Jamie Harford的动态

Founders: Series A (and later) growth is proving HARD right now. VCs have pulled back, but stellar growth expectations are still here. Most CEOs and founders are hurting. Founders, this event is for you: learn about your funding options, what's going on in the capital markets, how it impacts you, and get clarity in this sea of noise. It's short and focused on YOU, not investors. No pitches or long presentations, stage and other standard VC-focused theatre. Listen, learn, and interact over (good) drinks with other peers. FREE but limited capacity, so register or miss it. > https://lu.ma/2erp1va7 #funding #event #founders #capital #growth

I have presented in 431 investor meetings in 2024 so far, and this was the single most important missing piece of the bigger picture ?? Most investors are drawn to VC direct secondaries, yet few grasp their true size, liquidity, and transformative impact. The biggest misconception? ?? Thinking a semi-liquid, evergreen portfolio of Top 20 private tech companies depends solely on IPOs. Here’s the reality: secondaries have far outpaced IPOs. They’ve become essential for any private market investor’s toolkit. And we are just getting started. At Stableton, we make it easy to access this dynamic space with products that offer transparency, low costs, and improved liquidity. Now, every investor can tap into the growth of private tech innovation while benefiting from the power of direct secondaries. Let’s rethink what’s possible. ?? #VC #Secondaries #Innovation

IPOs were once regarded as the pinnacle of a startup’s capital-raising journey. Today, the dynamics of capital markets are shifting. High-quality start ups / corporates are increasingly opting to remain private, supported by robust liquidity in the secondary markets to meet their funding and liquidity requirements. Remarkably, secondary transactions by just seven companies—including Stripe, Databricks, and Canva—have generated proceeds exceeding the total value of all tech IPOs over the past two years. I’m super psyched to say that at Stableton we are part of this transition, as our investment team (including yours truly) gives investors exposure to the Top 20 privately held companies globally, including those mentioned above. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/dBAYt6S2

This is an email I received from a founding partner at one of the top 10 VC funds in the world about two years ago shortly after we launched Hiive. I had reached out to tell him about our new business. Even at that time, his response struck me as bizarre. What investor is against liquidity? Isn't it good to have the option to sell? Isn't a liquid investment less risky than an illiquid one? Why was he not even willing to talk about it? But the craziest part was that his firm, through a different partner, had previously sold one investment through ME on a secondary basis, and had actively marketed another! Either he was not aware of the other sales (unlikely) or assumed I was not aware of them. What explains this hypocrisy? Why would he (or his firm) on the one hand use the secondary market when it suited him, but then publicly denounce it? Two words: access and control. The top VC funds in the world take in the lion's share of investor funds and have access to the best opportunities. Their privileged position, coupled with the illiquidity of the asset class, enables them to generate outsized returns AND charge massive fees and carry on their funds. Most of the top VC funds take 20-30% of fund profits in the form of "carried interest" before paying out investors. If the asset class got more liquid and accessible, then investors would not have to pay these massive fees for access. The top VC funds also sit on the boards of private companies. This puts them in the position to control the secondary market for the stock of these companies, and use it for their own purposes (such as buying the stock at advantageous prices because nobody else is allowed). The more restrictive the company, the more control that these board members have over the market. This is not only against the interest of employees, but it's also against the interest of the OTHER investors in the company who do not sit on the board (and therefore are beholden to the board's whims). Well, I've got news for you, top VCs. We are coming for you. #liquidity #democratization #secondarymarket #stockoptions #marketplace

Calling all Chicago founders & investors! ?? Join Landon W. Campbell (Drive Capital), Neal Sarraf (Forum Ventures), and George Khalife (TMX Group) for a coffee meetup next Tuesday, August 20th, at 9:30 am. ?? Connect with like-minded individuals, share insights, and network in an intimate setting with fellow founders and VCs. Limited spots are available for a focused and engaging meetup! ?? Details below ?? #ChicagoFounders #Investors #Networking #VCs

Raising a pre-seed/seed round? Not having a network of investors won't stop great deals from getting done if I have anything to say about it. Doing my next experiment for 27 hours (ends 4/19, 5 pm ET): -Email deck+blurb+traction+round size to [email protected], hard deadline tomorrow. -Title must be exactly: "27-hour experiment" -I’ll share at least the top 3 companies w/ 50+ VCs next week. -Last time I did this, I got 12 investor intros for founders I shared. And in the last 6 months I know of at least $1.25M invested in companies I shared. Results will vary, but it works :)

This is definitely ?? - I am witnessing exactly what has been expressed by this group of presenters at collison!!! Forget chasing investors - boot strap yourself, build a team, use our grandfather’s wisdom and create revenue instead of chasing angel investors. Once your team is set and you have revenue you no longer need to worry about innovation theatre, public relations pictures just to get KPI’s for government grants or angel investors… when the business has been set up then you can chase series A, B , C etc… funding … Do not waste time with not for profit innovation spaces and accelerators that are Gov. funded.

Are you actively pursuing a buyout or secondary? Reach out today for support to prepare, originate and close your deal #buyout #secondary #liquidity #tech === ?? Deal readiness New State Ventures acts as an independent deal maker for software and technology-led businesses. We collaborate with high-growth companies, their founders and investors to drive deal readiness and maximize transaction value for investments, acquisitions and exits. ?? Contact: send me a DM, visit https://lnkd.in/eFAxZ9W or email [email protected] #newstateventures #founders #investors #venturecapital #privateequity #dealreadiness

Founders, show investors your path to ￡1bn in sales. I'm raising our seed round right now, and the single most useful thing I've done is show a "napkin math" snapshot of what Valla looks like at ￡10m, ￡100m, and ￡1bn in sales. It does a few jobs: * Demonstrates the scale of our ambition * Helps the VC gauge the risks and assumptions at each step * Moves the conversation to concrete "how" questions VCs need to understand our vision to become category defining businesses, otherwise they can't invest - this is proving to be a helpful way to show that vision!

Oftentimes as your company grows, you either outgrow your investor or they've passed their investment horizon and are looking to exit. For example, you may have a smaller fund invest early on, but then your company does well and you outgrow their ability to fund future growth. In these cases, we often help founders run a recapitalization transaction, which is a great way to swap out investors that are more appropriate for your stage. That way, you can bring on an investor who has the capital to help fuel the next stage of growth. #founders #pathtoexit