Tyler Bosmeny

For any #edtech app to realize its potential, data must flow seamlessly and securely. But data integration is deceptively complex and costly. It’s also *not* what gets edtech developers and engineers out of bed... ...except perhaps for Mick Hewitt Doug Weber and the team at Ednition, who are building the critical infrastructure to help schools and companies to solve rostering and data interoperability challenges in education. Already Ednition has processed billions of rostering records for edtech companies working with school systems of all sizes. As Mick once said: let’s compete on apps, not infrastructure. We’re incredibly excited to join GSV Ventures Avalanche Array Education and others in this seed round. On the roadmap are even more robust integrations with LMSs and other features that will unlock data silos. If you’re building in #edtech and find yourself wrestling with data challenges, give Ednition a look (or hit me up for an intro)! Many Reach companies are happy customers.

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Venture Capital Fundraising Deck Template: Carta and Kauffman Fellows present a comprehensive venture capital fundraising deck template to guide General Partners (GPs) in attracting limited partners (LPs). Here’s what to include: 1) Background: Highlight the unique qualifications and track record of your team. LPs are investing in the people as much as the strategy. 2) Differentiators: Showcase what makes your fund stand out—whether it’s your access to networks, industry expertise, or proprietary methodologies. 3) Investment Thesis: Present your vision for the market, future trends, and how your fund will capitalize on these opportunities. 4) Track Record: Include metrics like IRR, multiples, and past successful investments to demonstrate your fund’s potential for generating returns. 5) Terms: Outline the economic terms, including fund size, management fee, carried interest, and target raise. PS. check out 🔔 for a winning pitch deck the template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel https://lnkd.in/ejp-Bhnu

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Great time on the Embracing Erosion podcast w/Devon O'Rourke! We talked about: 🚀 How to scale a company from concept to 9-figure exit 🔄 How to break away from the traditional consulting model and apply product approaches ⏩ Why it’s important to iterate quickly and often with messaging 💸📈What signals are important to pay attention to when investing in startups and much more!

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Here are the Top 10 SaaS funding rounds of the past week (Seed to A) Starting at number 1... 🥇 Emergence, $97.2mm Seed 🤯 Emergence is developing an AI "agent-based" system that automates tasks typically performed by knowledge workers. Founded by Satya Nitta. 💸 Investors: Learn 🔗 https://bit.ly/3XSitTA 🟠🟠🟠 🥈 Formic, $27.4mm Series A Formic enables manufacturers to scale faster by making it easy to deploy robotic automations, like packing and palletizing. Founded by Misa Ilkhechi and Saman Farid. 💸 Investors: Blackhorn Ventures, FJ Labs, and more 🔗 https://bit.ly/3XGzEYr 🟠🟠🟠 🥉 normai, $27mm Series A Norm Ai is automating compliance processes, making them more efficient, cost-effective, and accurate via (you guessed it) AI. Founded by John Nay. 💸 Investors: Coatue, Bain Capital Ventures, and more 🔗 https://bit.ly/4ckpNft 🟠🟠🟠 🎖️ 4. ORA, $20mm Series A Ora is a blockchain project incorporating AI into dapps. Founded by Kartin Wong. 💸 Investors: Polychain Labs, HF0, and more 🔗 https://bit.ly/3zpW7Ph 🟠🟠🟠 🎖️ 5. Payabli, $20mm Series A Payabli builds the infrastructure that allows companies, specifically software companies, to embed and facilitate payments through APIs. Founded by Joseph Elias Phillips and William Corbera. 💸 Investors: QED Investors, Bling Capital, and more 🔗 https://bit.ly/4bwkGHE 🟠🟠🟠 🎖️ 6. Sift, $17.5mm Series A Sift develops tools to accelerate the development and ensure the reliability of complex machines (think Spacecrafts). Founded by Austin Spiegel and Karthik Gollapudi. 💸 Investors: GV (Google Ventures) 🔗 https://bit.ly/3L7zlyk 🟠🟠🟠 🎖️ 7. Ario, $16mm Seed Ario is an AI-powered assistant for parents that helps with daily tasks, from meal planning to scheduling playdates. Founded by Sumit Agarwal. 💸 Investors: Wing Venture Capital, Floodgate, and more 🔗 https://bit.ly/4eEjeG9 🟠🟠🟠 🎖️ 8. MagicSchool AI, $15mm Series A MagicSchool provides lesson-planning solutions for teachers to fight burnout. Founded by Adeel Khan. 💸 Investors: Bain Capital Ventures, Adobe Ventures and more 🔗 https://bit.ly/3RQt5Pn 🟠🟠🟠 🎖️ 9. AuthZed, $12mm Series A Authzed makes it easier for developers to build permissions in their applications. Founded by Jacob Moshenko and Jimmy Zelinskie. 💸 Investors: General Catalyst, Work-Bench, and more 🔗 https://bit.ly/4bqkh9B 🟠🟠🟠 🎖️ 10. SLUSHY.com, $10.2mm Seed SLUSHY is a creator monetization platform. Founded by David Gross and Fred Sprivock. 💸 Investors: Mantis Venture Capital, Jon Oringer, and more 🔗 https://bit.ly/4eN9Boi ⚫⚫⚫ I'm Gyan, Head of Community at Venture House. I create tools, guides, and other free resources for Junior VCs and founders. If you found this helpful, check out the Venture House website for more 👇 https://venturehouse.xyz/ #startups #venturecapital #funding #saas

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Alternative Resources for founders, geared for startups with generous free tiers: 1) Papermark - Docsend alternative. 2) Tally - Typeform alternative. 3) Cal.com, Inc. - Calendly alternative. 4) Supabase - Firebase Alternative. 5) Sender.net - Mailchimp Alternative. What else are people using and loving in the founders stack?

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When deciding between SAFEs and priced equity, think about your startup’s current stage and future plans. SAFEs can offer flexibility for various funding amounts, making them a solid choice for different stages. Review your goals and funding needs to decide which option aligns best with your startup’s direction. #FundingOptions #StartupGrowth

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Nic Poulos and I wrote an essay for Euclid Ventures, "An Era for Vertical Software." The TL;DR is that vertical SaaS is a distinct, enduring discipline that we believe is poised to dominate the software landscape over the next decade.   "2024 will represent a turning point, perhaps even a new era for venture capital. While the fog feels like it’s lifting, the path forward isn’t yet clear. One includes a soft landing for the US economy and the continuing recovery of software multiples, with ZIRP-era behaviors continuing around hot themes. Another sees a recessionary period in which VC capital inflows remain stagnant and startup funding the year dips below $100B. Either way, a more measured VC market in 2024 is a certainty. For many investors, that will come with a rude awakening as their strategy becomes more difficult to execute or their thesis of choice is negatively impacted by tightening markets.    We see this reversion of the venture ecosystem to its mean as a strong tailwind for Euclid and vertical software. As a category, Vertical SaaS is uniquely well suited to thrive in volatile market conditions and produce fund-returning outcomes. The sections below aim to answer the question: why is vertical software different? Our answer discusses the factors driving the natural market resilience we see in vertical software as a category–resilience that will help them thrive in 2024 and beyond."

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I 💯agree with Oz Merchant on this topic. Some folks advise founders to pitch very selectively and 'pick your pitch' - you get one shot, choose it wisely? I'm 180 degrees opposite of that - be a promiscuous pitcher! - ABP - ALWAYS BE PITCHING. Because your pitch gets better with every no, take that feedback, learn, iterate. Right now it's taking 50-100 no's for Triangle co's to get funding, it's still tough out there, so get through the no's fast to get to a yes. Check out the event - also go see others pitch, it all helps you get better - pitching is like PMF - lots of iteration, tons of grinding to get through to the other side.

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Once you’re in it, you’re in it. #Startup #founders don’t just take financial risk - they invest years of their lives. For many, it’s absolutely worth it. To me, the first task is the most important one: to define your target and make absolutely sure it’s one worth that level of investment.

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Keys to Catching an EdTech Unicorn 🦄 • Too much investment going into incremental vs. transformational change - only 7% categorized as "transformative" EdTech in 2020 • EdTech struggles to attract VC funding due to challenges selling to risk-averse districts favoring incumbents • More capital needed for diverse founders closest to problems, innovative use of student data, and inclusive product design The EdTech industry is ripe for disruption, but realizing billion-dollar "unicorn" potential will require redirecting investment toward truly transformative solutions led by diverse innovators. #Education #EarlyYears #Earlychildhoodeducation #Childcare #Nurseries #Preschools #Edtech #K12Education #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #ImpactInvesting https://lnkd.in/d9ipZxUH

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What does it take to raise capital for SaaS companies now according to Jason Lemkin (SaaStr) Key Takeaway 1: The current venture capital landscape is experiencing significant changes, particularly driven by the rise of AI. Investors are increasingly focused on finding "decacorns" (companies valued at over $10 billion) in the AI space, as traditional software companies are no longer seen as sufficient for generating massive returns. > Agree, its a generational new sector that will change the world in the short to medium term Key Takeaway 2: There's a growing trend of large investments in AI companies, even those without established revenue or customers. This is exemplified by Elon Musk's new AI company raising $6 billion and OpenAI's rapid growth. Investors are making high-risk bets on potential AI breakthroughs, driven by the need for outsized returns. Key Takeaway 3: Established venture capital firms and investors are pivoting their focus towards AI. SoftBank is raising a $9 billion fund solely for AI investments, while prominent hedge fund manager Steve Cohen has restructured his venture fund to concentrate exclusively on AI opportunities. > This signals huge momentum of capital, a good but wary signal. Overall a very good signal. Key Takeaway 4: The AI investment trend is not without skepticism. There's recognition that some companies may be falsely claiming AI capabilities to attract funding. However, real-world applications and significant deals, such as Palantir's $480 million AI contract with the US Army, demonstrate the tangible potential of AI technologies. > As with any new exploding trend, be wary always. Key Takeaway 5: The venture capital industry is under pressure to find and invest in potential decacorns, as traditional software companies, even successful ones, are no longer considered sufficient for generating the massive returns required by large VC funds. This shift is causing stress and driving the focus towards high-potential AI startups. > Power law distribution and math doesn't lie (that much). https://lnkd.in/gHe8tW2E

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The story of Eon starts years before our investment. We identified Ofir Ehrlich as a special operator, and he helped us across multiple deal processes; in the meantime becoming a great and loyal friend to Vine and to me personally. Fast forward to the end of 2023, Israel has just been caught blindsided by a devastating Hamas attack on October 7th, the country was in disarray, but that didn’t stop Ofir from bringing the gang back together to ideate on their next big idea. And, surprise, it wasn't in AI. On November 29th, as we sensed this would become one of the most competitive deal processes in Israel, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to introduce Shaun Maguire to Ofir over lunch in our office via Dean Meyer. Shaun was in Israel on a righteous mission to show Elon Musk the atrocities of October 7th and resilience of the Jewish nation. We as a firm know when we can go alone, and when we need / want to partner with the multi-stage firms, in this case Sequoia. Ofir would easily raise a large seed, and it would be an obvious seed investment for most firms out there, given the incredible founder-market fit of Ofir plus his stud co-founders, Ron Kimchi and Gonen Stein. Once the market caught wind of the fact that this prospective founder was quickly moving from “ideating” to potentially being pre-empted, the conversation in a week shifted from “get to know you” to Sequoia Capital / Vine Ventures, L.P. need to earn the right to partner with these founders, together. We quickly went into diligence mode, speaking with experts in the backup space, incumbents, and potential customers. Within a week, the insights that Ofir had described to us were validated, and it became clear that this was an n of 1 team to go and build a solution in this category, which could become among the largest in enterprise software. We are extraordinarily grateful that Ofir chose to work with us and that Sequoia remained loyal to Vine as we navigated the deal process together. Since then, Ofir, Gonen, and Ron have built one of the highest caliber teams we have ever seen, and have worked with some of the largest corporations in the world, allowing them to have a holistic view of their cloud assets and ensuring that they are available, even in the case of a ransomware attack or human error. Following this progress, in just 8 months the company has rapidly completed both their Series A (Tal Morgenstern, Lightspeed + Omri Casspi) and Series B financing led by the wonderful folks at Greenoaks. With that, we are grateful and excited to be a part of the Eon journey, and look forward to working closely with the team as they build the next great enterprise software company out of this small but mighty country. Am Yisrael Chai. Let's go Eon! Daniel Povitsky Demren Sinik Barak Kaufman Alex Moskowitz Racheli Adler John McIlree https://lnkd.in/e8fvVCji

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The best things Founders can receive from investors (apart from term sheets) is feedback! At Funden, about 50% of pass notes come with some sort of feedback thats actionable and helpful to the Founder. Here’s an example of a pass note from earlier this month: “We focus on having live, paying enterprise customers with a repeatable, scalable sales process and line-of-sight to series-A financial metrics" Boom! That kind of transparency is unprecedented in the venture world. This type of feedback says, "Hey we're excited about the industry and product, but we need to just see a little more proof of concept on the business before we can dive deeper". Now, this founder has someone they can reach back out to, who is going to be familiar with them, and the Founder will now be right in their investable sweet spot! Another one we got recently was a few investors are telling the same founder, independently of one another, that their round size was far too big for their level of traction. Hearing the same type of feedback as to why they're passing in such a short period of time has a real and meaningful impact on how founders are structuring their raise. And we're happy to help them. https://lnkd.in/gZ_tVkTB ---------------------- Funden is the #1 fundraising platform connecting founders to capital. Founders use our tools and strategic guidance for quicker, more effective fundraises. Investors use us to receive curated, quality deal flow and broadcast co-investment opportunities to our audience of 1000+ global VCs, family funds, angel networks, syndicates, and more.

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Evolution Equity Partners is thrilled to lead the $16M investment in Cytactic! Cytactic is building a game-changing platform to empower companies to prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyber crisis events. The platform allows all stakeholders to collaborate effectively and handle the complexity of a cyber event in a simplified and orchestrated way. Gartner forecasts that by 2025, 75% of companies will face cyber attacks. With the average data breach costing $8.64 million, regulations tightening, and CISO professional liability and insurance becoming critical issues, this underscores the need for effective cyber crisis readiness and management. Cytactic equips companies to do just that. #cybersecurity #cybersecuritypreparedness https://lnkd.in/dvVZbDZq

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Many thanks to the Google Cloud team and Kiran for putting this event together! I'm excited to share our observations on enterprise AI, both generative and conventional machine learning, at the upcoming SaaS AI day. Founders building AI products might find it interesting and I hope to meet you there. Please use the link below to sign up. #ai #founders Thomvest

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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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When a seed stage company hits $2M in ARR, they control their destiny: (a) default alive (b) default a Series A target Either choice is great and it’s all in your control. $2M in ARR should be the default goal at seed.

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