Jay Li

Next article in my series on the digital private credit landscape! If you're interested in the up-and-coming players of the RWA space, please check this out!

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Unlock the potential of the Lower Middle Market! 📈 Discover how executives can tap into the LMM to drive value creation, increase cash flow, and secure lucrative roles in private equity. Our latest guide, "Unlocking Value in the Lower Middle Market: A Numbers-Based Playbook for Executives," offers actionable insights and strategies to excel in this dynamic space. Don’t miss the opportunity to monetize your expertise and create new streams of income! 💼 Discover more about Blackmore Partners: https://buff.ly/42iNmB3 📅 Have questions? Schedule a meeting with our Director Chris Melton: https://buff.ly/46DZD46 #PrivateEquity #ValueCreation #LowerMiddleMarket #ExecutiveRoles #BlackmorePartners

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The Information broke news that Insight Partners has just secured $10B in funding for their latest flagship fund. This is perfectly timed given their multiple $1B+ companies sold over the past week. This is a clear sight that #limitedpartners still have in their #privateallocations even during the current slow markets for #IPOs and #M&A. This would also appear to be good news for #AIfinancing and #SaaSFinancing. What do you think? #Management #VentureCapital #PrivateEquity #CapitalMarkets https://lnkd.in/gXu_s8Qj

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The next Companyon Ventures lunch & learn is going to be one you’re not going to want to miss! Tom Lazay and I are pumped to host Laura Sillman (Left Lane Capital), Max Abram (Scale Venture Partners), and Harrison Lieberfarb (Canvas Ventures) in a roundtable discussion on December 12th covering the Series A & B fundraising environment and what to expect in 2025. Whether you’re a founder planning to raise your next round or an investor supporting your portfolio companies in their next stage of growth, this is a fantastic opportunity to connect with top VCs and hear their perspectives. We’re tackling questions like: 📈 Where’s the market heading? 🤖 Is AI hype slowing down or just heating up? 💡 What should founders focus on to stand out at Series A/B? 📊 What metrics actually move the needle? Comment below to add a question that you would like covered (top responses will receive a shoutout!) and if you’re a founder that recently raised a Series A/B, share your #1 takeaway! ➡️ And don’t forget to RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/euTH3WxM #fundraising #marketenvironment #SeriesA #SeriesB #founders #venturecapital

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The Key to Great Board Reporting (1/2) Last week I spoke on a panel hosted by Rillet, an emerging force in SAAS and Usage based ERPs. It was on a sunset boat cruise around the Statue of Liberty and truly an awesome event. The wanted to avoid discussing the tech stack and provide a forum for NYC finance leaders to share best practices and challenges reporting to boards. The questions ranged from reporting metrics for different types of companies, at different stages, to reporting at a venture capital vs private equity backed business. This past week as I reflected on the event, I wanted to add a few more thoughts. ___________________________________________________________________ The key to great board reporting? It’s understanding the “why” behind the numbers and how they change as the business grows or priorities shift. 1. Everyday Capital Allocation Decisions Founders and management teams are the real investors in any business. They make daily capital allocation decisions that shape the company’s future. They’re like portfolio managers allocating resources to the people & projects that offer the highest & best returns. The focus when explaining investment decisions, isn’t just on specific allocation strategies or balance, it’s about choosing the right metrics to measure how well capital is being deployed. 2. An Audience of Problem Solvers and Business Builders In my experience, investors, whether VC, growth equity, or PE, share two traits: they’re problem solvers and business builders. They want to help, but the level of support they realistically can provide depends on their involvement. Investors with many smaller investments may offer less hands on help, pointing you to advisors and specialists. Those with fewer, larger investments tend to be more actively involved. Effective board communication requires balancing the complexity of day-to-day operations with clear, big-picture narratives. Investors who see the potential for outsized returns often thrive on solving business challenges impacting their investments. To engage them effectively, you need to understand your audience, their incentives and motivations. In my experience, the best results come from reporting which frames key challenges in a way that leads to a targeted request for support. When investor interests are aligned properly, and the right mission critical business challenges defined, many times your board can help you get specific resources or advice needed. Missing this opportunity means missing out on their help. When presenting these challenges, keep your explanations focused, precise, and relevant to avoid overwhelming them with unnecessary details.

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Another great snippet from our discussion with Claudia! Hope you enjoy and find it insightful! Much more juicy details covered in the full episode on SecondaryLink website, YouTube and Spotify:) #secondaries #secondarymarket #womeninsecondaries #womenofsecondaries

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Pear VC Startup Equity Calculator for Early Hires Pear VC head of talent Matt Birnbaum created this calculator to determine the equity for early hires. You can read more here How to structure startup equity for early hires https://lnkd.in/ggmpT5-Y https://lnkd.in/gjsvths6

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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

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ANNOUNCEMENT- I’m delighted to share that Asset Class has partnered with Palantir Technologies to bring AI to the Alternatives and Private Capital Markets. At Asset Class we will integrate the AIP platform and Foundry capabilities of Palantir with our Fund Operating System (Fund OS). We will work with the AIP Platform and Palantir's Foundry Ontology to support highly complex tasks / co-pilot features that will allow us to leverage the FULL dataset that comes with the Asset Class Platform. By linking EVERY step of the Investor and Fund journey on a SINGLE platform, we have a uniquely complete dataset that can inform our AI actions. Over time we will integrate this as part of our Asset Class Network. This will continue to ensure Asset Class is a far more powerful system than any other in the market. We are a platform - not just an app. In the near future, we will be an AI Enabled, Networked Platform I cannot wait to bring the power of AI to our platform to enable our clients to super-charge their investment in our platform. See announcement here: https://lnkd.in/eCSy5Tnu

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The new quarterly review is live! Each quarter, I dive into the latest trends and shifts in the venture capital market, covering both the broader macro perspective and the unique insights we’re seeing at Florida Funders. Check out my latest article to stay informed on what’s shaping the VC landscape and how we're navigating it at FF. Always eager to hear your thoughts – let’s keep the conversation going! #VentureCapital #FloridaFunders #MarketInsights

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How are you leveraging strategic finance as part of your growth strategy? Since liquidity is the oxygen of every business, having the right resources available before you need them is key to your success

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Welcome Daloopa to Touring Capital portfolio! While there is ton of hype around pure LLM based approaches operating on structured and tabular data, the reality of where this stands today doesn’t match up to the accuracy and traceability required by rigorous financial operators at scale and in time sensitive scenarios. Daloopa’a approach to curating a massive financial performance and filings dataset with domain expert humans + AI allows them to make unparalleled data quality guarantees in their modeling copilot for analysts across both structured and unstructured data.

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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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Fin Capital’s Fintech CEO Pulse Report is out! We surveyed over 50 CEOs and C-suite leaders of private companies from our portfolio and the broader fintech industry during June and July 2024 to get a quick pulse on what’s top of mind for fintech’s leaders. Here are some key takeaways: Optimism in the Air: More than 60% of CEOs reported being bullish or highly bullish on the fintech industry for the second half of 2024. Regulatory Changes on the Horizon: CEOs identified Cryptocurrency, Open Banking, and Buy Now Pay Later as the top three sectors likely to see increased regulation by the end of 2024. CEOs Want Business Development Support: Beyond capital and fundraising, business development support emerged as the top area where CEOs seek investor assistance.For more insights, including comments from my colleagues Ren Riley, Logan Allin, Matthew D. Mann, CFA, and Stephanie Perez, check out the full report here: https://lnkd.in/euHK8-9B

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🌟 Calling all emerging GPs! Walking Ventures is seeking new venture funds to invest in as LPs. With 50+ successful investments and an IRR exceeding 30%, Walking Ventures isn’t just a VC, they’re also LPs in five standout funds that excel in areas outside their own focus. Now, they’re looking to add more LP positions, particularly in first or second funds led by smaller, ambitious firms. Here’s what they’re looking for: 1️⃣ Strong deal flow 2️⃣ Solid internal processes 3️⃣ Operating experience 4️⃣ Relevant network 5️⃣ Sector or geographic expertise Walking Ventures is agnostic on geography, sector, and focused on identifying top-tier emerging funds that deliver exceptional returns. If your fund fits the bill, check out Tim Jackson post for more details on how to connect.

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With the proliferation of the GP Stakes market and with the overabundance of fund level management fees flowing through PE management companies, most private equity GPs have been perversely incentivized to raise, and applauded when they do, as large of successive fund as the market will bear by prioritizing distributable cash to the Partnership and NFRE over fund performance (because GP Stakes deals are a multiple of NFRE excluding carried interest). Further, there is a simple math equation where if one raises a large enough successor fund one can underperform the prior fund and still make more carried interest⁉️ Over the last decade, most GPs have been accelerating fundraising and drastically increasing fund sizes. In order to rationalize and substantiate larger fund sizes and come back to market sooner, minimum EBITDA to pass at IC has gone up dramatically and the velocity of capital deployment has quickened at a myriad of GPs. As successive funds sizes increase 77%(what I see as the mean average for the LMM and MM across Fund II - Fund IV) like clockwork with some GPs even doubling or tripling fund sizes, including one Fund III at ~$400M and their Fund V at over $2B (representing a 500% increase), they are almost always not increasing firm resources / staffing up in lockstep because again, NFRE is paramount and so is deliberately paying higher purchase price multiples for larger companies in order to deploy the much larger fund as quickly as possible. Additionally, with NFRE in mind, GPs are strongly incentivized to introduce additional strategies - small market, growth, debt, etc., which are arguably distracting and detract from the primary responsibility of maximizing the “flagship” fund’s performance. When LPs “ok” or encourage a PE fund’s drastic fund size increase by re upping or committing as a new LP, GPs can significantly underperform in comparison to their prior fund and still make more money. For example, in the past 8-9+ years, with usually only ~2 years between funds, the majority of PE firms have increased their successor fund size by 60-80%+ and are producing lower returns. GPs can significantly underperform their prior fund, yet make more money… Example: Fund I - $400M $8M / yr Fund Level Fee 2.75X MOIC = $140M carry pool Fund II - $680M (70% increase) $13.6M / yr Fund Level Fee (70% increase) 2.25X MOIC = $170M carry pool = a 21.4% increase in the carry pool even with a 18% decrease in performance. Yet, the GP is more valuable. 👉 It’s finally time for the market to prioritize discipline. Discipline when it comes to purchase price multiples paid, leverage utilized, strategy drift, and fund size increases. #privateequity #business #management #growth #fundraising #partnership #innovation

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Thrilled to announce the launch of our inaugural edition of Beyond Benchmarks at Emergence Capital. This comprehensive report dives deep into the metrics and trends shaping the early-stage enterprise cloud market. A huge thank you to our VC partners and contributors for making this possible! Here's a sneak peek of our findings: --> 60% of companies have already integrated GenAI into their service offerings, with another 20% planning to do so this year. --> While most companies use OpenAI as their primary LLM, many are experimenting with multiple models. We’re seeing a trend toward intelligently routing GenAI inference requests based on cost, performance, and security. --> Companies that have implemented GenAI are showing promising results, with a 7% higher NDR compared to those that haven’t. Beyond Benchmarks goes further with more GenAI trends, insights on the current fundraising environment, and key performance metrics. Our goal is to provide founders and their teams with valuable benchmarks to help them make better-informed decisions. At Emergence Capital, we're committed to helping founders build iconic companies. Dive into the full report here: https://lnkd.in/g6bnvAZM

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I recently joined Tyler Hogge and Sterling Snow on the IO Podcast to discuss frameworks for growth-stage companies and what sets great companies apart from the rest. Listen to our conversation here: https://lnkd.in/edRyAmbz And linking to the blog posts we get into on the pod for easy reference: 1️⃣ R&D is one of the most critical yet challenging capital to allocate. How to get it right: https://lnkd.in/gQ-bN87N 2️⃣ For growth-stage companies burning cash, these are the essential questions to answer before going public: https://lnkd.in/gdjT-Fy2 3️⃣ AI is revolutionizing computing. More on what we can learn from SaaS market dynamics as we enter this new era: https://lnkd.in/ePjw7SvT

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