Pat Matthews

🚀 New Episode Alert: Investor Connect with Gary Forni, Chairman of CTAN 🚀 Join host Hall T. Martin for an insightful conversation with Gary Forni, the visionary Chairman of the Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN). With a storied career in technology and venture capital, Gary has been instrumental in shaping the startup ecosystem in Central Texas. 📅 Listen now: https://ow.ly/Po6Q50RBUJt 🔹 What to Expect: Gary's journey from Intel Corp to leading one of the most active angel groups in the U.S. An inside look at CTAN's investment strategy and how they're nurturing the next wave of disruptive tech startups. Expert advice on overcoming challenges in angel investing and adapting to economic changes. 📈 Under Gary's leadership, CTAN has invested over $129 million in 215 companies, driving innovation and economic growth. Learn how this network supports entrepreneurs with capital, mentoring, and more. 🎧 Tune in to "Investor Connect" for more expert insights into the investment landscape. Don’t miss it! #InvestorConnect #AngelInvesting #Startups #Innovation

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Great time on the Embracing Erosion podcast w/Devon O'Rourke! We talked about: 🚀 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 and much more!

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Keen to learn more about the Calybre story? 📖 Check out our new article on TechCentral with the link below. #expectmore #stepahead #reallyawesomedatapeople #data #dataconsulting #dataanalytics #dataengineering #datascience #datastrategy #datagovernance #ai #artificialintelligence #datasecurity

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Big things on the horizon, we are motivated and blessed to be at the dawn of a new age for the internet. Read more about our journey below or listen to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/eJeNhvVa

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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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Fantastic guidance from Michael Jaconi, CEO and founder of Button, one of Norwest's portfolio companies, on the value of capital efficiency. His four tips are great for any entrepreneur building a business (regardless of the market)

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SaaS founders are increasingly being directed by investors to defer hiring salespeople and close their first deals themselves. While this demonstrates commitment, drive and fiscal stewardship, it often overlooks a critical element - expertise in penetrating large enterprises effectively. Founders are visionaries, experts in innovation, not necessarily in the nuanced art of enterprise sales. This gap can be the difference between a deal that closes and several that stall indefinitely. An Enterprise SaaS Deal Coach possesses deep insights and a proven track record in navigating the complexities of enterprises, helping founders: 💡 Have conversations that matter, centered on business outcomes vs. product jargon. 💪 Empower customer champions to sell internally, using the language of the C-Suite. 🤯 Align stakeholders to manage the impact of disrupting the status quo. 🔮 Identify blind spots and prepare contingency plans in anticipation of roadblocks and gatekeepers. 💵 Negotiate the right deals the right way. 🙌 Close more, higher value deals, faster. ⭐️ Establish a sound foundation to onboard sales teams at the right time. Now is the time for SaaS founders to close initial deals quickly, while setting a trajectory for sustained growth and liquidity. #SaaS #Founder #EnterpriseSoftware

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Thanks to Authority Magazine Medium for the opportunity to tell the story of Tidal Cyber. Our unique approach to achieving threat-informed defense allows security operators to focus their activities on the threats that are relevant to their organization, and take action at the speed of their adversary. This, in turn, allows security teams to gain more control over their time, and save money. #ThreatInformedDefense #startup #cybersecurity

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It was great returning to Austin, Texas for #Consensus2024 to speak about digital tools for carbon markets. One such tool, designed by Zerosix, enables any 3rd-party carbon project developer to digitize the protocols they use and create independently verifiable carbon credits or certifications, applying blockchain technology. Existing Use Cases & Status, each with over $500mln market potential: - Carbon Credits Carbon Capture & Storage - Carbon Credits Oil & Gas well retirement - Certified Gas Certificates (RSG) - Carbon Credits for agricultural methane sequestration - Biogas, BioFuel Certification (RFS, LCFS, RED III) - Carbon Credits for Building GHG Reductions #environment #energy #agriculture #business #carbon #impact #finance #blockchain #technology #capitalmarkets #investing #investments #climaterisk #sustainability #digitalization #biofuel #fintech #renewableenergy ZeroSix CoinDesk

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A few Friday thoughts... After several days in Chicago surrounded by 200+ LPs at the ILPA Members' Conference covering everything from AI to NAV facilities, I'm headed into the weekend energized by what's to come. That may come at a surprise after the week we've had as an industry. The decision from the U.S. Fifth Circuit on the SEC's Private Fund Advisers rules was handed down just moments before we kicked off ILPA’s AGM on Wednesday. All along, ILPA has viewed the PFA as addressing areas that pose risks to both LPs and the industry around transparency, governance and alignment of interest. It was disappointing—albeit not a shock—to see the PFA vacated. But ILPA is choosing to turn our energy to the compelling opportunity before us as an industry. Together, we can chart the path for how we'll work better together, on our own terms. Particularly around transparency. Just days prior to the ruling, we had debuted the next evolution of ILPA reporting templates on fees and expenses and performance for industry feedback. The templates were developed by a broad industry coalition over a three-month period, partly to comply with the PFA quarterly statements rule implementation deadline, but largely because this work needed to be done. We've temporarily paused the comment period. Now we have the benefit of more time to ensure that these minimum reporting standards have cross-industry buy-in to ensure wide support and adoption. Will you join us in this effort, in paving the way forward as an industry? https://lnkd.in/e-6hspU4

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Excited to share that I've been admitted into the Operators Guild, an application-based, members-only community of founders, entrepreneurs, operations, and finance leaders in high-growth, VC-backed companies. 🛡 🚀 The Operators Guild – or the "OG" as they affectionately call themselves – spans almost 900 members across 25+ cities, including some of the best company builders in tech. I joined OG because how they defined "Operator" really, really resonated. "What we do goes far beyond our titles. We are multidisciplinary, cross-functional, untethered to any one department. Business first, function second. Specialists in being generalists. Together, we build the fastest-growing and most innovative companies in the world." I suppose it's because I've sometimes felt guilty that I couldn't easily hyper-specialize like others seemed to. Like there was something fundamentally wrong that I couldn't decide on one narrow lane and commit to loving it forever. Classic square peg, round hole. The OG framing empowered me to think of my breadth as an advantage, with depth in my "zones of genius" creating incredible leverage. I now believe this combination is crucial for successfully bringing transformative products to market and building winning companies. I am fully diving in, folks: I'll be attending the Operators Guild Summit on May 15-17 in Denver. It's the "only un-conference in the world for operators." To my fellow OGs, I look forward to meeting you there. Big thanks to Casey Woo and the OG team for onboarding me into this amazing community, and Russell S. for helping my candidacy. Y'all have been inspiring. If you are an "operator" or "company builder" who connected with any of this, check out the Operators Guild. You won't regret it.

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Private Markets (PE, VC, Growth Equity) are asset classes largely inaccessible to public investors, yet there's a lot of demand. This locks individual investors out of the market for innovative companies, and also reduces liquidity opportunities for employees, founders and angels (opaque secondary markets with high tx fees and approval hurdles don't count). Is there a way to solve this using technology, potentially GAI, in a regulated way to give retail investors access to private markets in the UK? It would for sure encourage more entrepreneurship and innovation as well. This was one of the topics we discussed yesterday at the panel at Fund Finance Association , where I was invited to give the Founder's & Entrepreneur's view. Thanks for having me Joel Buckett and very insightful to hear the different perspectives of Muhammad Billal Malik, CAIA, Ibrahim Khan and Mohamed Azzam Khan, CFA

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In today's digital landscape, safeguarding personal and organizational data is paramount. Verifiable Credentials (VCs) and Selective Disclosure present innovative solutions for enhanced information management and sharing. Verifiable Credentials establish a secure digital credentialing method involving an issuer, holder, and verifier. Through cryptographic techniques, these credentials ensure authenticity and integrity without the need for centralized authorities, offering benefits like improved security, privacy, interoperability, and efficiency. Selective Disclosure enables individuals to selectively share specific information from their credentials, enhancing privacy and control. Leveraging mechanisms such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) and Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), this approach allows holders to prove facts without exposing unnecessary details, minimizing data exposure risks. These technologies hold significant transformative potential across diverse sectors. In healthcare, patients can share relevant health records securely. In education, students can verify qualifications to employers while protecting personal details. In finance, customers can confirm identity and creditworthiness without divulging sensitive financial information. Even government services can benefit from these innovations for secure and private citizen interactions. Despite the promise, challenges like standardization, user adoption, regulatory compliance, and technological integration persist. Addressing these obstacles necessitates collaborative efforts among governments, businesses, technologists, and individuals. Verifiable Credentials and Selective Disclosure pave the way for a secure, private, and efficient digital future. #DigitalTransformation #DataPrivacy #InformationSecurity #TechInnovation https://lnkd.in/dab74EsT Indicio Hemant Sahoo FSV Labs Hyperledger Foundation Soileum Network

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𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽'𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 I recently had an insightful conversation with Derek Andersen, the visionary founder of Bevy and Startup Grind, on my podcast. Derek's journey is a testament to the power of community building and the transformative impact it can have on businesses and individuals alike. I wanted to share some key takeaways from our chat in this blog post. 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝘃𝘆: 𝗔 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 Derek's passion for community building led him to create Startup Grind in 2010, a global platform that connects and supports entrepreneurs. Startup Grind's success is a testament to its core values: giving more than you take, helping others first, and making friends. As Startup Grind grew, Derek and his team realized the need for better tools to manage and scale their community efforts. This led to the creation of Bevy, an AI-powered platform designed to streamline community management and growth. It's a great example of how identifying and addressing real-world problems can lead to innovative solutions. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 In our conversation, Derek emphasized the increasing importance of community building in today's world. In the digital age, where connections can often feel fleeting, communities provide a sense of belonging, support, and shared purpose. For businesses, fostering a strong community can lead to increased customer loyalty, engagement, and even product innovation. Derek's insights on leveraging AI in community management were particularly interesting. AI can help automate repetitive tasks, personalize experiences, and provide valuable insights into community behavior. However, Derek also stressed the importance of maintaining a human touch in community building. AI is a tool to enhance, not replace, human connection. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 Here are some key lessons I took away from my conversation with Derek: 1.Start with a clear purpose: What do you want your community to achieve? 2.Focus on giving value: Offer your members something they can't find elsewhere. 3.Embrace technology: Use tools like Bevy to streamline your efforts. 4.Never forget the human touch: Foster genuine connections within your community. If you're interested in learning more about community building, I highly recommend checking out the full episode of my podcast with Derek Andersen. It's packed with valuable insights and practical advice for anyone looking to build a thriving community. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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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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Many early-stage and high-growth businesses struggle to secure funding from traditional sources like banks due to risk aversion and regulatory constraints. Strategic partnerships between traditional lenders and fintech companies can address this by expanding lending options and providing customized solutions for SMBs. This collaboration has the potential to reshape business financing, creating a more inclusive and diverse financial ecosystem in the future. #Fintech

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"The key to effective partnerships is thinking, 'What's in it for them?'" I loved this quote from Ira Goldfarb, who joined us for our Founders N' Funders Founders Dinner last night at the Alta Club in Salt Lake City. Ira has 40+ years of experience in helping create effective go-to-market strategies for startups. Some of the biggest names in tech bring him in to help solve their go-to-market challenges. We are fortunate to now have Ira as part of the Utah tech / startup ecosystem -- he is a wealth of knowledge, and we all benefited from his wisdom last night, along with the shared insights among a fantastic group of startup founders. 👏 Special shoutout to Timothy Lipton at Momentum Finance for organizing this event and helping us bring together such a powerful group of entrepreneurs. 🍽️Zack Oates🍕 - I am more and more impressed with you as a founder the more I get to know you! Congrats on closing your recent funding round for Ovation that affords you the additional resources to make massive improvements in efficiency for the entire restaurant industry! Marcus D'Ambrosio, founder of Adaract, is on the cutting edge of tech creating robotic innovations that add humanistic elements to robotic machines. Really impressive technical founder with excellent business acumen, who has entrepreneurship in his genes. Matthew Roberts -- It was so good to catch up with you!!! Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about Savvi Legal and PaperOS these days! As an early investor and advisor, I'm a HUGE fan of what Matt and Dan Roberts are building! Love seeing so many investors and funds using them for SPVs and fund admin. But it's even more exciting hearing about what is in the works!!!! 🚀 Nathan Davenport -- Founder of Nebu. I can't wait to get a couple pairs of the outdoor pants. I'll be placing my order this week! I'm always jealous when I see Tim wearing his. 🏔️ Check out https://nebuclothing.com! Eric Lo -- Founder of Krado Inc. is another exceptional founder! Congrats on winning a HUGE contract in the space! I know Tim is a direct investor and I'm an indirect investor in Krado. I love the enormous market potential of what you are doing to disrupt what has been an impenetrable market in the ag space! 🌱 Travis Shreeve, CPA -- Great to finally meet in person! I'm excited to intro you to Dan Tolbert who was involved in The Chosen and worked directly with Angel Studios. The Fablehaven movie series project you are heading up is super intriguing and impressive! 🐉 Jeff Handy -- Congrats again on the somewhat recent funding round for Qualiti. You got a great personal endorsement from Matthew Roberts and several others around the table. I can't wait for the whitewater founder adventures you and Matt were talking about!!! 🛶 Scott Cummings --- So great to see you there! I loved the discussion about your success in relying on fractional resources and experts! Thanks for sharing your insights! #FoundersNFunders

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Thrilled to announce Next Frontier Capital's investment in Hoonify Technologies Inc. Andrew Clark, Victor Kuhns, and team bring decades of HPC experience from Sandia National Laboratories. Hoonify is NFC's first New Mexico investment! Hoonify’s innovation began by placing supercomputers at the edge – in offices, academic institutions, and homes – and liberating them from the traditional high hurdles of supercomputing. Providing immediate and personal access to this technology improves customer performance by up to 300%, achieving higher efficiencies with lower costs compared with alternative solutions. Currently, Hoonify serves U.S. Government and commercial companies in the aerospace and defense and biotech markets that demand accelerated results for their consequential modeling and simulation, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) workloads. With $3.75m in new funding, Hoonify provides clients supercomputing capabilities typically only available to a select few, will use the new funding to fuel additional growth for product enhancements and to position its software platform, TurbOS for entry into additional markets. TurbOS runs on any Intel CPUs or NVIDIA GPUs to enable faster computing performance through parallel computing - using the customer’s existing hardware or options including Hoonify’s all-in-one Cub Desktop Supercomputer. Let's go!

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The in-person corollary to the #Webex tax (which is now the #Zoom tax) of taking up the first five minutes of every meeting to troubleshoot connection or audio/video issues is the WiFi fee. (What’s the guest password? Is that all caps? Oh the Ohs are actually zeros. Now it’s working let’s start…) But I’ve found a way out. I switched to unlimited 5G data and I’m free. Incidentally this is one of the only truly win-win convenience+security issues I can think of. (Anyone have another?)

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