Adrian Mendoza

The (Healthcare) Ground Beneath Our Feet… This year it is likely that over $10 billion will be invested in the digital health sector – a robust amount, no doubt, but inconsequential when compared to the amount of capital tied up in healthcare real estate assets, which is estimated to be $1.2 trillion by Jones Lang Lasalle. Of that amount, approximately $790 billion is in the hospital sector while the remaining $490 billion is in medical office assets. It is estimated that there are 48.6k facilities with 3.4 billion square feet of healthcare real estate, 42% of which are owned by REITs and another 33% held by other private investment vehicles. Much of the digital health investment is meant to make the physical healthcare infrastructure more productive: greater operating efficiencies, greater patient throughput, more relevant personalized care models with better outcomes. As the healthcare system is being pushed to be more distributed to lower cost sites of care, accelerated now by the rapid proliferation of automation and AI capabilities, the potential impact on healthcare infrastructure assets will be profound. Thoughts on what that might look like... https://lnkd.in/eTfAdUbS #digitalhealth Flare Capital Partners

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Laura Esteves thoughts on the importance of bringing together a team from diverse backgrounds 📄 Perspective diversity is incredibly valuable when setting up a web3 product development team. At Subvisual, we embrace a cross-disciplinary approach to craft user-centric products - essential for widespread adoption. Blending the product designers' creative thinking with the developers' technical rigor, balanced by business-oriented guidance, we strive for excellence beyond optimal technology

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Ep. 007 of The Feedback Loop is here! It's the first half of startup pitches from New York Tech Week, and from an almost-all-AI batch of companies. Joining me on this episode: returning fan-favorite, Jenny Fielding of Everywhere Ventures! For those not familiar, every week, a guest venture investor joins me to give granular and unfiltered feedback to founders on their storytelling and their concept. It's all about helping founders construct a better narrative for their move-forward -- because across fundraising, sales, recruiting, and company-building, it's the core narrative and pitch that can often hold startups back. And Jenny currently holds the tenure jacket as my guest co-host, with this being her 4th time on stage delivering quick insights and context you just can't find anywhere else. Massive shout-out to the founders featured: Matt Shenker building MatterMore, Karl White building Wroom, Trista V. building Nunchi, and Jeremy Da building Acrylic! Relevant links below.

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Building on the success of Rocket Studio with Simon Kirby and Pivotal with Dominic Joseph we decided to merge with Impact Counsel, led by the awesomely talented John D., Erim Jones and Robert Fok earlier this year. We’ve combined our significant and complimentary skills, experience and passion for growing amazing businesses to create a new breed of VC - Creative Capital Ventures Group (CCV). Fund 1 is focused on Sports, Media & Entertainment. Joining us on this exciting journey is media titan Tom Rogers (ex CEO Tivo & CNBC). We have also assembled a mighty team of Venture Partners bringing their expertise into our team, with the legendary Harvey Goldsmith leading our Immersive Entertainment category, and Cam Blackwood (Platinum award winning record producer) and his team at Rezonate heading up Music Rights acquisition. Creative Capital Ventures is designed to disrupt traditional VC models and accelerate the growth of innovative start-ups. We’ve already secured €18 million in commitments and are raising €35 million in total to fuel the next generation of game-changing businesses. What makes CCV different? •⁠ ⁠Founder-Led Expertise: Our team comprises serial entrepreneurs and operators who have built, scaled, and exited successful companies. We know what it takes to drive rapid growth. •⁠ ⁠Speed Scaler: Through our unique venture studio model, we’re not just funding companies—we’re actively accelerating their growth, shrinking the timeline from seed to exit. •⁠ ⁠Industry Focus: CCV focuses on high-growth sectors like Sports, Media, Entertainment, and Lifestyle, with a unique emphasis on IP acquisition to drive returns in stable asset classes. If you're interested in learning more about how CCV is reshaping the venture capital landscape, let’s connect!  More updates to follow! #VentureCapital #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #Startups #ScalingFast #CreativeCapitalVentures https://lnkd.in/eiuWVtvT

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Next week is NY Tech Week, and on Wednesday, I'll be co-hosting TechWalk at 2 PM in Central Park. More details here: https://lnkd.in/eFey-aBd I look forward to connecting and chatting about the dynamic world of early-stage startup investing, go-to-market strategies, and the venture capital ecosystem. As a Venture Fellow at Fordham Angel Fund (FAF), I bring hands-on experience evaluating startups, conducting market analysis, and developing go-to-market strategies. Let's discuss founder due diligence, growth hacking techniques, and the nuances of crafting effective term sheets. I'm also passionate about discussing programs like Vencapital and Venture Cooperative that support minorities and women breaking into VC. Additionally, I'd love to share insights on content creation and storytelling from my experience hosting a YouTube podcast. If you're interested in personal branding, networking, or leveraging LinkedIn for career growth, let's connect! Join me for a walk and chat about the global business landscape, embracing diversity, and adapting to new environments. See you there! #NYTechWeek #TechWalk #Startups #VentureCapital #ContentCreation #PersonalBranding #Networking #GlobalBusiness #DiversityInVC

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Today, Two Chairs announces $72M of new funding to continue building a world where everyone has access to exceptional mental health care. Since late 2017, when Maveron led the Two Chairs Series A, the need for mental health services has grown considerably as our society has become lonelier and more isolated than ever. At the same time, our culture’s willingness to openly acknowledge these challenges is greater than ever. Sadly, the rapid growth of Two Chairs affirms the fact that our society is in desperate need of better mental health support. Two Chairs has built a business that believes clinical quality is the defining characteristic of success. Alex Katz has always emphasized the paramountcy of measurement-based clinical outcomes, which the team works tirelessly to achieve. In the process, Two Chairs has illustrated that embracing the ‘move fast and break things’ mentality doesn’t always work. Instead, Two Chairs opted for a different approach: they went slow to go fast. They built a proprietary algorithm that matches patients with the perfect therapist at the onset and hired a team of W2 clinicians oriented toward providing the highest quality care available. Even as the Two Chairs team has grown, their culture has remained small. This has enabled more intimate relationships within the team and between clients and clinicians. Reflecting on this milestone brings me back to the founding of Maveron and the values we hold dear. In 1998, my friend Howard Schultz and I founded Maveron to help entrepreneurs build companies that improve the lives of everyday people—their employees and their customers. There is perhaps no better example of this than Two Chairs. *** Thank you to TechCrunch's Marina Temkin, CFA for the great write-up. https://tcrn.ch/4aMt7yG

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📈 Curious about the startup scene in Massachusetts? Explore our detailed funding list featuring startup names, HQ locations, and investor info. Perfect for investors and entrepreneurs alike! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/dAp3xj-Q #startup #startups #venturecapital #funding #vc #managementconsulting

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And my second investment at defy is in 🐶 zeroETL puppies 🐶... I mean PuppyGraph, which is all the beauty of a graph database, none of the data migration or continuous upkeep of a graph database. Sounds like magic? So are puppies 🐶 . Puppygraph is NOT a graph or a database. It is graph analytics engine that answers graph questions on your existing data warehouses, whether that is a Databricks datalake, Google BigQuery or postgres. Compared to SQL, it's faster, handles way more complexity, scales and has almost no upkeep. How did I get to conviction? 1. Tailwinds - 🌊 Lakehouses 🌊 have helped enterprises put all their data in one place, enabling Puppygraph to unlock insights previously unavailable. - 📚 LLMs! 📚AI and RAG cannot easily traverse fragmented data. Puppygraph's Graph RAG unlocks insights with their Knowledge Graph and spoonfeeds to the LLMs. 2. 👯 Team 👯 We have graph experts from Google, LinkedIn, Databricks, Tigergraph, and Instacart who are uniquely able to build this solution. 3. 💸 Customers 💸 . My alma mater Coinbase is a proud user. The feedback from my former colleagues was off the charts! A blockchain is very much a graph database and Puppygraph tracks down fraudulent transactions that go through mixers and helps identify patterns. Huge congrats to Weimo Liu Danfeng Xu Lei Huang Zhenni Wu Gary Hagmueller, defy.vc is proud to be an investor!!

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NY Climate Tech Founders! 1) YES PLEASE save the date to join us at #techweek (6/3!), and 2) YES PLEASE share your top NY resources to complete our NY INSIDER GUIDE, in collab with NYCEDC!

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Wonderful article about Emily Knight and the whole The Engine Accelerator team on the amazing work their doing changing the world with #ToughTech!

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Startup founders, you don't have to do it alone! Apply now to join the Techstars Boston Accelerator and gain access to our extensive network! We are looking to select 12 high-growth startups to participate in our 13-week Techstars Boston accelerator program kicking off in September -- apply now or tag a founder below who you think might be a good fit!  https://lnkd.in/gbi3hAGi #startups #founders #entrepreneurs #boston 

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🗽🌳 Exciting News for NYC Tech Community! 🚀 Join us for an invigorating Venture Walk & Talk, proudly part of NY Tech Week! Scheduled for June 4th from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the scenic Maine Monument in Central Park, this unique event is hosted by Founders Committee Ventures. 🌟 Why Join Us? Imagine a relaxed stroll through the beautiful pathways of Central Park, where you can disconnect from the digital world and engage with NYC’s finest founders, angel investors, and venture capitalists. This is more than just a walk; it’s an opportunity to forge meaningful connections, share innovative ideas, and enjoy the great outdoors—all within the heart of Manhattan. ✨ Event Highlights: - Network with industry leaders and peers - Brainstorm new ideas in a refreshing setting - Enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of Central Park Whether you’re looking to collaborate on new projects, explore potential investments, or simply enjoy a break from the office routine, the Venture Walk & Talk is the perfect occasion. 👉 Registration is open but spots are limited and approval is required. Don’t miss out on this chance to be part of something special during #TechWeek. Lace up your walking shoes, grab a coffee, and let’s make strides together in the tech ecosystem! 🔗 https://lu.ma/wj9o67iy See you there for a breath of fresh innovation! #NYTechWeek #TechNetworking #StartupLife #VentureCapital

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This week on Unsupervised Learning Scott Belsky shares his thoughts on the future of creative tools with AI, how hyperpersonalization will be enabled and what humans will do amidst a sea of AI content. Scott is the founder of Behance, a creative platform sold to Adobe in 2012. He’s since gone on to take on the role of Chief Product Officer at Adobe leading design for all products across Creative Cloud, Document Cloud and the Digital Experience business. Some of my favorite takeaways from this episode👇 Everything hyperpersonalized Scott breaks down how hyper-personalization will change websites and emails, making each experience feel like a conversation. Behind the scenes, it will be not just about the data or the models but the workflows and systems that manage and optimize these interactions, ensuring they're both effective and appropriate. As brands race to deliver these personalized experiences, there's a growing need for nuanced control and creativity in content creation, highlighting the importance of human touch in a digital-heavy landscape. Craving Scarcity Scott reflects on how our craving for exclusivity extends beyond just physical goods like luxury shoes and cars, into the realm of digital products. As software becomes more commoditized, there might be a rise in distinctively human rather than AI-generated software. He uses the example of Superhuman's onboarding experience as a marker of luxury in software, emphasizing that people are willing to pay for software that offers a more personalized, premium experience. This shift underscores a broader desire for meaningful and crafted digital interactions, potentially revitalizing the role of human creativity in content creation. What comes next for Generative AI GenAI is basically a glorified assistant today in that it can handle searches and answer questions. The next phase will come when AI can perform tasks, simplifying creative processes in software like Photoshop, allowing users to breeze through tasks with minimal effort. The tier after that is proactively pushing users to explore creative avenues they hadn’t considered, which could significantly enhance problem-solving and innovation. An amazing conversation with one of the most prolific design-thinkers of our time. Thanks again to Scott for coming on and hope you enjoy! YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gggJX48v Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3KFqG5Y Apple: https://apple.co/3VBzyzG

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Want a front-row seat to the frontier of tech? We’ve got the role (or two) for you! We’re expanding our frontier-tech team at Blackbird by hiring a Frontier Tech Investments Associate and Foundry Fellows! Got questions? We've got answers... 1️⃣ What are the roles? 🧪 Associate = a full-time VC investment gig in our Blackbird Investments team, working directly with me. We’re looking for someone with a science and/or engineering background and more curiosity than they can handle. You’ll grow your own investment brand and practice, support our portfolio founders, and will help build Foundry, our early-stage frontier-tech accelerator. ✨ Foundry Fellow = a casual/contract gig in our Blackbird Investments team, ~15h per week for 3 months. The Fellowship is ideal for PhD students and ECRs who want to learn more about startups and VC. You’ll go deep on emerging areas relevant to your expertise (or curiosity!), get a front-row seat to groundbreaking companies in those areas, build out your non-academic network, and develop a solid writing practice. 2️⃣ Why are you hiring? We love frontier tech, and we’re ready to grow our team. 3️⃣ Wow, it’s so great that you’re starting to look at deep tech! Look, we get it: we don’t make a lot of noise about our frontier tech investing. Buuuut we’ve been deep-tech investors since we backed Tim Kentley-Klay to found Zoox back in 2014—we’ve been on incredible journeys with PsiQuantum (building the world's first utility-scale quantum computer right here in Australia!), Inventia Life Science (transforming drug discovery with high-fidelity cell models), Remedy Robotics (surgical robots for remote endovascular procedures), Opto Biosystems (minimally-invasive neural implants to treat cancer), and more. We believe that frontier technologies, and great frontier-tech investing, will be part of the solutions to the greatest problems humanity faces today. 4️⃣ When do applications close? May 31st at 11:59pm AEST. 5️⃣ I have more questions! I’m sure you do! Clare Birch and I are hosting an AMA to answer any and all questions about these roles. Want to know what a week in the life of our team looks like? What’s keeping us up at night? What our ideal candidate looks like? Come along and find out - registration link in the comments 👇 Apply for these roles: Associate - https://lnkd.in/gCfj4EUJ Foundry Fellowships - https://lnkd.in/gj6ATZVZ If you know anyone that we should meet, send me their details! Cameron Elise Ben Andrew Robin Joseph Adelaide James Olivia Lucinda Raghav Jesse Christie Mohamed Tom Amee Pablo Haya Loong Hon Joshua Benjamin Megan Harry Denzil Matthew Diana Daniel Tom Deanna Justin Amar Lilly Stone Thomas

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An underutilized but so! critical step that too many founders completely forego. That discovery totally blew my mind when I started digging deep in the venture space. (It also meant that my research process of (in)validation was giving our founders and the studio such a competitive advantage 💪🏽.) one day I’ll have a whole preso on this but for now… Check out the workshop 👇 and use research to your advantage.

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Today marks a groundbreaking moment for BLCK VC and our fellow collaborators—Diversity VC, All Raise, 2Gether-International, SomosVC, StartOut, and VetsinTech—as we proudly announce the launch of the Diversity Data Alliance. This important alliance underscores our unwavering commitment to nurturing a venture capital and entrepreneurial ecosystem abundant in equity and inclusiveness. By standardizing and linking our data, we empower ourselves with the essential tools to track deeper trends that have, until now, eluded us to identify and fill funding gaps for historically excluded investors, founders, and operators. We can’t change what we do not measure, and now with the Diversity Data Alliance, we're now equipped to do both. Join us in this mission. Learn more and get involved: https://lnkd.in/eEZKdrac #DiversityDataAlliance #BLCKVC #VentureCapital #MeasureToChange

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These VC firms have fresh capital and are eager to deploy. 🔴 Olivia Wilde launched her new VC firm, Proximity Ventures, with Neil Sirni, Jason Mack, and Santi White. The firm expects to hold a close next month and will invest in consumer and enterprise sectors. 🔴 Greenwich based Tamarack Global closed its $72M Opportunities II fund to focus on energy transition, defense-tech, the space economy, robotics & automation, AI, and more. 🔴 New York based BBG Ventures raised a $60M fund to support diverse founders. 🔴 Los Angeles based MaC Venture Capital raised its third $150M fund to back diverse founders and industries such as aerospace, enterprise software, fintech, health tech, and defense, among others. 🔴 Lisbon based Faber closed its €31 million Faber Tech III fund to support early stage innovation in Southern Europe. 🔴 Chicago based Listen Ventures is planning to raise $75M for its fourth fund to back consumer-obsessed founders building brands at the tipping point of behavior shifts. 🔴 Mumbai based Inflexor Ventures closed its first ₹350 crore Opportunities Fund to support its existing portfolio companies. 🔴 France based Axeleo Capital closed its new €125M greentech fund. 🔴 Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) partnered with venture capital firm Walden International to establish a new VC fund, Nanyang Frontier Fund. The fund is looking to raise $37.9M to back deep tech spin-offs from the university.

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Impactful Biz, Ops & Investment Roles at Early Startups & VCs: • Chief of Staff to Ex. Head of Product at Google • Founding GTM at the most YC product used by other YC companies in the past four years • Chief of Staff to a Partner at a Top-Tier VC Fund • Head of Platform of a NY State Backed Accelerator • Investment Associate at a Seed Stage Fund Investing in Category-Defining Companies • Partner at a Defense-Focused VC Fund • Chief Revenue Officer of a New Space Company in El Segundo • Venture Capital Analyst at a fund investing in overlooked geographies • Investment Associate at a Spirit-Focused Fund • Strategy & Ops Lead at a Company Focused on Helping Improve Autism • Senior Product Manager at a Company Focused on Building Shopify for Content Creators • Program Manager for a Space Security Company • Open-ended Investment Position at a Top-Tier Accelerator • Biz & Ops Lead for One of the Most Loved Digital Consumer Products 💸 All companies are well-funded and backed by top-tier investors. ⬇ You can find links to the roles above, plus many more, in the comments.

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