Naresh Parshotam

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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🌟Innovative VC Firm Overcomes Exits Drought with Secondary Sales🌟 ⛵Navigating a challenging landscape where exits are scarce, Santa Barbara Venture Partners (SBVP) has pioneered a novel approach to sustain its growth and attract investors for its second fund: secondary sales. Instead of waiting for traditional exits like IPOs or acquisitions, SBVP opted to sell shares of its portfolio companies, demonstrating its ability to generate returns for investors and stand out in a competitive market. 🎤According to Dan Engel, founder and managing partner of SBVP, these secondary transactions have been a game-changer, sparking investor interest and bolstering the firm's credibility. By leveraging its recent successes, including a lucrative stake in sports-betting company DraftKings Inc.' acquisition of digital lottery app Jackpocket, SBVP seized the opportunity to return profits to its limited partners (LPs) and pave the way for its second fund. 💡Engel highlighted the challenges faced by young VC firms in raising subsequent funds, particularly amid a downturn in exit activity and heightened investor scrutiny. With traditional exit routes becoming increasingly elusive, the pressure is on for firms to demonstrate tangible returns and establish a track record of success. ✨"For us, secondary sales have been a game-changer. They've helped us return profits to our LPs and attract investors for our second fund," said Dan Engel. 💰For SBVP, the decision to pursue secondary sales was driven by the need to provide liquidity to LPs and validate its investment thesis in the eyes of prospective investors. By strategically offloading portions of its holdings in high-performing portfolio companies like Bark Technologies and Rad AI, SBVP not only generated substantial returns but also bolstered investor confidence in its ability to deliver results. ⚠Despite the complexities and potential stigma associated with early share sales, Engel emphasized the importance of prioritizing investor returns and seizing opportunities to unlock value for stakeholders. With a focus on profitability and transparency, SBVP remains committed to its mission of delivering sustainable growth and maximizing returns for its LPs. 🔍 "Returning profits to our investors is our top priority. By strategically selling shares, we're proving our commitment to delivering results and driving value for our stakeholders," added Engel. As SBVP continues to explore secondary transactions and expand its investor base, the firm stands as a testament to innovation and resilience in the face of market challenges. 🚀 ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #fund and increase the international pool of your LP #investors?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VCInnovation #SecondarySalesSuccess #InvestorReturns #ValueCreation 

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Apple’s Private Cloud Compute and the business of privacy With Private Cloud Compute, Apple has gone to extraordinary lengths to safeguard user privacy with AI-related tasks. In doing so, Apple has surely also incurred an extraordinary expense. How can Apple justify the cost of providing PCC if it doesn’t directly monetize its Apple Intelligence features? Either through the improved brand perception captured in a broader privacy narrative or by monetizing PCC with other non-AI use cases. While the narrative explanation is clear, the more interesting theory about Apple’s motivation in building PCC is that it can be expanded to other use cases that can be directly monetized. The first alternative use case that springs to mind is advertising attribution. PCC sounds conceptually similar to a data clean room, albeit far more sophisticated than most implementations, which merely use IP addresses and other identifiers to match publisher-observed ad interactions with advertiser-observed conversions. While the PCC nodes seem hardware-optimized for processing AI-related tasks, other nodes could be built that aren’t.

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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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On the back of the article from The Guardian “Banks, airlines and media outlets hit by global outage linked to Windows PCs,” it got me thinking… What would happen if AI services like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc., went down? Why can’t we use these offline instead of being connected to the Internet? Many organisations are becoming dependent on AI, raising concerns around security and privacy. We would witness significant disruptions across various sectors. Customer service, healthcare, finance, and logistics heavily rely on AI to optimise operations, provide insights, and enhance user experiences. The absence of AI would slow decision-making processes, reduce efficiency, and potentially lead to increased errors. This scenario underscores the critical importance of AI in our modern infrastructure and the need for robust contingency plans to mitigate such risks. https://lnkd.in/e8KFV6QK #AI #Technology #BusinessContinuity #RiskManagement Whitespace

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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 Gartner Mike Chalfen Hussein Kanji Kirsten Connell https://lnkd.in/eh8mhcJb

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AI agents are transforming business productivity by automating tasks through LLMs. However, LLM's lack of robust data authorization raises concerns about sensitive information disclosure in their response, especially when integrated with internal data and external SaaS (Slack, Jira, GDrive etc.). Strong data controls and security measures are essential to prevent leaks, protect agents, and ensure regulatory compliance. #aiagents #genai #saasdlp #cloudsecurity #runtmesecurity #ebpf #centerofexcellence

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DePIN & RWAs dominance isn't as far off as most people think. Across every innovative cycle, three fundamental pillars emerge: foundational technology development, proliferation of infrastructure, and a surge in application development. As we venture into the third cycle, DePIN and RWA protocols are poised to become market leaders paralleling the dominance witnessed by infrastructure projects from 2015 to 2024.

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ISP Strategic Leadership, Engineering, and Operations As an organization scales, there is often a need to separate strategic technology leadership under the CTO from internal execution under engineering and operations management. This allows the CTO to focus on outward-facing duties while enabling streamlined operational efficiency. However, it's crucial to recognize the differing motivations and needs of these distinct technical roles. On one hand, engineers thrive on tackling interesting, challenging projects that push their abilities and knowledge. They value working alongside capable peers, genuine recognition of technical accomplishments, and contributing to products/services that reach the market. In contrast, operations teams should strive for repeatable processes, continual improvement, and driving efficiency at scale. Their priorities revolve around standardizing workflows, minimizing disruptions, and incrementally optimizing existing systems and procedures to maintain consistent service delivery as the company grows. An effective organizational structure acknowledges this dichotomy, fostering an environment that fuels engineering innovation while providing operations with the stability and process-orientation they require. Striking this balance enables the company to stay agile and innovative through its engineering efforts, while simultaneously scaling operational execution in a reliable and repeatable manner. Competitive compensation remains an important motivator across both domains. By properly aligning structural elements, motivational factors, and leadership priorities, a rapidly growing ISP can position itself to attract and retain top talent across engineering and operations, driving sustainable growth and success in the dynamic technology landscape.

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Enjoyed giving this presentation today for Open Data Science Conference (ODSC) on Developing Equitable #AI Diagnostics. #ODSC2024 My slides can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gAbT4Yve

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USB drive. Cell phones. VoiP. Microsoft Windows. Intel PC computer chips. Instant messaging. Drip irrigation. Pillcam (capsule endoscopy). Iron Dome. These are just a few of the world-changing technologies that have been developed in Israel. As my involvement with connecting investors, global companies, and executives with the tech industry in Israel has grown over the past year through the Israel Tech Mission, I have found that simply providing data and information about the sector is usually enough to generate substantial interest. And for good reason. Israeli high-tech and it's presence and impact on the tiny country, and in fact, on the world, is far greater than even that of Silicon Valley. The numbers tell the story. The high-tech industry in Israel accounts for 20% of its GDP, By comparison, in the United States, the high-tech comprises only 9% of the economy. Or from a different perspective, the high-tech field, at 20% of GDP, is more important to Israel than the oil and gas industry, at 16%, is to Russia. "It is true that we have grown, but less than in previous years, and investments have also decreased. The growth in hiring new workers has also decreased. Everyone has significant concerns for the future of the country and the economy. The entrepreneurs feel it, and so do the investors." - Dror Bin, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority רשות החדשנות According to the annual report released by the Israel Innovation Authority, there are approximately 515 multinational companies in Israel, which employ around 90,000 workers in Israel (roughly 25% of Israeli high-tech employment), concentrated in software (40%), semiconductors (30%), and life sciences (10%). The importance of private sector investment into Israeli high-tech cannot be underestimated, as government spending on the sector is lower than the average of the 37 other OECD countries. This is not surprising, given the combination of military spending requirements as well as the highly entrepreneurial nature of the high-tech sector in Israel. Perhaps the most unique - and valuable - quality of the Israel tech sector is it's ability to effectively partner with private investors and multinational companies with limited government assistance or intervention. The level and pace of technological investment today in Israel is truly unparalleled anywhere in the world. From AI, fintech, and cybersecurity to biotech, medical, and industrial automation, Israeli innovation is having a major global impact in just about every area of high-tech. If you are interested in attending a future Israel Tech Mission to see firsthand the tech investment and development opportunities in Startup Nation while networking at the highest levels within the Israeli tech community, please reach out. David Siegel David Nakar Avigail Goldglancz David Malton Adi Y. Segal Ron Miasnik #israel #startupnation #israeltech #israeltechmission #tech4israel #innovation #standwithisrael #venturecapital

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There are two interesting and relatively new/emerging revenue models in hardware space. (1) Software Enabled Hardware Hardware is sold at lower but slowly improving gross margins (eg 20-40%), and software recurring revenues layered on top. Software sells at higher margins, enabling blended margins to appear in 50%+ category. These are applied in situations where hardware is not expected to be replaced or greatly improved upon in deployment for a significant number of years to come. Consider your car, or military equipment, or even infrastructure equipment. As always, there are often multiple business/revenue models utilized by different players in the same industry. (2) Hardware As A Service Hardware and software are bundled and sold with annually recurring revenues. Often multi-year contracts are signed to be able to amortize hardware over time, and enable blended gross margins over the length of the contract to be high (approaching 60-75%). This is more common in situations where vendor takes responsibility to upgrade hardware as needed along the way to provide maximum and highest functionality to the customer. Hardware inventory costs are, over time, passed on to suppliers or third party financing parties in lieu of few gross margin points. Consider robots as a service in factories (ala Formic), or AI-enabled equipment (eg Evolv, Lumafield etc). Hardware innovation will require deeper investigation, experimentation, and understanding of business/revenue models to fit customer needs as well as to maximize value for the innovating company. Strong and experienced management teams work hard to minimize sales friction, inventory costs etc, but also maximize gross margins, customer stickiness, and ability to upsell during the life of a contract.

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It is a great privledge to be backing Stella Garber for a second time, as well as her sensational co-founders Brian Schmidt and Justin Gallagher. It’s also great to working with Index Ventures again, too. One thing I have learned in my venture career is that humans are lazy, and software that does simple things can feel like magic. Hoop uses AI to automatically harvest to do items from all of your communication channels. Today it’s single player, and in the future it will be your whole team. Read more about why we invested: https://lnkd.in/geTy-kyZ

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We just concluded Embiggen X’s strategy for 2025. For almost two years, we’ve experienced conversations and priorities shift for large companies - more focus on innovating the core the business and less on non-core innovation initiatives. We’ve seen large global companies in the west close down their innovation labs, corporate venturing units, and let go of non-core innovation teams — or at the very least, decreased spending in venturing activities. This is also true for large corporates in Southeast Asia. Simultaneously, we’ve been getting into conversations with CEO’s asking more questions on AI & Digital Business Transformation. No, I’m not talking about building apps. We’re getting questions around: - How do we rewire the “guts” of our operations for us to be able to “scale profitably”? - How do we fix our “spaghetti & siloed” operations? - How do we make sure that we don’t just “buy more” off-the-shelf tech platforms that don’t talk to each other and complicating our already inefficient ops? - How do we increase our NPS score by transforming our customer experience? - Can you help us build a holistic digital business transformation strategy and help us execute too? - How and where can we use AI to become grow better? This is why Q4 of last year in the midst of business challenges, we decided to shift focus from Corporate Venture Building and spin off an AI & Digital Business Transformation company, Embiggen X (https://lnkd.in/geVM4BCF), from the Embiggen Group. Within less than a year, we’ve expanded our operations in Southeast Asia to Europe and 2024 as our highest revenue & profit generating year. We’ve served companies from Insurance, Supply Chain, Telco, Conglomerates, Construction, and Consumer Services to date. We help from Strategy to Execution. I’m beyond grateful to the operating team that made this new chapter of our journey possible. Embiggen X Managing Partner & COO, Xavier (X) Marzan; Partner & Head of Europe, Nicolas Souvlakis (calling in from Switzerland); Junior Partner & CAO Bien Herrera; Partner & CTO Robert Newgen; Chief Growth Advisor Gary de Ocampo, GICD; Advisory Board Member and Incoming Board Director Cliff Eala; Head of Artificial Intelligence Miguel Testa (calling in from Canada); as well as more partners, clients, and supporters. Big goals & challenges up ahead. Excited for whats to come. Onwards & upwards. 🚀

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What Dave McClure is building resonates well what we are doing with our Siena Secondary Fund. Although one focuses on fund stakes and the other company positions, the journey is the same - need to educate the market about what is #VC #secondary and how to benefit from it...

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Regulatory oversight can provide short-term stability and protection, but if not carefully planned, it can often stifle innovation. The SEC's regulation of #ICOs in 2018 is a prime example. The increased regulatory burden and uncertainty led to many ICOs excluding US investors and positioning themselves as foreign offerings to avoid SEC jurisdiction. This shift limited access to capital for US-based early-stage startups and created new challenges for companies seeking to raise funds through ICOs. Most importantly, the lack of clear guidance made startups hesitant to explore new financing models, fearing regulatory repercussions. It's ironic that a #gambler can lose their house in minutes in #Vegas without the same level of scrutiny and regulation on #casinos! And kudos to Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom for not getting too excited or bowing to pressure! If the government wants to be part of innovation, they should offer grants and non-dilutive funds to startups, just like #Europe and #Canada do with - SR&ED Tax Incentive Program - AgriScience - NRC-IRAP - EU Grants for Digital Health and Technology Startups - IIA Investment Programs and many more! This way, they can keep an eye on startups and disruptive solutions as they submit their progress each year to qualify for more funding. Let's support our startups the right way! #InnovationBeforeRegulation #AI PBS KQED NPR BBC CNN

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How companies purchase software is rapidly evolving, with cloud marketplaces expected to reach $100B in 2026, up from $15B in 2023. Simply put, if you are building and selling cloud software today, it's imperative that you can sell through a cloud marketplace. The journey, however, can be a little confusing, and management can be even harder. With 3x growth last year and 3/4th of our business now flowing through a cloud marketplace, CloudZero switched to Clazar earlier this year to handle our rapid growth, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Trunal B. and Aayush Bahuguna have a big vision for how cloud marketplaces will evolve and how software will be bought and sold in the future. No matter where you are on your journey, learning from them what's coming next is worth your time.

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In this week's episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast, I speak with notable X personality Trung Phan about the evolving social media landscape, and how to tame the mayhem and pandemonium of X. https://lnkd.in/dVHMzbui

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💡Benchmarks in the investment industry serve as a standard for measuring the performance of securities, mutual funds, or investment managers. They provide a reference point for analyzing allocation, risk, and return of a portfolio, enabling investors to make informed decisions. Thanks Peter Walker for keeping us all informed!! Can’t wait for this!! Follow and get on the waitlist for this one! #benchmarks #fundraising #Capitalraise #founders #womenshealth #femhealth #medtech #wellness

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