Chris Crump

Private Markets (PE, VC, Growth Equity) are asset classes largely inaccessible to public investors, yet there's a lot of demand. This locks individual investors out of the market for innovative companies, and also reduces liquidity opportunities for employees, founders and angels (opaque secondary markets with high tx fees and approval hurdles don't count). Is there a way to solve this using technology, potentially GAI, in a regulated way to give retail investors access to private markets in the UK? It would for sure encourage more entrepreneurship and innovation as well. This was one of the topics we discussed yesterday at the panel at Fund Finance Association , where I was invited to give the Founder's & Entrepreneur's view. Thanks for having me Joel Buckett and very insightful to hear the different perspectives of Muhammad Billal Malik, CAIA, Ibrahim Khan and Mohamed Azzam Khan, CFA

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A blistering funding run has me revisiting a question I posed after Q3's VC funding data came out. Was Austin's modest $1.6B in H1 2024 signaling a slowdown or was Q3's $1B surge the real indicator? November's explosive activity gives us our answer: 💥Tricentis: $1.33B raise ($4.5B valuation) New 🦄 💥FireFly Aerospace: $175M ($2B valuation) 💥Ladder: $105M 💥Halcyon AI: $100M ($1B valuation) New 🦄 With these mega-rounds, Q4 is already approaching $2B with several weeks remaining. I am hearing about more significant rounds in the pipeline, though I don’t know whether they will announce in Dec or early '25. What a difference a quarter makes! Austin sits at ~$4B YTD, knocking at the door of 2023's $4.2B. The first half numbers now look more like timing quirks than a true slowdown. Our sector diversity (seen here in AI, Space, Bio & Health and Cybersecurity) reinforces what Peter Walker's analysis shows below; Austin's strength comes from our broad foundation & tech convergence. As Peter notes in his original post, "Austin is good in many areas, great in few." I see this as a strength, not a weakness (not implying that he was making this implication either). With ATX consistently ranking somewhere between 5th-7th in funding, and having strong momentum metrics, we have a bright future ahead. What's Next?

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Buckley Ventures Set to Raise $250M for Fund IV Buckley Ventures, a bi-coastal investment firm based in San Francisco and New York City, is gearing up to raise $250 million for its fourth fund, according to a recent regulatory filing with the SEC. While fundraising is yet to commence, this new effort underscores the firm’s continued commitment to investing in transformative early-stage companies in the internet, software, and frontier technology sectors. + Firm Overview and Focus: Buckley Ventures is known for its concentrated investment strategy, with over $1 billion in AUM across multiple funds. The firm leverages a vast network of entrepreneurs, executives, engineers, academics, and industry experts to support its portfolio companies with problem-solving and growth initiatives. The firm has a storied history of backing innovative companies. Its portfolio includes notable successes like Rippling, Figma, Applied Intuition, Vercel, Solugen, Boom, and more, spanning a diverse array of industries and technologies. + Leadership: Led by Josh Buckley, an entrepreneur and early-stage investor who brings significant operational and investment expertise to the firm. His entrepreneurial background includes roles as: - Co-founder and CEO of Mino Games (2011-2019). - CEO of Product Hunt (2020-2021). - Chairman of Clearbit (2014-2020). Buckley also holds board positions at several leading companies, including Placer, NexHealth, Fuse, and ClassDojo. LinkedIn lists Jonathan Choi as another team member contributing to the firm's ongoing success. + Portfolio Strategy: Buckley Ventures aims to build long-term partnerships with founders by offering not just financial capital, but also strategic support through its extensive network. This approach has helped the firm identify and scale promising companies across frontier technology and software, including notable emerging fields such as #robotics, space technology, and next-gen #SaaS platforms. + Looking Ahead: Buckley Ventures' Fund IV reflects the firm’s ambition to maintain its leadership in early-stage technology investing. With its track record of successful investments and strong founder relationships, the upcoming $250M fund is poised to expand the firm’s influence and support a new generation of transformative companies. If you are experiencing difficulties in raising fresh capital and would require warm introductions to new LPs, contact G+QUANT     ▶ Please use G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks, or send your inquiry directly to [email protected] #VentureCapital #TechInvesting #EarlyStageStartups #BuckleyVentures #FrontierTech #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #StartupFunding

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The actions of a bankrupt Austin based accelerator, Newchip, have put over 1,000 startups in jeopardy. This hits close to home for me, as one of the startups I recently joined on its advisory board is directly affected by this issue. Apparently, Newchip charged startups $18,000–$20,000 to join its program with promises to upskill the founders and connect them to investors. While it's questionable if the startups that joined the program received proper training, hardly anyone got references to investors. At the time of joining the program Newchip also signed warrants with each of the startups. The warrant gave Newchip the right to buy $250,000 worth of shares in the company within a 24 month period, and at their current valuation. Now that Newchip has gone bankrupt, it has offered up the over 1,000 warrants it has with different startups as part of the settlement with its creditors. And the court has sanctioned the sale/auction. I find this sort of situation worrisome, because most of these startups hardly have lawyers that guide them through the execution of these documents. In fact, the founder of the startup I advise on its advisory board told me directly that he never read the warrant document! And he is one of many subjected to predatory accelerators and investors that can literally bleed a business dry. This is why some of us invest and also advice startups. There are a lot of sharks out there, and we have to protect them. If you are a startup founder and you want to join an accelerator program out there, here are three simple but important tips I will give: 1. 𝐃𝐮𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Before joining any accelerator program or entering into investment agreements, conduct thorough due diligence. This includes researching the accelerator's reputation, track record, and any past controversies or legal issues. 2. 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬: Carefully review and understand the terms of any agreements they enter into, including the rights and obligations related to warrants or other financial instruments. 3. 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Be aware of your legal rights and options in case of disputes or unexpected events, such as bankruptcies. Seeking legal advice and understanding the implications of legal agreements is crucial for protecting the interests of the startup and its founders. While there are no guarantees of success, taking proactive steps and seeking professional advice can help startups protect their interests and minimize the potential negative impact on their businesses.

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Want to stand out in a VC screening call? Ask thoughtful questions. Why it matters: 1. Shows you've done your research 2. Demonstrates genuine interest 3. Helps you understand if they're a good fit Go beyond "What's your check size?" Get specific to that fund and even the person you’re talking to. Remember, it's not just about us evaluating you - you're evaluating us too. What's the best question you've asked (or been asked) in a VC meeting?

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Big Company or Big Network: Which is the better partner? When you think partnerships, It’s easy to think of collaborating with companies. But have you considered partnering with a network? When I was in Austin, I struck a deal with Capital Factory. Community of 100,000 entrepreneurs. Portfolio valuation of $21 billion. This partnership opened doors to New brands, New investors, New level of growth. The takeaway? Partnering with a network doesn’t just add value— it channels it 🔮 #Networking #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

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How does Austin look when comparing share of VC dollars across stages? The short answer: Pretty consistent with our overall position. The long answer: A surprise or two. No shock that the Bay Area dominates from Seed to Series C, capturing between 30% and 45% of market share. Austin ranks between 5th and 7th place, holding a 3% to 4% share across each stage, matching our overall position of 5th or 6th depending on the dataset. Notably, Austin's highest rank is at the Series C stage, which I wasn’t expecting. My guess is this is less about a surge in Austin’s late-stage investments and more about Seattle’s drop-off at this stage. Here’s how venture dollars in Austin are distributed by stage: Seed: 12% Series A: 32% Series B: 33% Series C: 23% For comparison, the Bay Area's distribution is: Seed: 12% Series A: 26% Series B: 32% Series C: 30% Given the size of the rounds, it's logical that later stages command a larger share of total capital. To ascend to the next tier, Austin needs more companies to have both the demand for late stage funding and be able to secure it. 🙏 A big thanks to Peter Walker and Carta for continually providing such insightful data. What’s Next?

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Pitch decks should be updated monthly during an active raise. Most importantly, numbers and traction should be current. Plus, investor questions and feedback can give insight to continually improve the story + how you present it.

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"~80% of Floodgate's returns were from companies that had some type of significant pivot", including Twitch that was over a 80x from a company that original was called Justin.TV founded by Justin Kan as a way to stream his life. Mike Maples, Jr joined me on a special podcast to do a deep dive on the observations that led to his release of his book Pattern Breakers (avaialble everywhere as of this week so check it out!). Venture is a power law industry, and the best companies often have founders that see into the future and build things that may seem silly at first. Instead of backing incrementalist companies, Mike talks about the core thesis around Pattern Breakers, including "Founder Future" fit and the need for investors to understand inflection points and unique insights in companies they look at. Full interview in the comments:

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Summary: Texas-based firm, Tacora Capital, has raised $268.7 million for its second fund which specializes in venture debt for startups and other businesses. Key takeaways: Tacora Capital has raised $268.7 million for its second fund, showing demand for "flexible, non-leveraged" financing options for startups. Peter Thiel, a prominent Republican billionaire and investor, was a major investor in Tacora's first fund, but it is not clear if he is involved in the second fund. Founded in 2021, Tacora has a focus on lending to capital-intensive companies in industries like fintech and hardware. Counter arguments: The risk with venture debt is that startups may not be able to pay back their loans, which could lead to financial struggles for the company. Tacora only backs loans against strong assets owned by well-positioned companies, but the specific companies they have backed are not disclosed, leaving room for speculation. #venturecapital #vc #tech

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I get asked almost weekly how to setup proprietary sourcing pipeline stages... AND, since the pre-ski-season stoke is real right now (with 4" of base-grinding November tease in Tahoe), here's how I shred the proprietary sourcing mountain: In my experience most PE firms have far too few funnel stages, and often something like: ▪️ Unengaged ▪️ Engaged ▪️ Tracking ▪️ Active ▪️ Closed The problem with too few stages is that you lack the granularity to cross-sectionalized your CRM data in any meaningful way, meaning you can’t separate failure from success (at an individual or team level) or determine any sort of root causes of poor sourcing performance through your funnel... ❓ Is it because we can’t convert LOI’s? ❓ Are we not getting enough at-bats? ❓ Where are we dropping the ball? ❓ Is our sourcing team not keeping up on outreach? ❓ Why do we have so many regrettably missed deals?? 🤷‍♂️... 🤦 That's why I firmly believe in having at least these 10 pipeline stages for proprietary sourcing: 🔟 New Account Added to CRM and assigned an owner 9️⃣ Outreach Initiated 1+ credible contact(s) at the company (i.e. CEO, shareholder, etc.) been sent some form of outreach (email, phone, text, mail, etc) 8️⃣ Reply Received A credible contact at the company has responded 7️⃣ First Meeting / Call A substantial call or meeting with a credible contact has taken place with anyone at the firm 6️⃣ Escalated & Nurturing A substantial call or meeting with a credible contact has taken place with either (a) an Investment VP or above or (b) F2F with at least one additional member of the firm, AND we are in the process of nurturing the relationship as a firm 5️⃣ NDA / Financials An NDA has been sent and/or financials have been received 4️⃣ IC Presentation(s) The opportunity has been formally presented to and/or discussed at investment committee 3️⃣ Management Meeting(s) A management meeting has taken place 2️⃣ LOI Sent A LOI has been delivered to the company 1️⃣ LOI Signed A LOI has been signed by the company 0️⃣ Closed Won Whoop WHOOP! There's obviously tons of nuance to pipeline design, and make sure you right-size it for your firm, tech stack and team as it is definitely a balancing act: in general greater granularity like this will pay huge dividends over time, especially as you (a) look to coach your team and (b) attempt to identify areas for continuous improvement in your sourcing practice, BUT too many stages without any automations for updating pipeline stages, and all your work will be wasted (as no one will update the stages if it is too manual). 🤔 What am I missing? How else do you think about structure the pipeline for proprietary sourcing and why?

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Relative to yesterday's golf match between leading PGA Tour and LIV Golf players, the winners received $10 million in Crypto.com's Crono utility cryptocurrency. What are the uses of Crono? … Cronos (CRO) is a cryptocurrency token that has multiple uses within the Crypto.com ecosystem: Transaction fees: CRO can be used to pay for fees on the Crypto.com platform and the Cronos Chain Staking: Users can stake CRO to earn rewards like higher cashback, discounts, and voting rights DeFi features: CRO holders can access decentralized finance (DeFi) features and services Store of value: CRO can be used as a store of value that's backed by the success of the Crypto.com platform Governance: CRO holders can participate in governance decisions Asset transfers: CRO can be used to facilitate asset transfers between Cronos dApps CRO is the native token of the Cronos blockchain network, which is a sidechain of the Crypto.org Chain. CRO is also supported by Ethereum's ERC-20. You can deposit and withdraw CRO through the Crypto.com app. When trading or transferring CRO within the Crypto.com ecosystem, you don't need to consider the network type. However, you will need to choose the network type when depositing or withdrawing from external wallets. With the upcoming administration change favoring cryptocurrencies, will we see a resurgence of utility cryptocurrency... thoughts? #crypto.com #cryptocurrencies #cronos

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What an electrifying afternoon at the Houston Dealmakers Conference! 🚀🌟💡 The team at Curate Capital including myself took the stage for a fast-paced panel discussion that we hope completely transformed how attendees view social media's role in the venture capital landscape. M&A executives learned how to craft a captivating online brand that not only attracts investors but also builds a community of thriving future deal flow! ✨ The insights shared on leveraging social media for gaining invaluable customer insights were simply game-changing. A few highlights included: - I revealed the secrets behind Curate's concept of using influencers to skyrocket investment value, particularly for CPG brands with a direct opportunity to connect influencers with their products. - Darek of ROI Ventures shared his wife Hollie's journey from brand collaborations to true partnerships with equity in the contract, a model we're taking to scale with Curate Capital's second fund. - Aquila Mendez-Valdez of Haute in Texas shared actionable tips for even the most camera-shy brands to build an online community they can leverage for fundraising and relationship building in a genuine, authentic way. We hope the conversation left everyone feeling inspired and ready to transform their approach! 🎉 It's clear that with social media rapidly evolving within the financial sector, this is one trend everyone should be paying attention to. Thanks to all who participated, and a huge shoutout to the team at Dealmakers for the opportunity! Let's keep the conversation going and unlock endless possibilities together! 🙌💖 #CurateCapital #VentureCapital #SocialMediaMagic

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Is Bolt’s new $450M raise bold or reckless? I just saw this news (https://lnkd.in/eq9PxW8U)- Ryan Breslow is back at the helm, driving Bolt.com to a $14 billion valuation, not long after a $300 million stock buyback valuation that crushed the spirits of their employees who exercised their options at their last valuation. I'm all for founder-led companies with a little dash of crazy, but I don't like the smell of this new raise at all This dramatic turnaround, fueled by international investors, raises more questions than confidence. Breslow’s move feels more like an Adam Neumann-inspired hype play than a true growth strategy. The focus is on challenging Stripe and fueling FOMO, not on sustainable fundamentals. For founders and investors, this is a reminder: don’t let flashy narratives blind you to the reality of valuations. I’m all for supporting founder-led companies—it takes a little crazy to be a founder at this scale—but this one might be a step too far IMO. What’s your take on this announcement? All hype or the next Stripe killer?

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Why Buying Your First Business is the hardest & Financing The Fear is Being seen as too risky by lenders and investors. The Solution: Prepare a solid business plan with detailed financial projections. Work with a financial advisor to enhance your credibility. Consider alternative financing options like SBA loans or seller financing.

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The scenario... You're a young sports industry startup that has stalled growth and although you may be ready for institutional capital, you need to show more proof that you can execute and push through this plateau. This is where hiring a professional growth management firm like Champion Management Company comes into play. They will come in and help push through those hurdles and prop you up to get ready for institutional investors like Champion Venture Partners to come in heavy with a pile of new cash to fuel that next level of growth. Hit them up if this sounds like a solution that you need!

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Advice for raising your first VC fund from Nichole Wischoff, who grew up on food stamps in Arkansas and closed her $20 million Fund 2 in 2022. 1) Get in the mix. Get in the culture. Start building your network. Show up to events, meet people, ask questions, and start helping them. 2) Share. When you meet an interesting founder, connect them with people who can help. Connect them to investors you want to get to know better to build the strength of your own network. 3) When raising a fund, LP relationships are sacred. Build trust with your network over time through steps 1 and 2 above before raising a fund. "Get as close to the nucleus of what’s going on as you can” Nichole is one of the most interesting people I’ve met in the past few years. She grew up on food stamps in Arkansas and recently raised a $20 million Fund 2 for Wischoff Ventures. Listen to her full story + all her actionable advice for others in the comments 👇

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Today's Boring Business (Our First on BizBuySell): - 50+ Year Auto Repair & Service Shop - $300K Cashflow - North Florida - Day 26 of "50 States In 50 Days" Disclaimer: SMB PE LLC will receive fees in a successful sale as we represent the underlying deal. This is our first deal on BizBuySell. What Do They Do? 1. Family owned business with 60+ years of operating history 2. General service, electrical diagnostics, inspections, transmissions 3. Revenue 30-40% routine services and 60-70% high-margin jobs 4. Excellent staff in place and loyal, repeat customer base 5. Strategically positioned in high-visibility area Northeast Florida Highlights: 1. Long time history of profitability, Owner retiring 2. High-end auto with Average Repair Order (ARO) 30%+ vs market 3. Little to no professional marketing completed to-date, word of mouth Risks/ Concerns: 1. Owner-Dependency: How will Owner leaving impact business 2. Team has great people in place to help with transition, any at risk? 3. Owner owns underlying Real Estate, have to negotiate terms #SMB #ETA #finance #Cashflow #investing #search #searchfund #privateequity #microprivateequity #smallbusiness #venturecapital #vc #entrepreneur #business #businessowner Disclaimer: Hypothetical and illustrative only. Please do your own research (DYOR) or work with tax and legal professionals before making a decision. This video are intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice, nor should be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any security by SMB PE LLC or any third party.

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