Emilian Siemsia

For anyone going to Slush tomorrow: Interested in building your product 3x faster and with 90% less effort spent on devops? Drop by the Google Cloud booth at 4pm local time to watch André Eriksson demo the future of cloud development using Encore x Google Cloud.

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"I overpaid £2M. Outdated valuation cost me dearly. Never again." Sadly this happened to one of our clients, who overpaid by £2M for a company that couldn’t deliver on its promises. Imagine investing in a promising tech startup, convinced by their impressive pitch and glowing projections. You go ahead with the deal based on an outdated valuation. Six months later, the market shifts, and the startup's growth stalls. The outdated valuation didn’t reflect current market realities or potential risks. By the time the issues became apparent, the money was spent, and the return on investment wasn’t forthcoming.   This painful lesson underscores the importance of accurate, current valuations. They provide a realistic picture of a business’s worth and help investors make informed decisions. At bizval, we interrogate every aspect of a business’s financials, market conditions, and potential risks to safeguard you from overpaying and ensure your investment is sound. The takeaway? Always base your investments on thorough, up-to-date, and trusted valuations. It’s not just about avoiding losses—it’s about making smart, strategic choices.   Stay informed. Know your value. Make wise investments. P.S. Update: Our coaching at Outcomes Business Group UK has empowered the new owner to revitalise the business and set it on a path to success. Together, we have developed efficient new routes to market, built strong trust within the marketplace, and fine-tuned the services offered. With a dedicated and powerful team executing flawlessly, customers are now delighted and wholeheartedly supportive of the business. #BusinessValuation #SmartInvesting #Entrepreneurship #StrategicPlanning #BusinessGrowth

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Phi 3 3.8B, Gemma 2 2.6B, Qwen 2 1.5B... and now even smaller Meta's MobileLLM 125M on-device model https://lnkd.in/gTujrqc8 Realtime chat, voice assistants, image recognition, generative AI in AR/VR in low-latency, along with secured access to on-device data (wearables), transparent smart home automation access, verifiable automotive access and logs (vehicles) with web3. hashtag #meta #MobileLLM #web3

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The UK is well ahead of its continental counterparts when it comes to tech startups* generating revenue. 🇬🇧 👑 💂 *Let’s be honest, at these revenue levels most of the companies counted here aren’t startups. They’re scaleups or established privately held tech companies. https://lnkd.in/ebSnfcYz #vc #venturecapital #startups #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #tech #technology #innovation #money #business

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Code Generation & Customisation are often at odds with one another, but it doesn’t have to be.... 👀 At Speakeasy we’ve taken a multi-level approach to customising SDKs without impacting the level of automation: 1️⃣ OpenAPI-based customisation: Wherever possible, we want the OpenAPI spec to be the single source of truth. That’s why we rely on standard OpenAPI fields to drive customisation and OpenAPI extensions when there isn’t a relevant field available. 2️⃣ Config-based customisation: For look & feel changes to the SDK, we have a small config file. This covers aspect of generation that can’t really be defined within an OpenAPI spec. For example, we maintain a config that allows for your SDK to have a totally flattened interface with parameters passed in-line. 3️⃣ Safe code injection with SDK hooks: This is the cornerstone of our platform’s extensibility and something that is critically important to larger enterprises which inevitably have some custom requirement. SDK Hooks allow our users to add custom code into the SDK in a way that doesn’t require any manual maintenance as new versions of the SDK are published. Our team team has done a phenomenal job of building flexibility into the platform from Day 0. If anyone wants to read more on this topic, check out the getting started guide for hooks that our founding engineer, Tristan Cartledge wrote. See the comments 👇 #openapi #codegen #apis

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Anyone who has interest in high quality structured data should listen to my partner Nik go through masterclass in modern, real-world entity resolution at scale - truly best in world https://lnkd.in/eQS_6ycb

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As we build #GenerativeAI into BHyve, we're realising how little clarity our potential customers have about the costs associated with making the "magic happen". It's also why we get requests from customers saying "Creation should be charged. Search should be free". (Deserves a separate explainer on why Google search is "free" but for another time) For any LLM to give an outcome, there's a ton of work it has to do. I came across this very well-structured report from Ernst & Young which puts a nice little framework to explain the costs of Generative AI. Take a read - https://lnkd.in/dWdvAb_8 How are you looking at brining transparency into cost and value discussions around Generative AI? Would love to hear ideas. #GenerativeAI #AIforGood #CostofAI #ROI #Automation #RAG #BuildingBHyve

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I've had the great luck to invest in some unicorns at inception. There's not so much you can look for when backing founders that early, but obsession can be spotted early and does play a massive role. In my opinion, our irrational, relentless drive (sometimes without the presence of a clear goal) can be more powerful than intelligence, industry experience, and vision. Thanks to Lisa, I had the honour to discuss my views on investing, my tech ventures, and EWOR with Pádraig Belton from the BBC. Thank you, Pádraig Belton for this fantastic interview. Short teaser below. Full version will be released soon!

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Do you know an aspiring, non-technical software founder with a brilliant idea who just needs a bit of support to bring it to life? We are offering 2 more slots this month. Our goal is to give back to the startup community and empower founders who might not have the technical skills but have the passion to succeed. Here’s what we’ll do: ☑ Validate their idea ☑ Secure 3 to 5 early adopters ☑ Build their MVP using LLMs ☑ Develop a go-to-market plan and launch the product The cost? $0. We believe that LLMs can truly democratize building software products and we want to prove it by helping aspiring founders succeed without barriers. This is our way of giving back and showing what's possible with the right tools. If you know someone who could benefit, tag them or send me a message! Let’s make their dream a reality. 🙌 **************** I’m Mike Anderson, a #bootstrapped founder building in public. Follow xVentures to see how #AI is democratizing building software products and operating #startups.

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The future of Enterprise AI: Systems of action vs systems of record. At Wexler, we're building agentic software which is proactive. It doesn't just do what it's told, it takes the initiative. This represents a category defining shift from traditional software, and opens up the opportunity for legal teams to take on more work than they could scarcely have imagined before. Imagine being able to offer every client a menu of all the key documentation you wish you had the time to do before. That's what we're building at Wexler. Get in touch if you'd like to learn more!

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How does the Clojure market look in the Q2 of 2024? Our CEO, Jiri Knesl at Flexiana shared an insightful observation recently about the current slowdown in the #Clojure market. We've seen some of our partnerships in the EU and the USA shrink as businesses opt to hire in less expensive countries or form their own teams. Generally, Flexiana has grown along with our partners, and Clojure has been a hit especially with startups and small companies due to its rapid development capabilities. These businesses make up a significant chunk of the Clojure market. At present, with investments to startups in some countries, down by nearly 75%, it's no surprise the Clojure market is in a slump. However, a positive shift is anticipated by autumn 2024. Predictions show the Bank of England may implement its first base rate cut in August, and other countries, including the USA, plan to slash interest rates towards the end of this year. This could signal a much-needed revival in the Clojure market. Companies might begin boosting their budgets and hiring again, paving the way for increased demand for Clojure software agencies. PS: I am also adding a picture of our #cat, because his expression perfectly represents the current state of the Clojure market😽

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We published a new Substack, looking at the evolution of the People function in 30 of Europe's top SaaS businesses that raised Series D+. It's always interesting to see how some of the most successful scale-ups built their organisations. There are, of course, many ways to skin a cat - but, also, clear best practices. We looked at: (1) When these companies hired their first People leader and CPeO (2) Typical Tenure for People leaders (3) Typical background of People leaders Our research raises a few interesting insights. For example: - 16% of the companies surveyed didn't even hire a People leader until Series C or later (!) - in this case there was a CFO/COO + HR manager combo - or only 7% of the Chief People Officers who served at these SaaS businesses were promoted to the role from within. All other CPeOs either already had the title or joined from a much larger business and received the title upon joining. You can find our hypothesis for why this is in the article. Link in the comments. Hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Thank you to the team for putting this together. Evica Borjan Antonija Sandra Elena 🙏☺️

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The original timeline for the Legal tool we're building with AI was roughly 4-6 weeks with a lot of uncertainty on the technical feasibility (we relied on API's that were haphazard at best). On talking to more customers however, we realised that there is a slightly different problem we can tackle that no one is building for, and requires zero AI integration initially. We would also be able to build the prototype in roughly a week. While there is still value in the original version of the product we'd envisioned, this seemed like the quickest route to validate what we're building and get revenue. Wish us luck 🤞 #startup #founder #entrepreneur

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if you want to learn about how we built the company and what makes it unique, https://lnkd.in/eQS2VRKf is a really really well written article about us by Bill Kerr - better than what I have managed to put together so far!

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Scale-up Business Guide to Getting Investor Ready This guide looks at each area of your business that potential investors would be looking at in order to evaluate how attractive your opportunity is. Topics covered include: ❖ The Raise: The ins and outs of raising your funds and what you need to know about investment in your business. ❖ The Financials: What financials you need to bring to a pitch and what investors are looking for. ❖ The People: Who you need to have in your team when preparing a pitch. ❖ The Pitch: What your pitch needs and how to persuade and impress an investor. ❖ The Marketplace: What relationship does your business have with the marketplace? ❖ The Customers: Who are you targeting? ❖ The Plan for Exit: Why having a strategy for your exit from the beginning is attractive to investors. Download the guide now to go through the process that every business should go through before approaching investors.

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I often talk about ‘building something offline, before raising money’. This is the perfect example of what I mean👇 One of our portfolio companies Tradeaze UK LTD (it’s a biassed example, I’ll admit), identified a pain point: Co-founder, Jack, is an electrician by trade and saw first-hand the amount of time wasted by tradespeople when picking up tools and parts needed for a job.   To solve this pain point: ↳ Jack set up a Tradeaze iPhone, approached tradespeople on the street, handed out flyers and reached out on Facebook groups to his target audience. ↳ Tradies would text the number, asking for a part or tool. ↳ Jack would then jump on his bike to pick up the part and deliver it back to the customer directly. ↳ After a while, Jack started working directly with merchants providing them with a tablet in kiosk mode, with which the merchant would fill in a really simple form and Jack would receive the order email. ↳ Again, Jack or one of the delivery riders would take the part direct to the tradesperson in need. ↳ Jack continued this way until he got to breaking point and couldn’t handle any more daily deliveries. ↳ This is when he expanded his team to bring in even more experience with his co-founders Joe Blair and Ruben Engel. Since they have raised investment from us and other investors. They were able to prove their pain and solution offline, saving them money and time and proving traction to bring on investors ! Raising too soon, before proving you have the right solution is a huge risk. This is a fantastic way to build a business without needing to raise investment right away. Build offline first ! #businesstips #entrepreneurship #startups

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How to start a company: 1. use your network to get LOIs for a potential venture 2. turn those LOIs into getting a technical founder or fundraising to pay to build 3. Build an MVP; as fast as possible to get pilots started 4. launch pilots with those LOIs Most founders I meet are too scared of picking up phone to get LOIs; that is the primary core competency of any company. Ability to generate and close deals quickly. These founders would rather spend years building, fundraising, and hoping revenue will follow. It's too high risk of an approach. Tech building follows business needs ; not the other way around.

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What are some of the biggest challenges during business acquisitions? I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mona Sabet on the Scaling Tech Podcast. Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/ePAGGMRM YouTube - https://lnkd.in/ekCRqMG2 In this episode of the Scaling Tech podcast, Mona and Arin dive into the world of tech mergers and acquisitions, sharing stories of successful and not-so-successful deals. They explore the crucial role of engineering managers in navigating these transitions, along with the common challenges that many companies encounter during these periods of change:

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Early-stage founders almost always end up with more than 1 ICP very quickly. Often they don't realise this and it ruins their CAC:LTV ratio We encourage founders to go backwards and stress test their ICP hypothesis. Most don't believe they have multiple ICPs, until that moment. And then their a-ha moment comes: Founder: "I thought I had product market fit, but now we've refined the ICP I realize we're not quite there, and now it's obvious why sales is not working." Upwards of 80% of our founders have this epiphany. It's a liberating moment 🚀 Aligning on a founder's GTM debt ensures we deliver BOTH painkillers and vitamins simultaneously, and we target the root cause of their growth challenges. ICP influences PMF, which (obviously) directly impacts GTM Fit and your ability to get to the promised land... Scale. It takes 20 minutes to complete our self-assessment... ...want to see your scores? Type "grow revenue" in the chat, and I'll send you the link. Note: open to B2B SaaS founders/executives. #sales #saas #startups #GTMdebt #venturecapital

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