Jonathan Crowder

Really appreciate the perspective from Anissa G.'s piece in The Information this morning based on her conversation with Bill Braun, Chief Information Officer at Chevron. Like other enterprises, Chevron has pursued two core areas that I believe are low-hanging fruit for AI adoption — they’ve built an internal chatbot with OpenAI’s API to help their HR and legal teams more easily query Chevron-specific company information and are testing out Copilot for Microsoft Office. What’s fascinating is Chevron, 15 on the 2024 Fortune 500 list, established an Enterprise AI team last summer to see what tools in the market they should be adopting, but haven’t yet found anything they believe will have a significant impact on the business — whether by boosting revenue or saving time and money. It’s easy to forget but helpful to keep in mind that, like many of their peers, Chevron began their cloud journey in 2017 and is still in the process of moving workloads there. While I believe it’s absolutely the right thing for management teams, boards and technology leaders to be actively seeking answers to the question of how they should leverage AI, there’s still a lack of clarity on where the rubber will meet the road to deliver transformative business outcomes. In many cases, continued cloud adoption is both a more immediate priority and a necessary intermediate step to being opportunistic with AI. Highly suggest reading the full article here — https://lnkd.in/em8s7J_2

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Investing in generative AI tools This year’s study probed in more depth businesses’ implementation and use of generative AI. Denver businesses are embracing the technology and its potential. In the next 12 months, 82% are likely to hire for internal AI expertise, and more than 6 in 10 anticipate generative AI to positively impact their profitability and accelerate new product offerings. Another 7 in 10 expect it to increase productivity and strengthen their competitive advantage. “Businesses of all sizes are diligently examining their technology options in search of new and enduring efficiencies to drive improved profitability,” said Richard Cabrera, head of Commercial Banking at Umpqua Bank. “AI may still be in the early innings of a long game, but its capabilities are progressing quickly, creating potentially enormous opportunities that more and more companies are eager to understand and harness.” Denver Business Journal Umpqua Bank #ai #denver #business #growth #data #coloradoriverbasin #colorado #watertech #healthcare PropTechPros Arvada Rent-Alls Two Arrows Group DataOrb

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Unequal Treatment in Utility Billing: A Reflection As a private enterprise or individual, we're all familiar with the drill: pay your electricity bill by the due date, or face a disconnection notice, followed swiftly by someone coming to disconnect the service. But have you ever noticed how government enterprises seem to get a different treatment? Take, for example, MTNL and other such entities. When it comes to paying electricity bills, they seem to enjoy unlimited credit from service providers. It raises an important question: Why the disparity in treatment? Is it fair that while private entities face strict deadlines and penalties, government enterprises can defer payments without immediate consequences? This discrepancy highlights a broader issue of accountability and equity in how services are managed and paid for. It's time we reflect on these inconsistencies and strive for a more balanced approach. After all, shouldn't all entities, whether private or public, be held to the same standards? #FairTreatment #Accountability #UtilityBills #PublicVsPrivate #EqualStandards

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Austin Tech Week is underway at the #CapitalFactory! Excited to announce that on Thursday, I'll be joining Christopher Herring and 🌍★Rachael Treviño★🌍 on a panel to discuss Unlocking Global Potential: How to Scale Your Business in International Markets. Join us for this insightful discussion! #AustinTechWeek #GlobalBusinessScaling

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🎙️Welcome Mike Maples, Jr on the Experience-focused Leaders podcast! Mike is the co-founding Partner at Floodgate, and let me tell you, he's no stranger to success—making the Forbes Midas List a jaw-dropping eight times in the past decade. Before he was a full-time investor who invented 'seed vc' category, Mike was a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs. His investments include companies like X, Twitch, Okta, Chegg Inc., and Demandforce. Mike also co-authored bestselling book "Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future". One of the most valuable distillations of startup knowledge to have come out of Silicon Valley. Ever. Dive into the interactive show notes for all the juicy details and for special promotion in getting this genre-defining book. https://lnkd.in/eyDaY6pb Key takeaways from the episode: 🗂️ 𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼. Ditch those bloated "Franken-decks". Get to the point—fast. Tell us what your product does and why it's a game-changer in a few killer slides. 🤝 𝗥𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼-𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀. Great startups attract believers who are all in on your vision. These early adopters aren't just fans—they're co-creators of the future you're building. 🔧 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀. Target those burning issues that keep potential customers up at night. If they've tried and failed to fix these problems, you're their new hero. ✨ 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Your insights should tap into major market shifts and be ahead of the consensus. Stand out by offering something truly transformative.  🔮 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. The best founders are visionaries who bring the future to life today. Look at Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest of Okta, who zeroed in on early cloud adopters and nailed it. 📚 𝗕𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱. Follow thought leaders like Christopher Lochhead 🇺🇸 🇮🇱🎗️🏴‍☠️ Lochhead. His mantra of creating new categories and setting the rules is a blueprint for startup success... and how that can be applied even (or especially) in the early stages of your business RELAYTO/ Content Experience Platform #relayto #podcast #thoughtleadership #entrepreneur #innovation #SeedInvesting #VentureCapital #StartupGrowth #PitchPerfect #CategoryDesign #FounderFit #OrganicGrowth #StartupCapitalism #TechVision #Twitter #Twitch #Okta #Chegg #Demandforce #ChristopherLochhead #MikeMaples #PatternBreakers

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We've built out a complete vertical market sales playbook with call plans, SPIN questions, objection handling, and meeting templates. We've also built out a 12 month playbook to help you facilitate monthly training sessions with your technical teams. Both of these can be freely downloaded at our website. #hvac #buildings #sales #smartbuildings #facilities

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What an electrifying afternoon at the Houston Dealmakers Conference! 🚀🌟💡 The team at Curate Capital including myself took the stage for a fast-paced panel discussion that we hope completely transformed how attendees view social media's role in the venture capital landscape. M&A executives learned how to craft a captivating online brand that not only attracts investors but also builds a community of thriving future deal flow! ✨ The insights shared on leveraging social media for gaining invaluable customer insights were simply game-changing. A few highlights included: - I revealed the secrets behind Curate's concept of using influencers to skyrocket investment value, particularly for CPG brands with a direct opportunity to connect influencers with their products. - Darek of ROI Ventures shared his wife Hollie's journey from brand collaborations to true partnerships with equity in the contract, a model we're taking to scale with Curate Capital's second fund. - Aquila Mendez-Valdez of Haute in Texas shared actionable tips for even the most camera-shy brands to build an online community they can leverage for fundraising and relationship building in a genuine, authentic way. We hope the conversation left everyone feeling inspired and ready to transform their approach! 🎉 It's clear that with social media rapidly evolving within the financial sector, this is one trend everyone should be paying attention to. Thanks to all who participated, and a huge shoutout to the team at Dealmakers for the opportunity! Let's keep the conversation going and unlock endless possibilities together! 🙌💖 #CurateCapital #VentureCapital #SocialMediaMagic

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What is the nature of Austin startup innovation at the early stages? Peter Walker is out with new Carta data on Seed and Series A fundraising by metro & sector. Austin ranks 6th overall with 3.3% of total capital invested, between Seattle and DC. Seattle & ATX again seem to be a tier of their own. Not the first data set where I've seen this pairing & I don't expect it to be the last. Not sure what to make of this trend, yet. When you break it down by sector, the story of what is Austin innovation is beginning to change: 🔹 Healthtech: 4th (5.5%) 🔹 Consumer: 6th (4.6%) 🔹 Fintech: 7th (4.0%) 🔹 SaaS: 7th (3.0%) 🔹 Biotech: 8th (2.3%) 🔹 Hardware: Not ranked (surprising w/ our defense tech boom) ATX’s sector diversity & early stage volume paints a strong future. What's Next?

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🚨 Energy Tech Founders: Your Industry is Unique, and So Are the Metrics That Matter! ⚡ This was pretty eye-opening to me. David Forsberg, CFA from Ascent Energy Ventures dropped some bombs 💣 on investing in the energy tech space. 💡 David reveals a game-changing insight: The metrics that matter in energy tech are fundamentally different from those in the SaaS world. 📊 In the energy tech industry, the number and diversity of your customer base are far more critical than hitting a specific ARR target. 👥 In this clip, we explore: +Why energy tech requires specialized investing knowledge +The dangers of relying on standard SaaS metrics in the energy tech space +The key factors that energy tech investors focus on when evaluating startups This is just a taste of the invaluable wisdom David shares. To fully grasp the nuances of securing investment in the energy tech industry, check out the full podcast on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. 🎧 Tag an energy tech founder who needs to hear this critical advice! ⚡

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T-minus 2 weeks until #RevOpsAF 2024, the first and only RevOps conference on planet Earth. 🌍 And boy howdy we 🥳 are 🥳 excited 🥳 First off, the sessions are absolute 🔥 Manny Medina, CEO of Outreach is delivering the opening keynote, and Kevin Knieriem, President of Strategic GTM at Clari the closing keynote. We've also got sessions and workshops being led by Daphne Costa Lopes (Director of CS at HubSpot), Hilary Headlee (Growth Team Leader at Insight Partners), and Jacki Leahy ✨ (Founder at Activate the Magic), along with many others. Then there's the unique experiences and networking events included with your ticket, like: Tacos + Tequila tasting 🌮 🥃 Ocean Beach Brewery Tour 🍻 Yoga and Sound Meditation on the beach 🧘 RevOps A/F-ter party 🤘🏻 And if that's not enough from you, we'll have 200+ revenue operators joining us. Folks from companies like Zapier, Sage, Fullstory, Capital Rx, and Year Up to name a few. And they are coming from across the globe - traveling from places like Japan 🇯🇵, Germany 🇩🇪 and Ireland 🇮🇪 to come hang with us in San Diego. We've still got some tickets available too, and I know at least one of them has your name on it. 😏 Learn more and snag your ticket → revopsaf(dot)com 🎫 PS - shout out to all of our amazing conference sponsors and supports 👇🏻 Scratchpad - AI powered workspace for sales teams Openprise - RevOps data automation cloud Subskribe - quote-to-revenue platform for modern SaaS companies Revolear - deals done digital DealHub.io - CPQ without limits Cacheflow - quote-to-cash for SaaS companies QuotaPath - scalable commissions management platform Funnelcast - statistical process control for sales CaliberMind - marketing decision engine Conquer - the only salesforce-native sales engagement platform BoogieBoard - AI assisted territory design Xactly Corp - intelligent revenue platform Rattle 🦖 - RevOps automation platform Rupert - no-code alerts for GTM teams Apollo.io - power your entire GTM with one platform Weflow | getweflow.com - pipeline management and forecasting Spekit 🐙 - enablement that works where you work Revcast - revenue forecasting and capacity planning Prolifiq - account planning and execution COUP Champagne - one-of-a-kind corporate gifting Orum - AI-powered live conversation platform Tether Data - data automation for revenue teams QFlow.ai - your GTM finance co-pilot Enlyft - identify, prioritize and engage the right customers GNW Consulting - marketing operations expertise without limits

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Here we go; Hampton's 2024 state of SaaS report is live. We surveyed our SaaS founders and got real answers on the state saas. The first thing I found surprising was How funding impacts time-to-$1M ARR (hint: not what you think) link to report: https://lnkd.in/gJmarrNa Give it a read and let me know what you think.

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Time to get your "Founder Mode" on! Check out this panel and workshop on bootstrapping your startup during Denver Startup Week, September 18! #startuplife #denvercolorado #denverstartupweek #allthethings

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In this article Michelle Valentine, Co-founder & CEO at Anrok, explores how to navigate the delicate balance between top-down vs. bottom-up planning, and how to build strategic alignment that resonates from your board room to your newest hire. Plus, as a bonus, you'll find a three-year financial projection template that you can adapt for your SaaS business. #saasbusiness #saas #financialplanning #saascfo #2025planning #cfo #saasfinance #revenueoperations #gtmteams #annualplanning #cro #revenueplanning #B2B #revops #AIimpact #AI #revenueleadership #gtm #gotomarket #revenueperformance #gtmleadership #gtmstrategy #revenuestrategy #longtermsuccess #gtmperformance #operationalefficiency #freetemplate #financialprojection

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Today's Boring Biz: Pool Leak Detection Company - $2.3M Revenue - $610K Cashflow - South Carolina - Day 39 of "50 States In 50 Days" Note: We do not represent this deal, highlighting for informational purposes only for viewers What do they do? 1. Leak detection services 2. Electronic detection equipment 3. Pool inspections Investment Highlights 1. Strong market demand 2. Established reputation 3. Business systems in place Investment risks/concerns 1. What is the competition 2. Customer concentration 3. Length of contracts #SMB #ETA #finance #Cashflow #investing #search #searchfund #privateequity #microprivateequity #smallbusiness #venturecapital #vc #entrepreneur #business #businessowner #pool #leakdetection #southcarolina #servicecompany Disclaimer: Hypothetical and illustrative only. Please do your own research (DYOR) or work with tax and legal professionals before making a decision. This video are intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice, nor should be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any security by SMB PE LLC or any third party

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Why Buying Your First Business is the hardest & Financing The Fear is Being seen as too risky by lenders and investors. The Solution: Prepare a solid business plan with detailed financial projections. Work with a financial advisor to enhance your credibility. Consider alternative financing options like SBA loans or seller financing.

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Though the City of Houston has long been recognized as the Energy Capital of the World, its perception as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship varies among locals. Can "The City with No Limits" become a leading entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem here in the U.S.? Some would argue it already has. Southern Methodist University's George W. Bush Institute recently published a 225 page report titled "Engines of Opportunity: How Eds and Meds Institutions Can Become More Powerful Drivers of Prosperity in America's Cities." The report aims to answer the question: "Which U.S. cities are performing best in building effective innovation ecosystems and talent pipelines?" Here are five takeaways from the report I found particularly insightful: 1️⃣ University of Houston and Rice University rank in the top 10 amongst mid-sized universities for "Innovation Impact Productivity" (Page 45). 2️⃣ Greater Houston ranks in the top 5 for "Metro-Area Innovation Impact" alongside Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia (Page 48). 3️⃣ Houston joins Boston, Phoenix, and Raleigh as the only U.S. cities to have multiple innovation districts selected for the study's 36 innovation district dataset (Page 67). 4️⃣ The University of Texas System and Texas A&M University System are the only institutions in the State of Texas to rank in the top 50 for "Overall Innovation Impact" (Page 156). 5️⃣ Greater Houston and Greater Austin are the only metro areas in the State of Texas to rank in the top 50 for "Innovation Impact per Capita" (Page 167). What's your perception of Houston's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem? Do these takeaways jibe with your perspective? If so, why? If not, why not?

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SignalFire's annual "State of Talent" report for 2023 is out and it has interesting insights. 💡 Some of the key takeaways: 1) Austin is the fastest-growing city for top tech talent by percentage. 2) New York City is gaining the biggest share of relocating tech talent. 3) #SiliconValley is losing the biggest share of relocating tech talent, but is still growing in net headcount. 4) Gen Z talent is being promoted to management slower than past generations. 5) Gen Z workers switch jobs 2x faster than those in Gen X. 6) #VC-backed founders are older than a decade ago, with the oldest in sectors like life sciences and cybersecurity. 7) Data is maturing from an analyst- and scientist-centric role to an engineering-focused discipline. 8) As demand for AI talent grows, a declining percentage of AI hires have graduate degrees or prestigious schooling. 9) Silicon Valley still hosts the most #AItalent, benefiting from the recent AI startup boom. ❓ Will we see these patterns continue or is the the pace of #innovation with #AI and other tech verticals so fast that entire new #trends will present themselves? 🚀 Given the rapid pace of innovation and various talent trends evolving post-pandemic it has never been more important to have a business strategy fully aligned with talent strategy. 🗞 Note: Additional articles in the comments to read. —- ♻️ Repost if you think others in your network would appreciate it 👍 Like it ✍️ Comment if this resonates? Or if you have a different opinion 🔔 Hit the Bell ✅ Follow me Rishi Khanna for more ✉️ DM me if I can be of any help. My inbox is open. #talent #talentstrategy #remotetalent #austin #nyc BorderlessMind ISHIR Namita S. Chetan Saxena Eric Soon Mamta Rani Renee Wilson Richa Mathur Akshay Chopra

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Explainer videos have proven to be an effective tool for getting your point across to your customers and prospects. Check out this one we did for San Diego Gas & Electric about their CARES program. Maybe we can do one for your organization. #sdge #highlights

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The IRS Direct File pilot was named as Innovation of the Year by FedScoop. We often get questions about "how" Direct File was so innovative. In this article, designer Andrew N. highlights some of those critical choices in making Direct File accessible to as many people as possible. In this context, accessibility means designing and engineering for people who don't speak English as a primary language, people with visual impairments, among others. It's an important issue that often gets deprioritized, so this article highlights how the IRS Direct File pilot team chose a different approach with excellent results. Kudos to the entire IRS Direct File team for you work and congrats on winning the Fedscoop award! #accessibility #directfile #civictech

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