K Street Capital

Unifying three entities into one cohesive operation is no small feat, especially when navigating the bottlenecks of diligence—something Dimitry Gershenson knows all too well. One key takeaway from our conversation? Diligence almost always involves asking the same question in different ways to uncover inconsistencies. We also explored the role of intuition in the diligence process and how open, honest communication can make or break a transaction. Tune in via the links in the comments below.

We are excited to announce our newest portfolio company, Basis Climate! As an early leader in the tax credit transfer market, Basis has supported the transfer of clean energy tax credits ranging from $300K for off-grid homes in the Navajo Nation to $100M of production tax credits from 8 operating wind farms across the United States. The team’s experience in the tax credit transfer process and vision for building a robust market for credits of all sizes drove us to make this investment. Acknowledging election headwinds, we made this bet irrespective of the election winner, knowing that the benefits of these tax credit transfers continue to positively impact both sides of the equation. #cleanenergy #solarpower #inflationreductionact #sustainability #venturecapital

My biggest takeaway from my chat with Alli Cavasino and Natalie Poston was: growth comes from deliberate action, not static plans. Scaling JoyLet revealed complexities they hadn’t anticipated. Understanding what parents need required them to actively engage with the broader ecosystem. This involved leveraging community feedback, testing hypotheses in real time, and iterating their approach to validate product-market fit. They dive deeper into their process in the latest episode of High Stakes. Link in the comments!

Alli Cavasino and Natalie Poston approached JoyLet methodically—they tested hypotheses, made informed bets, and adapted along the way. Sure, they’d make small tweaks if given the chance, but the real value came from learning through action. There’s no one-size-fits-all blueprint to building a business with solid fundamentals—just a constant cycle of learning and adapting on the fly. They also credit the tight-knit DC ecosystem for giving them the support they needed to keep moving forward. All this and more in this episode of High Stakes. Link in the comments below.

The path to scaling a business like JoyLet is full of pivots—something Alli Cavasino and Natalie Poston learned early on. They started with a simple solution to an obvious problem: parents spending a lot of money on baby gear that was only used for a few months. What they didn’t expect was how hard it would be to gain traction and build an exit-ready business in less than 3 years. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but their persistence paid off. Tune in to Episode 19 of High Stakes for the full story. Link in the comments!

The lifecycle of parenting essentials is short-lived. For JoyLet founders Alli Cavasino and Natalie Poston, this created a race against time to secure capital and get products into parents’ hands. Their solution? A “rent-the-runway” model for baby gear, allowing parents to rent items for the time they need them. In this episode of HighStakes, they share their journey from an MBA class idea to a successful exit. Big thanks to Alli and Natalie for joining me! Link to EP 19 in the comments.

Honored to be recognized by RVA 25 as the region's fastest-growing company! This is a testament to our incredible team including our clinicians who are working to transform lives every day through high-touch, consistent therapy. A heartfelt congratulations to the other winners - and thank you to Richmond BizSense! #RVA25 #growth https://bit.ly/4hzjsj0

What differentiates a patent from a market-ready product? Todd Bracher believes that TRLs (technology readiness levels) serve as a credible metric. A TRL of 1? Just a concept. But a TRL of 6-7? That’s where the magic happens. In my conversation with Todd, he explains how founders and investors can build strong IP moats. Catch the full chat in the comments below.??

This was one of my favorite conversations from this season. Too often, valuable IP sits on the sidelines, overlooked by decision-makers. In our chat, Todd Bracher addresses the real bottleneck: how to monetize IP. Drawing from his experience building Betterlab? and BRACHER, he focuses on uncovering the commercial value within patents. He helps companies find the path to market by cutting through internal bias and identifying the GTM that matters. Watch the full episode with the link in the comments.

Many of the world’s toughest problems already have solutions—they’re just stuck in a drawer or wrapped up in litigation. That’s Todd Bracher’s hypothesis. With 25+ years of design experience, he believes great tech doesn’t win on merit alone—it needs the right design expertise to shine. For Todd, design is what turns untapped IP into a startup primed for a high-value exit. More on this in the latest episode of High Stakes. Link below.