Mike O'Hanlon

Boards of Directors – How Relevant To The Business Is The Board? In 2014, activist investor Starboard Value successfully replaced all 12 directors on the board of Darden Restaurants. The following shows the Darden incumbent board at the time of Starboard's proxy fight, Starboard’s value creation plan initiatives, the Starboard director nominees and the before and after performance (revenue, EBITDA, EBITDA margin and stock price). Note especially the direct relevance of each Starboard nominee to the industry or some aspect of the value creation plan. How often do you see this level of relevance on public company boards?

11

13 Comments

The case for emerging managers: “What we don’t want to do is lock ourselves out of these high-performing, differentiated strategies for the simplicity of going with the big guys”, Taffi Ayodele director of the emerging manager strategy at the NYC Office of the Comptroller #investmentstrategies #investmentreturns #roi #assetallocation #emergingmanagers #riskreward #premium #performance

4

NY friends! Please come see me at Tech Day on my panel discussing the future of the NY tech ecosystem and what I hope to bring to it!

72

5 Comments

NY Climate Tech Founders! 1) YES PLEASE save the date to join us at #techweek (6/3!), and 2) YES PLEASE share your top NY resources to complete our NY INSIDER GUIDE, in collab with NYCEDC!

11

Back from a few weeks of travel with an update on the career side...I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve recently joined Tamarack Growth Advisory as a Managing Partner and co-leader of our revenue practice. While it’s a exciting new role, my focus will be the same: enabling success and accelerated growth for startups as they scale from $2M to $50M in ARR (and beyond), as both an embedded GTM advisor and fractional CRO. I’ve really enjoyed my work in recent quarters as an independent advisor, fractional leader, and sales coach. It proved to be a great fit, partnering with leading startups to reach key revenue milestones and harnessing the expertise built over 18 years as a GTM leader to enable great client outcomes. What was missing? After a couple decades working with amazing teams to both create successful businesses and deliver impactful customer results, I found that building alone was personally a lot less fun. But an April conversation with my longtime colleague and friend, TJ Williams, presented a path to both continue the embedded advisory and fractional work I’ve loved, while building something meaningful together with a world-class team. That belief only compounded as I got the chance to meet Matt C'de Baca and Michelle M. Chow, best-in-class operators who quickly became amazing colleagues. In a recent interview, Warren Buffett's advice was to “find your ‘foxhole friends’” in business -- the fun, high-character people that you want to work with, that make you better, and that have your back in both times of celebration and challenge. I’ve found mine in the partnership group at Tamarack. More to come on the Tamarack model and how it uniquely generates value for startups, founders, and investors, particularly today when accelerated but profitable growth is paramount. For now though, I want to thank TJ, Michelle, and Matt for the opportunity to team up and build something great together. I want to thank Armando Mann, Diana Alvarez Kaba, and the team at EVAS Global for their partnership over the past year. I want to thank my clients for their collaboration and trust in our work to date. And as always, I want to thank the amazing group of colleagues and friends who have supported me across all chapters of my career. If you’re a founder, leader, or investor who wants to learn more on how the team at Tamarack can help, email me at doug@tamarackgrowth.com, drop me a DM, or schedule time via the link above. Exciting times ahead… let’s go!!

199

60 Comments

Boston is one of the best cities in the world for sports AND startups. How many others can say that?? When I started MGMT Boston I wanted to explore the relationship between sports and startups in this city. Last week we co-hosted a breakfast with  Kristen Craft from Fidelity Private Shares to meet some startups and operators building (and interested) in Sports, Gaming & Wellness around the city to uncover some of these insights. If you’re a growing startup evaluating your cap table management tools, you need to get in touch with Kristen asap! Jon Von Deylen from Drive by DraftKings brought his learnings & investment perspective to the breakfast. Drive is a multi-stage venture fund that invests in SportsTech & Entertainment with founding partners who include DraftKings, General Catalyst, Accomplice, and Boston Seed Capital. Jon shared... 70% of people in the U.S. say they are sports fans which implies 180M adult fans 124M people watched Super Bowl LVIII and 68M of that audience gambled on the Super Bowl per the American Gaming Association This implies ~60M Americans did not gamble on the Super Bowl and that number would be upwards of 100M+ if you extrapolate to the broader sports fan figure of 180M As of their Q1 ‘24 filing, DraftKings Inc. had roughly 3.5M monthly active users. So even this $16B+ market leader only serves a small (albeit high value and growing) portion of the broader sports fan base. ❗🤸‍♂️ 💡 There’s a good argument to be made that there are some big businesses to be built catering to 100M+ casual fans. 💡🤸‍♂️ ❗ Ahead of the breakfast, I chatted with some members of the professional sports community to hear about their relationship with the local startup ecosystem. In short? It’s varied. Professional athletes get a ton of inbound interest across a variety of requests so they’re often playing defense and choosing from the myriad of opportunities in front of them (or not at all) with agents, managers, and advisors playing gatekeeper. It’s hard to audit quality and often “too hard” to figure out what is worth spending time on, especially with a high performance job where so much of your attention needs to be on the playing field. At our breakfast we had representation from Cephable, Ekkobar, eSki, WurQ, WHOOP, Mementix App, Modulate, SportsVisio, Shift Group and more. Thanks to all who made it.

88

6 Comments

See below (attached image) one of my favorite periodical sections included in our DeepCast DeepDive weekly newsletter. Those who know me know I'm a book junkie (along with news and podcasting), so this is section is clearly a reflection of my own personal preference. Guilty as charged! Oft times it's all about building what you want for yourself and what you know... Sign-up link for the newsletter in the comments below... #AlwaysBeLearning #TopBooks #Podcasts

11

“When you have any signs of early demand pull, you have to follow it and work as hard as it takes to just make it happen.” This early company building advice from Filip Kaliszan is spot on, and it’s the Verkada founding team’s ethos in a nutshell. I’ve been able to see this up close by partnering with Filip over the years, but I’m so glad he generously shared his hard-earned lessons more publicly with other builders in this series for First Round Capital's PMF Method. Here are a few of my favorite takeaways: 🚧  𝗦𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗠𝗩𝗣: “The very first version looked very funny. It was a Raspberry Pi based camera. We just hacked it together from different parts — the supply chain was Amazon.com. We built maybe 100 of these little cameras and we gave them to friends and businesses we knew. That was never going to fit in a commercial environment, but man, it was so valuable to build it, because we could evaluate different streaming technologies and learn about the challenges of local storage. All these problems that we later encountered, we had already started solving. By the time the real product started selling, we had fewer bugs and ideas on how to navigate them. It just smoothed the road." 👷‍♂️ 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿): “I remember flying to L.A. to install cameras at the Beverly Hills Equinox, one of our early customers. The gym closed at midnight, and we had until 5:00 AM to get the cameras installed. So next thing I know I'm buying some drills, getting up on a ladder and pulling cables myself. That client kept growing with us over the years because of the attention to detail we showed from day one. I've worked in the consumer space before. My perception of enterprise is that if you're willing to do the work, have the customer conversations, get on the plane and get out of your bubble to see how customers are using different solutions and build a picture of what will work for them, it's more of a well-defined process than it is a guessing game." ⚙️ 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗮𝘁: “One of the mistakes that I see is sometimes folks listen to the customer for what they want as the solution, as opposed to listening to find out what the problem is. If you talked to our customers, on the surface I think what you might get back is that they want a sum of their favorite features from all of the competitors. But if you took the best features from all of our competitors and put it into one product, you'd build a bloated product with a bunch of not so great features. But if you dive a little deeper in that conversation, and you try to understand why they want these features, if you go to the customer and have them show you their workflow, and take notes about the things that are broken, that's when you start identifying the problems.”

232

6 Comments

It is good to see continued investment in the DataOps/Operational Data Lake space. Customers are struggling to get access to and develop consistent KPIs, let alone enable advanced analytics, ML and AI in the enterprise. Many people I speak with are just trying to get a solid data foundation to enable a consistent, global, real-time calculation of OEE across plants (different assets, different formats, different protocols, different teams, and different definitions make this a challenge). Then, they will extend from that insight. Unlocking access to all of the data (sensors, historians, devices, PLCs, etc.), preparing it so it can be used across the enterprise (context, normalization, data models), and then enabling access to those who need it, when they need it, in the applications where they want to use it, is a catalyst that will accelerate the business outcomes aspired to in annual reports. But, it starts with a data foundation that scales. #DataOps

61

3 Comments

We love seeing founders be able to keep their equity and take advantage of non-dilutive funding sources⚒️. We're excited to collaborate with Stacy Chin, PhD leader of KeepYourEquity.co, who has secured over $15M in SBIR/STTR grants for startups across various sectors. She's written a guest blog post sharing her insights on navigating the competitive landscape of grant funding 💰. Some highlights: ❇️ Understanding SBIR/STTR: A lifeline for startups, offering up to $2 million in non-dilutive funding! ⏺️ Learning how to overcome hurdles and capitalize on the golden opportunity. ❇️ Gaining essential tips on outlining your go-to-market strategy, choosing the right program, and preparing thoroughly. ⏺️ Benefiting from Stacy Chin's 10+ years of grant writing experience and her extensive track record in securing funding for startups. Read More in the blog post linked in the comment below 👇🏾 #SBIR #STTR #GrantFunding #StartupSuccess #SmallBusiness #KeepYourEquityCo #ShayCPA #cpafirm #techaccountants #startupaccountants #techstartup #techcompany #nondilutivefunding

12

1 Comment

May is when many private companies finalize mid-year comp plans 💵 Need a reliable 409A valuation? Or has it been over a year since your last? We've got you covered! Scalar's 409A valuations keep you compliant, protect employees from tax penalties, and come with a team that supports you all the way through an audit. https://lnkd.in/gs_CtPNS

7

Getting into personal aviation? It's like unlocking a whole new world! Think about it: with your own plane, you're breaking free from the confines of traditional travel. Whether it's zipping off for a weekend getaway or hopping between business meetings without the hassle of commercial flights, personal aviation opens up a world of possibilities. Also, time is our most valuable resource and taing advantage of opportunities through aviation allows you to make more impactful memroeis and connections. #personalaircraft #aircraft #airforce #aviation #aviationlovers #aviationgeek

6

1 Comment

Brad Vynalek, Jennifer Rupkey, and Ed Lovatt discuss the vital link between firm leadership and business development. Learn how their collaborative approach drives firm success. #LegalBusiness #Leadership #BusinessDevelopment

3

Love these high-level takeaways from my due diligence discussion with Cherub today! So many actionable insights for both founders and investors.

15

2 Comments

"This year marks the 30-year anniversary of the grill, officially known as the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine. After a slow start, it became an indelible part of ‘90s consumer culture and the world’s most popular product for cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, salmon, and just about everything else (Oprah Winfrey preferred it for bacon). But the Foreman grill isn’t just a fun relic from America’s peak infomercial era. It was also a cash cow. Dreimann says Salton sold as many as 14mgrills in a single year. In 2000, QVC claimed it sold more Foreman grillsthan any other small kitchen appliance. And, surprisingly, 30 years later, the Foreman Grill remains a champion. Monthly sales figures on Amazon indicate that, at the peak of this summer’s grilling season, the standard Foreman Grill outsold offerings from rivals Ninja and Cuisinart, not to mention the most popular outdoor grills from Weber and others." https://lnkd.in/guT6jWct

1

Next up on Embracing Erosion? Alex Pattis, the General Partner of Riverside Ventures and founding team member of Hampton. Alex is also the co-founder of Last Money In Media, a leading VC newsletter that delves into Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) within the Venture Capital ecosystem. Alex has become a leading voice advocating for the SPV investment format versus the traditional VC fund model. So it won’t surprise you got super deep and into the weeds on all things investing, but we touched on plenty of other topics such as: 🚀 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 Give it a listen 👉 https://lnkd.in/gEKv5ghE The Compete Network

10

DeepCast shipped a number of really cool new features recently in advance of a broad outreach push to podcast listeners. One new feature is our new Daily DeepDigest tool that sends you a concise daily email including any new episodes from the trailing 24 hours from any podcasts you Subscribe to (on DeepCast). Think daily podcast cliff notes or podcast news ticker tape, with a hint of Morning Brew various brews or PitchBook News—it's increasing information throughput when you're pressed for time. And this feature is rapidly evolving to distill other key extractions from shows you're already interested in, but also exposing you to other shows you might be unfamiliar with that also have nuggets to share—and thus increasing your aperture yet still conscious of your time. Want to go deeper on any given episode? Click the episode detail and you're off to an episode on DeepCast, where you can subsequently read a longer form distillation of that episode or go straight to the source and listen to the episode. (And podcaster friends, these pages are definitely increasing indexing and thus Google entry points to your shows!) I'm loving this feature as a user, personally. Can't wait to see what others think! #BuildingInPublic #Podcasts #AllTheWorldsInformation #HowYouWantIt

24

1 Comment

I love this! Thank you to Rachel Brown from Beauty Independent to kick-off this exchange with Andrew Ross' provocative thesis and have us all react to it. I truly enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on the topic of the shortening lifecycle of beauty brands. Here is a snippet of mine: "Because beauty brand lifespans are shortening, it is important that we are able to differentiate brands with staying power from brands that will end up being a flash in the pan. There are much more of the latter than the former in the market right now, and if a brand is not well-positioned, it will be challenging for that brand to survive over the long-term. That’s why we focus on understanding each brand’s differentiators and long-term relevance." See more here: https://lnkd.in/esVbwnu2 and you will discover what Kevin Murphy, Odile Roujol, Rich Gersten, Tina Henry Bou-Saba, Oliver Nordlinger, Claire Chang, Manica Blain, Sonya Brown, George Birman had to say. #beautyindustry #beautyinvesting Stride Consumer Partners

10

4 Comments

🚀 Exciting update from my recent sessions on Intro: I've had the privilege of mentoring some incredible minds, including a diverse group of founders and executives in the intersection of tech and talent-led brands. From fine-tuning fundraising approaches to navigating industry nuances, our conversations have been nothing short of inspiring. Here are my key takeaways from these enriching sessions: 1. Visionary Leadership: The clarity and vision showcased by these leaders have been truly impressive, setting a high bar for industry innovation. 2. Authentic Dialogue: What sets these sessions apart is the transparent and authentic conversations we've had. I believe in sharing hard truths and industry nuances, and it's heartening to see that resonate with those I mentor. 3. Value-Driven Collaboration: Every interaction has been a two-way street of learning and growth. I've been able to offer tailored strategies and insights, and the feedback has been immensely positive. Looking ahead, I've opened up my schedule for next week. Let's connect and explore how I can support your journey: intro.co/baminuzzi Drop a comment below with "interested," and I'll pick one person for a complimentary 15-minute call. Let's unlock new possibilities together! 💡

55

16 Comments