Yonas Beshawred

The New York ecosystem for dual-use technology is small but strong and growing rapidly. Thanks to companies like Decisive Point and @a16z who continue to support the community with networking events for founders, investors, and community members. More and more founders are recognizing the value in partnering with the DOD as a strong way to support the country's national security interests while hopefully decreasing the tax burden on citizens regarding government spend as commercially available technology becomes more available and affordable for government organizations. Not only this, but the DOD serves as a great test bed and sandbox for emerging technologies and talent. #dualuse #emergingtech #defensetech #Kilsar

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Insightful look into bioplatform strategy, and what it takes to raise a Series A from my partner, Omri Amirav-Drory: https://lnkd.in/dFv7GbF6

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https://lnkd.in/emYdB7iD Was saddened to hear of the passing of Michael Cline. Michael was an extrodinary thinker who focused on client value proposition relentlessly and had a touch and skill to build ideas into companies. I met Michael at Exult. He was co-founder of the pioneer in the HR bpo space. Michael drilled into me the client value prop and differentiation which is part of my fabric. Michael also had the ability to be a coach and mentor and was hungry to learn. Michael also had the skill I have learned is rare which is to balance investor interests with that of the management team. And never forgot people make the difference. Jim Madden Exult co-founder let me know of Michael’s passing and commented that he spent a day with Michael last month and thought Michael was happy and content with life. That took me back some 40 years ago to when my Mom died. I too thought she was in a good spot. She had battled her demons of depression for years and in the end it was too much. Of the many things she taught me one was “ kevin you will never know or understand how I feel cause you don’t have want I have “ #mentalhealth So my lessons and reminders for me; 1. You never know what someone else is going through. So listen with both ears and ask how are you really doing ? 2. If you need help please please speak up. Many of us willing to listen and we all have different struggles and don’t compare your insides with other peoples outsides. 3. We can never invest too much in mental health and have too many resources available that is our obligation as employers. However in the end it is a personal journey and people have to decide for themselves what help works for them and to accept it. 4. Accountability and understanding are often viewed as opposites. But we need them both and all about balance. I will miss you Michael Cline. Blessed to have known you and thank you for all you taught me. Mom I miss you today and everyday. Thank you for what you taught me.

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Want a front-row seat to the frontier of tech? We’ve got the role (or two) for you! We’re expanding our frontier-tech team at Blackbird by hiring a Frontier Tech Investments Associate and Foundry Fellows! Got questions? We've got answers... 1️⃣ What are the roles? 🧪 Associate = a full-time VC investment gig in our Blackbird Investments team, working directly with me. We’re looking for someone with a science and/or engineering background and more curiosity than they can handle. You’ll grow your own investment brand and practice, support our portfolio founders, and will help build Foundry, our early-stage frontier-tech accelerator. ✨ Foundry Fellow = a casual/contract gig in our Blackbird Investments team, ~15h per week for 3 months. The Fellowship is ideal for PhD students and ECRs who want to learn more about startups and VC. You’ll go deep on emerging areas relevant to your expertise (or curiosity!), get a front-row seat to groundbreaking companies in those areas, build out your non-academic network, and develop a solid writing practice. 2️⃣ Why are you hiring? We love frontier tech, and we’re ready to grow our team. 3️⃣ Wow, it’s so great that you’re starting to look at deep tech! Look, we get it: we don’t make a lot of noise about our frontier tech investing. Buuuut we’ve been deep-tech investors since we backed Tim Kentley-Klay to found Zoox back in 2014—we’ve been on incredible journeys with PsiQuantum (building the world's first utility-scale quantum computer right here in Australia!), Inventia Life Science (transforming drug discovery with high-fidelity cell models), Remedy Robotics (surgical robots for remote endovascular procedures), Opto Biosystems (minimally-invasive neural implants to treat cancer), and more. We believe that frontier technologies, and great frontier-tech investing, will be part of the solutions to the greatest problems humanity faces today. 4️⃣ When do applications close? May 31st at 11:59pm AEST. 5️⃣ I have more questions! I’m sure you do! Clare Birch and I are hosting an AMA to answer any and all questions about these roles. Want to know what a week in the life of our team looks like? What’s keeping us up at night? What our ideal candidate looks like? Come along and find out - registration link in the comments 👇 Apply for these roles: Associate - https://lnkd.in/gCfj4EUJ Foundry Fellowships - https://lnkd.in/gj6ATZVZ If you know anyone that we should meet, send me their details! Cameron Elise Ben Andrew Robin Joseph Adelaide James Olivia Lucinda Raghav Jesse Christie Mohamed Tom Amee Pablo Haya Loong Hon Joshua Benjamin Megan Harry Denzil Matthew Diana Daniel Tom Deanna Justin Amar Lilly Stone Thomas

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Triangle startup ecosystem - first thanks for the incredible generosity that you showed over the last 2wks to help folks impacted by Helene. Here's a last update on our Hurricane Helene relief efforts with a final 'how can you help' ask. The TL;DR - our nascent effort has matured and morphed into the WCEN. The most urgent need has moved from supplies to funding the teams out on the ground that need specialty items like gas, oxygen tanks, starlinks, etc. There's a gofundme, this is a certified 501(c)(3) here-> https://lnkd.in/e4NdxuW8 What is the WCEN you ask?!.... o There were several operating groups that were able to grassroots consolidate efforts under the Western Carolina Emergency Network (WCEN) umbrella and they have a website up that is improving every day: https://lnkd.in/ePYP6_JJ o WCEN's goal is to provide services to survivors until temporary infrastructure can be re-built. There are over 1m people in Western NC without shelter and basic necessities. o WCEN is providing: -> Reconnaissance -> Search + Rescue ( + Recovery) -> Rapid Supply Response / Air Support -> Medical Care o WCEN has these network partners: -> Operation Airdrop Inc- Air support including planes and helicopters -> Carolina Calvary - Coordinator for Operation Airdrop -> Razor Nation - ATV support -> Restoration Church @restoration church - Josh Brown and Ryan Honeycutt- supply collection sites and delivery -> Apex Defense - Search and Rescue, Security -> Lincoln County Airport - Pilot coordinator -> AJ - Heavy Lift Drone support -> GSDF team - C&C logistics, Special Forces team coordinator -> Reagan Madison Inc. team- Back office, infrastructure, and fundraising,FOB coordination (Crystal Suazo, CPA - who looped this together and we connected with here on LI!) -> WRTE, Inc - Legal, tax, fiduciary support -> Christina Marie Noel - Christina Noel + volunteers - Strategic marketing & communications -> United National Weather Team - Medical support with ATV abilities if anyone, especially corps would like to donate $, volunteers, trucks, etc. please contact William McGuire (on the ground items), Rebecca Ross / Jess Porta (Triangle-based corp donations/logistics). We're getting the last truck of items at Raleigh Founded out and future donations should be made at: Electric Supply Co 207 Bickett Blvd Raleigh NC, 27608 Want more ideas on how to have an impact? https://lnkd.in/euNxS8kd Thanks again everyone!

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Just shipped this week's Diaspora.nz podcast with Paul Copplestone, founder & CEO at Supabase. We talk about: ⚡️why open source is an unfair advantage — as a product development strategy, supercharging recruiting, and helping build customer community. ⚡️how they are building the end-to-end tech stack for AI startups — seeing many customers grow into the millions of users in just weeks, growing to be one of the most tagged products by makers on Product Hunt + most redeemed Y Combinator “perks.” ⚡️raising $116M, and scaling to ~80 people in 30+ countries over the past 4.5 years, operating as a distributed + asynchronous team. ⚡️building three startups over nearly a decade living in South East Asia. Subscribe + listen links in comments below👇 Subscribe at diaspora.nz for weekly episodes 🎧👈

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🚢 Today, we are launching the expanded platform for Retirement At Finch, we are democratizing the data models underlying the employment industry. Access to this data will spur new and much-needed innovations, such as what the retirement sector is currently experiencing. With around $40 trillion in retirement assets in 2024, retirement represents a major segment of the employee benefits industry that has only become more important as our Social Security is unable to sustain the growing population. SECURE Act 2.0 is going to drive 2-3x more sponsors to offer retirement benefits over the next five years, and the retirement infrastructure needs to evolve to sustain this. As an infrastructure company, we power the likes of Fidelity Investments, Ameritas, ePlan Services, Inc. (Paychex), Morningstar and other leaders in the space, serving more than 40 recordkeepers and TPAs and 45K+ sponsors with 5M+ participants. By working with the early technology adopters, we saw firsthand the need to evolve our platform so that Finch could grow to serve all 2,000 TPAs and 500 recordkeepers, ultimately powering the entire ecosystem. The speed we ship features at Finch is incredible, and there are more on the near-term roadmap! Now is the perfect time to onboard with Finch. Reach out to me at [email protected], and I’ll make sure you get a personal onboarding experience.

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How do we create impact through marketing? Contributing to the Quest, Cradle to Commerce, and NSIN Propel ecosystems reinforced that it’s about equipping innovators with strategies to market themselves with purpose and stand out in their industries. I'm so looking forward to watching these companies grow and apply the tools and insights from our time together! #preseedmarketing #seedmarketing #investedinthemission #okogetsit

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View from the Office. Met Brett Fischler for lattes at Copper Mug Coffee off Bedford Ave in Brooklyn. We sat in the backyard under a canopy of trees until a deluge forced us to seek refuge inside. Brett is the co-founder of startup Catalist AI, a project management software tool that seeks to use generative AI to collect and organize information scattered across apps in order to generate meeting notes, status reports and operational insights. Brett, an engineer, met his co-founder, Sam Stevens, a product manager, at Google. Before that, Brett had worked at Bloomberg; Sam spent time at Tinder, and American Express. At Google, Brett was assigned a project with Sam during his first week. She seemed to know everything. Later, he found out she had joined the week before. They spent half their time trying to keep track of conversations everyone was having. The notes and communications were spread across a variety of apps. They bemoaned that there had to be a better way. It’s an experience common to product managers, most of whom use a planning tool built by Atlassian called Jira. I used Jira when I was a product manager at Bloomberg and can testify that it can be clunky. Brett and Sam realized that they could leverage OpenAI’s GPT models to collect and process information from a variety of sources and decided to pursue the opportunity. The big opportunity for project management software is to leverage AI to pull together disparate threads and anticipate what steps need to be taken next. Brett and Sam are focusing initially on use cases for tech development. The system could, however, help manage all kinds of tasks. They raised money from friends and family to build a version and started to reach out to others in the ecosystem. Samantha recently gave a talk to more than 15,000 product managers about how to leverage AI in their daily roles. Catalist has several paying customers is looking to convert more from trials. Brett and Sam can be reached via LinkedIn or DM me for a warm intro. #viewfromoffice

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💯 agree with this viewpoint Today there are hundreds of products in every vertical that should really be features not products 🤯 Who actually enjoys having 20+ software applications to run a business? I’ve yet to meet a degenerate who does 😂 Building a compound startup or true system of record is not for the faint hearted. Everything is harder. Navigating through the complexity and the breadth vs depth conundrum is agonising 🛣️ 🧟‍♂️ But if you can stick the course and execute on this strategy successfully to build the ‘one stop shop for X’ both the customer and the software provider get incredible rewards 🏆🏆 #compound #startup

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🚀 The Paradox of Success: A Lesson in Leadership and Technical Innovation 🚀 Allow me to share a story from my own entrepreneurial journey—a cautionary tale about the dual challenge of leadership development and technical experimentation in the pursuit of product-market fit. Years ago, I co-founded a startup that garnered significant attention, raising a substantial $30 million in funding. On the surface, it seemed like we had all the ingredients for success: a visionary idea, an exprienced team, and ample financial resources. However, there was one crucial element missing from the equation—leadership development. As the company grew and evolved, it became increasingly clear that our Achilles' heel lay not in our capabilities with tech or product, but in our leadership shortcomings. Despite the flurry of activity and apparent progress, the company failed to recognize the fundamental role that effective leadership plays in driving sustainable growth. Confirmation bias clouded the story, leading us to believe that we were doing everything possible to achieve our goals. In reality, however, the lack of focus on good leadership practices stifled creativity and hindered our ability to adapt to changing market dynamics. No one stopped to ask: "What is good leadership?" Experienced tech and product professionals require an environment that fosters innovation and encourages collaboration. Without strong leadership guiding the way, even the most talented individuals can struggle to reach their full potential. In the end, when the company achieved basic success, the leaders that contributed the least but had all the power were quick to take all the credit and rewards. They failed to acknowledge their own role in perpetuating a culture that prioritized short-term gains over long-term sustainability. This experience taught me a valuable lesson: never settle for second best when it comes to leadership and workplace culture. Success is not just about achieving financial milestones—it's about creating an environment where every individual can thrive and contribute to meaningful innovation. As entrepreneurs and leaders, let's remain vigilant about the environments we cultivate and the values we uphold. Only then can we truly unleash the full potential of our teams and pave the way for lasting success. #ProductMarketFit #EntrepreneurshipJourney #LeadershipDevelopment

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"If you need to be told what to do, don't buy a company-" This is just one of many unfiltered insights from my chat with M&A expert Chelsea Wood. Join us for this profound & unapologetic discussion on The Expertise Economy. Thinking about acquiring a business? Before you do, ask yourself this: When faced with a challenge, do you wait for instructions or take action? According to Chelsea, your answer could make or break your success as a business owner. "If you're somebody that's always just figured stuff out and you'll be fine, then you'll be fine as a business owner too." But if you're not? "Don't buy a company," she warns. Whether you're actively looking to buy or just curious about this wealth-building strategy, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in now. It might just change your entrepreneurial trajectory. #TheExpertiseEconomy #MandA #Entrepreneurship #WealthBuilding

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Excited to be part of NY Tech Week! 🎉 Come see me and let's talk tech. Whether you have questions, want to start or scale your business, or are interested in a quick intro to AI as a productivity tool, drop by and say hello! Let's innovate together. 🚀 #NYTechWeek #Innovation #AI #BusinessGrowth

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"What was it like living in the heart of Silicon Valley during the dot-com bubble?" Pete McCarthy has helped launch industry-changing startups, bootstrapped his own ventures, and revitalized aging tech solutions for larger companies. As a product manager, Pete's unique blend of creative thinking and rigorous process ensures repeatable success. He understands the full spectrum of business operations, from coding intricacies to strategic vision. In last year's discussion, Pete shares his firsthand account of life in Silicon Valley around 1999-2000, particularly his experiences at OpenTable. He describes the initial exuberance of rapid growth, lavish startup culture, and aggressive expansion, followed by the dramatic downturn during the dot-com crash. Despite the chaos, Pete advanced to an implementation role, connected with local restaurateurs, and engaged in side projects, showcasing resilience and adaptability. In the full episode, we explore Pete's tech journey, from witnessing the first web browser to navigating the early days of Silicon Valley. We discuss his entrepreneurial ventures, his return to tech to deepen his coding knowledge, and his experiences across various industries. Pete also delves into agile and waterfall methodologies, the contrarian mindset, crypto, Bitcoin, and Earthships. As Pete says, "Get this thing (software) out the door and get it being used. People will forgive a lot of mistakes in the software if they see that it's launched because there's that relief that the money and time went in got you something." Pete's story is a testament to the power of resilience and adaptability in the ever-evolving tech landscape. His dot-com bubble journey and beyond highlights the importance of embracing change, learning continuously, and seizing new opportunities. Check out the full episode to hear more about Pete's insights on the dot-com bubble, his approach to product management, and his thoughts on the future of tech. Links in bio. #SiliconValley #TechRevolution #StartupJourney

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TechCrunch sharing the news about Harbor's fundraise! In the worst fundraising environment since 2009, especially if you're building a real product for real people (and not another AI chatbot for B2B), we've managed to achieve something truly extraordinary, backed by incredible investors. We've already begun changing parents's lives, and we're only just getting started. Harbor exists to create happier parents and healthier families, one restful night at a time. If you haven't ordered a Harbor for yourself or your friends/family yet, now is the time! Rogers Healy Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners Tim Ferriss Trust Ventures Thomas Morstead Sam Parr Bryan Chambers Chart W. Zak Tanjeloff Carolina Garcia Michael Ivey Hayley Hightower Louden Kyle Cooke Anthony Gustin Carnrite Ventures Jeffrey Carnrite Brian Tochman Salen Churi Scott Harper Lyndsey Harper, MD, FACOG, IF Philip Mayling John Boaz Beau Harbour Rahul 'Harp' Harpalani William Hicks Adam Leeb Marcus D. Stroud Chris Blackman Corey Metz, CLU Dave Dworschak Mark Stoner John Durant Zach Ware Capital Factory Jason McCann Sam Silverlieb Chad Blackburn, MBA Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA - big things ahead! I haven't tagged every one of our investors as some are not on LinkedIn, I reached my tag limit, and others don't disclose their investments publicly. So incredibly grateful for those backing what we're building here! https://lnkd.in/g36imqQ2

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📈 It's not 100% clear where the economy is headed, but given how busy this summer has been for Cervin Ventures and other investors I talk to, there is momentum building in early-stage B2B tech (and yes, beyond just the AI app companies). Read more about the state of the market in Cervin's Q2 recap -- as well as some recent updates from portfolio companies such as Catch+Release, LaunchDarkly and Anvilogic.

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It’s rare to find someone who has gone through a decade scaling developer workflows in a single company. I sat down with Kent Wills recently discussing the evolution of developer platforms at Yelp and dove into their ownership architecture. Listen to full episode on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Youtube: https://lnkd.in/g722icVw Some key takeaways: 1️⃣ Yelp transitioned from a monolithic codebase to a service-oriented architecture that improved code ownership and productivity. 2️⃣ Yelp has internally built most of the tooling circled around ownership to handle tech debt and track vulnerabilities. 3️⃣ Yokyo Drift is an internal tool to support migrations across the organization Pre-commit is an internal tool (now open source) to help standardize the coding practices 4️⃣ AI-powered coding assistance has the potential to further enhance productivity and reduce repetitive work. #developerproductivity #ownership

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📈 Curious about the startup scene in Massachusetts? Explore our detailed funding list featuring startup names, HQ locations, and investor info. Perfect for investors and entrepreneurs alike! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/dAp3xj-Q #startup #startups #venturecapital #funding #vc #managementconsulting

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I’m so excited to announce the new name of the vetted community for startup founders I'm building: Village Lane Village Lane connects ambitious early-stage startup founders, both in-person and online, who have at least $100k in ARR or $250k in funding. The name Village Lane is deeply personal to me... It's the street I lived on after business school, in an apartment with my friend Andrew - the kindest, most welcoming, supportive person I’ve ever met, who sadly passed away suddenly a few weeks ago at only 31 years old. It’s also the place where I went full-time on Just Go Grind for the first time when it was a daily podcast and then joined VITALIZE Venture Capital. It was a special time and place and where I took a giant leap in my career. I envision Village Lane (the community) being similar - a special place filled with kind, supportive members looking to take a giant step forward with their businesses. Several experiences have led to the creation of Village Lane: - A transformative MBA experience at USC - Working at VITALIZE Venture Capital for 2.5 years - Growing my social media audience to 40,000+ followers - Building this newsletter to 21,000+ subscribers - Hosting 400+ podcast interviews with founders & investors - Creating an angel investing community with hundreds of members Now I'm focused on helping founders connect, build their personal brand, and create more successful businesses. Village Lane's in-person events will include things like: - Co-working - Social activities - AMAs - Retreats The online component of Village Lane will include: - A member directory - Slack group - Vendor suggestions - Tech stacks - An investor database - Media exposure and amplification - Personal branding assistance We'll also phase in monthly digital peer groups as membership grows. This will all be built around our members and their needs. I’ll share more details as this evolves. Interested in joining? Learn more and apply below.

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