Charles Roach

An interesting article below, that demonstrates out how San Diego is punching above its weight.  And how Connect's strategy and execution over time, contintues to be central to that success. The article describes the current state of the market in Seattle.  (And i love Seattle.) It's a market that we tend to track with relative to venture fundings.  They used to kick our butts, we outraised them each of the last three years.  This despite the fact they have 3x as many funds there, and 9x the amount of resident capital there. (per pitchbook) Some key takeaways:  * They continue to compare themselves to SIlicon Valley. Instead, we leverage our proximity. *They whine there's not enough local investors (see note above - they have more than us). We bring over 200 VCs to SD annually! * They say founders are not connected with one another. We bring CEOs together regularly, in a variety of ways - private dinners and through our Springboard program. * They say they need to elevate their image on a national & international stage. Why we created and continue to build Five.Ten.Thirty (aka Inno Day).  * And the last paragraph - they need to concentrate on making their region a great place to live. Our mantra: "It's about Better, not Bigger." (See XEO, TL Fund). THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT. WE ARE ON A MISSION TOGETHER!!!  (Comments, whining, suggestions on SD always welcome.) https://lnkd.in/g6Rq_f2Y

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Reality Engagement —— I started PHX Ventures because I want to help founders in Arizona build high-growth software companies that achieve venture scale. I can handle the good, bad, and ugly of company building. I’ve lived it. I can handle losing money. I don’t like it, but I can handle it. I can handle bad news and disappointment. Company building is a roller coaster. I can handle a changing market and new competitors. Market opportunity and market dynamism go hand in hand. I can handle co-founder breakups and key team member departures. It’s not great but it’s fairly normal. I can handle bad quarters and product problems. Stuff happens in startups. What I can’t handle is a lack of engagement with reality. Willful ignorance or disregard for data won’t make your business better. If the math of your business is telling you something is broken then it means something is broken. Let’s just fix it. And let’s fix it right now. Let's at least try. I love optimism. But I love realism even more. Broken things tend not to fix themselves. In my experience, the best founders have the highest engagement with reality. Just tell me what about your current reality is giving you angst. Tell me the problems in the business. Just tell me. Don’t sell me. Tell me. I can handle it. And maybe I can help. #founders #startups #b2b #saas

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About to go live... Startup Studio portfolio VC fund. $8.5 mil. with room to oversubscribe. All deals warehoused and ready to allocate. Built in equity on day 1. Low 1 time management fee. $35k minimum investment. 506c so accredited investors only. GP's are personally invested. Multi tiered exit strategy in place. Liquidity options available at year 2. *** This presentation of Sidecar Portfolio Fund (the “Company”) is for information only and shall not constitute an offer to buy, sell, issue or subscribe for, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, sell or issue, or subscribe for any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.***

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Founder-Turned-VC Investor Raised $150 Million for Her New Fund💰 Masha Bucher, ex-entrepreneur and founder of Day One Ventures, has raised $150M for her new VC fund. Founded in 2018, Day One Ventures focuses on early-stage startups, offering initial investments ranging from $1M to $2M. Notable companies in the firm’s portfolio include Worldcoin, legal services company DoNotPay Inc., and AI assistant You.com. 📝Diverse Investments and Real-World Impact Day One Ventures supports startups across various industries, with Bucher particularly drawn to founders tackling real-world challenges. “From profound wealth disparities to the urgent threat of climate change and the growing sense of social isolation, tech founders will be our lifeline toward a more abundant, diverse, and sustainable future,” Bucher stated regarding the new fund. 🏆The firm’s track record is impressive, with six of its investments achieving billion-dollar valuations and 22 companies either being sold or going public. This success highlights Day One's knack for identifying high-potential startups. 🎯PR Expertise and Strategic Growth Before transitioning to VC, Bucher founded a PR firm that managed communications for numerous tech companies. She has leveraged her PR expertise to coach startups on media strategies. “If you look at any business problem you want to solve and any business goal you want to solve, 90% of the business problems are communications problems,” Bucher explained on Bloomberg Television. “I think this is something we train founders on and something that we help them to do.” 📈Growth of Day One Ventures The new fund is Day One’s third and largest to date. Fund I, closed in 2019, was nearly $20 million, while the second fund in 2020 totaled $52.5 million. This latest fundraising effort saw contributions from US and European institutional LPs, as well as 14 of Bucher’s own portfolio company founders.💰 “When you are building a firm with value add and staying close to founders, you can attract a lot of capital from your own network,” Bucher said. Notably, she made a concerted effort to include female investors, securing backing from 9 female LPs. Significant in the male-dominated VC industry, where female founders received just 2% of the total capital invested in US startups in 2023, according to PitchBook.🤷‍♀️ 🤝New Investments and Future Focus Day One has already made 5 investments from its Fund III: Cradle, an AI startup focused on human longevity; Rainmaker, a Los Angeles-based company working on cloud-seeding technology; Affiniti; Astroforge; and Layer N.  🚀🌍 ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #VCfund and increase the international pool of your LPs?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments (Series A/Series B)?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VentureCapital #TechInvesting #FemaleFounders #StartupFunding #Innovation

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Every quarter, California is home to more startup fundraising activity than any other state in the U.S. But in Q1 2024, the startup industry's traditional home was even more dominant than usual. Startups based in California raised 59.25% of all capital on Carta during Q1 among states where at least 10 deals took place. Compare that to a year ago: In Q1 2023, California startups raised 37.9% of all funding. Over the full course of 2023, the state's share of the fundraising pie was 40.41%. In total, startups from the Golden State raised $9 billion in Q1, up from $7 billion the prior quarter and the highest quarterly total since Q3 2022, when overall cash raised across the whole U.S. was significantly higher ($22.9 billion, compared to $16.3 billion in Q1 2024). This wasn't a matter of funding from other states receding while California held steady. The California funding scene seems to be surging, aided by the ongoing AI gold rush underway in and around the Bay Area. Some other highlights from the Q1 map of VC funding: -Massachusetts had the second highest share of capital raised in the quarter of any state, with 11.25%. New York was third, at 11.05%. -It was a tepid quarter in Texas: Startups in the state raised just 2.32% of all capital among states with at least 10 deals, down from 6.45% over the course of 2023. -The whole South region raised 12% of U.S. venture funding in Q1 2024, down from 23% compared to Q1 2023. -Colorado was another western state with a big Q1. The state's startups raised 3.64% of funding last quarter, up from about 2% last year and the fourth-highest Q1 share of any state. I'll drop a link in the comments below to my full story on how the Q1 map of funding shook out.

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I receive 30 start-up pitches a week, one of the most common pitfalls I see is… … having a solution to something that is not really a problem.  Just because something exists doesn't mean it's a problem worth solving. Offer a 10x better solution to an actual problem in people’s life. Brilliant Basics: The goal of all goals is to fund your business with customer money, not investors.  This goal is sometimes lost in the fundraising fog. Product Market Fit doesn’t end with a great product and sales team.  It begins and ends with people willing to give you money for it. As world-class entrepreneur and 4-time founder, Bill Smith, once told me, when someone pulls out their credit card to pay for something, you got a business. The questions to solve after that are market size, profitability and persistence/longevity. All too often founders weight “wooing” VCs and a beautiful story pitch to get funding, and too little on achieving customer traction and “first logos”. In early stage fundraising, one of the biggest differentiators to getting funded is proving “first customers” and traction.  No matter how beautiful the slide deck and vision/mission, there is nothing more beautiful than a chart of prospective customers lining up to give you money and a testimonial page of happy ones. Follow me for more Brilliant Basics I’ve learned the hard way (as an operator) and the amazing way (Operators Guild) – https://hubs.la/Q02q1ty40 #operators #guild #brilliant #basics

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🎙️ NEW EPISODE ALERT on Zero Limits Podcast! 🚀 EP 3 is live and it's packed with strategies for any scrappy underdog startup to outsmart the goliaths. https://lnkd.in/g4j-gCc5 “Think big, start small, and scale fast”. It’s a simple formula with endless complexities of execution for any startup founder wanting to disrupt an entire industry. Join me and Melinda Wittstock, Founder and CEO Podopolo and Associate Partner at Zero Limits Capital,  as we share how to disrupt whole industries by tapping into hidden markets and pioneering profitable niches. 🔗Listen and subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts. 🔑Key Takeaways   🏗️ David vs. Goliath Strategies: Ever wondered how to stand tall when competing with the big guns in your industry? We've cracked the code on why giants might leave certain strategies untouched and how you, as a nimble disruptor, can swoop in to seize those opportunities. 🎯 Measuring for Mastery: Unearth the secret sauce behind monitoring and measuring key performance indicators that can skyrocket your business growth. The mantra is simple – if you can't measure it, you can't improve it. 📈 Tailor, Transform, Triumph: Discover how a shift in targeting and understanding your market size can lead to a whopping 1000% value gain. M&A maestro, investment banker and entrepreneur Steve Little shares a real-life case where identifying underserved markets and pivoting to a SaaS model brought about a revolution for a small banking software firm.   ➡️ If you're itching to unlock the potential of your venture and leave the competition in the dust, this episode is your blueprint for explosive growth. Listen now and catapult your business beyond limits! #ZeroLimitsPodcast #BusinessGrowthSecrets #EntrepreneurshipUnleashed #MarketDisruption #BusinessGrowthStrategies #ZeroLimitsVentures   Plus, a couple of important tips: - 🔑 **Know Your Market Size**: Misjudging your market can be fatal for startups. Understanding market dynamics is crucial to sustainability and scalability. - 🔑 **Educate with Intent**: Need to introduce a groundbreaking product or service? Aim for less consumer education and more pre-existing pain points with clearer market demand. - 🔑 **Adaptability is King**: As your business evolves, so should your strategies. Focus on profitability and traction at the right phase to ensure you're not just surviving, but thriving. 🔊 Tune in now to Zero Limits Business Growth Secrets #podcast for the full lowdown and transform these value growth insights into action and watch your business soar! https://lnkd.in/gr9KFGrh  #ZeroLimitsPodcast #BusinessGrowth #StartupStrategy #Entrepreneurship

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How to pitch: The company has zero traction —> “We’re early” You only have 2 customers —> “We’re working with design partners” You currently have no revenue but hoping some pipeline finally closes —> “we’re on track to exit this year at $3M ARR” You’re in the natural kill zone of a FAANG —> “We view them as partners rather than competitors” There’s no way the tech can actually work —>“We’re manifesting the future” And of course: One of your developers uses Co-Pilot to write some front end code —> “We’re an AI company”

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21 Ways to Kill Your Company Day 9: Poor Fundraising Strategy This means two things - be realistic about the benchmarks you need to unlock your next raise and then raise enough money to hit those milestones. Be great (and realistic) with financial planning. Don't forget those extra five months you typically need to raise. #21waystokillyourcompany #fundraising #venturecapital

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Entrepreneur lessons from a venture capitalist- 7 Criteria To Use To Pick Your Lead VC. We take these criteria very seriously at Conducive Capital. A great article I customized from SAASTR #1. Who do I truly trust the most?  This doesn’t mean who is the “best guy”, or smileyest, or nicest.  In fact, be wary of “grin frackers”.  Find out — who can I truly trust?  If any of them.  You will be so, so, so much better off if you pick the one VC you can truly, really trust.  So, so much better off.  A different way to ask this question is —  who will most have my back? #2.  Who can truly help the most?  In later rounds, this doesn’t matter much, but in the earlier ones, it does.  Pick that one.  Who can help me find that first VP of Sales?  Who can help us the most with potential partners?  Who can most help you build the company to the next stage at least?  Many VCs really can’t actually do anything to help.  But if you can find one that can move the needle, pick that one.  You only have so many slots on the cap table, after all. #3.  Who will the Next Round VCs most want to follow? This is hard to know without really asking, but if you pick a VC that other great VCs want to follow, the next round will likely be much, much easier.  This is one reason to pick a more successful VC.  A lot of folks will want to invest in the next round of their startups.  A lot of them.  With a newer VC, or less successful one, it will be much more on you to find the next round of investors. #4. Which partner has the most successes under their belt?  Nothing wrong with a first-timer or new GP, but a GP without any wins under her belt yet is often … more … nervous.  But as we noted above, it’s much easier for a successful VC to bring in other investors.  And perhaps even more importantly, they don’t sweat a loss. #5. Who has a bigger checkbook? This doesn’t always matter, sometimes not at all.  But it’s nice if they can give you more money, vs. being tapped out, or stressed about the next check.  This is especially important if you aren’t going to be particularly capital efficient.  If you don’t know — ask.  Make sure you ask. “How much more can you invest in us?  And when?”  Also ask, “If we need a bridge, how much could you bridge?”  Ask. #6. Who will get out of the way?  Sometimes, this is all you really want, especially in later rounds.  To be left alone. #7. Can I also get a great mentor as well?  The very best VCs truly can be mentors as well as investors.  Most VCs claim they are great at this, but in reality, most founders will say just 1 of their investors really played this role.  But if you can get it from a major investor, that’s special.  Because you’ll be on that journey together.  In many cases, for a decade or longer.

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Before I even knew what a Venture Builder was back in the day, all I pretty much did on a day to day basis was validate and launch little businesses with the goal of getting them to $10k per month in revenue. Once I got to that point I'd ask myself a few questions: "Can this thing go on without me? If I hire someone, can the revenue cover the costs and potentially make a profit? How big can this really get?" If the answers were: No, No, Not very big. I'd scrap it and shut it down. Yes, Yes, Big enough to be worth proceeding. Then I'd start the CEO search and start raising. I'd say that 9 out of 10 were scrapped, but that doesn't mean that I/we (investors) lost any money. Most of the time we all made out pretty good in such a short period of time. Venture Building is a lot of fun and can make you a lot of money if you follow the process, stay lean and make the hard decisions based on data.

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The state of venture capital is wild right now. We are witnessing a surge of innovation across the spectrum: - Funds merging - VC doing PE - PE doing VC - Secondary funds - Buyout funds - Spin-out funds - Debt funds - Continuation funds - Infrastructure funds - GP turnover - Hard Tech surging - Family Office uptick

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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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One realization we've made at Convoi is if we hear something 50+ times we need to build it for the Utah Startup Community. We've built three things so far, and just about to launch number 4 in a couple of weeks. First, we started Convoi Ventures to bring more capital to the earliest stage of startups. ~2.5 years in, we've backed 40 companies, 2/3 that are pre-revenue and 50% are first-time founders. Second, we started Utah Tech Week to create a grassroots event that will be forever focused on Utah and it's early stage startup community. The first year there was 114 events, and this past January, there were 197 events and 15k attendees. Third, we started a program for early stage founders that we think is going to be the flagship program for early stage founders in Utah. Our alpha program was a big success, and beta this summer will be even better. We'll announce after we're out of beta. :) Fourth, we constantly hear of folks at the largest companies we have in Utah that want to support our early stage startups. We're going to be pretty quiet about this one #IYKYK, but if you're a VP or above at a tech company (public, or Utah based series A/B) company, please DM if you'd like more details. Thank you for letting me interrupt my social media fast for this post. Back in my cave for a couple of months.

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You don't have to "Think out of the box" 📦 You can just “Flip the box” 🔃 Inverted companies grow exponentially. Most out there follow a regular structure. In a top-down approach. If you’re already an established entity, This is NOT easy to implement. But it might be worth it. Culture will improve. Processes optimized. Efficiency amplified. Take a look for yourself at how this works ⬇️

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Sharing for those who did not know, are entrepreneurs, founders, leaders, curious and / or good humans. Episode 301, season 4 now live --> https://lnkd.in/gEwPn4vu This is an on-going #podcast series I started a couple years ago. My approach centers on learning by 'doing' rather than being told. Through these podcasts, I share insights and feelings, primarily as a personal gut check. Yet, I've discovered that people appreciate listening to genuine human experiences. This podcast embodies that authenticity. #franchise #leadership

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I believe two of the big winners over the next 10 years in the SMB category will be PE who are rolling up the businesses and GenAI powered software that makes running these businesses significantly more turnkey and/or profitable. Thanks for having me on Jay Kapoor. If you want spicy takes fast forward to 25 min mark. If you want to get deep in market analysis buckle in for the whole thing. https://lnkd.in/d8M7Jyrx

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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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