Joshua Orbach

If you're going to Co-GP with someone you have a few options on how you set that up. 1. One entity with solid docs. 2. Two separate GP entities for each person and they own their percentage of the deal. 3. Holding company and two GP entities being the owners of said Hold Co. The amount of time and legal fees spent setting up and then amending and or shutting down and starting over as a single entity GP isn't always worth it unless you're the majority owner, which is why I recommend the other two options, but to each their own of course!

1

The reports on payments for H1 2024 are sending some mixed messages. $21.4B invested looks close to last year's $22.7B total. But dig deeper and you'll see a more nuanced story: The stats are warped by two huge buys: GTCR snapped up Worldpay ($12.5B) and Advent snagged Nuvei ($6.3B). Together, that's $18.8B of the total. Outside of those massive purchases, money flowing into payments has slowed to a trickle. The number of deals paints a bleaker picture: just 231 in H1 2024, vs 570 for all of 2023. That's a cliff-dive, not a dip. So what's driving current VC sentiment? 1️⃣ Interest rates remain high with cuts taking longer than expected. This has kept the cost of capital elevated and large deals scarce. 2️⃣ Geopolitical uncertainty and the upcoming US presidential election are causing investors to act cautiously. 3️⃣ Focus has shifted to stable markets in the Americas and Europe, with the top 16 largest payments deals occurring in these regions. Despite the overall caution, there are some bright spots: → AI continues to attract significant interest, particularly for fraud detection and prevention. → There's growing focus on use-case driven payments companies and niche solutions. → B2B payments modernization and cross-border solutions are gaining traction. Looking ahead, I expect more M&A and global expansion as companies hunt for scale. Post-election, we might see a pulse in deal activity. But for now, it's "wait and see" season. Long-term, payments innovation isn't going anywhere. I'm personally watching for those who can weather this storm and come out swinging when the sky clears.

10

1 Comment

You ever gotten into a deal "on margin?" Scenario: You find this solid deal and you want to put together some cash with your buddies but you aren't liquid. You will all put in $10k for a total of $100k and one or all of the group cover your buy in out of pocket because: 1. you brought the deal 2. they know you have the $$$ 3. they trust you and have done deals with you already 4. they know that you'd do the same for them Those are the people you want in your corner and who you do business with. Keep your network big but your inner circle tiny!

8

3 Comments

How to invest like a VC? ☕️ Ask a founder to brew coffee for you. If s/he doesn’t select maximum grind amount, pass If they can’t even max grind with you, what hope do you have when they are alone?

214

12 Comments

Don’t discount your product before selling your business. Launching a massive sale of annual plans is tempting. Big sale = revenue bump = inflated valuation. But buyers see through this and either:  • Add a discount based on recent months  • Don’t touch the business. If it’s something like Black Friday, that’s okay... but it's best to avoid discounts altogether when prepping for a sale. #acquisitions #SaaS #founders

21

5 Comments

DADD LP's are often overlooked for VC funds as they are the lower end LP's writing checks up to $100k in most cases. The data shows that these types of investors are begging for fund deal flow but there are very few funds out there with minimums under $100k. Let's fix this! Sub $10 mil. VC funds get up to 250 LP's so the foundation to have a high volume of small LP's is there, yet people are still bypassing this group and going for the big check writers. To each their own of course, but eventually, especially in a down market, those big check writers will pull back and wouldn't it be nice to have a fresh pool of LP's just sitting there waiting for your call? ***Doctors, Attorneys, Dentists & Duffers...

1

Founder-Turned-VC Investor Raised $150 Million for Her New Fund💰 Masha Bucher, ex-entrepreneur and founder of Day One Ventures, has raised $150M for her new VC fund. Founded in 2018, Day One Ventures focuses on early-stage startups, offering initial investments ranging from $1M to $2M. Notable companies in the firm’s portfolio include Worldcoin, legal services company DoNotPay Inc., and AI assistant You.com. 📝Diverse Investments and Real-World Impact Day One Ventures supports startups across various industries, with Bucher particularly drawn to founders tackling real-world challenges. “From profound wealth disparities to the urgent threat of climate change and the growing sense of social isolation, tech founders will be our lifeline toward a more abundant, diverse, and sustainable future,” Bucher stated regarding the new fund. 🏆The firm’s track record is impressive, with six of its investments achieving billion-dollar valuations and 22 companies either being sold or going public. This success highlights Day One's knack for identifying high-potential startups. 🎯PR Expertise and Strategic Growth Before transitioning to VC, Bucher founded a PR firm that managed communications for numerous tech companies. She has leveraged her PR expertise to coach startups on media strategies. “If you look at any business problem you want to solve and any business goal you want to solve, 90% of the business problems are communications problems,” Bucher explained on Bloomberg Television. “I think this is something we train founders on and something that we help them to do.” 📈Growth of Day One Ventures The new fund is Day One’s third and largest to date. Fund I, closed in 2019, was nearly $20 million, while the second fund in 2020 totaled $52.5 million. This latest fundraising effort saw contributions from US and European institutional LPs, as well as 14 of Bucher’s own portfolio company founders.💰 “When you are building a firm with value add and staying close to founders, you can attract a lot of capital from your own network,” Bucher said. Notably, she made a concerted effort to include female investors, securing backing from 9 female LPs. Significant in the male-dominated VC industry, where female founders received just 2% of the total capital invested in US startups in 2023, according to PitchBook.🤷‍♀️ 🤝New Investments and Future Focus Day One has already made 5 investments from its Fund III: Cradle, an AI startup focused on human longevity; Rainmaker, a Los Angeles-based company working on cloud-seeding technology; Affiniti; Astroforge; and Layer N.  🚀🌍 ✅ 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)?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VentureCapital #TechInvesting #FemaleFounders #StartupFunding #Innovation

63

3 Comments

Getting an Investment Scaled Back... Getting an SPV scaled back sucks. Essentially, you raised capital for a deal you got an allocation into, but due to it being a competitive round, you now cannot commit the original allocation requested (got sized down) and therefore LPs commitments are going to result in getting scaled back too, given the syndicate allocation got scaled back.  This is definitely another “part-of-the-game” scenario with syndicates as it happens here and there. It’s also why in some scenarios where you foresee this, well then once you have the capital committed you want to sign & wire before the round could get more competitive. There are nuances here like whether it's a SAFE/note vs. priced round as this might be out of your hands, but the point is that the quicker you hard confirm the allocation, the less likely of getting scaled back, which is best for you (the GP) and your LPs. It’s not a good feeling but, comparatively, it’s way better than getting cut out of the deal, so as a syndicate lead, you live with it. Sometimes LPs might express frustration here because they did not want their LP commitment to get cut back, which I can understand, but this is also a “we’re all in this together” scenario. Definitely part of the game for syndicate leads and syndicate LPs. It’s also important for LPs to understand this before investing in SPVs. ​​ -- Powered by Sydecar, Last Money In Media is the most actionable venture capital newsletter. Written by Zachary Ginsburg and Alex Pattis, who have deployed >$200M across 750+ SPVs.

15

3 Comments

❌ When they Zig you Zag - is this a wise move when buying a business? (Click to Read More) ⬇️ In this week’s Truth About Acquisitions Newsletter I discuss using a different approach when buying businesses. I discuss the pros and cons of Turn Around Deals. Including my own experience risking my own money on a turnaround deal. 💡 Here are the highlights: > Using a different approach *could* net you a higher ROI > Use your existing “Unfair Advantage” > Protect your downside 📬 This next edition comes out tomorrow, join the newsletter list today to get the inside scoop. 🔗 To join Truth About Acquisitions FREE weekly newsletter simply click "Visit my website" under my name above. Enter your email and you'll get the next newsletter when it goes live tomorrow!

3

A scenario I run into quite often that shouldn't happen. Got a deal flow email from a firm I know and the link sent me to the portal so I can check everything out. It made me sign up for an account before it let me look around. I typically don't do this and tell them no thank you, but I know these guys so I signed up. Got access and looked around at everything for a few minutes. Nothing really peaked my interest. A few hours go by and the notifications began! Finish setting up your profile. You have docs to sign. Set up your bank account for ACH. Deal #1 No joke, all within a few hours. All I wanted to do was to check out the deals you pitched in the email not get get bombarded with BS. So, the fix is to have a splash page or remove the sign up process until they click on "invest now". Give the public facing brief info about the deal so that if they want more info on that specific deal, it's now worth them signing up. Next, make sure not to overload them with the email blasts and notifications. It's a sure way to piss them off and they'll leave. Also make sure you follow up with them in a timely manner after they set up their account and they have questions. Fortunes are made in the follow up! That being said, I know that offerings using 506b are hush hush and a sign up may be required, I get that, but for everything else including 506c, CF, REG A... let me browse around without you hounding me for my information.

1

You know how to tell if someone has been part of a successful outcome at a company? Don’t worry - they’ll tell you. — 2 things to keep in mind here: 1) A valuation is NOT an outcome 2) Pay attention to their words I spent about 6 years at a company from a series A, leaving a bit before a $2B acquisition. I helped. For sure. Lead amazing teams. Left my imprint on a lot of revenue, a lot of big company changing deals and partnerships. And although I learned a lot that has had a massive impact on my career - it was not me that lead to that outcome. We had incredible founders with a unique perspective on how to solve a very big problem. A rotating, but very impressive C suite with a bias for action and execution. We had an amazing group of people come (and go) but all played a huge part. And - something nobody should ever forget - it was the product, stupid. So, lots of loud voices on here with big claims leveraging brands we know of to get clicks and sell you some sort of “thing”. I’m here to remind you: It wasn’t just “them”. The same people that tell you to blame marketing, the product, or total addressable market for sales people’s failure… Are the same people who don’t give credit to those things for their success. It’s nonsense. It takes all of those things - plus a shit ton of luck. So, I implore you - particularly those early in your career - keep this in mind before you swipe your credit card or hit the follow button. Work hard, have fun, control the controllables and maybe you can be lucky like I was too. #AllGasNoBrakes #DialedIn

193

22 Comments

Everyone's talking about PE and VC. But do you really know the difference? Here's the truth: They're both about investing in companies. But that's where the similarities end. Let's break it down: 1. What they actually do: PE: Buys established companies VC: Funds early-stage startups 2. Risk appetite: PE: "Let's make this good company great." VC: "This could be the next unicorn... or total bust." 3. Ownership mindset: PE: "We're taking the wheel." VC: "We're along for the ride." 4. Investment size: PE: Dropping $100M+ like it's nothing VC: Starting small, maybe $1M-$10M 5. Return timeline: PE: "See you in 3-7 years." VC: "Talk to you in a decade... maybe." 6. Exit strategy: PE: IPO, sell, or reshuffle the deck VC: IPO or get bought out 7. Day-to-day involvement: PE: "We're basically running this place." VC: "Call us if you need advice." 8. Industry focus: PE: "We'll buy anything that makes money." VC: "Tech, innovation, disruption. That's our jam." Here's the kicker: PE is like buying a fixer-upper house. VC is like betting on a racehorse. Both can make you rich. Both can lose it all. But remember: PE plays it (slightly) safer. VC swings for the fences. Which would you choose? P.S. Next time someone confuses PE and VC, send them this. You're welcome. 😉 P.P.S Check out my Newsletter for Founders to Raise Capital and Grow Revenues Here: https://lnkd.in/ejecDs9Z #BrainDumps | BrainDump #97

473

89 Comments

You don't have to "Think out of the box" 📦 You can just “Flip the box” 🔃 Inverted companies grow exponentially. Most out there follow a regular structure. In a top-down approach. If you’re already an established entity, This is NOT easy to implement. But it might be worth it. Culture will improve. Processes optimized. Efficiency amplified. Take a look for yourself at how this works ⬇️

21

6 Comments

This is what the hotel of an emerging manager SHOULD look like - Disciplined fund size - Align incentives with LPs so you only win if they win - Invest every $ you have in your team and infrastructure - Know that you have not earned ANYTHING until you have returned $ to LPs

157

22 Comments

Video series: 4 practical ways to maximize your portfolio company's exit multiple. For PE folks & operators, if spending a few mins on this now could improve your port-co's exit multiple by even 0.2x... ...those few mins could be the highest-returning few mins of your year. Check it. Link in the comments. #PrivateEquity #ValueCreation #Exit

45

4 Comments

When you hear "EXIT" you probably think that the company sold to a PE firm or it went public via an IPO, but that's not always what an "EXIT" means. Different types of exits for Founders: partner buyout sold out in the secondaries company did a stock buy back all stock purchase PE buyer utilizing a leveraged buyout sold utilizing seller financing totally got diluted down to zero BK sold in receivership gifted ownership to charity walked away and took nothing got fired and the company paid you fair market value company got purchased buy nobody made any money upon the sale raised some capital the wrong way and the investors are suing you for the company plus damages... So, when you see someone with "multiple exits", ask some questions as your idea of what an exit is may be completely different from what the actual facts are. Just sayin...

23

10 Comments

Make sure that you're hitting up the VC's for the right amount or else they are going to decline and laugh at you. If VC A is an A round focused firm, asking for $250k isn't going to fly. If VC B is a pre-seed round and you're asking for $10k, they aren't going to take you seriously. If VC C is a seed round firm, they aren't going to take you seriously if you're only offering 5% equity. Know the rules before you play the game!

5

1 Comment

Venture Debt Master Class (Lessons From Alteria Capital): When Alteria Capital crossed the $750M milestone, the rest of us were busy trying to figure out if raising venture debt is like selling our soul, but with a lower interest rate. 💀 With ₹6,000 Cr deployed across 200 startups, Alteria Capital has become the Rahul Dravid of venture debt - steady, deliberate, and always scoring big. Firstly let's understand Venture Debt Vs Venture Capital: Venture Capital: It's like your ex with whom you had good times but now she wants your equity and your firstborn. Venture Debt? It's the lesser evil, you get cash, but they don’t take over your company (yet). It's basically like getting money from your rich uncle but ensure to pay him back well. So how does Alteria Capital make its investments? 1) They go through data. Alteria Capital does not work with gut feelings! 2) They get creative with their debt structures. Alteria Capital works on tailor made debt structures that fits the growth curve of the startup. So here's the takeaway! Invest in data, focus on long-term strategy, and innovate debt products. I feel that venture debt isn't just an add on, so founders and investors: Take some time to think beyond equity too.

13

1 Comment