Shelly Soriano

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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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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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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Sometimes I encourage founders to socialize their company to prospective investors before actually starting an official fundraise process. We've seen this work in a variety of ways: (1) preemptive term sheets; (2) founders pick up on investor sentiment towards their business; (3) opportunity to form more organic relationship with an investor; and (4) get a sense of what investors want to see for a subsequent fundraise. Some founders are reluctant to socialize their business until it appears more solid and there's obvious traction. While this makes sense, the reality is that early-stage is inherently messy and investors know the plane is being built and flown simultaneously. The art of conveying the narrative of, "this is what I've already accomplished and here's where the business will be in next 3-6-9-12 months" can be the most effect fundraising tool in the game. What do others in the VC community think of this strategy?

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Someone broke down the estimated costs of a $15 Sweetgreen salad. We need these cost graphics for digital health to help future founders. Especially for tech enabled cos, the greatest cost is labor. Much of the "value created" is in curation and matching, which means the gross margins are reliant on labor arbitrage. Pay someone $X, but get paid $X+Y% per visit. The challenge with healthcare is that you often have to pick one of two business models: 1. specialized, low volume, high cost, low gross margin % 2. generalized, high volume, low cost, high gross margin % I'd argue founders should focus on gross dollars over the lifetime of the customer (like Jeff Bezos said) instead of gross margin %'s, but we'll leave that for another time. The challenge is that many tech enabled digital health cos have high cost of goods sold (labor) and moderately high product, design, and engineering budgets. We must build differentiated solutions for patients, clinicians, and clients to be out incumbents, however, we're realizing that companies are ultimately valued on the discounted value of future cash flows. And the high SG&A costs at most organizations might be inbalanced to the unit economics of the business. I'm not sure the math pencils out for everyone unfortunately. But I'm just a guy on the internet, would love to hear the thoughts from those smarter than I (you!). Comment below. --- p.s. I have no idea the accuracy of the graphic and not an investor in Sweetgreen. Cheers. Credit: David Crowther

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Whether I am on a sales call, at a party, or just speaking with friends, explaining the breadth of Viam’s capabilities in words has been difficult. I have, however, found that once I show the platform at work, eyes light up and ideas about the different devices that could benefit from Viam begin flowing. Here are some of my favorite projects to “show off” when I am giving a demo of Viam. What devices in your life would you hack to do the same? https://lnkd.in/eFn6eD52 #software #robotics #opensource

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Seeing more of this in board meetings. Discussions revolve around revenues, margins, etc not just customer/transaction growth or other vanity metrics Not public yet, but the business culture in SEAsia is such that any numbers on private businesses are kept very private Would be interesting to see if revenue/profitability milestones-based PR will ever be done here

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🔥Tune In to the Latest Fireside Chat with a VC in Healthech🔥 What percentage of VCs are former founders? 30% maybe more? I'd think a fair amount, yet how *exactly* does that transition happen and what perspectives change *radically* afterwards? Sigvards Krongorns shared exactly that - his journey from PwC consultant to Healtech founder, to a VC shaping the future of Healthtech startups. What we talked about: ✨ Sigvards' transition from a PwC consultant to founder to a VC ✨ What steps are necessary to bring innovative medical devices from concept to market ✨ How being a founder can prepare you for a role in venture capital ✨ What strategies help navigate the regulatory landscape in healthtech startups ✨ The right way to engage with VCs for startup funding ✨ What future trends in venture capital and Healthtech look like #HealthTech #VentureCapital #Innovation #StartupJourney #HealthcareInnovation #Entrepreneurship #FiresideChat #VentureCapitalInsights Full conversation can be found here:

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VC funding in healthcare has been more resilient than in other industries. Here are some key takeaways from recent Carta data: 👉 At the priced seed, Series A, and Series B stages, dilution for health startups has noticeably decreased, while dilution for SaaS startups has stayed flat or increased slightly. 👉 In priced seed rounds, median dilution for healthcare companies dipped to 14.2%, compared to 20% for SaaS.  👉 The frequency of bridge rounds surged in the health sector in Q1, jumping to 44.3% from 36.9% in Q4 2023. This is the first significant increase in bridge rounds in healthcare over SaaS since early 2022. 👉 More founder-friendly terms for health startups may result from enduring VC interest since COVID. Healthcare has remained strong through economic turmoil, enabling higher valuations with smaller round sizes. What are the implications? The healthcare sector might see a rise in new ventures due to favorable investment conditions and lower dilution rates. The surge in bridge rounds suggests that certain sectors within healthcare face unique challenges that require interim financing solutions. Founders and investors in the healthcare space- what are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you. If you know a founder innovating in healthcare, tag them in the comments! The Artemis Fund is especially interested in groundbreaking care tech companies. You can check out Carta’s full blog linked in the comments. If you haven’t read our latest blog on care tech, you’ll find that there too. #healthcare #caretech #fundraising

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In 2017 Maisie Devine Sherman reached out to me (Highline Beta was working with AB InBev previously through ZX Ventures) and said, "I want to build a new type of startup-corporate accelerator program, focused on sustainability, that actually works." (I'm paraphrasing). And that's exactly what we did. It was an awesome experience to help design, build and launch the first Cohort. Today, 100+ Accelerator is on Cohort 6, with additional partners including The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate, Unilever and now Danone. Startups: You have the opportunity to get in front of 5 of the biggest CPG companies on the planet, all committed to achieving key sustainability goals. You. Should. Apply. If you get accepted, you'll be delivering a paid pilot with 1 (or more) of the corporate partners. And the goal: prove a pilot and then SCALE. I've seen the program change the trajectory of startups. I've seen startups raise millions of dollars off the back of delivering value to these corporate partners. There are many success stories. Honestly, the 100+ Accelerator is one of the most amazing things I've ever had the privilege of working on. We continue to support 100+ and every cohort is insanely cool to be involved with. The effort, iteration, willingness to try things, and commitment to delivering value for everyone is epic. Startups: You should apply. Do it now. (link in the comments)

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Many seed stage companies funded in 2020/2021 most likely won't make it to Series A these days. Over the last few months I watched two seed stage founders I invested in find buyers for their companies and successfully return cash to investors. In both cases the situations were dire and in both cases their existing lead investors were totally MIA. The reality for most VCs is that their best performing companies typically need their help the *the least* and the struggling ones are where it's essential to step up. For VC's, word travels fast when you aren't there to help. And for founders, working with investors who will be there when the chips are down is more important than ever.

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As we dive into 2024, the Series A fundraising landscape is becoming increasingly daunting. Investment standards are soaring, and fewer startups are making the cut. Series A investors are finding many seed stage companies too premature. The median valuation jump from seed to Series A skyrocketed from $19.5 million in Q1 2022 to $28.7 million in Q1 2024. Investors now demand stronger revenue performance, targeting $2 million to $3 million in ARR, up from $1 million to $2 million. Alarmingly, only 12% of Q1 2022 seed startups secured Series A funding within two years, down from 31.8% in Q1 2020. #venture #earlystage #seedtoseriesa #seed #seriesa #inspireglobalventures https://lnkd.in/gW4bkcNy

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Fundraising Insights for Early-Stage Startups 🚀 Reflecting on my time at YC and beyond with Parker, I've noticed a counterintuitive truth that shapes successful fundraising strategies for startups at pre-seed and seed stages - at early stages, investors often care way more about your story over traction or growth metrics. So, here are some key takeaways to nail your investor conversations: #1 Clear Communication: Cut the jargon and buzzwords. Create a pitch that anyone can grasp immediately. For instance, rather than making vague claims, be direct. Here is a Hypothetical example. Bad example: “We’re revolutionizing the electric car industry by creating unique, best-in-class vehicles that democratize electric travel.” Better example: “We are building electric vehicles that are more affordable and have longer range than anything on the market.” Remove abstraction until anyone can understand your pitch. #2 Founder Fit: Showcase why YOU are the right person to build your startup. Do this by highlighting relevant achievements and experiences that show your capacity to realize your vision. Keep in mind that a traditional background isn’t always the highest-leverage thing to mention, for example: • An investor might care a little bit that you went to Stanford. • They might care a lot that, during your time at Stanford, you built a $50k/mo business. #3 Leverage Social Proof: Boost your credibility by sharing achievements like customer numbers, growth rates, and notable investors backing your venture. Give investors solid reasons to believe in your potential. Use whatever you have available. Example: Famous investor? Great. Famous employee? Great. Notable experience on your founding team? Great. Investors have no idea who you are, in most cases—give them a reason to care. For a detailed look into fundraising advice, check out my essay. https://lnkd.in/g6B6kSdN

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I love fundraising processes. They’re high stakes. Intense. And they make or break companies. Every investor applies pressure and play games differently throughout the courting and negotiating process. And that’s the fun part. I’m pretty passionate about helping other founders run their best processes. Most founders will only raise a few times in their career, if they’re lucky. Investors do this all day every day. Amongst all the things I’ve learned in running Intercom's Series B/C/D and Equals' Seed/Series A, one of the most powerful things I always do is to create a Data Deck. It’s different from a Pitch Deck. Today I wrote a blog post on the topic, and the high level concepts necessary to include in one. AND... this is a topic that extends beyond just metrics. If you’re a founder who needs help, my DMs are always open. It’s a topic I love talking about and helping folks navigate. ✌️ https://lnkd.in/euHxYbsT

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SFTW Startup Spotlight returns after a bit of a break. This month I highlight #artificialintelligence and #robotics company FarmWise Access to farm labor is a big challenge here in California (and in many other parts of the world). Labor can be up to 50% of your production costs in specialty crops Farmwise is tackling this challenge head on, with their AI powered mechanical weeding robotic implements (Vulcan!) and taking advantage of convergence of a few different technologies with a bold mission and vision "Enable growers and ag equipment OEMs to reimagine every farming task with machinery that can perceive, understand, and act at the plant level in real time" The startup spotlight from SFTW does a deep dive into -Farmwise's philosophy and a vision for a different way to farm -Deep dive into their technology (my favorite part!) -Their flexible and modular architecture -Use of foundation models (another topic I like to think about) -Business model, and most importanlty, -The team behind Farmwise led by industry veterans Tjarko Leifer and Greg Chiocco, and a diverse motivated team Link in the first comment #agriculture #california #agtech

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This doesn’t change without two key steps: 1) Activating more Black Angel investors and LPs. There are thousands of Black individuals and couples who qualify as accredited investors, don’t know it, and have no VC/PE exposure. Also, crowdfunding makes investing accessible to non-accredited investors. Funding Black founders can actually INCREASE the wealth gap depending on how their companies are funded and who gets the majority of the proceeds upon exit. 2) Using social and political power to direct government and philanthropic resources to leverage capital from step 1. All medium to large organizations that claim to be in service of the Black community need to be laser focused on this. The main thing missing here is exceptional leadership with transparent and competent governance infrastructure. Until we do these two things, these stats won’t change. I’m not guessing, I’ve got historical records and basic math on my side.

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A good datapoint for pre-seed founders looking to onboard advisors. Data shows only 1 in 10 pre-seed advisors get more than 1% equity, highlighting the need for careful allocation. Thanks Peter Walker for the insights to help align grants with the industry & preserve equity for growth. #Advisors #Equity #Founders

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We believe in extreme vetting of our founders. You can't build a unicorn if you spend time on silly stuff, like seeing family and friends. Grow up, and focus on investor returns. #vc #startups #investment

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Do you understand your ICPs? Had some insightful conversations with early stage founders this week, many of which are piloting products with "freemium" models. These programs are inherently valuable as they create opportunities where they are needed, and where cost may prohibit, and provide data for the company. But, they do not provide: 💵 revenue, because freemium... 📈 adoption, because these users may not commit without skin in the game 🎯 understanding of use cases in paid industries We further discussed their need to understand differing customer personas, and identify their ICP (Ideal Customer Profile). Honing in on who can best benefit from your product and provide benefit back to you the vendor is a lesson in value exchange, and is one which can drive towards the holy grails - ^ARR and 100+ NRR. So, to my founders/leaders/company champions out there, do you know your ICP?? ------- 👋🏽 I’m Parul Bhandari 📊 Customer Success advisor, consultant and CS coach. I help startups and CX teams reduce churn, retain more customers, and drive more value. 🔗 connect with me at in a DM or through my company CustomerXSuccess

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