Dan Ross

Since early 2021, VC quarterly exit values have plummeted to $50B or below, a stark contrast to the six consecutive quarters of $100B+ exits before then. With IPOs dwindling and M&A activity slow, the future of venture industry exits appears uncertain. Will we see a surge in private venture-backed company acquisitions? This could be a crucial and innovative strategy to boost VC exits. Increased private acquisitions might offer a much-needed lifeline, providing a creative solution to the current exit drought in the venture capital market. #venturecapital #inspireglobalventures

3

ISP Strategic Leadership, Engineering, and Operations As an organization scales, there is often a need to separate strategic technology leadership under the CTO from internal execution under engineering and operations management. This allows the CTO to focus on outward-facing duties while enabling streamlined operational efficiency. However, it's crucial to recognize the differing motivations and needs of these distinct technical roles. On one hand, engineers thrive on tackling interesting, challenging projects that push their abilities and knowledge. They value working alongside capable peers, genuine recognition of technical accomplishments, and contributing to products/services that reach the market. In contrast, operations teams should strive for repeatable processes, continual improvement, and driving efficiency at scale. Their priorities revolve around standardizing workflows, minimizing disruptions, and incrementally optimizing existing systems and procedures to maintain consistent service delivery as the company grows. An effective organizational structure acknowledges this dichotomy, fostering an environment that fuels engineering innovation while providing operations with the stability and process-orientation they require. Striking this balance enables the company to stay agile and innovative through its engineering efforts, while simultaneously scaling operational execution in a reliable and repeatable manner. Competitive compensation remains an important motivator across both domains. By properly aligning structural elements, motivational factors, and leadership priorities, a rapidly growing ISP can position itself to attract and retain top talent across engineering and operations, driving sustainable growth and success in the dynamic technology landscape.

45

10 Comments

Wondering how to protect your company from #ransomware? Check this out

5

what of the man who inspired it all? Alexei Navalny, a beacon of courage and unwavering dedication to truth. His fight, and the tireless work of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, serve as a constant reminder that we are not alone. They are the embodiment of hope, a testament to the power of resilience in the face of oppression. Their fight is our fight. Let us stand together, united in our pursuit of a Russia where justice and transparency prevail. Let us honor their struggle by demanding a better future, a future where every citizen has the power to hold those in power accountable. Let us never stop believing in the power of our collective voice, for it is through our combined strength that we will achieve the Russia we deserve. https://lnkd.in/e5i8Mtzw

9

For all emerging managers out there who are trying to understand the world of LPs: This 10X Capital episode on "How to Pick Top Decile Venture GP’s" is awesome. Albert Azout of Level Ventures candidly shares some amazing insights on how LPs evaluate emerging managers, what separates the best GPs from the rest, common pitching pitfalls etc. Thanks David Weisburd for hosting this. Link in comments!

12

3 Comments

🤝 Fortanix, Inc., a leader in data-first cybersecurity and a pioneer of Confidential Computing, announced a new partnership with Sectigo, a global leader in certificate lifecycle management (CLM) and WebPKI solutions. ✅ The partnership will enable enterprises to secure their software supply chain by automating the issuance of code-signing certificates. ✅ This gives enterprises a fast, scalable solution to automate and control their urgent and ballooning need to create, track, and attest private key security without slowing down developer workflows. 👉 Read the full press release here - https://gag.gl/pUQbO5

13

💪💡Wisdom is learning from past mistakes from others but also oneself. Retrospection with action is powerful. An insightful weekend read from the WSJ… Christopher Mims shares his list, from 10 years of covering consumer tech for the The Wall Street Journal: ( link here: https://lnkd.in/eKj2wX_t ) 1. Disruption is overrated. 2. Human factors are everything in tech adoption. 3. People lie to themselves… and to you. 4. Tech bubbles are productive, even if wasteful. 5. We’ve got more power to shape how tech impacts us. Some of my list, from 25 years of early stage consumer internet investing and operating: 1. Tech disruption is overestimated in the short run, underestimated in the long run. (Amara’s Law) 2. Social proof is powerful in tech adoption. 3. Hope kills. Execution is everything. 4. Run towards tech bubbles. 5. Tech optimism empowers positive change.

2

⚖️ JOY WAN. CEO of BestSign: Serving 200+ #Fortune500 Giants & Accelerating In #LegalAI CMS Offering! Joy Wan is a Founder and CEO of BestSign, Asia’s leading e-signature & legal AI contract management solutions provider. Over the incredible 10 year journey Joy has raised over $70M from some of the world’s best investors including #DCM, #Matrix, #ShunWei, #5Y (previously #MorningSide) and #TigerGlobal. Before BestSign, Joy worked as a senior management executive at Apple. --- 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝗼𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀: 𝟏. 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧e𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬: 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧’𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 - What sets Bestsign apart from its competitors in a crowded market?  - What key go-to-market strategies are in place to fuel growth?  - Where is the company positioned now, and what major milestones lie ahead? 𝟐. 𝐔𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩  - Which technological advancements are a top priority for Bestsign’s continued innovation?  - What core mission and vision guide the company’s growth and direction?  - How has Bestsign established a strong, independent investor base, and what are the next steps for maintaining investor confidence? 𝟯. 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻’𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗜 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲  - How does Joy envision Bestsign influencing the legal tech landscape and transforming enterprise solutions globally?  - What AI strategies are being prioritized to maintain a competitive edge and drive impactful market change? --- 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 👉 https://lnkd.in/eTA6UdZ4 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 & 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐫 "𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 & 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬" 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 👉 https://lnkd.in/ePSUFPcf --- 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩? 𝟏. 𝘌𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝟐. 𝘋𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘐 𝟑. 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘐 𝟒. 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘐 🔔 You can make a difference! ⚡ COMMENT the #s 👇. 🚀 We will F/U! --- #kaleaventures #kv #stanleychan #joywan #bestsign #venturecapital #ceo #foundermode #legalai #esignature #legal

4

👨‍🔬David Weiss operated at a $4 billion sales org and has helped over 200 startups with sales in 2023 alone. Tim Ward has worked with KPMG, PIF, Serco and EY. Today we discuss GTM. Both David and Tim are SFGN Heads in our Super Founder Global Network -> sf-gn.com (2025 product launch coming) David is a council member in SFGAC - Our newsletter he writes in is here -> sf-gac.com We just recently launched the SFGN Podcast on Spotify and Youtube yesterday. Daily videos will be posted here and there. We are in the process of launching the worlds largest and best executive/investor media This supports our initiative to build the worlds largest and best executive/investor network Which supports our goal to grow companies better, faster and more reliably than any other entity on the planet. 99% of companies grow without investment so we grow companies with and without investment from pre-revenue to billions $ All to drive impact to 3 billion humans. This is the ONLY thing that matters -> 3 billion+ humans impact Surprise products/services/software/AI in 2025 that supports this mission to impact 3 billion people globally through the vehicle of powerful companies and CEOs (our highly differentiated CEO consulting and other upcoming CEO/team acceleration products/services + SFGN team vetted services) that affect employees and customers at 3 billion+ scale. We hope you enjoy our chat today :-) P.S. A couple new surprise video “types” to release this week :-) 

38

4 Comments

From Assement to Sample to Full to Change based scans. Get the best practices for privacy, security and AI - only from BigID

4

Hot off the press, here is our strategy paper on The Future of (MSP) Work, which provides a deeper dive on why we see Productivity & Work Analytics as the next big opportunity for #MSP. Stay tuned for the upcoming thought leadership series on #futureofmspwork from Produce8 🚀 Chris Day Joel Abramson Marco La Vecchia Janice Siddons, Executive MBA Joe Panettieri Shar Oborowsky Ryan McGinnis

45

4 Comments

A field guide on how to help “cancel the apocalypse”… it sure as heck won’t read like a bland investment bank report… ;-) DCVC’s “Deep Tech Opportunities Report” — notes and observations from helping help great teams and companies use #DeepTech to deliver abundance, resilience, health, prosperity, and safety for more people at less cost, more quickly A better world is good business

22

I have known Matt a long time, this should be a great discussion. Join us for ANA's webinar "Unraveling the Mysteries of CDPs"! Dive deep into the data-driven marketing world with Zeta's President of CRM, Matt Mobley; Chris Marriott, President & Founder of Email Connect LLC; and Luke Ambrosetti from Snowflake. Our experts will explore the critical issues of data sources, access, and the quest for the ultimate truth in customer data platforms. Register now to secure your spot! #DataDrivenMarketing #CDP

5

🚨 Big news: Bitsight delivered 297% ROI, reduced cyber breach risk by 45%, and speeded up vendor onboarding by 70%! We're leading the way in first & third-party risk management. Learn more about our latest study! https://ow.ly/wSHB30sHfme #Bitsight #ForresterTEI #TotalEconomicImpact

121

3 Comments

With fraud becoming a threat to all online agencies, operators, start ups and scale ups, and to all users, the work done by Nuggets to bring a truly safe identity solution is becoming more crucial everyday... Way to go Seema Khinda Johnson and Alastair Johnson

17

2 Comments

A potential homebuyer would not buy a piece of land if the home builder did not show them how the fully constructed house would look. Similarly, investors (and design partners) are more likely to sign when they can *see* your product and not just imagine it. Founders: Give us a week of your time and we will build a design prototype for you just like we did for Amplifier Security.

46

1 Comment

Thanks to Authority Magazine Medium for the opportunity to tell the story of Tidal Cyber. Our unique approach to achieving threat-informed defense allows security operators to focus their activities on the threats that are relevant to their organization, and take action at the speed of their adversary. This, in turn, allows security teams to gain more control over their time, and save money. #ThreatInformedDefense #startup #cybersecurity

25

“Free solo” selling and managing revenue, as a CEO Founder, is a risky move. Why? According to a Forbes study, “only 4.6% of our entire dataset hailed most recently from tech sales” and SaaStr reports that “salesperson CEOs burn a lot more money getting to $1m and $5m-$10m ARR”. (links in comments for your reading pleasure) So, if the most successful SaaS startups are built by those with a tech background and they presumably are good at engineering, wouldn’t it make sense to bring in the sales experts to build the revenue motions? Once you’ve grown to ~$1M in revenue, it’s time to set a foundation and make the revenue teams reflect industry best practices - no more Wild West 🤠. This is where fractional leaders, like ✨Litwin & Plumb✨ make a lot of sense. It’s a combination of deep expertise (seen the movie 🍿 more than once) and delivery of impact at warp speed. ……………………………………………………………………. 💥 Spark an idea for collaborating? Let’s chat. ♻️ Do you know someone who’d be interested in this content? Please share. 🤝 Kindness counts.

5

5 Comments

Open-source models can be a strong lever for increasing gross margins at AI companies, especially those that have hefty cost structures (e.g., enterprise sales orgs that require significant customer success or implementation resources, as well forward-deployed AI services models common in healthcare and life sciences). One of many reasons to maintain a modular and flexible stack with minimal dependencies when building an AI company. More on the importance of flexibility in the AI stack: https://lnkd.in/eA2XATRk h/t Delip Rao #ai #artificialintelligence #generativeai #healthcare

50

6 Comments