Celesta Capital

Equity is a powerful incentive tool. IMO, there is a big value creation opportunity if startups embrace situational performance vesting for key executives. Why? 1. Incentive alignment: Let those who create value get a direct piece of it. 2. Positive selection: Employee reaction to performance vesting is informative on their confidence in achieving goals. 3. Inertia is not a Measure of Value: Just because an executive is still in the job, doesn’t mean they are creating value commensurate with their option package. 4. Equity vesting is not a one-way door: If priorities change, the Board can change option packages too. ? More detail in the below blog post.

How can executive leaders navigate high-paced careers with more self-awareness, intention, and (ultimately) effectiveness? I had the great pleasure of exploring this topic with the remarkable Mark McLaughlin, Chairman of Qualcomm and former CEO of Palo Alto Networks. Mark is a trailblazing leader in the cybersecurity field and a respected tech leader throughout Silicon Valley for all the reasons you might expect, but it is his deeply human and humble form of leadership which truly make Mark and his story special. Mark shared with me his unique experience of stepping down from Palo Alto Networks at the height of his prime as CEO, just one part of his remarkable journey from West Point to the heights of the tech industry. Tune into Celesta Capital’s latest podcast episode for a discussion packed with practical insights for anyone looking to build a career and life full of big professional achievement, but also rich fulfillment. Listen ?? https://lnkd.in/ghntdJWi

Celesta is delighted to lead the Series A round for OneCell Diagnostics Inc. ?? The capital will support OneCell's expansion into the U.S. market and continued development of its cutting-edge technology for precision oncology liquid biopsy diagnostics. Celesta's Founding Partner Michael E Marks, along with Senior Advisor and Biochemist Nobel Laureate Jim Rothman will join the company's board. Congratulations to CEO Mohan Uttarwar and the whole OneCell team! Read more about the funding in TechCrunch: https://lnkd.in/gkGF96RR

We are proud to announce that we have received an agreement issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a rapid, point-of-need diagnostic for detecting and differentiating between Influenza A, B, and A/H5 in humans.?With the rise of avian influenza in various species, this collaboration supports advanced preparedness, reducing reliance on central labs while enhancing frontline diagnostic capabilities. Learn more about the agreement and our commitment to global health and pandemic readiness below. https://lnkd.in/gTCrdpJU

Deep tech startups for many years were seen as higher risk, requiring more capital, and offering less potential for strong exits. Today though, many deep tech sectors are attracting more interest than ever before from VCs. However, this pivot is not so simple. In my decades of experience as an executive and investor in this space, I believe deep tech investing can indeed be a more challenging, nuanced area for successful VC investing and company building – but it is not because of the reasons often assumed. In this article, I share the most common misperceptions I observe within deep tech VC, along with some ideas for entrepreneurs and investors to consider.

Out now on the TechSurge Podcast, we're featuring Andy Lee and Anand Chandrasekaran from Crescendo, sharing their vision for the future of AI-powered customer service, with Celesta Managing Partner Sriram Viswanathan. Learn about their innovative approach to integrating AI into business process outsourcing. ?? Link to listen ?? https://lnkd.in/gbjRU4di

We're thrilled to welcome Nobel Laureate Biochemist Dr. James Rothman as a Senior Advisor at Celesta. His expertise will be instrumental in propelling our bio-convergence companies to new heights. Read more here ?? https://lnkd.in/gTcUSx7H

Today, we are excited to finally be able to share our collaboration with and investment from Juniper Networks. At Recogni, we have made it our mission to make GenAI inference profitable, sustainable, and accurate. That’s why we are developing chips and systems based on our proprietary logarithmic math number system, Pareto. And we collaborate in this mission with Juniper, whose expertise as a leader in secure, AI-Native Networking makes them a natural fit. The result? A multimodal GenAI inference system that runs the world's largest GenAI models at uncompromised 16-bit accuracy while operating at a power efficiency equivalent to 4-bit. In other words: Much cheaper GenAI production at scale, unlocking radically new applications, such as real-time AI video generation and AI agents for education and health. And this is just the beginning! Link to the press release in the comments ??

The Future of Construction is Here. Tune in to our latest TechSurge podcast to learn how these leaders in tech are reimagining the industry. An insightful conversation with Trevor Schick, Ash Bhardwaj, and Camilo Restrepo. Link to listen is in the comments. ?? Slate Technologies Inc. Onx Homes Biomason

Faris Sbahi, CEO and Co-Founder of Celesta portfolio company Normal Computing, sat down with us to discuss the pioneering advancements they are developing for AI and its use in complex, high-stakes workflows.? Check out the full conversation in the comments???