Thad Langford

The practical application of AI to help manufacturers eliminate unplanned downtime is key to our current and future offering. We do not label ourselves as purely an AI company, as that is one component of our value delivery, but I can say we have a world class team of AI Engineers building incredible tech alongside a team of world class Condition Monitoring Engineers. I am bullish and excited to see how Central Ohio emerges as a global AI hub with Intel as an anchor. cc: Brian Graham, Seyed Mohammad Parvasi, Ph.D., Jaidev Krishnan, Matt Longhouse, Chris Berry

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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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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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🌟 Looking to secure first-round funding? Check out these essential tips to perfect your pitch from the team at Ascend Venture Capital. From finding the right investor to crafting a compelling story and nailing down financial details, these insights will help you stand out and succeed in your fundraising efforts 🚀 #StartupFunding #InvestorPitch #VentureCapital

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“Once you take on VC money, you have to go big and build something that’s going to impact the entire industry” Cameron McCarthy, CEO & Co-founder at WeStock, recently joined us for a Laconia Founder Spotlight 🙌 Cameron shares WeStock’s story, including what drives him, why he had to start WeStock, and the impact of VC Investment. Check it out below 👇

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Ludlow Ventures embraces humble venture capitalism, prioritizing genuine connections over ego. They value authentic friendships beyond business, recognizing trust as the foundation of success. With bold confidence, they invest swiftly in teams, even in early stages. The firm sees venture capital as a customer service endeavor, offering support in product testing, design, networking, and promoting app downloads. Investment Range: $50K - $1M Stage: Convertible Note, Early Stage Venture, Seed, Venture Sector: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital Investment Geography: US Notable Investments: Lev, Copilot, Hatch, Honey

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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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Exciting news! We just sent out the inaugural newsletter for Future Frontier Capital, our pre-seed venture fund backing frontier tech startups. As I hit "send," I realized how launching FFC parallels the path of the founders we support. Starting FFC has required the same passion, perseverance, and self-belief that drive entrepreneurs. Just like a startup, getting a VC fund off the ground demands relentless hustle—building the brand, perfecting the pitch, and networking tirelessly. There are constant challenges that test your resolve and endless hours of unglamorous work behind the scenes. And perhaps most daunting - the self-doubt, wondering if you're crazy for attempting something so bold. Pushing through that negative self-talk requires unshakable faith in your mission. Raising this VC fund reminds me of starting our IP strategy and patent analytics firm two decades ago. It’s a powerful reminder of the perseverance, creativity, and resilience needed to turn an ambitious idea into reality. This experience makes us more empathetic partners, ready to support the founders we back. Our work is just beginning, and this inaugural newsletter underscores our commitment to supporting frontier tech startups every step of the way. #startups #VentureCapital #EmergingManagers #Entrepreneurship #InnovationMindSet

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Wondering about the Nebraska ecosystem resources. See the attached chart below…and more to come!

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I really enjoyed recording this episode of The Digital Industrial Podcast with Ty Findley. We talked about common misconceptions for deep tech, the "Why Now" for the category, and differences between investor diligence for deep tech and traditional tech. https://lnkd.in/eKtwjauu

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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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Want to mentor a startup? Join Chris Houghtaling, CEO of RaiseLink, as we discuss streamlining the investment process and building fundraising readiness. Listen now: https://lnkd.in/dHACv5ye #investor #investment #accelerator #incubator #mentor #angel #vc #startup #founder #fundraising #crm #sales #consulting #communication #cybersecurity #soc2 #compliance #security #podcast

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🚀 Valuable Webinar Alert! 🚀 I want to highlight an upcoming webinar called THE SEED CRUST. This virtual event is for startup founders navigating the Seed Stage and wondering how to break through to Series A. My mentor, Rich Maloy, Managing Partner at SpringTime Ventures, and Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, will cohost it. Check out the post below for more information. Register here: https://lnkd.in/g9FyiEps #Startup #VentureCapital #SeedStage #SeriesA #Entrepreneurship #Webinar #Carta #Insights

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In this Mucker Growth Series clip, Sally Duby with The Bridge Group reminds early founders of a common pitfall to avoid. 🤔 Founders assume they have it made because their product is horizontal and everyone can buy it. ❗Sure. That's great...when you're a billion-dollar company. When you're small and just starting and have limited resources, you can't effectively go after the whole world. 🔬 You need to focus to win. 👉 Identify the low-hanging fruit and be narrowly focused on that. Get your early wins with those easier targets and get some traction under your belt. Full Mucker Growth Session in the comments. #entrepreneurship #founders #growth #SDR #sales #salesdevelopment #hiring

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🚀 Elevate Your Investment Game with Hyde Park Venture Partners🚀 Join top-tier investors in backing the Midwest's premier early-stage venture capital firm, Hyde Park Venture Partners (HPVP), as they close their impressive $98 million Fund IV. 🤝“A lot of institutional LPs seem to be focused on existing managers,” Turner said. “That being said, we’re really happy with how the fundraise turned out for us and we were able to bring out a lot of great institutions that were new to our funds and to our firm. We’ve been building over the years and have seen larger funds become more institutionalized. That’s important for funds and geographies like ours.” The limited partner makeup for this fund includes approximately 25% institutional, 35% family office and the remainder is ultra high-net-worth individuals. Led by Managing Partners Greg Barnes and Guy Turner, along with Partner Allison Lechnir, HPVP is a force to be reckoned with in the world of technology investments. 💼💰 HPVP often leads deals, writing average check sizes between $500,000 and $4 million. The new fund will be deployed into 20 to 22 companies.📝 🔎With a keen eye for spotting promising startups in the Midwest and Toronto, HPVP has already deployed capital into two groundbreaking companies: Diffit and CivCheck. These investments showcase HPVP's commitment to supporting innovative solutions, leveraging generative AI and urban development technologies, respectively. 🎤"Our companies go through similar challenges, which gives us valuable insight when fundraising," says Greg Barnes. "We're thrilled to have new institutions backing our fourth fund, including NVNG Investment Advisors, LLC and Cintrifuse Capital." They join repeat backers, including the @Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, RK Mellon Foundation, and Renaissance Venture Capital. 🦸‍♂️Hyde Park Venture Partners boasts a remarkable track record, having been early backers of successful startups like ShipBob, FourKites, Inc., G2, LogicGate, and Dentologie. Their investments have paved the way for notable exits, such as Workday VNDLY and Tock, solidifying their reputation as a powerhouse in the VC world. As the Midwest emerges as a hotbed for startup innovation, HPVP remains at the forefront, leveraging its extensive network and expertise to fuel growth and success. With a focus on bringing top talent to their portfolio companies, HPVP is committed to nurturing the region's burgeoning tech ecosystem. 🌟Congratulations to the Hyde Park Venture Partners team! 🌟 ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #fund and increase the international pool of your LP #investors?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #HydeParkVP #VentureCapital #InvestmentOpportunity #TechStartups #MidwestInnovation

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On our latest podcast, Peter Marton, CEO of OpenMeter, dives into the challenges and opportunities of usage-based billing for AI companies. As the industry shifts towards models like those pioneered by OpenAI, accurate metering and cost control become crucial. In This Episode, We Discuss: -The Rise of Usage-Based Billing in AI: How it aligns with the industry's needs. -The Engineering Challenges: Processing massive amounts of data in real time while maintaining a seamless user experience. -OpenMeter's Solution: How their platform helps companies implement and manage complex billing models. -Use Cases: How OpenMeter enables features like balance updates, usage limit enforcement, and customer notifications. Don't Miss the Full Episode: Get the complete story on how OpenMeter is empowering AI companies to optimize their monetization strategies. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on YouTube - https://lnkd.in/ebAQFhi7 . . . . . #OpenMeter #AIMonetization #UsageBasedBilling #YCombinator #SaaS #Startups #Engineering #AI #CostManagement

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What do the suppliers to Anduril Industries, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Tesla, NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin & SpaceX depend on to maximize their working capital efficiency and optimize cash flow every month ? KLEAR Inc. of course. To learn more - we recommend reading the Tompkins Ventures blog below and engaging with the Tompkins Ventures team and their colleagues at Klear to learn more about the impact KLEAR’s securitization, treasury management, working capital, payment and invoicing solutions deliver “at scale in real time.” And how is Klear leveraging AI to improve all aspects of its business “at scale in real time” ? Klear,Inc. is leveraging Groq of course. Enjoy the article and if you are a CFO and / or CIO at a hyper growth firm and want to learn more about how to transform your business through KLEAR’s supply chain intelligence and financial data / analytics for securitization-definitely reach out to experts like Jim Tompkins & Christopher Hale.

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🎙️ On the latest episode of Embracing Erosion, Devon was joined by Alex Pattis, General Partner at Riverside Ventures and founding team member of Hampton. Alex is also the co-founder of Last Money In Media, a leading VC newsletter that explores Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) within the Venture Capital ecosystem. As a prominent advocate for the SPV investment format over the traditional VC fund model, Alex brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. This episode dives deep into: 🌟 How to scale a company from concept to a 9-figure exit 🔄 Breaking away from the traditional consulting model and applying product approaches ⏩ The importance of iterating quickly and often with messaging 💸📈 Key signals to watch when investing in startups Don't miss this insightful conversation. Listen now 👉 https://lnkd.in/gEKv5ghE #VentureCapital #SPVs #StartupInvesting #ProductMarketing

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