Matt Doherty

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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I love this! Thank you to Rachel Brown from Beauty Independent to kick-off this exchange with Andrew Ross' provocative thesis and have us all react to it. I truly enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on the topic of the shortening lifecycle of beauty brands. Here is a snippet of mine: "Because beauty brand lifespans are shortening, it is important that we are able to differentiate brands with staying power from brands that will end up being a flash in the pan. There are much more of the latter than the former in the market right now, and if a brand is not well-positioned, it will be challenging for that brand to survive over the long-term. That’s why we focus on understanding each brand’s differentiators and long-term relevance." See more here: https://lnkd.in/esVbwnu2 and you will discover what Kevin Murphy, Odile Roujol, Rich Gersten, Tina Henry Bou-Saba, Oliver Nordlinger, Claire Chang, Manica Blain, Sonya Brown, George Birman had to say. #beautyindustry #beautyinvesting Stride Consumer Partners

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Smartsheet has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners for $8.4 billion in an all-cash deal. Smartsheet shareholders will receive $56.50 per share, representing a 41% premium over the 90-day average share price. The transaction is expected to close by the end of January 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and shareholder agreement. After the deal, Smartsheet will become privately held, continuing operations under its brand. There is a 45-day "go-shop" period allowing alternative proposals. Here are a few thoughts: Blackstone and Vista bring extensive experience in tech, positioning Smartsheet for accelerated global expansion. High valuation shows continued private equity interest in software companies, especially those with strong SaaS models. As a private company, Smartsheet may gain flexibility for product innovation and restructuring without quarterly public market pressures. The 45-day "go-shop" could lead to other high-profile bidders, signaling competitive interest in enterprise work management solutions. This acquisition could drive consolidation in the collaborative work software market, setting a trend for future acquisitions. #privateequity #deals #dealflow

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Don't call it a comeback - growth equity deals on the rise again per PitchBook. From the attached article: "According to PitchBook’s latest US PE Breakdown, PE growth investments were on the rise in the first half of 2024, accounting for about 23% of all PE deals and surpassing leveraged buyouts, which made up 19%. That reverses a long-time trend. Growth investments in the first half of 2024 are already exceeding those from the whole of 2023, when they accounted for 20% of all PE deals." The heightened cost of capital is obviously driving a lot of this dynamic. However... it is interesting to note that PE funds are seemingly more willing to take minority stakes - a dynamic that is historically more from the VC playbook. The hard truth is that, even in a challenging funding and valuation environment, growth stage companies - both PE-backed and VC-backed - still offer large institutional investors a compelling return profile. A growth-potential profile not often available in the public markets. This dynamic alone will push PE and VC private market investment through and beyond the current challenges... Endeavor Colorado Zeb King Tegan Stanbach Kathryn Dickson #privateequity #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #innovation #founders #startups #investing https://lnkd.in/gKZKwXct

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Congratulations to our friends at San Francisco-based consumer-focused buyout private equity fund manager Encore Consumer Capital on the acquisition of Chalet Desserts in partnership with founder and CEO David Laukat and the existing management team. Chalet Desserts, based in Sacramento, CA, is a specialty manufacturer of frozen bakery desserts and baked good inclusions that are sold into the in-store bakery at #supermarkets and #convenience stores as well as #foodservice and #ingredient end-markets. The #partnership will focus on add-on acquisitions in the frozen baked goods space. Encore Consumer Capital are one of the US' leading consumer-focused private equity fund managers having raised 4 funds and over $900 million in committed capital and invested in over 40 companies in the sector. Encore Consumer Capital’s current and prior investments include food and beverage manufacturers and marketers, pet products companies, personal care/beauty companies, and food distribution companies. The firm targets companies with between $10 million and $150 million in annual revenues where Encore Consumer Capital’s strong expertise in strategy development, brand marketing, manufacturing and supply chain optimization, and distribution expansion can drive performance. It was great to spend time with the Encore Consumer Capital team in Chicago this past week and looking forward to seeing you again soon! #alternativeinvestments #privateequity #fundmanagers #buyout #consumer #frozenfood #bakedgoods #capitalmarkets #privatemarkets #chicago #sanfrancisco #acquisitions #valuecreation #desserts

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The lack of exits from both private equity and venture capital funds over the last few years continues to have a significant impact on the behavior of large investors. Per the attached article from Institutional Investor, single family offices have moved more capital into fixed income and liquid equites (ie. the stock market). With yields on fixed income securities now higher, the move into that asset class is easy to understand. I would expect a larger allocation to fixed income to endure, as interest rates are likely to remain at or near their current level for the foreseeable future. However, I suspect that the move into liquid stocks is driven more by the need for near-term liquidity, rather than any structural change in asset allocation philosophy. The truth is that family offices need both access to growth companies AND liquidity. If exits in the private markets begin to uptick again, I would expect family offices to once again deploy capital to PE and VC. Private equity and venture capital continue to be the most effective method to access the return profile of growth-stage companies. That is not going to change. However, the liquidity side of the equation needs to return to normalcy. #privateequity #venturecapital #innovation #entrepreneurship #founders #startups #investing Endeavor Colorado Zeb King Tegan Stanbach Kathryn Dickson https://lnkd.in/g4rqxzhQ

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Evercore ISI, Research Division Senior MD & Senior Research Analyst Glenn Schorr and I drop the beat on F.R.E.A.M. in the latest Alt Goes Mainstream Going Public show. Hear Glenn discuss F.R.E.A.M. and why fees rule everything around me in alternative asset management, just like Wu-Tang Clan said in the '90s (C.R.E.A.M. - cash rules everything around me). We cover some of the most pressing topics in alternative asset management, including: * How alternative asset managers balance fee generation with returns. * Does major growth still lie ahead for alternative asset managers? * Why “fees rule everything around me,” but so does alpha generation. * Why does distribution (almost always) win in asset management? * What’s the most valuable aspect of a publicly traded alts manager having a public currency? * What is Glenn keeping his eye on for next quarter? https://lnkd.in/e5jagG9U

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Very similar and a complement to Independent Sponsor led transactions targeting $15 million to $100 million plus EV, search fund deals target acquiring companies for around $15 million EV, priced at approximately seven (7x) times EBITDA or less. Over the years, companies tracked by Stanford have shown annualized equity returns exceeding 30%! The target universe for search funds and Independent Sponsors is substantial, with nearly 200,000 businesses valued between $10 million and $100 million, according to NAICS Association data. Search funds often seek out companies with retiring family founders looking for liquidity. Middle and lower-middle market financial sponsors generally avoid targeting companies worth $15 million due to high overhead costs and the need to deploy significant amounts of capital. However, for individual entrepreneurs, these micro-sized deals are not only accessible but also offer attractive bargains. This has led to the emergence of specialized search PE funds alongside Independent Sponsor transactions. Great article by the FT. #privatecapital #privatemarkets #privateequity #buyouts #growthequity #independentsponsor #searchfund #middlemarket #smallbuyout #sme #institutionalinvestor #alpha #moic #irr #privatecredit #privatedebt #familybusiness #founderowned #fT

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Great NYT article about the US private secondary market highlighting an early mover I co-founded, Forge, and another I invested in and advised that's bringing things to the next level, Destiny (D/XYZ). A couple of my heroes and colleagues, Sohail Prasad and Kelly Rodriques, are quoted extensively. Written by Erin Griffith, a veteran journalist who has followed private markets for nearly two decades, the good insights outweigh a few things that beg for clarification. The public comments, by contrast, are mostly misunderstanding and misinformation. If you've ever worked for a long time at … well, anything… and then you read a news article about it, you probably know the feeling. Private markets are not "shadowy and often enigmatic." It's not that mysterious or complicated, people. It's just a fresh approach to an old business. * rant about Stripe * The article amplifies and conflates misleading claims by Stripe disparaging forward contracts as possibly worthless with others questioning secondary stock solicitations as likely scams. Stripe is twisting stock ownership legalities as if it doesn't want its employees to benefit from shares it's been awarding them for the last 14 years, not unless and until Stripe says they can. We used to run into that at Forge, companies granting equity awards then pulling them back with hidden strings, threats, and bluster to keep control over when, where, whether, and how employees could raise cash from the stock they fully earned as compensation for their loyalty and hard work. Say an employee wants to buy a home or car, pay for medical bills or their children's education. Or leave to start their own company. Sorry, those shares management paid you in lieu of cash, they didn't really mean it. The pinnacle was Airbnb's hired gun CFO calling us "bottom feeders" for facilitating employee stock sales without his permission. As if Airbnb wasn't doing the exact same thing, in their case illegally, monetizing tenants and their apartments. Happily awareness has grown. The Airbnb guy was soon out, and the general understanding came to acknowledge that once an employee earns their stock fair and square it's theirs. Market participants see this as a matter of fairness, but more to the point as a benefit to everyone involved including the company that issued the stock. So most companies encourage a secondary market. Rather than tensions rising, the long term trend is a growing acceptance of stock sales initiated by employees and early investors. Forge, for its part, has found it more effective to work with the companies and honor their wishes rather than butting heads with them as we sometimes did in the early days. I guess Stripe didn't get that memo. Or the people who post comments to New York Times articles.

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Looking forward to Future Proof in Huntington Beach a few weeks. The worlds of alts x wealth are continuing to intersect, so I'm excited to be talking about these trends through the lens of private credit with Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.'s Danielle Poli, CAIA and Cliffwater's Phil Huber, CFA, CFP®. Future Proof (Matt Middleton, Michael Batnick, CFA, Ben Carlson, CFA, Joshua Brown, & team) have done a tremendous job of bringing the leaders of the wealth management industry to create an event at the intersection of finance x fun. At Broadhaven Ventures by Broadhaven Capital Partners, we see the worlds of wealth management and private markets converging in a number of ways as there's a technology market structure evolution in private markets similar to what equities, fixed income, and derivatives went through, and there's a business model market structure evolution in alternative asset management (multi-strategy platforms, consolidation), so we've taken a comprehensive approach to investing in and building companies and funds in private markets. 💸 Investing @ Broadhaven Ventures by Broadhaven Capital Partners: We've invested our own capital into a number of leading companies in private markets like iCapital (personal investment, early employee), Carta, Republic, 73 Strings, LemonEdge, bunch, AltExchange, Allocate, & more. 📝 & 🎙: Content & Community @ Alt Goes Mainstream: We've built the meeting place for private markets, bringing together the leading minds in private markets to educate and inform the space on the latest trends, hosting C-level execs from the likes of CalSTRS, Blackstone, Blue Owl Capital, Hamilton Lane, Franklin Templeton, Man Group, Russell Investments, Fidelity Investments, Bernstein Private Wealth Management, Manulife, iCapital, Arax Investment Partners, Partners Group, & hosting a Monthly Show, the Monthly Alts Pulse with iCapital Chairman & CEO Lawrence Calcano. ⚒ & 💸 : Building & Investing Cantilever Group: We have partnered with experienced operators, advisors, and investors in the GP stakes space in Todd Owens, David Ballard, & Ben Drylie-Perkins to invest our own capital into and help them build what will be an industry-leading GP stakes fund for middle-market alternative asset managers. Look forward to seeing industry leaders across alts and wealth at Future Proof!

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Latest episode of #Origins --> Elizabeth "Beezer" Clarkson and I peel back the layers of endowment investing with Joanna Rupp,CFA, Managing Director of Private Equity at the University of Chicago. Joanna is an incredible LP with over 20 years of experience at the University's Office of Investments. She shares her holistic approach, diving into everything from manager selection to investment strategies for both large and small funds. Also --> Joanna and Beezer evaluate me and my new fund... the pros and cons and what I have to prove in the yrs to come...   Links to listen below

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Are we witnessing the first signs of a resurgence in private equity-driven M&A activity? After an extended lull over the past two years, an intriguing leading indicator is showing an uptick – job postings at expert networks, which often presage an increase in deal flow. During my tenure in the M&A practice at McKinsey & Company, I found that expert network job postings were a good indicator of forthcoming activity. The chart below illustrates three quarters in a row of rising job postings through Q1 of this year. While it's premature to declare a revival, this data point could signal the green shoots of a recovery in private equity M&A. I'm cautiously optimistic and will continue tracking this metric as a potential bellwether. Date Source: Inex One #mergersandacquisitions #PrivateEquity

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2H24 VC: Slow and Furious Race… We are racing to the election and then will likely crawl to a decision. The nasty rhetoric likely contributed to the slight down tick in consumer sentiment last month, the first time since the beginning of the summer. Headline inflation came in a touch hotter than expected at 2.4% in September. The paradox is that the Conference Board just increased its 3Q24 real GDP growth to 1.8%, up from 0.8% in its prior forecast. Conditions are quite good, but the world feels very chaotic. Obviously, the macro-economic conditions directly affect the venture capital industry as liquidity informs returns and the pace of new investments. The velocity of capital is critical and now the system feels stuck. According to a recent report from Pitchbook, both the number of investments and amount of capital invested significantly declined in 3Q24.  For the quarter, $37.5 billion was invested in 2,794 deals as compared to $55.5 billion in 3,661 deals and $35.0 billion in 3,365 deals in 2Q24 and 3Q23, respectively. Notwithstanding the obvious demand for innovative solutions, the healthcare technology sector also saw continued softness in investment activity. According to Rock Health, 3Q24 investment was $2.4 billion across 110 deals suggesting an annual pace between $10 - $11 billion, consistent with 2023. The data do not lie. Thoughts for the rest of year below…https://lnkd.in/ewBQceMk Flare Capital Partners #digitalhealth #venturecapital

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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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Part of the sports asset class is knowing from front to back the entire sports asset value chain, and the interconnected nature of the market. Most folks… don’t even know. At all. In fact this week alone there’s a been a handful of family offices trying to understand more about the industry from our deal flow… Everyone thinks teams, the big 4 professional leagues… and honestly those just don’t have the outsized returns (normally). Think of it this way- you go into a stadium and you buy a pretzel, a drink and go sit down at your seat. What you didn’t consider is the value chain and the companies that know the propensity of the market to get you there… a sports company focused on- digital advertising for the food and drink, maximizing your purchasing power, the POS system itself, you bought those seats on a ticket exchange platform, even the subiminal fan experiences around you that maximize your ability to enjoy… and spend both there and recurring at home. All in the sports value chain. Now imagine being in a fund that has placements in all of these from front to back bringing NAV growth, outsized returns by positioning and interconnected value of other portcos, and cash distributions. 🤔

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After a whirlwind two decades of a corporate career – which has spanned a traditional management consulting firm, a Fortune 500 toy company, a world class entertainment agency, and a growth equity fund, I’m excited to officially share that I’m striking out on my own with Shruti Sehgal. Together, we’re proud to launch The Moonshot Company – a new kind of strategic consultancy, representing high-growth talent, brands, and investors looking to accelerate their cultural and commercial success from a place of authenticity, creativity, and intent. The Moonshot Company will specialize in integrated brand and growth strategies–culled from our prior executive careers in consumer, entertainment, media, finance, politics, and PR. Throughout my professional life, I often found myself at the center of consumer industries undergoing a major landscape shift. Shifting consumer behavior, the proliferation of social media, digitally-native consumption, and revamped business models have underpinned every business I have been fortunate to be a part of. Winter has always been coming. And it is through that lens that I learned a lot about myself as an executive. My curiosity has always found that change exhilarating - and I am particularly adept at spotting through lines and opportunity amidst a constant state of flux. Rapidly transforming industries don’t scare me, stagnation does. And yet, I have always felt a natural tension between building these industry-specific skills and the freedom to add my own interdisciplinary instincts and perspectives to bear, especially on someone else’s platform. But as the world has changed, so have I: this very tension I once thought frustrating is now a reason for being.  If I could go back in time, I would tell my younger self that my own diverse range of experiences and multicultural consumer lens always has been, and will always be, as instructive to my success and growth as anything else. The future of business and culture requires differentiated voices and leaders who can bring a much wider set of skills and a unique blend of deeply-lived experiences – both personal and professional – to achieve transformational outcomes for clients, and this is the foundational vision of The Moonshot Company. Simply put: this platform didn't exist, so we built it. As mothers, former senior executives, culture-obsessed consumers, and South Asian women – Shruti and I are thrilled to put our skills, networks, and novel strategies to work for clients who share our values, and whom we feel uniquely compelled to deliver Moonshot-level results for. If our vision and founder story resonates with you, please reach out. And as we embark on this new journey, I’d love to hear more about your own Moonshot below. 🚀 💫

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In 2023, sports tech racked up over $37 billion in M&A and financing deals, according to Drake Star. That’s a ton of momentum, especially with 790 private financing deals—up from 752 last year—driven mainly by early-stage companies. Sure, the competition for funding is tougher now than it was a few years back, but that hasn’t stopped exciting new ventures from popping up. Just look at Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier's 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TMRW Sports, and the sports-betting content platform SoBet. With so many fresh ideas in play, the sports industry is set for an exciting future! #VentureCapital #Startup #SportsInvestments

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Institutional money is back! KKR, a prominent private equity investment firm out of New York has reentered the multifamily investment space by acquiring over 5,200 units across the U.S., including Texas and Florida. This move signals renewed confidence in the multifamily sector, as some firms are banking on the dwindling apartment construction starts to boost occupancy and rent growth in the near future. This comes shortly after Blackstone’s $10B purchase of Apartment Income REIT in April. Opportunities are on the horizon, and we will begin to see more as the year progresses. As it is, distressed apartment sales totaled nearly $1B in Q1 alone. https://hubs.li/Q02DKJs50 Interested in learning more about Club Capital? Join our preferred investor club to get access to our latest investment opportunities and our education blogs and podcasts. https://hubs.li/Q02DKMnn0 #PreferredEquity #InvestmentStrategies #CREInvestments

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