find another firm that can communicate clearly with you." ▶ Your attorney should understand your business, product and vision. 🧠 “A good business lawyer should be taking the time to listen to deeply understand you and your business — which means asking you questions ... "If they are rushing you off the phone, or even worse — refusing to hop on a call at all, nix them.” ▶ It's your job, as a founder, to take control of the relationship. 💪 You can manage legal costs and get clearer, faster advice by: (i) being clear about the deliverables you expect (ie, "never ask for written memos"); (ii) setting budgets on time spent on a task (ie, "please let us know your progress and pause on further work once you've billed 5 hours); and (iii) sending your lawyer context ahead of time before asking abstract questions that may cause confusion. A savvy attorney will pre-empt these issues, aligning on deliverables up-front, clarifying timelines and asking for context at every step. Feel free to tag someone who could benefit from reading this article below. 🔌 (Relevant links in comments)

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Founders, it's time for another round of "Where Are You?" This time, we're focusing on equity dilution across funding rounds. And this will inform you on how much equity should you have retained by the time you get that exit you’re dreaming of. Check out this chart from Carta, based on data from 1,229 primary priced equity rounds in the US in 2023: The chart shows median equity given to investors and distribution of dilution percentages across Seed, Series A, B, C, and D rounds. I'm curious founders, and you don't need to answer this obviously, but where are you in this journey? Are these numbers surprising to you? Remember, dilution is a natural part of growth. It's not about keeping 100% of a small pie, but rather a meaningful slice of a much larger one. A reasonable and customary slice that is. Question for the community: How does this data align with your experiences? Has your dilution journey been similar or different? #StartupFunding #EquityDilution #VentureCapital #FounderJourney Data source: Carta (https://z.carta.com/data)

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As an entrepreneur, I led Clearwell Systems -- a legal-tech company -- from $0 to $100m in ARR in 6 years. Then as an investor at Sequoia and Bain, I ignored legaltech for 10 years. That changed with EvenUp: we invested in its Series B last year, and today Bain Capital Ventures is doubling down by leading EvenUp's $135m Series D. Why? Quite simply, strategy, team, and market. Strategy: EvenUp is building the operating system for personal injury (PI) law. It started by using gen AI to create demand letters, which drive PI firm revenue. Today, it's announcing 4 new products to fully manage PI workflows -- everything from organizing medical bills and reports in a neat chronology, to reporting and analytics on case status. This approach of using gen AI to give PI lawyers super-powers is transforming the industry. Team: Rami Karabibar, Raymond Mieszaniec, and Saam Mashhad have shown the most important trait in successful founders -- the ability to grow with the opportunity. It's a big challenge: when a company grows revenue ~10x in 2 years, the founders' roles are continually changing. Rami, Ray and Saam have dealt with this masterfully, recruiting a strong team of leaders around themselves. Andy Ravreby, Brion O'Connor, Kallol Das, Sam Stone, Sean Twersky, Samantha Trudo and William H have brought order to chaos and scaled a culture of execution. Market: Gen AI transforms legal-tech from a small market to a big one: software can now do the legal work previously done by humans. Within that, PI law is a particularly large and compelling vertical. PI firms work on contingency, so EvenUp drives revenue and doesn't take away billable hours. They're typically small businesses, which are chronically understaffed. PI lawyers are extroverts -- they're easy to find and open to new ideas. For all these reasons, we see EvenUp as one of the first gen AI companies to truly scale and transform an industry vertical. We're thrilled to support that journey alongside our friends and co-investors Sameer Dholakia at Bessemer Venture Partners, Raviraj Jain and Sebastian Duesterhoeft at Lightspeed, Sandesh Patnam at Premji Invest - US and Wayne Hu at SignalFire. More below from Katie Roof at Bloomberg News.

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#ObsessivelyEnthusiasticInvestor #UnreasonablyEnthusiasticInvestor #IrrationallyEnthusiasticInvestor at REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund. We look for the people we believe are doing the best work in Industrial Transformation & Supply Chain Technology; Attempting the impossible. Then we go all-in on them. With obsessive and unreasonable enthusiasm. Join us. #IndustrialTransformation #SupplyChain #Innovation #Technology #Startups #VentureCapital #DemandTheImpossible #UnreasonableEnthusiasm #ObsessiveEnthusiasm #IrrationalEnthusiasm

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Great summary of the differences.

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This brilliantly summarizes my experience with raising capital.

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Do you know a great comp & benefit lawyer? Ideally, ex-big law so my startup clients do not need to sacrifice a leg and an arm for high-quality advice. Those folks at big law charge over $1.4k an hour; it's just crazy. There must be an alternative. #startuplawyer #startupfounder

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"𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Funds in the 2022 vintage have deployed about 43% of their committed capital at the 24 month mark, the lowest share of any analyzed vintage. Prior vintages ranged from 47%-60% after 24 months." If you want some basis for optimism in 2025 and 2026 for early stage ventures this may be it. The reduction in deployment likely reflects a combination of increased reserves for follow-on and increased investment selectivity. However, venture funds typically have 5 year active investment periods, after which they can only do follow-on investing. Many 2021 and increasingly 2022 funds are going to enter into the final 18 months of that period shortly. For many funds this will be a use it or lose it period. Among other things, the deployment during this period will often impact management fees for the balance of the fund life. I would not be surprised to see a significant increase in new investments by funds with one eye on the calendar. That may require a loosening of the standards.

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Billionaire Family Office Investments :🚀 Laurene Powell Jobs' AI Investment Surge - A New Era in Tech Philanthropy 🤖 Exciting news in the world of AI and philanthropy. Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective is making waves with its strategic investments in AI startups. Key highlights: • 9+ AI-related startup investments since 2022 • Global portfolio spanning medical, image analysis, and education tech • Participation in funding rounds totaling over $1 billion • Investment in Jony Ive and Sam Altman's new AI device venture This trend aligns with the broader shift in family office investments, with 78% planning to invest in AI in the near future. #AI #TechInvestment #Philanthropy #Innovation

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I'm excited to share that Antalpha Ventures has invested in the $17M funding rounds of Renzo Protocol, a Liquid Restaking Token (LRT) and Strategy Manager for Eigen Labs. The funding rounds were led by industry-leading funds Galaxy and Brevan Howard Digital, with participation from Maven 11, Figment Capital, Protagonist, SevenX Ventures, Karatage, Bankless Ventures, 280 Capital, hermeneutic Investments, Consensys, and L2 Iterative Venture (L2IV). Renzo Protocol is a liquid derivative platform built on Eigen Labs that serves as an interface to the EigenLayer ecosystem. It secures Actively Validated Services (AVSs) and offers higher yields than traditional ETH staking. The platform is designed to simplify the process of Ethereum restaking, making it more accessible and potentially more profitable for users while navigating the complexities of multiple AVS combinations. For more information about the fundraiser and vision, including quotes from Lucas Kozinski, Co-Founder of Renzo Protocol, please refer to Margaux Nijkerk's CoinDesk article below. #Renzo #Restaking #Staking #Ethereum #Fundraising

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Apply for a $100K Investment at Ganas Ventures Hey! Summer's here, and we're turning up the heat at Ganas Ventures with $100K investments in community-driven startups across the US and Latin America! Send a DM or just fill out this short form: https://bit.ly/45o1WbO What do we mean by "community-driven"? Think of startups that are: Laser-focused on specific niches (like Zocalo for Latino healthcare). Leveraging their communities for growth (like LATAMs Latitud). Building thriving online spaces — like WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, or their own apps — where members connect, share ideas, and empower each other to succeed. If any of this resonates with you, we should definitely talk. Our sweet spot is: Pre-seed and seed-stage startups Delaware C Corps or Cayman Islands Holding Co x Delaware LLCs ≦ $10M valuation and fundraising for 24 months of runway Teams based in the US or Latin America Not investing in physical products.

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We worked with a Fintech Startup recently. Now this is a space that I wasn't too familiar with, but I am starting to love it. Mainly because it focuses a lot on "tech". And tech is always cool. Now for every fintech startup, there's 1 main thing that's important. How you handle the sensitive financial data. Now contracts you use must address the data protection and privacy obligations. Let's say, your fintech startup handles sensitive information, like customer bank details and personal information. Now you need to have rules in place to protect it. For e.g., encryption and security protocols that keep this information safe and make sure only authorized people can access it. Because if someone gets unauthorized access to this sensitive information, it can harm your customers. And damage your reputation. Customers won’t trust you anymore, and you could face legal penalties. So treat data like a gold mine. But the overall lesson I have for you is: Always make sure you treat the trust your customers put in you with respect. Don't do things that might give you short-term growth, but in the long term bite you in the back. Because a good startup always grows with transparency and trust of its customers. So don't rush things. Do things with good intentions. -- ✍️ Do you also do things with intention? 📌 Grab my 6 Steps on how I protect the Money, Time, and Business of my clients (For Free) -> https://lnkd.in/gZTzu4-M #Startups #Founders #Contract #Law #Business

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Millennial founder David W. Riggs of Pneuma recalls the pivotal moment he checked his company's books and realized they'd crossed the million-dollar ARR rate three months earlier without much effort! This milestone sparked a major shift in his approach: "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯. 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴…." Check out the BizMafia episode to learn how David turned his passion into a thriving business and his advice for budding entrepreneurs who might be on the brink of unexpected success. 👇 Bryan Taylor #entrepreneurship #startups #wherebusinessgetsmade

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