Roman Pedan

I did not see this coming... Yardi is set to purchase majority stake in WeWork. This is a strategic and bold move by the property management software company. Venturing into coworking spaces, a business model vastly different from their core operations raises intriguing questions about the potential synergies between the two organizations. This could be a push to diversify revenue at Yardi and pair a money-losing business with a cash-cow SaaS product (similar to Amazon retail + Amazon Web Services). There could be some really interesting growth opportunities for WeWork if that is the case. #propertymanagementsoftware #proptech

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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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Do you know how many hyper-growth public software companies are growing by over 40% this year? According to the latest June Guggenheim report… Zero. Not a single public SaaS company is growing over 40%. Do you know how many are growing their next twelve months (NTM) revenue over 30%? Also, zero! With that context, I was strategizing with my team on the most impactful ways companies can change their growth trajectory, and one thing we landed on solving immediately was time to integrate. If a company growing at 30% can pull in all net new integrations and thus revenue by just 1 month over the course of the year, it can increase its growth rate by almost 5%. For simplicity, assuming a $100M annual revenue, a 10% discount rate, and a 5-year valuation period, using a DCF, the company’s present value would not be 5% more valuable, but closer to 20% more valuable for all shareholders. The power of compounded growth rates. Game changer, and with just the smallest adjustments. That’s why smart companies are investing heavily in new customer onboarding and no-code, low-code technologies, like lightweight agents, hosted or embedded UIs, and more. The Socure team is ahead of the curve—ask our people about what we’re building and how we can help you accelerate your revenue growth.

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This is fascinating. My two portfolio companies on the fastest path to Series A have kept the leanest teams. Both of them are lingering around cash flow positive on a monthly basis. One is growing gangbusters, one is growing nicely. Good data below to show that these activities are being rewarded. We're still in cockroach times. Also fwiw, I'm constantly amazed by and learning from Peter Walker. If you're interested in the data of venture funding (AND IF YOU'RE A FOUNDER, YOU SHOULD BE), then follow Peter.

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Should I use only equity for my search fund acquisition? 👇 If you can convince enough shareholders to part with their cash in order to purchase a company, this is the simplest way to go. A few thoughts: 1. Equity carries no covenants or external limits on how you and your team run the company. 2. Since there’s no debt, you have a higher risk tolerance. 3. Equity investors are patient. Debt holders are not. 4. Investors get well rewarded for shared success. If you do well, they do very well. This can make it easier to raise capital. 5. Some companies are not a good fit for debt. Lenders like predictable cash flow, hard assets and a history of profitability. 6. Equity is easy to raise compared to debt, which involves due diligence, counterparty risk, and tight terms. On the other hand, equity is expensive. You will have to give away the value of the money up front, and more.

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Often when folks talk about subject matter expertise, they’re referring to a vertical knowledge set or experience. Someone might be an expert in the mortgage industry, or a thought leader in the financial planning vertical market. Often, you’ll see serial entrepreneurs launch and operate a series of ventures in a single vertical. It’s been my experience that there’s every bit as much power and opportunity when one develops a horizontal expertise. These people can travel across markets and deploy their skills in more diverse settings. The same is true for #VentureStudios. Some organize themselves inside of vertical environments, but others are more horizontally focused. Studios from the latter group will partner with vertical experts and empower them to operate in their natural habitat. There’s nothing right or wrong with either approach, but I will say I have personally enjoyed the horizontal approach in my career. It allows for a broader set of opportunities to deploy my curiosity. I’m always learning, and it’s fun to develop little heuristics and hacks that can travel.

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🏢 Big Moves in SF Commercial Real Estate! Intuit & Capital One 🏢 Two major financial firms are making strategic relocations within San Francisco: - Capital One is reducing its office space by two-thirds, moving from 201 3rd St. to 40,000 sq. ft. at 100 California St. This deal includes significant improvements to the new location, enhancing tenant experiences with new outdoor spaces and on-site amenities. - Intuit is downsizing from 200,000 sq. ft. at 22 4th St. to 36,500 sq. ft. at 505 Howard St. The move aims to leverage San Francisco's diverse talent pool while optimizing their workspace for future growth. These moves highlight the dynamic nature of SF's commercial real estate market and the need for adaptable, strategic office solutions. At Resource, we specialize in guiding companies through such transitions, ensuring seamless relocations and optimized space utilization. 🔗 Discover more about our tailored real estate services: yourresource.com #SFRealEstate #CommercialRealEstate #CapitalOne #Intuit #OfficeRelocation #RealEstateStrategy #ResourceCRE

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This is what the hotel of an emerging manager SHOULD look like - Disciplined fund size - Align incentives with LPs so you only win if they win - Invest every $ you have in your team and infrastructure - Know that you have not earned ANYTHING until you have returned $ to LPs

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Valuations are starting to (only slightly) be in check. Investors looking for revenue, quality of revenue, margins, and repeatable GTM. This has the best founders focused on what matters, and reaching out to their Boards and advisors for real advice and guidance. Good stuff.

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Your company's equity can make or break your startup. As a 2x founder, I’ve had the privilege of fundraising from top-tier investors (Craft, Naval, Hustle Fund, 8VC, Loup, and 100+ others), investing early in Notion, Mercury, Rippling, and Pulley, and serving on the founding team & COO @ Forge (NYSE: $FRGE, $2B IPO). I often get DMs from founders fundraising at the early stage, people looking for help with compensation plans, and those interested in pre-IPO secondary markets. All of it boils down to: how do I allocate the equity in my company? How do I apportion a scarce resource to maximize my odds of success? So, I've opened up five 1:1 feedback slots on Intro. Half the proceeds will go to charity (you're welcome to nominate your favorites!). What can we cover together? ✔️ Fundraising strategies for early-stage founders ✔️ Designing effective compensation plans ✔️ Navigating liquidity & pre-IPO secondary markets Honored to be be on Intro alongside world-class experts like Phil Neil (Founder of Neobex (sold), bootstrapped from startup to $70M in rev), Patrick Lor (Managing Partner, Panache Ventures), Adeel Shams (founder of Coolkicks - most followed sneaker resell brand in the world, 2M on Youtube.) and Grace (Fooden) Correy (founder of Biophile Skincare. Ex: SVP at Spanx & VP at Ralph Lauren). Drop me a note in the comments below (e.g., “interested”) and book a chat: intro.co/hariraghavan

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It's a fascinating look into the common pitfalls that entrepreneurs face when building their startups. The article dives deep into the importance of focus, perseverance, and the ability to pivot when necessary. It's a reminder that success doesn't come overnight and that resilience is key in the face of challenges. Have you faced similar challenges in your entrepreneurial journey? What lessons have you learned along the way? #Entrepreneurship #Startup #FounderAdvice

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Three Phrases Founders Need to Hear 💡 "No software company should raise a pre-seed." (Controversial but true for some) 💡 "A lifestyle business is thrown around like a derogatory term as if you are not a legitimate founder because you didn't take on funding." (Let's change this narrative) 💡 "The Mighty Middle" - A newly coined term for founders who are aggressively building, reaching profitability, and creating sustainable businesses without institutional capital. (Join the revolution) As an early-stage company (Openroom HQ), we're experimenting every single day to see what sticks and what doesn't. It doesn't make you less of a Founder just because you didn't take capital. The mindset of "go raise capital" and "growth at all costs" is starting to shift. It's not that founders need reassurance to continue building and solving hard problems. We will continue regardless! But, it definitely helps when people who have done it, seen it, and believe it too. It might be controversial but I loved this morning's debriefing. Thank you to Cherry Rose Tan, MBA, MA, Moshe Mikanovsky, Brice Scheschuk, CPA, CA and Schulich School of Business - York University's Schulich Startups for a memorable mentorship quarter and helping me see a better future of building my own company. ---- Repost this for your network ♻️ P.S. What's the most controversial advice you've heard recently?

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Sometimes a founder comes along and you have to back them … it’s a simple as that. Ricardo Regalado is that kind of founder and that’s why we at Evergreen Mountain Equity Partners were thrilled to recently invest in Route. The commercial cleaning industry is almost $90b in the US alone. There are thousands of companies ranging from mom and pop to large, publicly traded companies. But, unless you're one of the really big players, there isn’t a lot of software to help you operate your business efficiently and close more revenue. Enter Route. Route understands the cleaning industry better than anyone and they built advanced technology and data analytics to help their customers … → Win more business → Respond to proposals faster → Streamline their operations “I’m not building a software company. I’m building a community of cleaners.” That community is staying true to their Company Northstar: “To Improve the Business of Cleaning by connecting the entire industry through tech and community.” That’s what Ricardo told me the first time we spoke. And he is doing just that. Want to hear more about Ricardo’s approach to building his business by building a community? Check out our recent interview on The Founder’s Journey Podcast. At EMEP, we invest strictly in Future of Work technology. There are 4 core pillars to this thesis: → The AUTOMATION of work systems and processes → The transformational impact of AI on the way we will work → The GLOBALIZATION and MOBILIZATION of the workforce → The shift to the FREELANCE and GIG economy Route will have a long term impact on the Automation of the commercial cleaning business as well as start delivering AI based analytics to a traditional non-tech industry. Ira Grossman and I are honored to be an extended part of the Route team! Here is a bit more from Ricardo: https://loom.ly/tApHEZs 📌 If you are an accredited investor and interested in more about what we are doing at EMEP, DM me and we can discuss.

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Big rounds are back. VC Funding is flowing. In April, there were 28 fundraising rounds announced with >$10M in funding. We've seen private market (pre-launch) deals valued >$3B recently. Private Markets are hot. Public Market comps (FDVs) are hot. But who will buy our multi-billion dollar bags? Deal Flow Digest April w/: - Recap of largest web3 funding rounds - Airtable with ALL the data - Hackathons & Demo Days - VC Fundraises Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g7V4KrAj

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Instacart is now expanding into restaurant takeout thanks to a new partnership with Uber! “Consumers will see the same restaurant menu prices on Instacart that they do on Uber Eats, and couriers will be paid the same way they would be for orders directly from Uber Eats,” Uber says the motivation behind these is to drive more orders to Uber Eats restaurant partners while Instacart gets to add new businesses to its delivery platform without having to build it from the ground up. Read More Here: https://bit.ly/3JS3yAX #Restaurants #Hospitality #Technology #Business #Innovation #AI #investing #venturecapital Branded Hospitality Ventures Matthew O'Hearn Courtney Berman Jinwoo Song Ahmed Beshry Josh Rider Chris Rogers Nick Giovanni

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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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Part 2 from QED Investors. "How many Founders does it take to land a plane? None, they'll just pivot to a helicopter ride-sharing service." haha. Very well written part about what happens, when things don't turn out as planned. Very delicate topics that sadly, we all deal with eventually. So best to get smart reading this, and improve youe odds of "Landing the Plan"! https://lnkd.in/gCiRkrqx

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Ross Haleliuk posted the fantastic article below. This is the world where I live day-to-day. At TechOperators, we invest mostly in early-stage cyber, but we do things a little differently, and we believe there are ways to invest successfully outside of pure Power Law math. The article argues that many security problems are too small for VC. I agree. I often try to convince bootstrapped founders not to raise venture because doing so can turn a successful, slow-growing bootstrapped company into a failed venture-backed company because, despite a large infusion of capital, it couldn't double every year. VC is not monolithic--not by stage, strategy, or style. Venture is often equated with "Tier 1 Venture". Ross argues that VC is not always great for early-stage cyber--and he is right. Bootstrapping AND VC work when incentives are aligned. Does it work for an early-stage VC with a <$200M fund to invest in several early companies at reasonable valuations, setting up the conditions for reasonable exits that pay off for both investors and founders? Yes. Does it work for $800M funds investing in seed stage at $100M+ valuations? Well, that depends! Power law says it does (for VC), but the unfortunate externality is that these rounds destroy companies and founder equity more often than not. There is a role for patient capital in this ecosystem to fuel successful companies that retain exit optionality as they scale--driving exit value for both founders and investors.

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