Colby Howard

🌟Innovative VC Firm Overcomes Exits Drought with Secondary Sales🌟 ⛵Navigating a challenging landscape where exits are scarce, Santa Barbara Venture Partners (SBVP) has pioneered a novel approach to sustain its growth and attract investors for its second fund: secondary sales. Instead of waiting for traditional exits like IPOs or acquisitions, SBVP opted to sell shares of its portfolio companies, demonstrating its ability to generate returns for investors and stand out in a competitive market. 🎤According to Dan Engel, founder and managing partner of SBVP, these secondary transactions have been a game-changer, sparking investor interest and bolstering the firm's credibility. By leveraging its recent successes, including a lucrative stake in sports-betting company DraftKings Inc.' acquisition of digital lottery app Jackpocket, SBVP seized the opportunity to return profits to its limited partners (LPs) and pave the way for its second fund. 💡Engel highlighted the challenges faced by young VC firms in raising subsequent funds, particularly amid a downturn in exit activity and heightened investor scrutiny. With traditional exit routes becoming increasingly elusive, the pressure is on for firms to demonstrate tangible returns and establish a track record of success. ✨"For us, secondary sales have been a game-changer. They've helped us return profits to our LPs and attract investors for our second fund," said Dan Engel. 💰For SBVP, the decision to pursue secondary sales was driven by the need to provide liquidity to LPs and validate its investment thesis in the eyes of prospective investors. By strategically offloading portions of its holdings in high-performing portfolio companies like Bark Technologies and Rad AI, SBVP not only generated substantial returns but also bolstered investor confidence in its ability to deliver results. ⚠Despite the complexities and potential stigma associated with early share sales, Engel emphasized the importance of prioritizing investor returns and seizing opportunities to unlock value for stakeholders. With a focus on profitability and transparency, SBVP remains committed to its mission of delivering sustainable growth and maximizing returns for its LPs. 🔍 "Returning profits to our investors is our top priority. By strategically selling shares, we're proving our commitment to delivering results and driving value for our stakeholders," added Engel. As SBVP continues to explore secondary transactions and expand its investor base, the firm stands as a testament to innovation and resilience in the face of market challenges. 🚀 ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #fund and increase the international pool of your LP #investors?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VCInnovation #SecondarySalesSuccess #InvestorReturns #ValueCreation 

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Insightful breakdown from my great Partner Omri Amirav-Drory on the simple factors that really separate the top 1% of investors from the rest, and how more operators should become investors! https://lnkd.in/gEiZdT2h

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I’m thrilled to be announcing that Notion Capital is leading the $15m Series A investment in Cogna today. In the industry, we like to think that software has been eating the world. But when you look at the data a better description would be more of a nibble. Depending on what source you look at the software industry represents between 5-8% of global GDP. Contrast that with the services industry that represents between 60-70% of GDP and worth around $25 trillion on a global basis. Most services have been out of reach for the software industry. They have either been too complex or too specialized for off the shelf software to access in any economically viable way. But that’s beginnning to change with GenAI leading to the emergence of ‘service as a software.’ Cogna is at the forefront of this opportunity - building precision software at scale and delivering huge productivity gains for traditional industries. We know Ben Peters & Lars Mennen well having backed their previous company Five AI that was acquired by Bosch in 2022. And we’re very excited to be backing them again together with Hoxton Ventures & Chalfen Ventures Read my full blog post on why we invested here. Radu Bozga Ben Peters Lars Mennen Bryan G. Mike Chalfen Hussein Kanji Kirsten Connell https://lnkd.in/eh8mhcJb

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Super helpful article and accompanying doc with a #Startup #Equity Calculator to determine the equity for early hires, thanks to Pear VC head of talent Matt Birnbaum! Thanks for sharing Pejman Nozad! 🙏🏼 You can read more here How to structure startup equity for early hires: https://lnkd.in/ggmpT5-Y Google Doc: https://lnkd.in/gjsvths6

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We believe in extreme vetting of our founders. You can't build a unicorn if you spend time on silly stuff, like seeing family and friends. Grow up, and focus on investor returns. #vc #startups #investment

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Ex-Two Sigma Ventures Partner Launches Category Ventures Villi Iltchev, previously a partner at Two Sigma Ventures created in 2012 as a division of New York hedge fund Two Sigma Investments, and August Capital, has founded Category Ventures, a new San Francisco-based firm currently seeking to raise $156 million for its first VC fund. The firm plans to focus on early-stage investments in infrastructure software, a segment that includes tools for software management, security, and development. Category Ventures enters a challenging fundraising environment - just 77 new funds have raised capital in the U.S. this year, down from an annual total of 215 last year, indicating 2024 may set a record low for debut fund investments, per PitchBook-NVCA data. Even worse - 2024 is on track to be the worst in at least a decade in terms of money flowing to debut funds.  Iltchev’s extensive background may help attract limited partners (LPs), who in the current market favor first-time funds launched by seasoned venture capitalists. Iltchev’s track record includes key investments in notable companies like GitLab, Remote, and Box, experiences that bolster his credentials with LPs. Category’s focus on infrastructure software aligns with a broader shift toward supporting tools that facilitate secure, scalable tech development. ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #VCfund and increase the international pool of your LPs?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments (Series A/Series B)?   ▶ Please use G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks, or send an inquiry to [email protected] #VentureCapital #CategoryVentures #EarlyStageInvesting #InfrastructureSoftware #TechStartups #GitLab #TwoSigma #VentureFunding

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Imagine you’re meeting a VC today and pitching your company. Now, also imagine the VC goes home tonight and tells his or her spouse about the meeting with you. How do you think the VC would (or should) describe your product to the spouse? Remember, this is for someone who doesn’t have any context, and probably doesn’t have time to listen the whole story. If you can think of a story version that's plain and simple -- how you want the VC to describe your product to the spouse -- perhaps that version should be your pitch in the first place?

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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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Attention New Zealand founders! 🇳🇿 Chris Tottman shares a brilliant takeaway from Vinod Khosla on building hugely impactful companies. 🚀 Dream big. 🔍 Plan small. 💪 Execute relentlessly. Where do you think NZ founders could use the most support? Is it Vision, Planning, or Execution? Drop your thoughts below! 👇 #NZFounders #StartupGrowth #AmbitiousGoals

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Big announcement below! 👇 Let's talk about the current state of GP-LP affairs: 🤯Emerging VC managers have absolutely exploded over the past 5 years. 📈 At the same time, more and more data has surfaced that shows that emerging VC firms tend to outperform larger, established firms. 🤔 All of this has made it intriguing but tough for LPs to know where to direct their attention. 🛍 GPs frequently meet LPs at conferences who are window shopping but not committed to the asset class or emerging managers. 🧾 And both crews get overwhelmed by transactional convos. So Sydney Paige Thomas and I created Abundance. Abundance is a private, nomination-based retreat for active LPs and top emerging GPs to form new experiences together and build lasting relationships. Why Abundance? Abundance is knowing that there is more than enough for more than one to succeed. And a single win within a community is a win for the community itself. The journey of an emerging VC manager from 1st close to final close or Fund 1 to Fund 2 is (1) communal and (2) requires an abundant mindset. LPs look for structure and confidence to feel comfortable investing in early VC firms. Yet many of the feeds we scroll and conferences we attend reinforce inherent power dynamics and transactional thinking, which allows scarcity mindset to creep in for emerging GPs. Some of the best events I’ve attended have been intentionally non-transactional, e.g. Camp Hustle, Recast Summit, and other GPs’ AGMs. The fundraising success stories we see usually involve a community (usually of other GPs & LPs) coming together to support and open doors for the emerging GP. We designed Abundance to be an immersive gathering that fosters these connections. Starting tonight, ~100 GPs and LPs are descending upon Seattle for the inaugural Abundance retreat. This has been under wraps for months and I can’t wait to see it come to life! Thanks in advance to our awesome sponsors who were the earliest believers in this vision: Sydecar, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Gunderson Dettmer, & Zelda Ventures. And shoutout to my dad Ed Illig for logo design & Halle Kaplan-Allen being the first sponsor to say yes 🤩 Presented by The Council Capital & Symphonic Capital.

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As a VC, there are times when you have to choose between prioritizing returns and supporting the founders you work with. It’s not easy because we have a fiduciary duty to our LPs, which, in our case, are primarily non-profits, to maximize returns. At Eniac, we play the long game: if we do what’s best for our founders, it will ultimately benefit our brand, reputation, and relationships, which will be best for our LPs in the long run.

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A common mistake early-stage VCs make is confusing good decisions with good outcomes. Good outcomes don’t always mean good decisions—luck often masks flawed reasoning. Focus on process over outcome bias. Invest in strong decision-making frameworks, not just duplicating “wins.”

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The state of venture capital is wild right now. We are witnessing a surge of innovation across the spectrum: - Funds merging - VC doing PE - PE doing VC - Secondary funds - Buyout funds - Spin-out funds - Debt funds - Continuation funds - Infrastructure funds - GP turnover - Hard Tech surging - Family Office uptick

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The Market Rewards MEI: Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence — 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗗𝗘𝗜/𝗘𝗦𝗚 What does Scale AI’s founder, Alexandr Wang, think about DEI/ESG? → with a company worth $14 billion → $1 billion in funding → and expected to hit $1.4 billion ARR by the end of 2024 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗲’𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. Wang’s bold hiring policy earned him praise from leaders like Elon Musk. His approach? Hire based on merit, not trends. Investors like Wellington Management, Y Combinator, and Founders Fund are all on board. 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁: “𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 #1 𝗶𝗻𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰. 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹, 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰.” The rise of the Anti-Woke is here—and Silicon Valley is catching on. → LPs are demanding it → Shareholders are done with it → The future is merit-based As someone who’s been in the trenches—third-generation Mexican American, from working-class East LA, no Stanford degree, no network—I didn’t rely on labels. I worked my @$$ off. God opened doors, and I showed up ready. Success? It’s at the intersection of preparation and opportunity. As MIT’s Bill Aulet says, successful entrepreneurs need the spirit of a pirate and the skills of a Navy SEAL—and I couldn’t agree more. What are your thoughts? ~~~ Need help, 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 and reach out. Follow me, Gerald Duran for daily startup and VC mentorship, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘁 from CanaGlobal's faith-driven venture studio and startup incubator. #startups #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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Excited to share some thoughts from my recent conversation on the VC10X podcast. We dove quite a bit into the importance of product-market fit in Hard Tech 🎙️ ·     One key insight I've gained from working with Hard Tech companies at Pangaea Ventures: The difference between good and great product-market fit often shows up in the growth patterns. ·     Many Hard Tech companies show linear growth - put in a dollar on manufacturing and sales, get a predictable return. But when you've truly nailed product-market fit, something magical happens: the growth curve becomes exponential. ·     We look for companies where $1 invested this year yields significantly more return than the same dollar did last year. That's when you know you're onto something special. That's the inflection point where linear becomes exponential. ·     This pattern has been a reliable indicator throughout my time at Pangaea, helping companies navigate their early growth stages, build high-performance teams, and cultivate excellence. Thanks to Prashant and the VC10X podcast for having me on to discuss the evolving Hard Tech ecosystem. What patterns have you observed in successful Hard Tech companies? Would love to hear your thoughts.

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The VC with more unicorns than Accel, Insight & Sofbank only invests in developing economies. Impressive!  Endeavor‘s rules based VC, Endeavor Catalyst, is probably the best example of how tech and VC have gone global. Vamos, vamos, vamos Allen Taylor! 

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