Angela Hood

The Activity level of #VentureCapital in the Southeast Find it EVERY Friday here on Hypepotamus #Entrepreneur #Startup #Investor

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Wilmington North Carolina USA is #1 Startup Ecosystem in the WORLD for small cities under 300,000 people #2 in North Carolina behind an ecosystem that is 40 years old #22 in the USA no matter what size population #61 in the WORLD and the fastest climb up the rankings by moving up 32 spots  in StartupBlink #WilmingtonNC #startup #entrepreneur #investor #NorthCarolina

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Early traction or success for founders can be a double-edged sword because it can lead to overconfidence. When we launched Scaped, a marketplace connecting construction professionals with suppliers, we did $5K in revenue over the first few weeks. That early traction went straight to our head, and the mistakes began to take place. 1. Assuming the pace would continue 2. Foolish spending 3. Building anything our first customer wanted 4. Ignoring advisors because "don't worry, we got this" When founders experience something like $5K in revenue in the first week, they might assume that their product-market fit is solid and that continued success is guaranteed. This overconfidence can result in several potential pitfalls: 1. Neglecting Market Research: Founders might skip further market research, believing they already understand their customers perfectly. This can prevent them from identifying evolving needs or preferences. 2. Ignoring Feedback: Early success can make founders less receptive to customer feedback, leading them to miss critical insights that could improve their product or service. 3. Scaling Too Quickly: Overconfident founders might rush to scale their operations, investing heavily in marketing, hiring, or production before their business model is truly validated. This can lead to unsustainable expenses and operational inefficiencies. 4. Complacency: Believing that initial success will naturally continue, founders might become complacent and not put in the necessary effort to innovate, adapt, or address underlying issues. 5. Misjudging Market Demand: Initial revenue spikes can be misleading if they are driven by one-time factors (e.g., a large order from a single customer, a successful marketing campaign). Founders might overestimate the true demand and fail to plan for a sustainable revenue stream. 6. Poor Financial Management: Early revenue can lead to a false sense of financial security, causing founders to manage their finances poorly, overspend, or fail to plan for leaner times. 7. Underestimating Competition: Overconfidence might make founders dismissive of competitors, leading to a lack of strategic planning and differentiation in the market. Ultimately, early success should be viewed as a positive sign but not a guarantee of future performance. Founders need to remain vigilant, continuously gather feedback, adapt their strategies, and ensure they are prepared for potential challenges ahead. Avoid these mistakes by building collectively xVentures

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How does Austin look when comparing share of VC dollars across stages? The short answer: Pretty consistent with our overall position. The long answer: A surprise or two. No shock that the Bay Area dominates from Seed to Series C, capturing between 30% and 45% of market share. Austin ranks between 5th and 7th place, holding a 3% to 4% share across each stage, matching our overall position of 5th or 6th depending on the dataset. Notably, Austin's highest rank is at the Series C stage, which I wasn’t expecting. My guess is this is less about a surge in Austin’s late-stage investments and more about Seattle’s drop-off at this stage. Here’s how venture dollars in Austin are distributed by stage: Seed: 12% Series A: 32% Series B: 33% Series C: 23% For comparison, the Bay Area's distribution is: Seed: 12% Series A: 26% Series B: 32% Series C: 30% Given the size of the rounds, it's logical that later stages command a larger share of total capital. To ascend to the next tier, Austin needs more companies to have both the demand for late stage funding and be able to secure it. 🙏 A big thanks to Peter Walker and Carta for continually providing such insightful data. What’s Next?

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Tons of new business owners are missing out. You can get up to $100,000 in AWS credit (as in, no-payback) to build a proof-of-concept if you have an idea and a website. AWS Activate is the program. If you're a founder and you're looking to build cost-effectively before you have paying clients, check it out.

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Though the City of Houston has long been recognized as the Energy Capital of the World, its perception as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship varies among locals. Can "The City with No Limits" become a leading entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem here in the U.S.? Some would argue it already has. Southern Methodist University's George W. Bush Institute recently published a 225 page report titled "Engines of Opportunity: How Eds and Meds Institutions Can Become More Powerful Drivers of Prosperity in America's Cities." The report aims to answer the question: "Which U.S. cities are performing best in building effective innovation ecosystems and talent pipelines?" Here are five takeaways from the report I found particularly insightful: 1️⃣ University of Houston and Rice University rank in the top 10 amongst mid-sized universities for "Innovation Impact Productivity" (Page 45). 2️⃣ Greater Houston ranks in the top 5 for "Metro-Area Innovation Impact" alongside Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia (Page 48). 3️⃣ Houston joins Boston, Phoenix, and Raleigh as the only U.S. cities to have multiple innovation districts selected for the study's 36 innovation district dataset (Page 67). 4️⃣ The University of Texas System and Texas A&M University System are the only institutions in the State of Texas to rank in the top 50 for "Overall Innovation Impact" (Page 156). 5️⃣ Greater Houston and Greater Austin are the only metro areas in the State of Texas to rank in the top 50 for "Innovation Impact per Capita" (Page 167). What's your perception of Houston's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem? Do these takeaways jibe with your perspective? If so, why? If not, why not?

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In our latest episode on Practical Nerds, Patric and I talk about what "Service-as-a-Product" means for AEC tech, and why it might prove to be one of the most valuable and timely opportunities for founders to address.

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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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Are you a start-up founder looking for your first VC money and a ton of guidance from GTM experts to get your revenue engine going? See below to apply to Stage2's Catalyst program - applications are open now. The insights you'll get from GTM experts will be transformative.

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A cautionary tale for any entrepreneur including warrants in their fundraising efforts. Techcrunch ran a story yesterday on the collapse of Newchip and how warrants flowed through the bankruptcy proceedings. I am guessing in this situation, there were NO clauses protecting the startups from the insolvency of Newchip. If true, my heart aches for these startups now fighting to protect their equity pool/CAP tables from unknown outside investors coming into their company at likely ridiculous valuations via bankruptcy actions. It's a cautionary reminder to get solid advice from legal counsel—or, failing the ability to afford outside counsel, seek advice from experienced entrepreneurs who know their way around term sheets and investment terms. Best of luck to those companies mentioned in this article. And for anyone reading this who is a startup founder or entrepreneur, worth a read! #startup #entrepreneur #fundraising https://lnkd.in/gsvzQ_wT

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🧬 This week's Austin Bio + Health Roundup highlights significant data trends, my stance on covering funding announcements, new partnerships, and action across the Texas Bio Triangle. 🧬 💰 Funding: The Way I Plan to Cover Funding Announcements You may have seen reports of a local Bio & Health startup’s funding round through an SEC report filing. While some outlets have covered this, my position is not to. I prefer to support our builders directly rather than trolling the filings for scoops. There is plenty of real investigative journalism that our city would be well served by if that is where they focused. Remember I am not a journalist and I am not the media. When the company is ready to announce their round officially, I’ll gladly shout it to the rooftops. 📊 Data Peter Walker at Carta reports that in 2017, Biopharma and Medical Devices captured just under 10% of all VC dollars. By 2023, this figure rose to 17.7%, and in Q1 2024, it reached 24%. The overarching tailwinds favor our sector and region with trends towards Bio & Health and the physical & digital intersection. Energy and hardware, two other sector blossoming in Central Texas, also saw similar share gains. 🤝 M&A and Partnerships Sensi.AI, a 24/7 senior care intelligence agent, is partnering with Caring Senior Service to deploy SensiAI’s platform in Caring’s 50 locations across the US. This partnership allows seniors a better opportunity to age gracefully in their homes. 🚩 Texas Bio Triangle BioMedSA is hosting an event called Women in Bioscience, Thursday June 20th. It’s designed to connect and empower women in the bioscience industry across Central Texas, and features Randi Brosterman Hutchens discussing "Building your Personal Board." Find the link to the event in the comments. Houston-based Lokum, a staffing solution to connect clinicians and clinical staff to health care facilities, has raised a $700K pre-seed round. Congrats Ayoade (Joy) Ademuyewo on the raise. What’s Next? #AustinNext #LifeSciences #Healthcare #Biotechnology

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Suppose you are a VC, Early investor, or CIO trying to keep your eye on the industry trends. In that case, you’ve probably heard already about hallucinations, context shifts, and accuracy measurement problems in LLMs. These scary concepts kill motivation to invest in LLM-based projects and build RnD departments. Are they really so scary? Yes, but just for now, you have a good strategy to cope with them. Is this strategy already known? Yes, old but still one of the most effective approaches- knowledge graphs in combination with fresh new RAGs will allow you to keep your models free of hallucinations, stable in accuracy, and easily adaptable for context change. Btw, do you know that knowledge graphs are seeing as one of the most impactful AI enables during this year?🙌🏻 How big companies like Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft are seeing the future of LLMs adoption you can find here https://lnkd.in/d4B3t56z

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To build a multi-agent system, start simple, validate your design, then gradually scale. When I spoke to Chi Wang, the creator of AutoGen, he explained why. Deploying one or two agents at first allows builders to evaluate and refine the core design and interaction patterns before introducing additional complexity. This method also streamlines debugging and optimization because it makes it easier to trace issues back to specific agents. Our full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gEKmExu4

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Key takeaway from Texas Venture Gala & Forum this past weekend? "Heck if I know" 😂 A wonderfully fun photo with the incredible Christine G. of VU Venture Partners made me put a bit more thought to the early morning panel I moderated with Austin Technology Incubator's Rebecca (Becky) Taylor, Muriel Foster of gener8tor's gBeta, Angelos Angelou from the International Accelerator, and Martín Martinez of Founder Institute. That, if I were sum up the most paramount of lessons to #entrepreneurs and venture capital investors, it's that we don't know. The very definition of #startup means that we're trying something distinct, and hopefully evolutionary. Anyone claiming to have the answers is lying to themselves and misleading you. Founders, TRY it, TEST it, and PIVOT Investors, if you're looking for a sure bet, please go back into banking and stay out of startups. The consensus among the panelists exploring how Venture Capitalists can help incubators and accelerators was the same: participate. Show up, mentor, help, and be involved. The ONLY way to capably serve innovation is through collaboration. Help founders avoid mistakes by advising and answering what we *do know* so that they can focus on solving the problems not yet explored and resolved. How? Where? Everyone, get Incubators in place for the pre-seed and support Accelerators as startups are (actually) ready to scale. Join me here for more on that perspective and some wonderful ongoing discussion: https://lnkd.in/gixAeSm8

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Join us as Brian Evergreen, author of "Autonomous Transformation: Creating a More Human Future in the Era of AI," shares invaluable insights on leveraging AI to drive innovation while prioritizing human needs and values. Discover practical frameworks and methodologies for responsible AI implementation. Tune in for a conversation that will revolutionize your perspective on technology and humanity! Here are some things we got into: 👉Brian dives deep into his book Autonomous Transformation 👉Brian talks about his chess background and the lessons he learned from it 👉Learning critical and creative thinking skills through chess 👉What makes chess different from other games 👉The impact of autonomous AI on professional services 👉The benefits of having a more human-centered approach to technology And other topics…

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I am honored to host Nolan Bushnell for a fireside chat at TechCon SoCal 2024 in San Diego on May 24th. We'll discuss how his innovations at Atari laid the groundwork for today's tech landscape and what lessons we can draw for the future. 🌟 Why Nolan Bushnell is a Must-Hear for Every Tech Enthusiast🌟 🕹️ Pioneering the Video Game Industry: Bushnell's creation of Atari and the iconic game Pong marked the beginning of the video game era, democratizing technology through entertainment. By democratizing technology through entertainment, Bushnell made electronics and computing accessible, inspiring a generation and catalyzing the tech ecosystem. 👔 Redefining Startup Culture: Bushnell invented a new breed of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs: visionary, bold, and nonconformist. His management style and the work environment he fostered at Atari—including laid-back elements like beer and ping pong—helped set a template for Silicon Valley's informal and innovative corporate culture, influencing giants like Google and Facebook. 🌱 Innovating Venture Capital: Bushnell became a crucial pivot in VC history by becoming the first example of how new business models over technology advancement become VC "fundable". Sequoia Capital's first seed investment concept in Atari demonstrated the profitability of supporting early-stage consumer tech businesses. It broadened VC horizons to include software and entertainment, impacting how venture capital operates today. 🚀 Driving Silicon Valley's Evolution: The Foundation of Silicon Valley was Arthur Rock funding Fairchild Semiconductor & Intel, establishing the semiconductor industry, and putting the silicon in Silicon Valley. The expansion phase was Don Valentine's investment in Atari, expanding the focus from hardware to software and entertainment, creating the video game industry, and expanding Silicon Valley's tech ecosystem. Bushnell's role enabled the Transformation Phase of Silicon with the 1980 IPOs of Apple and Genentech, showcasing SV's innovation breadth across multiple sectors. 🔗 Enabling Icons: Bushnell provided Steve Jobs, who did not have a college degree, with his first job inspiration for the idea of bringing computers to home users, invaluable introductions and opportunities, and influenced the birth of Apple. 🎮 Inspiring Future Innovators: By integrating fun into computer use, Bushnell likely accelerated technological innovation by making computing appealing to those who might not have otherwise engaged with it. His work at Atari made the daunting world of computers relatable and exciting, inspiring many future founders and technologists. Nolan's influence is evident in the increased computer literacy and the surge in tech-driven career interests among the youth of his time. Connect with over 80 early-stage investors and hundreds of founders from San Diego, the Bay Area, Austin, Denver, and New York. Explore more about the event at https://lnkd.in/gTYMN65n

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Black founders are creating exceptional products and driving innovation. However, the statistics have remained stagnant, highlighting a need for change. Remember, supporting Black founders is crucial for true diversity. Progress can only be achieved if we move forward together, not separately. This is what we aim to achieve @ Diversity-X

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