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Scott Jacobson compartilhou istoScott Jacobson compartilhou istoCongratulations to Vijaye Raji and the Statsig team for this successful milestone and the exciting next chapter with OpenAI. It has been a privilege and a lot of fun to have been a part of this journey from Day 1, and I am looking forward to more game-changing products and successes from this team. Also a big thank you to my investor partners: Lauren Reeder (Sequoia Capital), Mike Vernal (Conviction), and Murali Joshi (ICONIQ).Statsig Joins OpenAI: A Successful Unicorn Exit & Even Brighter FutureStatsig Joins OpenAI: A Successful Unicorn Exit & Even Brighter FutureS. Somasegar
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Scott Jacobson compartilhou istoScott Jacobson compartilhou istoSeattle Tech Week is back (July 28–August 1), and it’s bigger than ever. Whether you’re a founder, operator, investor, or just passionate about tech, there’s something for you — and registration is officially open! For the uninitiated: Seattle Tech Week turns the entire city into a giant, open-source conference. It’s not about one stage or venue — it’s nearly 100 events hosted by the people actually building the future: founders, operators, VCs, and community leaders. You’ll find real conversations, magnetic ideas, and connections that go far deeper than your typical conference business card swap. 📅 Check out the full calendar & register for events now → https://lnkd.in/gsssRa4C Highlights This Year: 🔷 25% AI events, including an AI Founders & Researchers Dinner: https://lu.ma/xjue53v7 🔷 10% Biotech/Life Science events, like the Biotech Startup Showcase: https://lu.ma/uk0ae7o0 🔷 10% of events involve movement (waterfront walks, 5K runs, pickleball), and there are more pitch competitions, happy hours, and collabs than we can count. Start the week at the Official Kickoff Party with Madrona and J.P. Morgan: https://lu.ma/tdd33xzp Midweek, you won’t want to miss the Seattle Tech Week Startup Showcase at the Showbox: https://lu.ma/dxs3gmnt Cap off the week with the Founders, Funders, and Entrepreneurs Rooftop Happy Hour, w. SVB & PSL: https://lu.ma/27ougi4q People are flying in from around the world. The Seattle community is showing up in full force. And this year’s lineup is incredible — from household names to stealth founders building what’s next. Don’t wait. Spots will fill up fast! 📍 Register for events here: https://lnkd.in/gsssRa4C
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Scott Jacobson compartilhou istoScott Jacobson compartilhou istoThis week, we had the incredible privilege of bringing together some of our LPs and founders for our Annual Meeting AND hosting our 30th Anniversary Celebration with so many of the people who have shaped our journey — our founders, investors, partners, and the broader Seattle tech community. During the annual meeting, we heard about the technical breakthroughs and real-world impact of AI, dove into AI-enabled biotech platforms, heard firsthand about the different business models being applied in AI, and we heard from Microsoft Chairman & CEO Satya Nadella, who shared candid insights on leadership, AI, and Microsoft’s transformation into a $3 trillion powerhouse. It was an inspiring day, and we want to share a huge thank you to everyone who joined us! Your support, collaboration, and bold vision for the future are what make this ecosystem so special. Matt McIlwain Hope Cochran S. Somasegar Brian S. Raymond Paul Goodrich Steve Singh Tim Porter Scott Jacobson Karan Mehandru Linda Lian Vivek Ramaswami Sabrina Wu Jon Turow Mark T. Nelson Ted Kummert Loren Alhadeff Ali Farhadi Luke Zettlemoyer Eben Frankenberg Ben 'Tyler' Tiggelaar Colton Malkerson James Lazarovits Jeff Leek Jim Martineau Chris Picardo Anna Veronika Dorogush Gaurav Oberoi Rolanda Fu John Cook
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Scott Jacobson compartilhou istoScott Jacobson compartilhou istoE-commerce is broken. Brands spend millions to drive traffic, but shoppers still get generic, uninspiring experiences. That’s a problem. That’s why we’re excited to back Spangle, which just emerged from stealth. Founded by Maju Kuruvilla✨, Spangle’s AI-powered platform bridges the gap between precision marketing and real-time, personalized shopping experiences. The results? 51% higher conversions 2x return on ad spend At Madrona, we back AI-driven companies solving high-impact problems — and Spangle is redefining the future of commerce. Read more on why we invested: https://lnkd.in/gAGSieAr Scott JacobsonWhy We Invested in Spangle: AI-Powered Personalization That Puts the Consumer FirstWhy We Invested in Spangle: AI-Powered Personalization That Puts the Consumer First
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Scott Jacobson compartilhou istoScott Jacobson compartilhou istoYesterday, we brought together some of our LPs and founders for our Annual Meeting. Thank you to everyone who helped make it a great day! One of the highlights was an incredible conversation between S. Somasegar and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, who shared candid insights on leadership, AI, and Microsoft’s transformation into a $3 trillion powerhouse. He reflected on the cultural shifts that fueled Microsoft’s resurgence, the company’s pivotal AI partnership with OpenAI, and why AI’s success should be measured in global economic growth. His key messages: Mission and culture define strategy. AI is still in its early days, And “The world will need more compute.” AI isn’t just another tech trend — it’s a foundational shift that will reshape industries, redefine how businesses operate, and drive the next era of innovation. From hyperscale infrastructure to AI-driven applications, the opportunities ahead are immense, and the Seattle ecosystem is at the center of it all. At Madrona, we’ve spent the past 30 years investing in companies that build the future. AI is the next frontier, and we’re excited to partner with founders driving this transformation.
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Scott Jacobson compartilhou istoScott Jacobson compartilhou isto17 founder photo shoots. 10 guests cycled through 7 video shoots. 12 hours on site. 17,000 steps. Yesterday was one for the books — Madrona’s Annual Meeting, immediately followed by our 30th Anniversary Celebration. At the Annual Meeting, we covered everything from AI’s real-world impact to the evolution of business models in applied AI, with leaders like Satya Nadella sharing insights along the way. Meanwhile, we were running a make-shift studio, cycling 17 founders through photo sessions while we had them on site. The energy carried into the evening as we celebrated three decades of Madrona — 30 years of partnering with bold founders, scaling category-defining companies, and navigating the ever-evolving venture landscape. AND captured stories from 10 guests in 7 video shoots (with the Help of GeekWire Studios). It was a marathon, but it was worth it. Grateful for this incredible community and to everyone who helped make it possible. (Especially Caleb Bushner ) S. Somasegar Tim Porter Matt McIlwain John Cook Varun Puri Esha Joshi Patrick J. Ennis Robert Wahbe Tyler Xuan Saltsman Colton Malkerson
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Scott Jacobson compartilhou issoGreat brands start with one simple truth: the customer has to be at the center of everything. My fellow Amazon alum Maju Kuruvilla✨ shares my obsession with customer experience, and that’s why he built Spangle. We are pleased to announce our Seed investment in Spangle as they emerge from stealth today to bring AI-powered, real-time personalization to digital commerce. Retailers spend billions to acquire customers, yet too often, shoppers land on static, impersonal experiences that don’t meet their expectations. Spangle changes that by using AI agents to dynamically tailor each shopping journey in real time, delivering experiences that feel relevant, engaging, and seamless—because that’s what customers deserve. Maju and the Spangle team have built a solution that helps ecommerce brands turn advertising traffic into a high-performing channel that actually delights the customer. With Spangle, brands can use the power of AI to take what they know of the user’s interests and turn around a customer experience that’s relevant and delightful. Spangle doesn’t just delight customers. It delivers major ROI. One early customer has already reported 51% lift in conversion rates and 2x improvement in ROAS. Congrats to Maju and the entire Spangle team on this huge milestone! We are honored to partner as you reshape the future of e-commerce. https://lnkd.in/g_hb947jBolt’s former CEO is launching a new e-commerce startup | TechCrunchBolt’s former CEO is launching a new e-commerce startup | TechCrunch
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Scott Jacobson compartilhou istoProud to join Crowd Cow as VP of Marketing to partner with Elizabeth Liu and the entire team to bring mindblowing, craft meat right to your door from farms you get to know! Huge thanks to Whitney Curry, Scott Jacobson Jacob Tally and others for the support along the way. AND - I'm hiring! First up is a Brand and Content Strategist - it's remote and a dream job for any foodie: https://lnkd.in/gpwNAb8i. Ping me here or apply!Scott Jacobson compartilhou istoThrilled to welcome Andrew Nilsen to lead our next chapter of growth at Crowd Cow! Finding the right leaders is pivotal for fulfilling your mission - especially grateful to our board members Whitney Curry and Scott Jacobson for their support. Inspired by Andy's authenticity, curiosity and humility and excited for his impact on our team! Honored to be included in this year's GeekWire 200 with fellow Ascend portfolio companies - join us on this journey! #leadership #growth #hiring
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Scott Jacobson compartilhou issoAn exciting milestone and set of new funds to support our partnership with entrepreneurs as Madrona enters its 30th year!Scott Jacobson compartilhou issoBig news from Madrona! We are thrilled to announce $770 million in new funds to back visionary founders and help build the next wave of transformational companies. As we head into our 30th year, this milestone underscores our commitment to partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs who are shaping the future. Over the past three decades, Madrona has been there from Day One, helping founders navigate major technology shifts — from the internet and SaaS to cloud computing and, now, the transformative power of Applied AI. Our Fund X and Acceleration Fund IV reflect our intentional approach: investing early (pre-seed, seed, Series A) while also investing in new category-defining companies at key inflection points (Series B, C). Founders are at the heart of everything we do. Whether we’re helping launch companies like Farecast (acquired by Microsoft) and Turi (acquired by Apple) or supporting today’s leaders in AI like Runway, unstructured.io, and Read AI, our mission is clear: provide the capital, expertise, and support founders need to succeed. Thank you to the founders, investors, and partners who have been part of this incredible journey. With $770 million of new capital, we’re more energized than ever to build the future — together. Here’s to the next 30 years of innovation, trust, and partnership. Read more from us about the new funds and our vision for the next 30 years here: https://bit.ly/3Cj1GRr
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Scott Jacobson gostou dissoScott Jacobson gostou dissoOne of the best parts of my job, by far: I get lots and lots of handwritten letters from our customers (parents and kids). One of my new all time favorites came in last last week, complete with a handwritten letter, this epic Snail Mail illustration, and a typed essay titled "Why You Should Get Your Kids a Tin Can Phone." She used it to pitch her friends parents; I suspect it worked. :) Want to work for a company that gets lots and lots of snail mail from customers? We're looking for someone to own the finance function at Tin Can as we enter our next phase of growth. You'll report to me (your call on if this is a pro or a con!) and serve as the our primary finance partner — shaping how we plan, invest, and make decisions with our resources. Link to JD in comments, apply if interested!
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Scott Jacobson gostou dissoI am so proud of my little brother and all he has built. He has truly always measured his success on helping others while staying true to himself and the principles that define him.Scott Jacobson gostou dissoAfter more than a decade building Quiet Capital, I've decided to step into my next chapter as an entrepreneur and investor. Grateful for the partners, teammates, and LPs I’ve had the privilege to work alongside, and proud of what we built together, especially the Access strategy and the broader platform around it. 🙏 For now, I want to say thank you to everyone who’s been part of the journey. Excited for what’s ahead. I’ll share more soon. 🚀
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Scott Jacobson gostou dissoScott Jacobson gostou dissoGreat coverage from GeekWire on why Mark T. Nelson, Madrona and I are so excited to work with Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer to bring Ridge AI's embedded AI analytics to any company. Thanks Todd Bishop! https://bit.ly/4tuiNocData visualization all-stars unveil Ridge AI with $2.6M to fix the analytics problem for SaaS appsData visualization all-stars unveil Ridge AI with $2.6M to fix the analytics problem for SaaS apps
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Scott Jacobson gostou dissoScott Jacobson gostou dissoEvery once in a while you meet a founder and think: this person is just meant to start a company. And occasionally, two people find each other and you realize the same thing about the partnership. Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer are this combination. Today, Madrona is leading a $2.6M pre-seed round in their company, Ridge AI — and Mark T. Nelson and I and the whole firm couldn't be more excited to be part of it from day zero. I've known Ellie since grad school. We stayed in touch through the years, and talked often about building something together. When Jeff came along with his Mosaic research, and Ellie separately shared her frustration and astonishment with the lack of embedded analytics options, Mark and I knew this was the moment. From their first conversations it was clear something special was happening: a product leader who had lived the problem and a researcher who had spent a decade building the technical foundation to solve it, finding each other at exactly the right moment. It's also a company truly born from Seattle. Jeff is a professor at UW, where his research on interactive data systems has shaped the field for two decades. Ellie and Mark are Tableau veterans, and the angel round gathers some of that company's best people. The research, the relationships, the domain depth — it's all here. Ridge is the product of that. Read more about the background of our investment here and definitely try out the product: https://bit.ly/4vdVfFO
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Scott Jacobson gostou dissoScott Jacobson gostou dissoToday we’re launching Ridge AI AI-native dashboard build flow in closed beta—and announcing $2.6M in pre-seed funding from Madrona, TheFounderVC, and a group of exceptional angels. When Jeffrey Heer and I started Ridge, we kept coming back to the idea that the way we put data on the web hasn’t changed in over a decade. There were some great tools available then. They’ve aged. This is a real problem for product teams who have to demonstrate value to each customer through data. It doesn’t help to talk about your value proposition in a renewal meeting if that customer can’t see the specific value they are getting. AI offers the possibility to solve longstanding problems with analytics: • Many people who need to deliver analytics don’t have skills in front-end data toolkits, visual best practice, or embedding. • It takes months or quarters (occasionally years) to deliver embedded analytics. • End users of the analytics need to answer free-form questions. Dashboards, for all their explanatory power, don’t do this well. We’ve taken a completely different approach. • What if the AI guided you to a useful, best-practice dashboard? Not a pretty dashboard that’s slop, but one that is deeply interactive and designed to communicate data. • What if every dashboard came with a Data Agent to answer long-tail questions? • What if it was built with the latest in web technology, bringing interactivity to data on the web like never before? That’s what we’ve built at Ridge, along with Andy Caley and Fritz Lekschas. A huge thank you to our fantastic investors and angels, and to the early customers who worked with us. Thank you for believing in our vision to make data better on the web.
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Scott Jacobson gostou dissoScott Jacobson gostou dissoIs it human or AI? It’s Ambiguous. Thank you to everyone who came to our dinner celebrating our public beta! Today, most AI is session-based. You open a tool, type a prompt, get a response, and it disappears when you’re done. At Ambiguous AI, we’re building something different: AI coworkers that work like real teammates. Each one has a real Google Workspace account with its own Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Drive, completely separate from yours. You can email them, cc them on a thread, or assign them work in Slack. They persist inside your organization, pick up tasks, coordinate with your team, and handle the back-and-forth until the work is done. Under the hood, every Ambiguous coworker runs on what we call the Agentic Brain. It gives each coworker a consistent identity, human-based memory, and playbooks for how work gets done. It is powered by a probabilistic workflow engine that determines the right next step at every moment. The result is coworkers that do not just execute tasks, but reflect on outcomes and improve over time. The best part: you can set one up in less than 60 seconds, with no code and no custom integrations needed to get started. Special thanks to Philip Lee, Dan Hsiao, and Anna Yamaguchi for helping us get to this point. Grateful as well to everyone who has supported us along the way, including our investors and friends around the table (Anne Lee Skates, Jeremiah Owyang, Manik Gupta, Derek Chau, Nick Gianos, Perry Tam, Steven Lin -- and many more who couldn't make it). And thank you to Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Rho for helping sponsor the dinner. Try Ambiguous for free. Link in comments.
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Scott Jacobson reagiu a issoScott Jacobson reagiu a isso🎂 365 days ago, we launched SpangleAI at Shoptalk with a case study and a vision. Here's what happened next. 👇 We partnered with the industry's most admired brands who drive $4B+ in online revenue. Building each an Agentic Conversion Layer as their own data asset to drive revenue today and future proof tomorrow. → Alexander Wang: 56% revenue per visit lift, 42% conversion increase → Steve Madden: 41% add-to-cart lift, 20% conversion increase → Revolve: 60% ROAS improvement, 50% revenue per visit lift → WHP Global: 51% conversion lift, 2x ROAS → And many others (IYKYK 😉) What we didn't expect? That the industry would move this fast. In 12 months: ✦ NRF VIP Awards: Best AI-Driven Marketing Solution ✦ Business of Fashion named us an AI Startup to Watch ✦ GeekWire AI Innovation of the Year finalist ✦ Selected for 2025 New York Fashion Tech Lab ✦ Raised our $15M Series A with investors as obsessed with customer value as we are A year ago, agentic commerce was a bet. Today, it's a category. We're heading back to Shoptalk next week—where it all started. If you want to see what's possible when AI actually moves the needle (not just the hype), let's connect. To our innovation partners, investors, advisors and team: Congrats on year one. This is just the beginning. #Shoptalk #AgenticCommerce #RetailTech #AI
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Scott Jacobson gostou dissoScott Jacobson gostou dissoThe hardest part of AI-generated code is no longer how to build it, but when to trust it. That's the problem Carina Hong set out to solve when she founded Axiom. Her insight was that the path to verified AI reasoning runs through mathematics, specifically through formal proofs, when you need to trust the output's correctness. Train a model on that foundation, and you leverage the speed and knowledge of non-deterministic models with the confidence of formal verification. You get a system that can prove whether an answer is right, not just whether it sounds right. Last December, Axiom's system achieved a perfect score on the Putnam Exam. More recently, it demonstrated that the same reasoning transfers to code verification, catching bugs in AI-generated software with a level of rigor that manual review can't consistently match. That's the unlock: as AI writes more of the world's code, the ability to formally verify that code becomes a critical layer in how modern software gets built. Carina is one of the most technically deep founders I've worked with, and the team she's assembled around her reflects the same standard in mathematics, AI, and programming. Today's $200M raise was covered in the New York Times, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Carina on stage to a packed house at The Montgomery Summit yesterday, both fitting backdrops for innovation that will change the world. Congratulations to her and the whole Axiom team. Read more Axiom's Series A here: ordnl.link/uGBJndu
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Scott Jacobson gostou dissoScott Jacobson gostou dissoToday is a watershed moment for CommerceIQ, and I believe, for the retail industry at large. For the last decade, the industry followed a familiar playbook: buy SaaS tools for data, and hire agencies to act on it. But the era of Algorithmic Retail has changed the rules. With higher SKU counts, new shopper agents like Rufus and Marty, and more retailer platforms, the "reporting tax" on human teams has become unsustainable. By the time a report is built and analyzed, the opportunity to influence has passed. A dashboard that tells you what happened yesterday is not a strategy, it’s a post-mortem. CommerceIQ’s answer : Retail AI Agent Platform to pivot from Dashboards to Agents Today, we are announcing a foundational shift in our mission. We are moving beyond "Systems of Insights" to develop Systems of Agents that do the work for you. I am incredibly proud to launch our Retail AI Agent Platform, featuring four specialized agents Content Agent: Catalog-wide compliance for SEO and AEO. Sales Agent: Automated root-cause diagnosis and gap-to-plan recovery. Shelf Agent: Real-time search and availability monitoring at scale. Media Agent: Thousands of daily optimizations for true incrementality. The 10-100x Reality I am naturally cautious about overblown performance claims. However, the data from our early deployments is undeniable. We are seeing a massive scaling advantage - Content cycles shrinking from 35 minutes to 35 seconds. - Shelf insights delivered in minutes, not weeks. - Media optimizations running adaptively24/7 to outperform rules-based logic. This shift is about liberating the strategic potential of human teams. It allows your best people to stop "sweating the small stuff" and focus on the strategic moves that drive growth. The future of commerce isn't about having more data; it’s about having more agency. We are excited to lead the way. Join us in the move from insights to results https://lnkd.in/gq9CWWyB #RetailAI #AgenticCommerce #RetailInnovation #Ecommerce #CommerceIQ #DigitalShelfCommerceIQ Unveils Suite of Retail AI Agents for Brands to Outperform the CompetitionCommerceIQ Unveils Suite of Retail AI Agents for Brands to Outperform the Competition
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Daniel Dart
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Peter OBrien
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Every hire, product feature, and GTM experiment is a capital allocation decision, most teams just don’t call it that. I’m kicking off a 3-part series on capital allocation for founders, operators, and finance leaders with a simple question: ➡️ Will the next $1 you deploy become worth more than $1? Series overview Part 1: defines the core concept + the math Part 2: where capital goes + how to measure whether it’s working Part 3: AIMS framework for communicating allocation decisions to management teams and your board Part 1 (attached here) lays the practical foundation: 🔹 The $1 invested test and ROIIC vs. hurdle rates (scoreboard vs. decision lens) 🔹 A lightweight “investment brief” to evaluate bets (GROW / BUILD / BUY) 🔹 The small metric toolkit that translates finance into operating decisions (NPV / payback / ROIIC / incremental margin) 🔹 Early-stage proxies when DCF inputs are unknowable (burn multiple + revenue quality) 🔹 Operator “vital signs” to spot drift early (profit engine, leverage, cash conversion, optics) Series Roadmap ✔️ This series (Parts 1–3): breadth-first. shared, lightweight framework to define value creation, choose decision-grade metrics, and communicate tradeoffs clearly ✔️ Next series: depth-first. momentum drivers + operational decisions that need near real-time measurement to spot drift early and course-correct fast Read Part 1 here and Part 2 and 3 on substack. Next Series will be out next week. 💰 What’s one bet you’re funding right now, and how will you prove it’s working?
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Harshul Sanghi
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Great conversations at our WillowTree Ventures dinner with leaders across fintech and AI. A few themes stood out strongly: enterprises are leaning into AI for real efficiency gains, product and engineering orgs still set the agenda, and the whitespace in “boring” industries is wider than most people assume. It’s clear that the next breakout companies in AI for financial services won’t come from the obvious places. Thanks to everyone who joined - excited to keep working alongside founders building in these non-obvious, high-impact wedges.
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Jason Shuman
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I’ve spoken to over 2 dozen MDs at PE firms I can confidently say that the arb of figuring out how to implement Vertical AI at portfolio companies is very real right now It will fundamentally change underwriting for those who can do it predictably and unlock generational returns. Most are aware they need to act. Very few have.
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Lakshmi Shankar
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Thrilled to announce that Together Fund is investing in Sentra, alongside a16z speedrun! You track results in Jira. Decisions in Notion. Conversations in Slack. But the reasoning, the debates, trade-offs, and context behind why you chose A over B, disappears into what we call "Dark Matter." A decision made in March looks insane by July because no one remembers the constraints that made it smart. I lived this firsthand at Twitter scaling from 800 to 8,000 employees, and at Google while launching AI Overviews to billions at planet scale. The problem isn't process. Process is compensation for something deeper: organizational amnesia. An organization’s "Systems of Record" doesn’t solve this, they encode it. They store what happened, never why. That's why we are investing in Sentra. Sentra is the always-on collective memory that eliminates organizational amnesia by maintaining accurate context for all members and agents, functioning as an operational nervous system. It connects to every channel where work happens, meetings, Slack, email, code commits, docs, calendars, and treats them not as artifacts to search, but as living signals to synthesize. The fleeting and the permanent, unified into a memory that understands. The founding team is built for this: - Jae Gwan Park (CEO): Product-first founder, memory systems research at UofT and MIT - Ashwin Gopinath (CSO): Former MIT professor, created "Reflexion" (NeurIPS 2023), agents that learn from mistakes, 2x founder - Andrey Starenky (CTO): Early Vapi engineer, ex-IBM, built to process enterprise-scale data firehose Together is an operator-led fund. We invest in problems we've lived. This is one of them. Many congrats Jae, Ashwin and Andrey, we are so excited to partner with you! Read the full thesis: https://lnkd.in/gixj9cE4 Book a demo: https://www.sentra.app/ #OrganizationalMemory #AI #Sentra #TogetherFund #a16z #ContextGraphs
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Aviel Ginzburg
Founders Co-op • 4 mil seguidores
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Noah Cox
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Hugo Fdez.-Mardomingo
Acurio Ventures • 5 mil seguidores
🦄 $150M to improve tutoring and education globally. Preply just announced a new round, putting the company on a clear trajectory to become an iconic global marketplace. In a world obsessed with fast wins and volatile growth, some companies quietly beat their goals year after year — for more than 6 years in this case (as long as we’ve at Acurio Ventures been partners). A few learnings from this journey, relevant for founders and investors: Pick a growing market with an unsolved problem. 2 out of 8 billion people globally are learning a second language. Despite many options, outcomes are still poor. Our original thesis was simple: if you build the reference platform, everyone who wants to learn will eventually come to you. Category leadership matters. When we backed Kirill Bigai and Dmytro Voloshyn back in 2019 (together with Rob Kniaz), there were dozens of similar startups. Small details showed Preply had already built a superior tutor base and a scalable growth engine. Build a product customers love. Speaking a language and teaching it are very different things. Preply transformed the learning experience by combining a motivated base of +100,000 tutors with tools that actually drive outcomes. Never stop experimenting. Few companies maintain a strong experimentation culture as they scale. Preply’s DNA reminded me of Booking.com — enabling them to execute 10x better than most marketplaces. Great companies turn every change into an opportunity. From riding the post-COVID shift to online learning, to betting early and heavily on AI as Dmytro Voloshyn has excelled at. What once sounded like sci-fi is now reality. Great companies become talent magnets A company maturity can't be addressed only by looking at the revenue, profit or product. I like to see how much better they become at attracting talent and retaining it. Proud that Acurio Ventures made this possible and the WestCap team saw things as bullish as we do and are now supporting the next phase of Preply’s journey. Huge congratulations to the entire Preply team!!
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Baba Prasad Nath
WaterBridge Ventures • 4 mil seguidores
I have been thinking about the quick service delivery model ever since a little before UC's IPO. Here are some thoughts: 1. Density Math is Unforgiving But Solvable With Geographic Discipline Instant SLAs convert idle time into structural cost. Without synchronized demand in 2-3km micro-markets, every unfilled window becomes dead weight. Travel time that's negligible in scheduled models (20 minutes across a 3-hour booking) consumes 40% of a 60-minute SLA. No-shows and rework—manageable at 5% in scheduled models - become margin killers when platforms absorb travel, wait time, and redeployment costs. Contribution margins sink to 15-18% versus 20% for UC. Density isn't destiny - it's a choice about where not to compete. 2. The Disintermediation Treadmill Or the Trust Moat, Depending on Execution Top performers churn fastest—creating adverse selection. Rising CAC to backfill supply meets stalling transaction density. Disintermediation risk becomes trust moat when platforms layer value beyond transactions - Uber's injury insurance and loan documentation, Urban Company's brand premium that commands 20-30% higher rates. Partners stay not because they can't leave, but because leaving means losing systematic advantages. The winners will be platforms that professionalize supply and make the platform indispensable to that professionalized supply. 3. Quality-Speed Trade-offs Fracture Until AI-Enabled Training Closes the Gap Instant models collapse the quality feedback loop. Partners onboarded in 48 hours lack deep training. Escalations spike. Refund rates hit 8-12% versus 3-5% in scheduled models—a structural margin tax, not a scaling problem. Simulation-based training, real-time quality nudges, and predictive dispatch algorithms might compress onboarding without sacrificing standards, but evidence remains early. The platforms investing in training infrastructure now—when capital is patient—are making bets, not executing proven playbooks. This is where technology could stop being overhead and become moat. 4. Capital Masks True Demand But Reveals Willingness-to-Pay Ceilings Well-funded competitors subsidize SLAs and wages to manufacture density. Customers internalize 30% discounts as equilibrium pricing. Partners expect ₹800-1,000 per job. When subsidies fade, demand collapses and supply churns. Subsidy periods aren't wasted capital if used to run rigorous pricing experiments. Smart operators use growth capital to map elasticity curves, identify which micro-markets will sustain unsubsidized economics, and exit the rest. But contraction is organizationally brutal-the operators who structure incentives around profitable density rather than gross GMV will have the discipline to retreat when needed. In hyperlocal marketplaces, the winners won't be the fastest—they'll be the most deliberate. Build density, earn margins, then layer speed. The platforms with the patience to sequence correctly will own the category when capital discipline returns to vogue.
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Randall Lucas
2 mil seguidores
A whammy of a simile from the inimitable VC Sammy Abdullah, on the abominable phenomenon of "let's vibe-code an in-house version instead of buying the SaaS solution": "Trying to build your own enterprise class software solution is kind of like BBQ: ask any pit-master how they make their BBQ and they will tell you exactly what to do. They'll tell you the type of wood, where the get their meat, how to make and maintain the fire, etc Why? Because you either won't do it (you're talking 18+ hours of monitoring a smoker), will screw it up, or simply won't have the fortitude required to do it again and again. So, while enterprise software companies in this environment are going to receive the "we're building this in-house" refrain, it's going to be your job to explain exactly what you do, and re-pitch the value of your solution." [Blossom Street Ventures update email, 2026-03-18]
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Maddi Holman
Daring Ventures • 9 mil seguidores
We got on a call with a firm that backs Fund I emerging managers. I was excited because this was a firm that could write a larger ($1M+) check and wasn’t afraid to back new fund managers. But that changed pretty fast fifteen minutes in, when the allocator said their minimum fund size is $100M. We're raising <$20M. *😞...not again* Overall, it was a great call from a Fund II prospect but not Fund I. And I get it, their check size is $10-20M and the math only works above a certain threshold, but it still sucks to hear it. But they're still calling themselves an emerging manager allocator. That's the structural disconnect nobody talks about. It's not unique to them either. Some of the largest institutional programs defining "emerging manager" draw the line at funds under $2 billion. Others call a VC fund "small" if it's under $500 million. $500 million... “Small.” These allocators weren't built for a <$20M fund and most never were. The "emerging manager" language reflects a real intention that the infrastructure just can't execute on at our end of the market. And the same gravity pulling VC capital toward mega-funds is pulling allocator capital the same direction. Everyone's math points the same way. So the smallest funds piece together LP bases from HNWIs, angels, and operators one check at a time. My peers are all navigating some version of this. What I've come to believe is that the real opportunity isn't waiting for the institutional infrastructure to catch up. It's in people who haven't thought of themselves as LPs yet. Operators. Professionals. People who just need the opportunity presented clearly, the education, and the time to build real trust before they're ready to move. That last part is the hard part. It's not that those people don't exist. It's that finding them and building genuine relationships takes a long time. There's no shortcut. But that's the work. And I think it's worth it. Who else is navigating this as an emerging manager?
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Jonathan Greechan
Founder Capital • 17 mil seguidores
Proud to support Esusu as it enters its next phase of growth with a new $50M Series C fundraise! Wemimo Abbey, Samir Goel and team continue to lead the industry in credit building and economic mobility for millions of renters nationwide. Esusu (Founder Institute San Francisco portfolio company) is setting a new standard for combining economic and societal impact. By helping renters get credit (literally) for paying their rent on time, they are increasing financial access and empowering more people to become homeowners - in fact, they have already empowered over $30BN in new mortgages from renters across their system. I'm especially excited about how they plan to leverage their massive dataset to create even more impact. By making rental payment data a more prominent feature in mortgage underwriting, Esusu will be able to increase the number of people that can buy homes and build generational wealth. This is a truly inspiring company 🙌 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/guUKsGtY
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Philipp von dem Knesebeck
Vinthera • 2 mil seguidores
The double fee layer question for a fund of funds is easily answered: If you deploy $25m+ per annum into Venture you can hire someone qualified + travel expenses, etc. to build a fund of funds portfolio. Otherwise it's more economical to pay the fees.
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Julian Rowe
Phoenix Court • 2 mil seguidores
Most markets go barbell eventually - at one end scale, at the other end specialism. In banking you have GS, MS, JPM at the large end, then the specialists like Allen & Co and Qatalyst. It becomes harder to describe what the middle stands for. (Btw, specialist doesn’t always mean small - Qatalyst does some of the biggest deals in tech M&A. It means being really clear who your audience is and what you stand for.) In hedge funds you have Bridgewater, Renaissance, Millennium etc. then the focused specialists most have never heard of. In PE - AUM concentrates in the likes of Apollo, KKR, CVC et al. while lower midmarket specialists which trade AUM for potential upside are over subscribed. Even consulting has gone this way - McKinsey, Bain at one end, then at the other the more niche consultants which are deep in a specific domain. Talent and AUM aggregates to either end of this barbell. The middle slowly get hollowed out. Private tech markets are going this way too. If you’re stuck in the middle today, it’s worth being very clear in your own mind which end of the barbell you’re heading for.
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Joshua Bloom
49 Palms Ventures • 3 mil seguidores
The old SaaS pricing playbook doesn’t work for AI. Madhavan Ramanujam and I partnered with Emergence Capital and Jake Saper to write a new one—built for where AI is going, not just where it is today. We lay out what state-of-the-art AI pricing looks like now—and what it will look like: ✅ Hybrid pricing (seats + usage) is the current best practice 🎯 Outcome-based models are the future—pricing tied directly to impact 💰 The best AI companies already capture 25–50% of the value they create As autonomy and attribution improve, outcome pricing will go from rare to expected. Founders who move early will win. Full read here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gwp6tDtp
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Brittany Hargest
Altos Ventures • 2 mil seguidores
Capital formation isn’t just about fundraising; it’s about building trust through transparency and clarity. I just wrapped moderating a panel at SVB’s Venture Connect conference, joined by Erlina Yeo Terwelp, Geoff Taylor, Brian Chen, and Stephen Bluestein. The goal: an interactive discussion on how GPs can build enduring partnerships with LPs in today’s fundraising environment. Key themes and takeaways from the conversation: • Relationships are paramount: Provide access to multiple investment team members across levels. Authentic, consistent engagement is foundational to long-term partnerships. • Show your fund math: LPs want to see how ownership stakes and exit expectations map to net returns—at the actual fund size. Scaling isn’t a strategy unless supported by fundamentals. Help LPs draw clear conclusions. • Transparency builds trust: Be transparent on valuation methods, revenue multiple assumptions, even succession planning. Consistency and openness go a long way. • Investing in venture: LPs are active, but the bar is higher. Two deliverables I’ll be focusing on in our next cycle: 1. Elevating the operations DDQ. Now the second most-viewed item in any data room, right behind the investor deck. 2. Ensuring our deck clearly communicates fund math. From ownership to exit to net DPI—at the fund size we’re marketing. This experience reaffirmed that transparency and trust-building are critical, especially when the fundraising environment is as bifurcated as the markets we’re investing in. Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank, Bobby Donnelly, and Mark Lau for the opportunity, and to everyone who joined the discussion!
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Matt Rappaport
Future Frontier Capital • 8 mil seguidores
Don't Build a Better Wheat Farm" - Why Defensibility Stakes Are Higher in Deep Tech Just published a new piece on my "Ignore the Confusion" blog, building on thoughtful insights from Eric Ver Ploeg at Tunitas Ventures about startup defensibility. Eric's core thesis: Too many startups pitch like wheat farmers - "huge TAM, slow incumbents, growing market, domain expertise" - but fail to think through long-term defensibility until it's too late. From a deep tech perspective, the stakes are even higher: ** Unlike software, deep tech founders must commit to defensibility strategies from day one - their funding depends on it ** Patent vs. trade secret decisions are often difficult to reverse and shape your entire competitive strategy ** Even "picks and shovels" providers (the tools that make industries more efficient) become commodities without proper moats The key insight that resonates: Defensibility can't be retrofitted. Whether you're building software or deep tech, your moat must be architected into the business model from the start. Thanks to Eric Ver Ploeg for sharing these insights on startup strategy and letting me build on his framework from a deep tech lens. Read the full post: https://lnkd.in/dEj_iF-Q #DeepTech #StartupStrategy #Defensibility #VentureCapital #Innovation
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Paul Perrett
Firmable • 3 mil seguidores
Big milestone for Firmable. We’ve raised $14m Series A led by Airtree. Sales has moved through a few big waves: intuition-led, CRM-led, data-led. We’re now entering the next one – intelligence-led sales. The opportunity isn’t just better data. It’s turning that data into clear direction and action, without adding more work for sales teams. That’s what we’re building at Firmable: a foundation of trusted external data, layered with intelligence that helps sellers know who to focus on and when. Led by Airtree, this round supports our expansion across Asia and into the US – and accelerates the build-out of AI agents that take the admin work off sales teams so they can focus on what they do best. Proud of the team, grateful to our customers and investors. We’re just getting started. Read the exclusive in the AFR. https://lnkd.in/gr66uknb Leigh Jasper | Tara Salmon | Karthik Venkatasubramanian| Chester Thompson| Chath Widanapathirana
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Santi Subotovsky
4 mil seguidores
Fund administration is one of the worst vendor experiences in venture. Slow, expensive, and built around the assumption that your time doesn't matter. I've been watching Hanover Park change that. The numbers speak for themselves. $1B to $15B in AUA in a year; migrations done in days rather than months. But what actually stands out is that they treat the service like a product. Every process is designed. Every migration is owned. This is what the category should have looked like years ago. Excited to see it finally exist. https://lnkd.in/gKx2uHjg
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