Ershad Jamil’s Post

Very excited to announce eqj.vc! After an amazing 10 years in tech strategy management consulting (Deloitte) & another 10 years as an operator in VSaaS (ServiceTitan, CloudKitchens, BuildOps), I’ve figured out what I really want to do in the next 10+ years, and that’s to help build the next generation of software companies servicing small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). My family business, PTM Tarps, is one of the largest distributors of tarps & tents in the US but has no real options for a holistic software to help run their unique business. I realized in 2014 that there is an opportunity to help 50% of the US labor force, and that’s through end to end operating systems for SMBs, which led me to ServiceTitan. I’ve been lucky enough to talk to hundreds of growth equity / venture partners and software founders this past year and there is so much energy in deploying capital to help build out software for SMBs. I just wanted to call out a few companies that have, in aggregate, raised >$1b in 2024 to continue to change SMB industries! - Payabli with a Series A (Joseph Elias Phillips & William Corbera) to help VSaaS embed & monetize payments. - MoeGo with a Series A (Yi Dong & Emma Chen) to empower pet professionals. - Prokeep with a Series A (Jack Carrere & McKay Johnson) to transform customer communications for distributors. - Coast with a Series B (Daniel Simon) to modernize fuel cards for fleets. - Cents with a Series B (Alexander Jekowsky) to power laundry & dry cleaning businesses.  - JobNimbus with a Series B (Ben Hodson) to make roofing contractors into heroes.  - ServiceTitan with their initial public offering to service the trade industry. I want to give a big shout out to a few fund founders that have been extremely generous with their time and wisdom in helping me make this decision – David Yuan (Tidemark), Gavin Turner (Mainsail Partners), Adeyemi Ajao (Base10 Partners), Ilya Golubovich (I2BF Global Ventures). Also grateful for friends & mentors in the past 20 years who have always given me great advice - Scott Buchholz, Danny Ledger, Jonathan Siegel., Alice Nhu., Connor Theilmann., Chris Petros., Rafi Kurkdjian, Leslie Lee Gildea, JD, John Adractas, Greg Haendel, CFA., Adila Crimi. & many more. SMBs drive a huge portion of GDP and with the evolution of VSaaS, vertical AI, multi-product, FinTech & embedded tech, the next 10 years will see extraordinary opportunities for SMB entrepreneurs. I look forward to helping hundreds of incredible founders, thousands of execs accelerate their careers and indirectly drive growth for millions of SMBs. I couldn’t be more excited to continue to invest & advise in revolutionary software for SMBs!