Krishna Yadappanavar

During yesterday's LibreQoS APNIC webinar, I posed the question: won't more bandwidth solve these problems? As Herbert Wolverson said, yes, more bandwidth is good, but, still these problems remain if queueing is done incorrectly. Here's my take on why bandwidth alone is not as good as bandwidth + good queueing policies: Generally it was believed that 'data is important, so don't throw it away; hang on to it and send it later'. In practice, this has proven to be suboptimal as two issues may emerge: 1) latency increases for some flows due to heavy demand from other flows using the same bottleneck link, 2) even a single flow can have excessive latency due to aspects of typical TCP behavior (referred to bufferbloat) when the buffers grew large enough that the data being buffered was retransmitted anyway. It turns out that not all data is equally important. Active Queue Management is the art of deciding priorities, both in deciding what data to throw away, but also in allowing some later arriving data to be transmitted ahead of data in another connection that arrived before it. These problems have been studied, and good solutions have been found by using certain queueing policies in routers and switches, referred to as “fq_codel’ and “cake”. These track the different flows not by classifying the data, but by watching the behavior. Flows that send relatively little data (DNS lookups), or at a measured pace (video chat) have priority over flows that send a lot of data as quickly as possible (App and System updates, Video and ISO downloads).

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This is quite a piece on accusations of unethical pay-to-play within the #cyber #VC ecosystem. -Guaranteed first-year sales for portfolio companies -Formal loyalty program for CISOs -Points awarded within the program for CISO commitment level to portfolio companies (meetings, PoCs, product purchases) -Share of GP fees for CISOs in the loyalty program https://lnkd.in/gDta7Gp7

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space based data centers are happening

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Founderville believes one of the most significant opportunities is emerging in legacy system applications. We look for manual tasks to leverage AI for efficient automation. Rather than chasing massive TAM, which will be addressed by larger VCs, we focus on smaller market domains that won't be chased as hard. Think of "boring" processes that require human intervention or manualized tasks. Those are opportunities. Keep your eyes open if you have deep domain expertise in a non-automated and fragmented industry. #entrepreneurs #venturecapital #startups #saas

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To all my fellow Arizonans in particular… Here’s the Cliff Notes version of why our Silicon State focus on “atoms” in addition to bits is SO on point for our times. The world of atoms shall be underserved no longer. And Avanced Manufacturing (of all kinds of things in all kinds of industries) is right on the $! 🙏🏼🌵🚀 https://lnkd.in/gNbGmPsC

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I’m thrilled to be announcing that Notion Capital is leading the $15m Series A investment in Cogna today. In the industry, we like to think that software has been eating the world. But when you look at the data a better description would be more of a nibble. Depending on what source you look at the software industry represents between 5-8% of global GDP. Contrast that with the services industry that represents between 60-70% of GDP and worth around $25 trillion on a global basis. Most services have been out of reach for the software industry. They have either been too complex or too specialized for off the shelf software to access in any economically viable way. But that’s beginnning to change with GenAI leading to the emergence of ‘service as a software.’ Cogna is at the forefront of this opportunity - building precision software at scale and delivering huge productivity gains for traditional industries. We know Ben Peters & Lars Mennen well having backed their previous company Five AI that was acquired by Bosch in 2022. And we’re very excited to be backing them again together with Hoxton Ventures & Chalfen Ventures Read my full blog post on why we invested here. Radu Bozga Ben Peters Lars Mennen Bryan G. Mike Chalfen Hussein Kanji Kirsten Connell https://lnkd.in/eh8mhcJb

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🧙‍♂️ My friend Gandalf dropping some real SaaS wisdom in his latest podcast episode: Took the new Runway ACT-1 for a little test drive yesterday. What do you think? 😃 Steps: 1. Open Runway Act-1 2. Record or upload a reference video of yourself 3. Create or upload a reference image (used Midjourney) 4. Click "Generate" (no prompt needed) 5. Final video edits with VEED.IO

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Goldcast's startup journey has perfectly mapped the last 4 crazy years of SaaS. Palash Soni and his cofounders first started the company in 2021 to build great, customizable virtual event solutions for enterprise marketers. While their business kept growing past the pandemic, it was clear that overall spend was shifting back to IRL events fast. However, video consumption continued to rise and quickly became the best way to build your brand and an audience in software - if you knew how to operationalize video marketing. Goldcast's product evolution from a virtual events platform to an AI-native video marketing solution has been incredible to watch. The company had its best quarter yet, adding customers like OpenAI and Coupa Software and I couldn't be more proud. Here's Palash talking about their product evolution and the future of video marketing in an AI-native world.

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pumped to announce sacra pipeline, which syncs sacra research and data directly into your database or data warehouse—so you can work with it natively using your existing tooling. our mission at sacra is to get our research & data on growth and pre-ipo tech companies into the hands of every platform and fund that needs it. sacra pipeline makes that stupidly easy by piping our data to you from day 1. just connect your database (postgres, mysql, mongodb) or data warehouse (snowflake, redshift, databricks) and your product and data teams can start cranking immediately. to check it out, see our launch vid below and email us at [email protected] to get started 👇 🔌 for platforms, this means exposing sacra data in customer-facing features without building data pipelines 🧑‍💻 for funds, it means analyzing companies in sql and creating prospect lists without switching tools. 🔁 for ai developers, it means ingesting and continuously syncing data for RAG as we add to and update our research ultimately, our goal is "easy in, easy out" data. stupidly easy to sign up, get started, and get value - without barriers or commitments. major thanks to Danny Tharma who made it happen here at sacra! to get started with sacra pipeline, email us at [email protected]. 🚀

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Fascinating conversation with James Joaquin + Vinod Khosla on venture, founders and investing with intention for returns and a positive future. With a fun bit on the “shoes of AI”.

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👀 Looking at our recent investments at Draper Associates, here’s what standout founders nailed, making our decision to invest much easier (and faster): 💥 Visionary Tech with a Bold Vision – These founders are not here for incremental wins; they’re reimagining what’s possible in across tech - biotech, robotics, aerospace, and beyond. Their vision is big and audacious, tackling complex problems that demand breakthrough solutions, others have not been willing to try. 👊 Clear Passion & Purpose – The drive in these founders is undeniable. They’re committed to their mission with a depth of purpose that shapes every choice. One founder, for example, took two years completely off to learn and meet everyone in longevity biotech. This level of grit and dedication is rare but essential for the most impactful founders. 🌟 Assembling All-Star Teams – They bring together top-tier talent from diverse disciplines: experienced business leaders with successful exits or industry experience at top companies, technical co-founders with deep expertise, often PhDs or industry pioneers, and even published authors. It’s a complementary team, unified by a shared vision. They make the: "Why this team?" obvious - at a glance. 💻 Data-Driven to the Core – These founders present data insights that show why their approach is unique, especially against a competitive field of companies. This data is delivered with clarity and they make the complex simple. Many are published in top journals, adding depth and credibility to their approach, and reinforcing that they know their tech inside out. ⚡️ Memorable, Clear Vision – They don’t just pitch; they make the future feel tangible, with a vision that’s both compelling and concise. If I can relay their pitch in under 30 seconds to my team, they’ve killed it. 📣 Transparent & Proactive Communication – The best founders don’t wait for questions. They come prepared, often with a comprehensive FAQ doc, give timely updates to our questions, and are candid about challenges. This level of openness builds trust and strengthens our partnership. 💸 Milestone-Driven Funding Strategy – Each funding stage aligns clearly with already achieved or upcoming achievable milestones. They’ve mapped out a roadmap that minimizes risk at every step, giving us confidence in their journey. 💰 Revenue Milestones Along the Way – Even if it'll take a decade to hit revenue on their big vision, these founders find revenue generation stops along the way to profitability. They share a trajectory that connects early wins to revenue, showing how every step is a building block toward their bigger vision. Overall, the best founders are incredibly thoughtful, prepared, and fantastic verbal / written communicators. #founders #startups #fundraising #VC

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If we want to see more diverse top companies like NVIDIA, we need to pave the way at the earliest stages—venture capital is that on-ramp. It was a pleasure to join Emerging Manager Office Hours hosted by Venture Forward earlier this week. Thank you to Rhianon Anderson and Maryam Haque for organizing such a value add event! A few (other) big takeaways to share: 👉 Distinguish the Curious from the Serious: Focus your time on LPs who are truly engaged. There are many LPs out there still excited about and committed to the VC asset class. 👉 Showcase Portfolio Performance: With liquidity tight, highlight KPIs, revenue growth, and the value your companies are building now to position for success when markets rebound. 👉 Clearly Differentiate: Provide concrete examples of how your approach stands out and drives unique outcomes, i.e., case studies. It was a pleasure connecting with friends and meeting inspiring next-gen GPs shaping the future of venture capital: William Crowder (Aperture® Venture Capital), Joshua Weed (Veteran Ventures Capital), Sonam Velani (Streetlife Ventures), Marcos Gonzalez (VamosVentures), Erica Duignan Minnihan (Reign Ventures), and Jenny Xiao (Leonis Capital). Here’s to collaboration, innovation, and creating lasting impact together.

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One of my favorite things is to have a conversation with builders & founders about the personal experience and complexity of working to bring new deep tech to the point where it makes a real difference in our world. So looking forward to this!

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"Wait, What"?👀 They thought they were joining an accelerator — instead they lost their startups! Lacey Hunter thought all was well as she put her startup through the three-month Newchip accelerator. Then the organization filed for bankruptcy in May 2023. Things went from bad to worse later that year when she discovered warrants of her company — rights to buy an ownership stake — had become part of the proceedings, which ultimately forced her to shut down her company. In 2022, Hunter started TechAid, an AI smart-matching tool for humanitarian aid, and was just beginning the accelerator’s curriculum when Newchip filed for bankruptcy. “I made a few friends, but functionally, got nothing from Newchip,” Hunter said. “I was shooting to have the curriculum done by August, but in May, the website went down.” The now-defunct Austin accelerator had filed for bankruptcy amid employee and customer discontent. The court has since ordered the company to auction off the warrants it held in more than 1,000 of the startups that went through the accelerator program. Normally, private companies like startups have control over which investors are allowed to buy shares and the prices they pay. But the bankruptcy court, which works to restore creditors rather than equity holders, isn’t allowing Newchip’s startups to exert that kind of control. Instead, the auctions are ongoing, with the first tranche already sold and upcoming tranches expected to be sold this spring and summer. Founders are outraged — including some, like Hunter, who have actually lost their companies as a result. Wait, what 🙆‍♂️? #startups #accelerators #entrepreneurship https://lnkd.in/d4P94kFZ

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Salesforce's CEO is right. Before deploying AI agents and Copilots, ensure that sensitive data stored in SaaS is under control and that you have visibility into what data these agents can access or edit. Metomic can help. #saasdlp #datasecurity Evolution Equity Partners Marc Benioff

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I had a lot of fun recording a podcast episode with Shiva Singh Sangwan. We discussed the evolution of Humba Ventures & Susa Ventures; tips for raising and building a fund; how to improve investment sourcing & picking; the role of luck in investing, and so on. https://lnkd.in/eiqsStej

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Always bank on exponentially improving technologies. Particularly when they're still in the deceptive phase of growth (with credit to Peter H. Diamandis for the "6 Ds"). AI is evolutionary. Quantum will be the same. AI and quantum converged? I'd need AI running on a quantum computer to have a shot at predicting all the ways that can improve humanity. I'm not blind to the risks and I don't think it will be perfect. But I am on balance a technology optimist and I think the data supports that mindset.

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If you enjoyed our first blog on the metrics that matter for Verticalized SaaS then don't miss on the Part II of the series where my colleagues Devraj Hom Roy and Matt Schaar discuss the strategic and operational choices to improve these operational indicators. https://lnkd.in/g5QkCrcH

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