October 2023

MIX & MINGLE WITH AVL

September 27-28, 2023—AVL hits the A.V.L.

A few weeks ago, we flew into the beautiful state of Georgia to attend Venture Atlanta for the first time and to sponsor the inaugural BusinessOutside Connection Hike. The city of Atlanta and the founders and funders of the southeast startup ecosystem welcomed our team with open arms. From the gracious introductions made to relationships forged, it was a busy and rewarding experience. We loved hearing from founders as they pitched and shared their excitement and aspirations for future growth and changing the world.

One of our most memorable moments from the conference was the Connection Hike through Piedmont Park, led by Bart Foster. This was an impactful experience and a healthy reminder of the importance of stepping outside our comfort zones, the power of leaving behind outdated norms and forms of networking, and jumping into nature to create deeper and more authentic connections. We are grateful for the number of people who showed up and engaged in an authentic way - of course, sporting their new AVL fanny pack!Challenge for the reader: Take your next meeting on the go and get outside! If you'd like some pointers, we're happy to share them with you.?

Big Congratulations to Joshua Silver of Rainforest and Debbie Gordon of Cloud Range for winning the Venture Atlanta growth and early stage pitch competition!

September 18-22, 2023—Denver Startup Week?

Don’t worry, Denver, with all of our Atlanta love the past month, we haven’t forgotten about our roots.

Denver Startup Week proves year after year that our state's entrepreneurial ecosystem is very much vibrant, alive and thriving! The busy conference space, electric afterparties, insightful panels, and countless conversations had us buzzing. We were happy to have a chance to connect with many of you this year. Never attended and want to go next year? We're happy to help you plan and offer insights so you know what to expect. Hit us up!?

Sunday, November 8—Don't let your comfort zone confine you to mediocrity.

Join us in Boulder November 8th at the Conscious Entrepreneur event, Unlocking Your Zone of Genius. This exclusive in-person workshop will be guided by Gay Hendricks. Gay is the creator of Zone of Genius and has led relationship transformation and bodymind therapies for over 45 years. Connect with other high performers, and overcome your upper limits. REGISTER NOW

Stevan Simich presented at 9th SaaStr Annual?

Congratulations AVL Client Stevan Simich, CEO and Founder Mogli Technologies. In early September, Stevan took to the Bootstrapped Stage at SaaStr Annual, the world's largest community gathering for cloud and SaaS professionals. He shared how Mogli used profit units to create incentives for employees, retain talent, and achieve a $7M ARR milestone.?

Top Ten Mistakes Startups and High Growth Companies Make

Startups and high growth companies face unique challenges. Mistakes in financial operations can be particularly costly. Do any of these apply to you? ONE: Undercapitalization.? Many startups underestimate the amount of capital they'll need to get off the ground and sustain operations until they become profitable.

READ MORE?

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY — PART 3 of 5

Stop Canceling the Monthly Financial Review Meeting. Reframe it instead.?

It often seems that the Monthly Financial Review (MFR) meeting is probably one of the most canceled meetings of early-stage and emerging growth companies. Yet, the leadership teams that we work with recognize and admit that this meeting should be critical to their monthly cadence.

So, if it is agreed to be critical… and it’s the most canceled, pushed, or ignored meeting, then what is the real gap?

There are three leading causes:

1. It’s late.

2. The meeting has the wrong agenda.

3. The team is not asking the right questions.

?Reframing the MFR increases the value and power that this meeting can deliver, and can be a huge step toward realizing the benefits of financial transparency. READ MORE

AVL READING LIST

If you find yourself inspired by our hikes with entrepreneurs in Atlanta and Boulder earlier this year, you should check out the book BusinessOutside Discover Your Path Forward. Our friend and frequent collaborator Bart Foster reveals his science-inspired philosophy that reimagines corporate culture by bringing business outdoors, allowing for increased creativity, meaningful connections, and psychological restoration.?

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So. Much. VUCA. Things have been pretty wild the past few years. And that makes leading companies and teams harder than ever. We thought there was a lot to consider in this article from Harvard Business Review that offers actionable advice on how to thrive as a leader during times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).

How prepared is your company for growth? Take the AVL Growth Readiness Assessment.