Tobias Walter

Successful ventures that have achieved Product-Market Fit and have scaled their operations will probably face this new reality: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀. As explained by Mark Suster, this liquidity is most likely to come from Private Equity firms, who have the expertise to evaluate companies based on long-term fundamentals, much like the approach taken by Warren Buffett (rather than the speculative one from crypto-traders 😉). Valuation is not a one-time event but a dynamic process that follows a chain-like logic, where each link is interconnected. An irrational (high) valuation early in the chain can have significant repercussions later on, leading to fewer financing or liquidity options - as professional investors will not accept it. You may avoid this by establishing a clear valuation roadmap that demonstrates a consistent risk/return rationale for each type of investor, from business angels and venture capitalists to Private Equity firms and the Public Market, spanning from the first funding round to the eventual public offering. #EntryPriceMatters #ValuationRoadmap #PrivateEquity

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There is a never-ending discussion about whether to bootstrap or get Venture capital. Check out the chart. This eye-opening chart reveals that bootstrapped startups have a more consistent path to $1M ARR than their VC-backed counterparts. Top VC-backed companies sprint to $1M in just 20 months But median bootstrappers hit the same milestone in 41 months Bottom quartile bootstrappers are slow but relentless, reaching $1M in 63 months. Bootstrappers show remarkably linear growth across all quartiles. VC rocket fuel isn't always the answer. Sometimes, steady organic growth builds a more resilient business. What's your take? 🤔 #StartupGrowth #Bootstrapping #VCFunding #SaaS

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I used to spend 2-3 hours daily on clinic notes, skeptical of AI scribe technology. However, I've been impressed with RevMaxx, a generative AI company transforming clinical note creation by listening to physician-patient conversations and automatically generating comprehensive notes. This platform accurately captures crucial ICD-10 codes, saving valuable time ⏰. 👉 Why This Matters: - **Reducing Physician Burnout:** Administrative tasks are a significant contributor to physician burnout. Innovations like RevMaxx alleviate this burden effectively. #HealthcareInnovation #AI #PhysicianBurnout #MedicalDocumentation #HealthTech #RevMaxx

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That’s very accurate. PE Buyout Funds. Publicly traded parent companies with corporate VC arms scooping up the most profitable sector-specific subsidiaries. Fund of Funds get more popular and much more strategic. Family Offices dominate the landscape. Not investment advice.

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💡Benchmarks in the investment industry serve as a standard for measuring the performance of securities, mutual funds, or investment managers. They provide a reference point for analyzing allocation, risk, and return of a portfolio, enabling investors to make informed decisions. Thanks Peter Walker for keeping us all informed!! Can’t wait for this!! Follow and get on the waitlist for this one! #benchmarks #fundraising #Capitalraise #founders #womenshealth #femhealth #medtech #wellness

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I’ve advised dozens of early stage startups, and as a founder, grown my own startup to a multi million dollar run rate. GTM planning intimidates founders across the board but it’s actually not as complicated as you think! Here’s what to focus on: ▶ Market Segmentation and Targeting    ◾ Identifying and prioritizing the right market segments is fundamental to everything else. ◾ Who is your target market and audience? ▶ Value Proposition ◾ Clearly articulating why customers should choose your product is essential for differentiation and sales. ◾ What is your message? ▶ Product-Market Fit ◾ Ensuring your product actually solves real customer problems is critical for long-term success. ◾ How do you know people want to buy what you’re selling? Have you talked to your customers or potential customers? ▶ Customer Acquisition Strategy ◾ Defining how you'll reach and convert your target customers is vital for growth. ◾ What channels will you use to find customers? ▶ Pricing Strategy ◾ Getting pricing right impacts both customer acquisition and revenue sustainability. ◾ What are customers willing to pay for your product or service? Could you cross-sell or upsell? The key to building an effective GTM strategy is about having a clear focus that defines who you're selling to, what you're selling, why it's valuable, how you'll reach customers, and how you'll make money.  For all of the GTM experts out there: share your thoughts, lessons, and advice in the comments! What have you learned from your own GTM journey?

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1% of VC backed startups will make it past $100M ARR But does that make the other 99% a failure? Let’s dig in to the numbers… I was fortunate to have Chris Tottman introduce me to Stephen Millard who analyzed 117K startups founded between 2005 and 2022 → Of those 117K startups founded → 31% (37K) were VC backed → 12% (13K) raised $3M+ Of those 13K startups, 1.8% (243) either made it past $100M ARR and/or achieved a $1B+ exit → 0.5% (71) had a $1B+ exit without reaching $100M ARR → 1.2% (168) made it past $100M ARR → 109 of the 168 did it <10 years I was excited to talk to Stephen because he shares my deep belief… 💡 Every company is a snowflake, but we should be able to identify the key operating markers of (capital efficient) venture scale growth to give startups a better roadmap and increase the probability of success Okay... Let’s talk about the two elephants in the room 🐘 Why do VCs care about $100M if only 1% make it there? 🐘 Does that make the other 99% a failure? -------- 🐘 Why do VCs care about $1M to $100M in 7 to 10 years? Because venture capital is a power law game They understand that a VERY small % of companies will make it to $100M and they’re job is to figure out which ones have a better chance of getting there So that’s the lens they look through Now… Because there’s a lot of future risk with every startup, betting on anything less than a *potential* to reach $100M would put a glass ceiling on their fund that goes against their power law objectives Series A is the inflection point of the venture scale curve and where VCs are trying to build conviction on a startups *potential* to reach $100M -------- 🐘 But does that make the other 99% a failure? Absolutely not ❌ I like how Stephen phrased it: many companies have great outcomes at smaller revenues, especially if they have not raised too much capital and / or strike a balance between growth and profitability And this has become my life’s work over the past 5 years… → I don’t believe venture is a $100M or bust binary game But we need clearer milestones to truly understand where we are in the journey that we can check ourselves against every month/quarter/year so we can continually make better informed decision on a go-forward basis The chances of becoming a pro athlete is <1% in any given field But that doesn’t mean we tell kids not to dream of the big leagues? Of course not... But it does mean we need to help them re-evaluate their chances of making it every month/quarter/year -------- Okay, so where can you start? Focus on unlocking milestones and keep your cap table as light as possible until you're ready for step 3️⃣ 1️⃣ Problem Solution Fit 2️⃣ Go to Market Fit - unlocks Series A 3️⃣ Scale PMF #1 - Series A use of funds 4️⃣ Scale PMF #2 -- ♻️ Repost to help a founder in your network Click 'visit my website' at the top of this post to register for my free Unlock your Series A session on how to navigate VC expectations in this market

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The 20 factors that matter most in private SaaS valuations (according to Software Equity Group):

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VC exits next 10 years - much fewer IPOs - much smaller strategic M&A - PE will become the norm I explain in this clip how it will affect VC Full episode: https://lnkd.in/gaJ-TWZE

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Why more boards need to have a brand strategist For years now I have been consulting LPs, VCs, and Their portfolios Every time we do stakeholder interviews here are the outcomes: - We didn't think of that - This is a much better way to look at it - This will help the company get more market share What leads this to be the case? - My Strategic guidance? Yes. - Interactive Facilitation? Yes again. - Aligned Positioning for brand impact? Bingo! But why aren't the board able to do that? - Well everyone has their key skill - And while they know how to grow - An external consultant can help scale it But that's not it! As a brand strategist, I have helped - Create an audience differentiation and association - Scale growth and profits - Align direction! Both internally and externally This gives the brand a larger vision and a culture to lead it This is why more company boards should have a brand strategist Want one? We have 3 more slots for my advisory portfolio Reach out! Always, Arcui #boardadvisor #brandstrategy #VC #marketshare

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Good state of SaaS here

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The Ultimate Cheat Sheet collection for SaaS leaders & Founders - by Vencha, Included #VC & Notion Capital Here you have 15 cheat sheets on marketing, sales, fundraising, pitch decks and more: 💵 How to price and package your software ? 🎢 The 5 prospect stages 🚀How fundable is your company? 💸 Leadership transitions at different stages of business growth 🎯 SaaS monetisation in 8 steps 🕹️ Identifying your market: TAM, SAM & SOM demystified 🛠️ How to skyrocket SaaS sales? ⚖️ The ICP Grid, goal setting and how to prioritize ? #Fintech #saas #CheatSheet #isaphr #isapone #isapsolutions #starthubagency #isapinvestments www.isap.group www.isap.one www.isap.hr www.isap.agency www.isap.investments iSAP Solutions ltd iSAP ONE iSAP.HR StartHub.Agency iSAP Group Investments ltd Tino Herold

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MORE VCs SHOULD DO ENTERPRISE SALES Lately, I've seen many younger venture investors take new operating roles at startups. They are buying call options on their careers when the opportunity cost of being in VC is lower. I'm a big fan of this trend. It's going to make the next generation of investors more empathetic and impactful. However, most folks are going into product, strategy, and operational roles. There's nothing wrong with these spreadsheet-heavy jobs but we need more VCs in enterprise sales. The future of early stage cap tables will look like a village of helping hands, each investor bringing their own superpower and unique value add to the table. The contrarian way to invest in your career is to build a portfolio of diversified experiences in your 20s. And...you may also just love selling. Enterprise sales is not just a sales motion, but a set of experiences, principles, and systems that also apply to fundraising, selling your company, winning deals, hiring executives, leading teams, and countless other P2P-centric responsibilities. It is a foundational startup skillset like writing code. When you really immerse into enterprise sales, you see the world differently. You realize that every outcome you seek is not decided upon by one person but typically a group of people. You learn to build systems around people, process, and outcomes. You habitually forecast every scenario. You anticipate deals falling apart. You learn how to ask great questions. You learn the art of negotiation. You develop extrasensory perception for people. All of these are formative skillsets that will be accretive for your career. So if you're an investor contrarian enough to jump into enterprise sales, please reach out. Across my networks, I'd love to help you connect to some great startups hiring.

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Fascinating post by Michael Ho highlights that only 1.8% of 117K VC-backed startups analyzed from 2005 to 2022 reached $100M ARR or achieved a $1B+ exit! WOW. Interestingly, startups in SEA are gradually breaking through the ~$3M bar and accelerating towards $10M+ quicker than ever. This shows the region's dynamic potential and diverse paths to sustainable growth. From my experience as a co-founder, startups often experience phases of “revenue plateau”. These periods can be incredibly frustrating. It prompted us to rethink our growth strategies and focus on new ways of creating substantial, consistent value that customers find indispensable vs. sticking to the plan. I'd also add that true success isn’t only about hitting specific revenue milestones like $100M. It's about balancing growth with profitability, aiming for longevity, and focusing on creating sustainable value for both customers and other stakeholders. I’d be curious to learn how fellow entrepreneurs think about navigating these revenue plateaus

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The future of VC is here: Scorecard.vc has relaunched with a TON of new updates! Free sign-up: http://scorecard.vc From automated matching and anonymous navigation to automatic deal syndication, KPI growth requests, and more, raising and deploying capital has become more efficient than ever. The result is a more powerful yet simplified experience, allowing Scorecard to act more like your VC virtual assistant. 🔥 🔥 🔥 Scorecard AutoPilot = Automated Matching 🔥 🔥 🔥 Our AutoPilot system will now find Investor thesis matches based for Startups, Funds, and SPVs raising capital, emailing you the results with quick actions to submit your review request. ✅✅✅ Anonymous + Verified Users = More Freedom & Trust ✅✅✅ All members on Scorecard are now fully anonymized, offering more freedom for Investors to review deals and engage with Startups, Funds, or SPVS raising capital. 👏👏👏 No More Profiles; Posts Only = Easier Navigation! 👏👏👏 Posts are free to create and used to run our scoring tech, and you only have to create your post once to start our automated matching. 🏁🏁🏁 Additional Investor Actions = More Updates 🏁🏁🏁 Investors can now anonymously view docs, request growth KPIs, soft-circle and syndicate deals, and message members raising capital ahead of requesting an introduction, and users will be anonymously updated with each Investor action. 🤝🤝🤝 Automated Deal Interest & Syndication = More Co-Investors! 🤝🤝🤝 For opportunities where Investors verify their interest, commit to invest, or deploy capital, Scorecard will automatically search for potential Co-Investors with a matching thesis to engage. ⚡⚡⚡ Credit System = More Value ⚡⚡⚡ Scorecard will now leverage a credit system for Startups, Funds, and SPVs raising capital. You will be given several free credits per month, and you can earn credits when new users sign up with your referral code. Members can also subscribe to an unlimited credit plan for an even more seamless experience. 📣📣📣 Scorecard Network = More Connections 📣📣📣 We will have some exciting updates soon, but our network of Investors, Startups, and Strategic Partners is growing quickly, with a “Source” tag to let you know where a member originated. We are even offering discounts and commissions to groups representing anyone in the VC space. We could not be more excited to launch Scorecard’s next stage of evolution. Know that we are continually focused on helping you succeed in VC, individually and as a community. Even more updates coming soon! Major thank you to our amazing team and community: Roger Derby Summer Crenshaw Navin Goyal MD Matt D.M. Watson, Ph.D., PMP Mike Torres LOUD Capital Buffy Alegria Ryan Retcher Darshan Vyas Nishad Parmar Marshall Kuremsky Blake Overlock Wolf Starr Jenny D. Joey Glowacki Chad Warner Rory Billing Connor Billing Rivermint Capital Jesse Elliott LoudX

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Entrepreneur lessons from a venture capitalist- I read a great article today on “What Are The Traits That Define a Great VP? A great VP: velocity increases in their area A good VP: velocity stays constant in their area (still hard) A mediocre VIP: velocity declines A bad VP: velocity falls off a cliff within a quarter The difference between a Good, a Great, and a Mediocre VP: A Good VP Maintains Velocity in Their Functional Area. This is hard enough as it is. If you grew 100% last year, growing 100% again this year is more complex. It’s not the same amount of work. You need more people, more process, more training, more or everything. Most VPs can’t even do this. A Good VP keeps the ship sailing on the same course, at the same pace. While A Great VP Increases Velocity in Their Functional Area. A great VP goes even further and increases velocity in his/her area. She brings in even better reps, and the revenue per rep goes up. Or she brings in more leads for the same budget. Or drives the engineering team to ship more features per quarter. A great VP of Customer Success in just a quarter or so decreases churn and increases account revenue growth. This is hard. It’s hard enough just to maintain KPIs and metrics as you scale. But the great ones increase them. And quickly. Usually in one quarter or less. Now … a Mediocre VP Oversees Slowly Decelerating Velocity. This is the risk you take when you settle. Sales growth slowly declines as he struggles to bring in enough reps. Leads stall out as the channels start to get fatigued. Churn slowly increases. These changes don’t happen overnight. But they slowly build. Often on the back of a lot of excuses. He will tend to blame a lot of external factors (which likely are actually true). And then 4, 5, 6 months later — you end up in a deep hole. But it can take 6+ months for everyone to agree it is happening, and align on the root cause. And a Bad VP Oversees Rapidly Decelerating Velocity. Things are often worse in just 60-90 days. Worse than before they joined. Be honest when you see this. This does happen more often than you’d think. Take say, 100 leads a month spread across 2 great reps, then you bring in a new VP of Sales that hires 4-6 more weak reps that never learn the product. All of a sudden, those 100 leads are stretched across 6-8 folks, most of which can’t close, and only 2 that can. Your new bookings can plummet 50% almost overnight. So net net, look for upgrades in the first 60 days for any VP. If you don’t see them, at least at a qualitative level, they aren’t great. They may still be good, but not great. And if it’s worse? You made a mis-hire. That’s on you, not them. But you’ll be better off with No VP than what you have. A great VP: solves problems you don’t hear about A good VP: brings proposed solutions to problems A mediocre VP: brings problems but no solutions A bad VP: blames other people for problems

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Serious SaaS startup founders are starting to see how pursuing big VC funding too early will decrease their odds of success. Like buying a lottery ticket for a bigger Powerball prize, the odds go down the more money you raise early in your venture. This is not what the startup tech advisors, service providers, and tech media have been and are still telling us. But the world has changed for SaaS founders in the last ten years. The old recommendation that "the best founders raise VC funding, it's just what you do" keeps going despite the reality and facts. The longer you can go without raising any outside funding or big VC funding, the better your odds of success are as a SaaS founder. Here's why: 1️. Time and Effort Founders in the US can spend up to 50% of their time for 12-18 months learning the funding game, building their network, and trying to raise money. In many cases, for B2B SaaS, they could have generated that much revenue with the same amount of time and effort. And $1M in revenue is worth much more to founders than $1M in funding. Revenue funds your business too, but it keeps on recurring. Funders are looking for startups with efficient revenue growth anyway, so just do that first. 2. Slow is Fast Inviting VCs turns your business into a pro game with serious obligations, important terms, and additional pressures. I've played that game and I dealt with the pressure of working six days a week for 20+ years. But you don't have to push your business that fast and bet it all in the modern B2B SaaS game, in most cases. You can work much smarter by taking a slower approach to achieve better founder-equity-value results without VC funding. I know practical SaaS founders with businesses that are growing by over 50% and are very profitable--and the founders don't work all day. 3️. Better Risk-Adjusted Odds When you raise $5 million and value your company at $25 million, you're agreeing to aim for a half-billion to a billion-dollar exit, which is not realistic for 90%+ of software businesses. It sounds counterintuitive, but it's true. It's hard to get up and running as a bootstrapper at first, but once you do, it's a much better game for founders, customers, and employees. I call them Practical Founders. It's the hidden majority of software companies in the world. They have much better odds of winning this crazy game in the end and doing it their way as they go. VC funding isn't bad or wrong. There is still a place for rocket-ride startups to take it, go for it, and bet it all to go big. But big funding is still overprescribed by funders and misunderstood by most new software founders. PS. This video is a clip from a podcast I did with Finn Thormeier last month. Here is the full episode of the @Founder-Led Marketing Show. - Youtube: https://lnkd.in/gjzRDJ6d  - Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gnCcUztS #practicalfounders

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Hey, Mid-Atlantic startups (give me a 👍 if that's you, because I'm expecting less than 5 😅), I'm sharing 11 of the best VCs in Virginia, each a champion in their niche. Whether you're in tech, healthcare, or any field in between, having the right venture capital partner is key to scaling new heights. 1. Columbia Capital Focus: Growth and Late-Stage Ventures Sector: Communications, Media, and Enterprise Technology Investment Range: $25M - $100M Top Portcos: Ooyala, Brightcove, Asana, SailPoint, Grubhub, Duo Security 2. Edison Partners Focus: Growth Ventures Sector: Financial technology, healthcare IT, and enterprise software Investment Range: $10M - $30M Top Portcos: ONlyte Software, Medchart, WebMD, Billtrust 3. Route 66 Ventures Focus: Early-Stage Ventures Sector: Digital health and financial technology Investment Range: $10$500K – $4M Top Portcos: Joon Care, Eirene Medical, Finary, Healthwave, PayPlug, Aircall, Jobbio, Oqium 4. QED Investors Focus: Early-Stage Ventures Sector: Fintech Investment Range: $30K - $3M Top Portcos: Avant, Moniepoint, Banbee, Betterfly 5. Motley Fool Ventures Focus: Early-Stage, Series A Ventures Sector: Technology: Software, platforms, tech-enabled services Investment Range: $1M-$2M Top Portcos: Bamboo, Carta, Effectiva 6. AAF Management Ltd. Focus: Early-Stage, Pre-Seed, Seed and Series AVentures Sector: Agnostic Top Portcos: Robinhood, Didi, Savage X by Fenty, StockX, Figure, Reddit 7. Blu Ventures Focus: Early-Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A Ventures Sector: TeCyber Secutiry, Fintech, Healthcare, IOT Investment Range: $500K - $1M Top Portcos: Spin.ai, Tidal, Enveedo 8. Razor's Edge Ventures Focus: Early Stage and Growth Stage Ventures Sector: National security, Commercial enterprise Top Portcos: R908 devices, Blacksky, Blackbird Technologies, Black Horse 9. PROOF Focus: Early-Stage and Growth Stage Ventures Sector: Marketplaces, Cybersecurity, SAAS, Fintech, Healthtech, Foodtech, Gaming, eCommerce, Frontier tech Top Portcos: Epic Games, Carta, Materclass, Sweetgreen 10. Riverbend Capital Advisors Focus: Early Stage and Growth Stage Ventures Sector: Software or Tech-enabled ventures Top Portcos: Epic Games, Carta, Veda, Varo 11. ShockVentures Focus: Early-Stage Ventures Sector: MobilityTtechnology Investment Range: $100k - $300k Top Portcos: Treepz, JOCO, AnswersNow Ready to connect with the perfect investor for your startup? Drop a “LIST” in the comments, and we’ll tailor a personalized investor lineup just for you. Got a favorite Mid-Altantic VC firm that deserves a shoutout? Let us know in the comments below. At Thunder.vc, we excel in pairing your startup with venture capital firms that align with your specific sector, growth phase, and objectives.

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Unlike vertical SaaS, I’m not convinced we will have vertical AI. If we do, it will be in the short term. Example- Legal AI tools may just become native in MS Word or Adobe. I would like a to hear some thoughts on this.

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