Benjamin Malka

One of the most common struggles for aspiring fund managers -- current cash flow. Many fund managers are struggling in the short term to produce cash flow for their business. In a typical structure, fund managers (specifically referring to folks who leverage SPVs to invest into specific deals or funds) -- may earn 1-2% upfront as an acquisition fee and earn the rest of their compensation in a profit sharing split once the preferred return to investors is achieved. Most real estate projects today are either not achieving their preferred return in cash flow or may not achieve this bench mark for the first three, four or even five years -- at this point, there may also be accrued preferred return that would have to be caught up. As a fund manager, what other asset classes are you evaluating to help increase cash flow for both your investors AND yourself? Personally, we are diving deep into buying and operating businesses that potential to conservatively achieve 20%+ cash on cash returns.

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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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California’s Assembly Bill 3219 which targets private equity groups and hedge funds that directly or indirectly acquire a material amount of, or establish a change in governance or sharing of control over, health care assets, including partnerships and joint ventures, is closer to becoming law following the State Assembly’s May 22, 2024 passage of the pending legislation. The legislation is currently being considered by the California State Senate, where approval must be obtained prior to the end of the legislative session in August if it is to be enacted into law in 2024. The bill defines “health care facility” to include any “nonprofit or for-profit corporation, institution, clinic, place, or building where health-related physician, surgery, or laboratory services are provided,” such as inpatient and outpatient centers, long-term care facilities, and labs. Covered provider groups include all groups of 10 or more licensed health professionals (LHPs) or groups of 2-9 LHPs with $10 million or more in annual revenue. Private equity groups and hedge funds that enter into an otherwise covered transaction with providers consisting of 2-9 LHPs that earn between $4 and $10 million in annual revenue would be required to notify the Attorney General, but the transaction is not subject to approval. The same is true for groups of 2 or more nonphysician LHPs that earn more than $4 million annually. The proposed legislation has serious implications on the use of the contracting structure that many private equity groups utilize to carry out investments while navigating California’s prohibition on the corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) - the “Friendly PC-MSO Model”. This model involves a private equity or lay person-controlled management services organization (MSO) contracting to perform administrative services for a health care practice in return for a management fee, while also having certain rights regarding the ability to designate successor ownership of the practice upon the occurrence of certain triggering events. As currently drafted, the bill could render the Friendly PC-MSO Model unviable or more difficult to employ by prohibiting any physician practice from contracting with any entity controlled “by a private equity group or hedge fund in which that private equity group or hedge fund manages any of the affairs of the physician practice in exchange for a fee.” Disclaimer: This LinkedIn post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, legal or accounting advice nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities. #healthcare #dentistry #privateequity #mergersandacquisitions #law

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Well-written and sourced article describing what's going in seed-stage venture market. At 9point8 Collective we tend to orbit the seed-stage (both ideating and developing companies to reach seed and helping post-seed companies refactor and scale in anticipation of A) and for many companies it's a critical inflection point which determines their long term success or failure. The main takeaways I was able to gather: 1️⃣ Many startups that raised seed rounds in 2021-2022 are struggling to secure Series A funding due to tighter market conditions and increased investor expectations. 2️⃣ Seed investors are becoming more cautious, leading to longer diligence processes and a preference for startups with strong traction or experienced founders. As a result, valuations have stayed relatively high even as deal flow reduces. 3️⃣ Startups are adopting various strategies to navigate this challenging environment, including cutting costs, raising bridge rounds or convertible notes, and M&A/acqui-hires. 4️⃣ Despite the challenges, there are opportunities for both startups and investors in this new landscape, particularly for those who can adapt to the changing market conditions. Investors are accumulating dry powder -- and with rates on the decline -- will be looking to deploy into companies with stronger fundamentals than their 2021-2022 counterparts.

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This is quite interesting advice and also quite a non-consensus view in the B2B software world. Cross-border founders who are considering the US vs International incorporation question should consider this as valuable input.

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The Wall Street Journal has an incredibly insightful op-ed from Paul Ryan (Political Office of Speaker Paul D. Ryan (WI-01)). Normally you hear #crypto advocates in terms of why it is a more stable store of value than even the formerly defacto standard of the United States Dollar. Obviously post FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried that idea held no standing. Of note though given the Former Speaker of the House's apporach is demonstrating sound financial and economic arguments highlighting facts about Saudi Arabia and China's postions and numbers one and two of our own foreign debt is that both are showing less appetites for our own dollars. Therefore, in terms of international competitiveness and national defense, adopting this standard could help increase our competitiveness and that of our country domestically and internationally. What do you think? #management #venturecapital #privateequity #capitalmarkets #cryptocurrencies

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Here’s a question investors are often asked: When evaluating early stage companies, how much time do you spend on due diligence around future exits? It’s not surprising we hear this question a lot. Also not surprising: it’s got a wide range of answers depending on the firm. Some don’t spend much time here at all. Others make it a point to put meaningful time in as part of their process. Our current thinking: take the time to do the work on public market comps. At Alpaca VC, we spend significant time understanding how public market investors will  realistically value a business based on margin profile, product, business model & TAM. In short, we want to know: how will this company be valued at scale when we get taken out? Yes, we can acknowledge that the journey toward exit is a windy road and that there may be pivots along the way, but there are still public market companies that have a business model similar to the early stage company you're evaluating. And you can always look at gross profit multiples if you think the margin profile will change over time. So we still do the work on the comps. Quantitative metrics we look at when making the comparison to public market comps include EBITDA multiple, revenue multiple, Gross Profit multiple or all of the above. As part of this process, it’s also important to factor in the public market company’s year-over-year revenue growth as this will also significantly impact the multiple it trades at. Simple example: if you have two public market companies with similar business models and similar margin profiles, but one's growing 100% year over year, and one's growing 50% year over year, then obviously the DCF (discounted cash flow) analysis is going to spit out a very different valuation for the one that's growing faster. Why this matters: When you take all of that information into account as you evaluate an early stage business, you can begin to create a realistic picture of how this company will be valued in the public markets at exit - or how an acquirer will value the company for an acquisition. Strategic acquirers may, of course, pay a premium, but we won’t underwrite for that. This allows us, for example, to form conviction around valuation based on revenue and gross profit predictions. If we think they can do $100M of revenue five years from now, we use this diligence process to form a thesis about whether the characteristics above (product, margin, business model, etc.) will cause the company to be valued at $200M vs. $500M vs. $1B at exit. Curious how other early stage investors think about underwriting an exit and how much time they’re spending on public market comps even though these companies are in their infancy.

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What are the alternatives to shadow bookkeeping? Shadow bookkeeping is both costly and inconvenient, yet many firms resort to it to ensure they have reliable fund admin data. Holland Mountain's ATLAS Fund Admin Oversight solution offers Private Capital firms a way to regain control of their data with a continuous data feed from their Fund Admin with automated data reconciliation.   Our solution ensures firms have both control and confidence in the data managed by their fund administrator, eliminating the need for shadow bookkeeping. How does it work? Our solution helps Private Capital firms have: ▶ Real-time access to data held by your fund administrators ▶ Full audit history capabilities ▶ Automated data reconciliation, far beyond a simple data warehouse ▶ Enrich data with additional attributes from other systems ▶ Self-service access to crucial data for all who need it If you want to know more about our solution, visit our website or schedule a demo with our team to see it in action. 👉 https://lnkd.in/e7FtUWuU Harpreet Lakhan | Holland Mountain | PE Stack by Holland Mountain #privateequity #privatemarkets #data

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💰Sharing a List of 80 Black-led VC funds (US based): About this list: I realized that I couldn’t find a current list of Black-led funds as of 2024 when a lot of new funds have launched over the last couple of years including GPs Sydney Paige Thomas, Terri Burns and more. I have been gathering a list of these funds in my network, and that I could find publicly over time so wanted to share with the ecosystem. Only 2% of VC funds are Black-led: I found 80 funds (maybe there’s more!). There are 3,417 VC firms in the US (according to NVCA). Founders - These funds invest from pre-seed through growth, some with a focus on diverse founders, others more broadly. ⅔ of them have OPEN funding applications that I’ve linked in the sheet. LPs - As mentioned, a number of these funds might not be in the databases used for tracking, so hope to get some more Black-led funds on your radar! VCs - maybe there are some funds you should get to know for deal sharing, etc 👉🏾Link to full list here: https://lnkd.in/gktBhY-W

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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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Within the venture industry, illiquidity in is sometimes viewed as a feature rather than a bug, as it protects investors from selling at the worst times (which as seen throughout history is commonplace in the public markets). However there are limits, and the problem of illiquidity will have to be solved in a more systematic way. LP driven secondaries are inefficient and opaque, large M&A comes with major regulatory hurdles, selling in traditional secondary rounds is limited given the focus on efficiency and the departure of crossover funds, and the IPO bar is expected to remain very high (don't see <$1B market cap IPOs). Meghan Reynolds and I talked a few weeks ago about this (see link in comments) as has Mark Suster in many recent pods. Agree that over the next decade, we should see more of the following to solve for the liquidity problem. 1) PE funds serving as an exit for VC backed companies, meaning companies that are near or at EBITDA positive. 2) Continuation funds that provide LPs with an option to rollover or get liquid (single asset or all assets). I'm spending a lot of time here. 3) A more efficient liquidity marketplace for LP sales/buys. 4) Strip sale of a set of assets. Planning a special roundtable pod with some secondary and primary managers to discuss the growing liquidity problem in VC.

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LP Tip #17 out of #50: Access isn’t achievable overnight. ➡️ Are you able to prove to an LP that you have unique and/or preferential access to deals? Almost everyone that pitches me a fund tells me they have access to unique deal flow given their networks. It is easy to say that but unfortunately not true for the majority of people that say it during pitches. Why? It can take years to build access. Furthermore, the strongest networks you have today should be helpful to source the types of deals your fund will invest in today. I often see first time managers have an interesting thesis but lack the established networks to source well so they have to spend time building a network while raising the fund which puts them at a disadvantage. My expectation is that you have those strong networks in place already. Below are four areas I think about when I am trying to better learn about your access. 1️⃣ In the Know:  Do you see or know about every deal in your area of focus? This assumes that you have a tight thesis and clarity on the type of founder you are looking to invest in. If you don’t know about a deal why didn’t you see it? Are you the first call for an operator about to start a company? 2️⃣ Depth and Strength of Network in Focus Area/s:  What are your personal and professional networks? What is the quality of the network in the area you are investing in? For example, do you know the most successful founders, operators, industry experts, angels, or investors in your target area? Are they sending you dealflow versus just being supportive? Are any of them seeking you out because you have some unique insight via research you published or community you built? How have these networks helped you secure access or support your founders? 3️⃣ Downstream Signal: Are you top of mind for downstream investors? Are you a signal for downstream investors? For example, if you are a seed investor are Series A investors in your area of focus knocking down your door for your deal flow? If not yet, what could you do in order to make that happen? 4️⃣ Ability to Expand Network:  Networks take time to build but they also need to grow and can evolve. Can you continue to build upon your network? 

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Argon Ventures is thrilled to back Joshua Summers and Scott Weller with the launch of EnFi, Inc. Radical productivity is a core Argon investment theme and EnFi’s vision is centered squarely on than objective. One of Joshua and Scott’s foundational insights is that capital is often not the limiting factor to banking services, especially in commercial lending. Credit risk analysis, underwriting and portfolio management still requires a ton of manual work and analysis. A lender’s capacity to offer loans is often constrained by its ability to gather and evaluate relevant data through the underwriting process. Data is limited, raw and in disparate places. Data quality is a constant issue. Extracting actionable intelligence from unstructured documents and raw data is time consuming and error prone. Many lenders’ ability to generate revenue and profit from underwriting activities is severely throttled by these challenges. Today, the modern AI stack finally unlocks the capabilities to reduce if not eliminate much of this friction. In addition, EnFi brings a transformational approach to portfolio management . Today, underwriting risk is most often only re-evaluated a couple of times per year. But a company’s business is actually built on a continuous stream of operational and financial data… Why not provide institutional and private lenders with daily insights through automated analysis? Grounded in these insights, EnFi’s innovative approach to Continual Risk Analysis enhances decision-making and risk management. These are very logical, market driven reasons to invest in EnFi. But of course the first reason we were excited was the opportunity to work with Joshua and Scott. There are many accolades to share about their previous founder and executive leadership and the professional successes they have achieved. But more importantly they are fundamentally good people, with creative insights and the ambition to work on big problems. Learn more in Axios’s coverage of EnFi’s $7.5MM seed round. And it goes without saying, that it will be fun working with our friends at Unusual Ventures, Boston Seed Capital and Impellent Ventures. #Fintech #AI #Lending #CreditRiskManagement #Innovation

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LP Tip #8 of #50: Your LP base should match your fund size. We are back with our regular programming. ➡️ Opinions are always my own and based on my experience.  ➡️ My focus for this post is on sub $200.0M funds. ➡️ The $ amounts I state below are guideposts never absolute rules.  ➡️ Some LPs want to have a certain % of the fund and size their investments in this way; others have set check sizes irrespective of fund size. I continue to be surprised at how much time new GPs waste with LPs that are unlikely to invest. I urge managers to better qualify LP leads and be extremely judicious with how they manage their time. In my experience there are 6 LP types that I consistently come across. See below. ▶️ Non- Institutional LPs:  1️⃣ High net worth individuals (HNWI) - There are different tiers of HNWI but assume that this is someone with at least $1.0M in net worth in liquid assets. In my experience they are the fastest to close and conduct limited diligence. I often see them investing $100K - $500K checks in funds. It is possible for a fund manager to close a $5.0M fund on entirely HNWIs. 2️⃣ Family Office - There are different types of family offices. For simplicity sake let us assume that this is a single-family office with an investment team and a set venture allocation. Keep in mind that family offices are hard to find because they do not want to be found. Typically, you find these via referrals from other GPs or your current LPs. I often see <=$50.0M funds composed of HNWI and family office LPs. I have seen a range of investment checks form family offices. 3️⃣ Corporate - I include banks in this category. Due to the market downturn these entities either halted or slowed pacing. In my experience I have seen corporates invest anywhere from $500K - $10.0M checks. This type of LP is often present in sub < $100M funds. ▶️ Institutional LPs:   4️⃣ Fund of Funds (FoFs) - Unlike the other LP types, FoFs need to raise from LPs. I have seen FoFs invest in fund sizes across the spectrum. Depending on the FoF they can invest in funds as small as $15.0M. 5️⃣ Foundations -  These are often investing to align with their mission. I would spend time understanding how you complement their programmatic work. I have seen foundations invest in $45.0M funds and above.  6️⃣ University Endowments - Endowments is where most new GPs waste time. It is important to ask if the university has an emerging manager program upfront. I have seen emerging manager programs invest in small funds ($25.0M - $65.0M). It also helps if the GP was an active alum of the university or had some unique relationship to the university.  If there is no emerging manager program I am often told that there should be a fund target on the low-end of anywhere b/w $150.0M - $200.0M to be considered.

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On Friday, major indexes barely budged, with tech stocks like Nvidia and Apple dipping, but consumer staples like Amazon rising. Data showed improving business conditions, which confused investors who had seen a weak economy earlier in the week. In global markets, the dollar surged as business growth in the Eurozone slowed down. BTC continued its drop, hitting 63.5K, with ETH settling at 3.5K. Consequently, the crypto market was in the red, with the largest market cap coins sliding by about 2%. #crypto #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #exchange #assets #investing #cryptonews #market #trading #blockchain #ethereum #token #analytics #Markets #Finance #Economy #Business #Evernomics #Svetrating Read the full text: https://lnkd.in/gzycch9r

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The bankruptcy of Synapse, where $100 million of customer funds is missing, raises serious concerns about bank-fintech partnerships and the need for rigorous due diligence. This situation underscores the immediate need for banks to reassess their partnerships and prioritize consumer protection. Stricter regulations and enhanced oversight could become the norm, ensuring only fintechs that can withstand scrutiny will thrive in the financial ecosystem. #Fintech #AI

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VC Market Update: Riding Out the Post-Boom Bumps. 2021's high-flying valuations and growth have given way to a more complex reality. With longer private timelines, tough exit markets, and capital tightness, startups face unique challenges—but also fresh opportunities. For those navigating today’s VC landscape, strategic planning is key. Whether it's balancing growth with capital efficiency or exploring secondaries smartly, there’s a path forward. And with boosts from AI and future rate cuts, brighter days could be ahead!

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One of the highest compliments we can give a founder is calling them a “heat-seeking missile.” It means they’ll find their way to market no matter the obstacles. Broadlume’s founders, Todd Saunders and Dan Pratt, embody that spirit. Today’s announcement of their acquisition by Cyncly validates it—but honestly, anyone who met them early on could have seen it coming. I had the privilege of being their first institutional investor and joining their board nearly a decade ago, back when they were called AdHawk. Inspired by their Google ad sales days, Todd and Dan set out to help SMBs make smarter ad buys—a classic case of turning their job into a product. That product worked, scaling AdHawk to $1M+ in revenue with a diverse customer base. We were so impressed we invited them to present at our LP meeting in 2018. They showed up, delivered—and dropped a bombshell: they were pivoting. Flooring installers, a surprisingly large portion of their customers, presented an even bigger opportunity. Todd and Dan focused exclusively on this vertical, becoming the “Hubspot for Hardwood Flooring.” They off-boarded non-flooring clients, lost some revenue, but quickly snowballed back by doubling down on their ideal customer profile. From there, they didn’t just grow; they rolled up the industry. With $60M from PSG, they acquired companies, technology, customers, and decades of flooring expertise. M&A is a tightrope for startups, but Todd and Dan balanced it masterfully, building a powerhouse in an overlooked industry. Today’s acquisition is the culmination of their relentless drive. I couldn’t be prouder to have been their first institutional check. Of course, this wasn’t a straight line—no startup journey is. Broadlume faced struggles, like every company does. But Todd and Dan’s resilience exemplifies why I love this job. Entrepreneurship isn’t just a career; it’s a personality trait. It’s rare, and when you find it, it’s worth betting on. I may never write another check for a startup that sells vinyl tiles, but betting on people like Todd and Dan? I’ll do that every time.

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✨ FinTech sector thrives with 26 deals totalling $783M showing robust industry growth. Highlights include: 🔵 Yendo Leads FinTech Funding with $165M: Yendo, based in Dallas, secures $165M in debt financing for vehicle-secured credit cards, aiding underserved consumers in accessing revolving credit.💳 🟠 Alkira Raises $100M in Series C: On-demand network infrastructure leader Alkira closes a $100M Series C round to enhance innovation and meet growing cloud application demands.🚀 🟢 Cover Genius Secures $80M Series E: Embedded insurance provider Cover Genius raises $80M to expand digital insurance solutions and integrate AI for claims processing.🛡️ 🔵 Annapurna Finance Attracts $75M Investment: Microfinance leader Annapurna Finance receives $75M from Piramal Alternatives to support growth and MSME financing.📈 Please see the full report below from our friends at FinTech.Global including details of all 26 deals. #FinTech #FundingNews #FinancialGrowth #Startups #TechTrends #RokaSearch

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