Derek Scruggs

🚀 Venture debt covenants might sound like a small part of the deal, but they carry huge implications for your startup’s future. 📈 You need to be strategic in your negotiations to avoid any pitfalls down the road. It’s all about setting yourself up for success, not stress. Dive into more details in the original Kruze Consulting post. The link is in the 1st comment. 👇

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2023 - proof of market ✅ 2024 - establish hyper growth run rate + assemble stacked squad ✅ 2025 - all gas no brakes with excess capacity and a team of all stars 📈 With three proven team members joining us in October and our custom project and order management platform taking shape I’m feeling good about the scalable infrastructure we’re deploying. We’ll enter the new year with capacity to meet Q4 budgeted revenue. This means there will be no slowing down and maybe we’ll be hitting goals ahead of schedule 😉 2025 will be explosive growth for Vert and our community 🚀 ps: if you’re building products and brands in C@nnabis or emerging CPG and want to launch / scale them faster than the competition then hit us up!

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During COVID we bought a little app called Ignite and turned it into PushPress Train. At the time I didn't realize how hard an acquisition would be (even though everyone warned me). For 2 years, we didn't have the resources to give it the love it needed - and the market pounded us for it. Our customers hated it. The integration was terrible at best. It affected everything in our business negatively - our churn rates, our NPS, our customer happiness. After raising our Series A we had the resources to fix this and we did. We upgraded Train in all ways and folded it directly into our Member App. We added programming partners to it, so our clients now get hassle free workouts loaded directly into their gyms. We improved the integration into Core. Now we're doubling down. For the first time ever we have a dedicated engineer who's only job is to make Train amazing in deeper ways. As a CEO, sometimes your decisions might be wrong in the moment but they aren't final answers. Acquiring Train was a bad decision for 2 years... until it wasn't - and now it's a vital piece of our product ecosystem!

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Drop In Venture Funding To Black-Founded Startups Greatly Outpaces Market Decline Chris MetinkoGené Teare February 27, 2024 Venture funding to Black-founded U.S. startups last year totaled only $705 million — marking the first time since 2016 that the figure failed to even reach $1 billion, Crunchbase data shows. The decline in capital to Black-founded companies greatly outpaces the overall decline in startup funding. While total venture dollars in the U.S. fell 37% last year, funding to Black-founded startups dropped a staggering 71%, according to Crunchbase data. Last year’s total investment in Black-founded startups in the U.S. marks the lowest amount since such startups raised only $582 million in 2016. The drop in total dollars also meant Black-founded startups received their lowest share in the venture market since at least 2016, per Crunchbase. Black-founded startups received less than 0.5% of the $140.4 billion in venture funding all U.S.-based startups received last year. In 2021, Black-founded startups received 1.4% of all U.S. venture funding. In 2022, it was 1.1%.

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Catch up on Adam Robinson's journey on The Force & Friction Podcast as he discusses scaling a SaaS company from $20M towards $50M ARR. Watch the full episode here: https://bit.ly/3YzjaBH "It’s a game of different rules at each stage". #ForceAndFrictionPodcast #RevOpsLife #GTM #SaaS #B2BGrowth #EntrepreneurJourney #ScalingUp

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🧬 This week's Austin Bio + Health Roundup highlights significant data trends, my stance on covering funding announcements, new partnerships, and action across the Texas Bio Triangle. 🧬 💰 Funding: The Way I Plan to Cover Funding Announcements You may have seen reports of a local Bio & Health startup’s funding round through an SEC report filing. While some outlets have covered this, my position is not to. I prefer to support our builders directly rather than trolling the filings for scoops. There is plenty of real investigative journalism that our city would be well served by if that is where they focused. Remember I am not a journalist and I am not the media. When the company is ready to announce their round officially, I’ll gladly shout it to the rooftops. 📊 Data Peter Walker at Carta reports that in 2017, Biopharma and Medical Devices captured just under 10% of all VC dollars. By 2023, this figure rose to 17.7%, and in Q1 2024, it reached 24%. The overarching tailwinds favor our sector and region with trends towards Bio & Health and the physical & digital intersection. Energy and hardware, two other sector blossoming in Central Texas, also saw similar share gains. 🤝 M&A and Partnerships Sensi.AI, a 24/7 senior care intelligence agent, is partnering with Caring Senior Service to deploy SensiAI’s platform in Caring’s 50 locations across the US. This partnership allows seniors a better opportunity to age gracefully in their homes. 🚩 Texas Bio Triangle BioMedSA is hosting an event called Women in Bioscience, Thursday June 20th. It’s designed to connect and empower women in the bioscience industry across Central Texas, and features Randi Brosterman Hutchens discussing "Building your Personal Board." Find the link to the event in the comments. Houston-based Lokum, a staffing solution to connect clinicians and clinical staff to health care facilities, has raised a $700K pre-seed round. Congrats Ayoade (Joy) Ademuyewo on the raise. What’s Next? #AustinNext #LifeSciences #Healthcare #Biotechnology

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Movac KiwiNet Deep Tech is difficult because you do not comprehend 95% of the universe using the Standard Model of Particle physics. Either learn that measurement is flawed due to human bias or experience and unbiased state through transcendence experiences corresponding to Christ consciousness. The physics of life is based on LENR and not the Standard Model of Particle physics. Unfortunately, scientific research has been captured by the materialism perspective. This is mutually exclusive to the light observed in consciousness. Physics of life. Deep Tech https://lnkd.in/gKqC3PAR Gateway into the aromatic ring Faraday cage system. Time to see the light 😁.

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Saw the news today that PivotalTracker is shutting down. Although I haven't used the product in years, PivotalTracker was, to me, the perfect example of how opinionated software can supercharge a development team. All software embodies a process. The best tools are ones that not only record information but drive your process and your team forward. If you tried to use PivotalTracker but didn't follow their process, you'd find the tool would not work well - and so you'd be forced to adopt their process (which was a good process). Other tools that are more general, like Jira, let you do whatever you want, which often results in teams with poorly defined or loose processes, which results in teams that don't operate effectively. RIP PivotalTracker. For me, its legacy as an example of what opinionated software can do to make a team operate with peak efficiency will live on. https://lnkd.in/e3_jvQ9g

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Hitting $1.5M Rev in 3 years is impressive... but should he have sold the firm? Was reflecting on this recent podcast with Jordan Sublette, CPA. Clearly he had rapid success both in growing (and then selling to his successor). Can't help but wonder ... with a firm growing so quickly, did he sell too early? On the other side of it, the future is unpredictable and now he has some financial security... What do you think? 🤔 https://lnkd.in/gCnRh8MV #accountingfirm #acquisition #sale #CPAfirm

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Amploo is a tool for SMEs to streamline operations and connect teams. Earth.fm App offers soothing soundscapes for relaxation. Wisp CMS enhances blogging experience. Me.bot for iOS captures life essence. Choppity turns video parts into shareable social clips. These tools help streamline processes, enhance productivity, and share moments with the world. 🌟 Amploo — The ultimate tool for SMEs to streamline operations and connect teams effortlessly! Simplify your processes and watch your productivity soar! 🚀💼 🌍 Earth.fm App — Immerse yourself in nature with over 900+ soothing soundscapes right on your phone. Perfect for relaxation and mindfulness. 🌳🎧 ✨ Wisp CMS — Elevate your blogging experience! Create and manage blogs with ease on your existing website. A truly delightful way to share your stories. 📝💻 📸 Me.bot for iOS — Capture the essence of who you are with this journaling app. Document your life through pictures, notes, and more. Your story, beautifully preserved. 🗒️❤️ 🎥 Choppity — Turn any part of a long video into a shareable social clip in seconds! Find the moments that matter and share them with the world. ✂️📲 #AI #top #producthunt #producthuntlaunch #buildinpublic

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Check out this article where I was featured that shared great lessons and stories from a number of leaders. You can check out my featured interview here: https://lnkd.in/eaxhGAgG

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That's why it's often very difficult to recognize new leaders – their ideas go beyond the conventional frameworks we're accustomed to. Keep your mind open. Don't let yesterday's templates define your future. #Leadership, #Innovation, #OpenMind, #FutureThinking, #venturethinking,   https://lnkd.in/eASPGsuu

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Your Guide To Building Thriving Relationships: A Garden Metaphor (An Interactive Journey) https://lnkd.in/g5peZfQ7 #healthyrelationships #healthyrelationships #communication #boundaries #emotionalintelligence #worklifebalance #relationshipadvice #relationshiptips depending on the platform's trending tags.

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So cool to hear this story on NPR this morning. Our partner, Prism Labs, Inc., provides developers with the tools to integrate precise body scanning capabilities into their apps. Their technology goes beyond traditional BMI measurements, offering a more comprehensive view of health by analyzing muscle and fat composition. If you are a developer and are considering adding body scanning to your fitness app, please don't hesitate to reach out, and I can connect you! #HealthTech #Innovation #BodyScanning #PrismLabs #Wellness #HealthInsights

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You're invited to participate in a 30-day Mutual Action Plan (MAP) trial. Empower your teams to co-create collaborative MAPs with milestones and compelling events. Make MEDDICC stick with MAPs. Increase win-rates by 60% to 200%. Request a MAP trial today! https://lnkd.in/gTPkbiqf Why do a MAP trial with SalesHood? - Go faster with more organized sales processes - Join our customers who are winning more deals - Quick setup for fast results - Equip your teams with best practices in digital selling - Discover the benefits with no financial commitment Looking for a new solution partner or considering migrating away from existing vendors? Take SalesHood for a spin with our MAP trial! https://lnkd.in/gTPkbiqf

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NWA and Tulsa friends, to build more local knowledge I'm making a list of NWA and Tulsa-based software startups, particularly B2B SAAS and analytics. So far my list includes AcreTrader, Nuqleous and SupplyPike. Who else should I know about? #startups

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The best Frac CTO secrets are shared from: • Communities like: https://lnkd.in/e4EdSc34 • Mentors like: https://lnkd.in/eEGnX-Hc • Resources like: The CTO Playbook Curate your digital diet wisely.

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