James McDonough

Today's Boring Biz: Pool Leak Detection Company - $2.3M Revenue - $610K Cashflow - South Carolina - Day 39 of "50 States In 50 Days" Note: We do not represent this deal, highlighting for informational purposes only for viewers What do they do? 1. Leak detection services 2. Electronic detection equipment 3. Pool inspections Investment Highlights 1. Strong market demand 2. Established reputation 3. Business systems in place Investment risks/concerns 1. What is the competition 2. Customer concentration 3. Length of contracts #SMB #ETA #finance #Cashflow #investing #search #searchfund #privateequity #microprivateequity #smallbusiness #venturecapital #vc #entrepreneur #business #businessowner #pool #leakdetection #southcarolina #servicecompany 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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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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Really appreciate the perspective from Anissa G.'s piece in The Information this morning based on her conversation with Bill Braun, Chief Information Officer at Chevron. Like other enterprises, Chevron has pursued two core areas that I believe are low-hanging fruit for AI adoption — they’ve built an internal chatbot with OpenAI’s API to help their HR and legal teams more easily query Chevron-specific company information and are testing out Copilot for Microsoft Office. What’s fascinating is Chevron, 15 on the 2024 Fortune 500 list, established an Enterprise AI team last summer to see what tools in the market they should be adopting, but haven’t yet found anything they believe will have a significant impact on the business — whether by boosting revenue or saving time and money. It’s easy to forget but helpful to keep in mind that, like many of their peers, Chevron began their cloud journey in 2017 and is still in the process of moving workloads there. While I believe it’s absolutely the right thing for management teams, boards and technology leaders to be actively seeking answers to the question of how they should leverage AI, there’s still a lack of clarity on where the rubber will meet the road to deliver transformative business outcomes. In many cases, continued cloud adoption is both a more immediate priority and a necessary intermediate step to being opportunistic with AI. Highly suggest reading the full article here — https://lnkd.in/em8s7J_2

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Efficiency gains are what drove the original shale revolution, but it also turned out to be a trap for the industry at the time: everyone got so excited they all wanted to see just how much oil they could squeeze out of the ground that they forgot about things like demand and prices. The result was that they overproduced and suffered a price slump. This time, the industry is less likely to fall into that trap. It has learned a lot of lessons from the last few industry cycles, with the sensitivity of prices to any major production boosts in the shale patch one of the most important ones. Most shale drillers have also rearranged their strategic priorities, often under pressure from investors, to focus on the bottom line and not the production figure. What is perhaps interesting in the current situation with U.S. shale is that this higher than previously expected production growth is coming amid a decline in global stocks. It is quite a substantial decline and it should have erased any bearish effect U.S. shale production figures might have on international prices. Yet it hasn’t. Because everyone is focusing on economic indicators.

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Friends, Q2 was a quarter of progress and learning for us at HawkTower, where we invest in early-stage startups applying breakthrough computing technologies to maximize California's natural resource markets. Our focus is on technology-enabled interventions (e.g., AI-enabled geospatial radars for lithium-ion batteries in the waste stream) for critical, market-level imperatives (e.g., disaster prevention) that can drive rapid commercial adoption (e.g., placed on every recycling truck in the world). Our current investment priorities are: - Agricultural productivity and efficiency - Biomanufacturing - Labor and mobility automation - Waste stream optimization and decarbonization - Disaster prevention and management Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to: Milestones and Investments: - In late April, we officially launched our fund, filing with the SEC. Yay. - By June, we completed our first fund close ahead of schedule, with backing from family offices, foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and organizations aligned with California's future. - Our portfolio now includes three early-stage investments (Farm-ng, Agriful Software, and Nexstera Tech). Strategic Partnerships: - We believe that startups operating closer to their customers and resources, especially in agriculture and biomanufacturing, have a strategic advantage. For instance, the Salinas Valley, a major agricultural hub, is less than an hour from Silicon Valley and serves as a center of thought leadership in the convergence of agriculture and AI (from Western Growers, Taylor Farms, and others). - Similarly, the North San Joaquin Valley is emerging as a biotech and agtech innovation hub, and we are proud to support BEAM Circular, a startup hub for the circular bioeconomy. Key Relationships: - Karen Warner, CEO of BEAM Circular, joined HawkTower as a strategic advisor. - Jackie Cruz, Ed. D. Cruz, Hartnell College’s VP of Advancement, advises on Salinas Valley and workforce development. - Ben Palone from Western Growers, with his technical background in agriculture, became a trusted advisor. - Matthew Hoffman from Driscoll's Global R&D team provides insights on global agriculture, product positioning, and investment strategy. - We collaborated with Monterey Bay DART for workforce development and automation in agtech. - Dominic Milano and the Milano Technical Group from Merced collaborated on key initiatives and advised us on investments. - HawkTower is participating in Santa Cruz Works's accelerator cohort as a mentor and advisor. Thank you Doug Erickson. - We published an overview of entrepreneurship across the UC system with input from across the University of California system. Moving into the fall, we remain deeply committed to supporting founders shaping California's future natural resource markets. Stay tuned and be in touch! : ) Db

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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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7 Lessons We Learned from Managing Complex Acquisitions Acquisitions aren’t just about numbers—they’re about people, processes, and vision. In the last few months, our journey with Miller's Elegant Hardware highlighted some valuable lessons: 1. Always align on values before the deal. 2. Listen first, then strategize. 3. Transparency builds long-term trust. 4. Growth plans should respect the company’s heritage. 5. Empower the current team to lead the change. 6. Measure success by impact, not just profit. 7. The most sustainable growth comes from integrity-driven decisions. Which of these resonates most with you, and why? #BusinessEthics #Acquisitions #Leadership #PrivateEquity #BusinessForGood

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Exact numbers per VC Lab video are as follows: Applicants applied : 3550 Applicants enrolled in the course: 350 Graduated: 46 Percentage graduates are : 46 / 3550 X 100 = 1.3% 

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A good case of glass half full or half empty. The $2tn investment is way short of what is needed to be net zero in coming decades. But, some of the categories like battery storage capacity or solar generation have been growing 100% or more annually for the last 10 year or so. Interesting short read. #Cleanteach #Climatecrisis #Energytransition https://lnkd.in/dAy9P3Jn

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How Do You Drive Growth in an Ever-Changing Industry... Last week, Joe and I had the pleasure of hosting Dan Mottram on The Assembly Line Podcast. Dan has over 20 years of experience in the industrial sector, moving from engineering roles to advising top firms as a strategic consultant. In this episode, Dan shares his insights on how he overcame industry challenges, fostered innovation, and drove business growth. His personal journey is full of valuable lessons for anyone looking to push their business forward. Curious about how to navigate these challenges yourself? Don’t miss this episode! 🎬 Watch the FULL EPISODE on YouTube & Spotify 🎙️ (Link in the comments 🔗) #BusinessGrowth #IndustrialLeadership #Innovation #Podcast

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The Information just broke the news of the incredible $8B+ #fundraising haul, with General Catalyst nearly doubling its last total. Fund breakdowns include $4.5B for "core venture funds," $1.5B for their "core creation team," and $2B for "multiple accounts." This was a 33% oversubscription to their $6B fundraising target, which surfaced in April 2024 by the Financial Times. While this is great news for the #entrepreneurial founders, the key question /challenge for General Catalyst will be where to place the newly closed funds to deliver the returns expected by their #limitedpartners that entrust them with their hard-earned capital. What do you think? #management #venturecapital #privateequity #capitalmarkets

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Good and alternative state of Venture capital. I lean more toward Bryce and Indie.vc's view. This is the future. The other end of factory farm industrial VC. https://lnkd.in/g2DzZzTu

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Just finished reading "The Next Giant Leap" by Space Capital - a pioneering VC investing in the emerging Space Economy. The report speaks to how SpaceX’s Starship is more than just the most powerful rocket ever built—it is poised to reshape the global space economy in profound ways. With its immense payload capacity, reusable design, and lower cost per launch, Starship will unlock entirely new industries and transform existing business models. But how should industries and businesses evolve to align with this paradigm shift? 📈 Rethinking Business Strategies & Supply Chains - For businesses, Starship represents an era of mass-production over precision engineering. This means moving away from the focus on mass efficiency toward cost-effective, redundant, and scalable production. - In terms of supply chains, this opens opportunities for new players in manufacturing, materials, and space components. The demand for off-the-shelf parts and non-aerospace suppliers will rise dramatically. 💡 New Use Cases & Opportunities   The opportunities Starship unlocks go beyond launching satellites. - In-space manufacturing of high-value products like pharmaceuticals and advanced materials that cannot be created on Earth. - Mega-constellations of satellites for global broadband, expanding on what Starlink has already begun. - In-orbit assembly and servicing, allowing for larger space structures like telescopes or even habitats to be built in orbit, radically reducing costs. - Lunar infrastructure and resource extraction will become more viable, paving the way for sustainable human presence on the Moon and, eventually, Mars. 📊 What Should Businesses Do Now?   1. Embrace Redundancy & Scale – Instead of focusing on one-off, high-cost solutions, businesses should embrace redundancy and mass production.    2. Simplify Design – With Starship’s payload capacity, there is less pressure to optimize for mass efficiency. Simplified, scalable designs will allow for faster production and iteration cycles, akin to how SpaceX rapidly tests and evolves Starship itself. 3. Develop Strategic Partnerships – Collaborating with forward-thinking space startups, suppliers, and even non-aerospace sectors will be essential to capitalize on the opportunities Starship provides. 🌌 A New Era of Innovation   Starship will democratize access to space, lowering the barriers for businesses to create and scale. The next decade will witness breakthroughs in scientific exploration, energy production, and in-space transportation that we can only begin to imagine today. #SpaceEconomy #Starship #Innovation #SupplyChain #Manufacturing #SpaceTech #Entrepreneurship #FutureOfSpace https://lnkd.in/gNdbwXdq

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Last month, Uncork Capital celebrated its 20th anniversary with a jubilant gathering attended by 420 guests, marking two decades of success in the venture capital realm. Over the years, the firm, alongside industry peers like First Round Capital and Felicis, has witnessed remarkable growth, now managing billions of dollars in assets. This expansion reflects the flourishing landscape of venture capital, with the industry experiencing exponential growth in investment. Moreover, positive shifts in VC norms, such as the evolving attitudes towards board seats, underscore a commitment to providing tailored support to startups, enhancing their growth prospects. Amidst discussions surrounding sectors like AI, optimism prevails, emphasizing a steadfast dedication to investing in innovative ventures with lasting impact. Read More Here: https://lnkd.in/efN6-Spd Branded Hospitality Ventures Jeff Clavier Susan Liu Ashley Cravens Tripp Jones Sarah Du Andy McLoughlin Amy Saper #innovation #technology #management #venturecapital #startup

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ReElement Technologies #lithium brine refining solutions. ReElement Technologies has been focused on two key parameters of its business. - Scaling our business for large scale revenue generation. - Versatility and flexibility of feedstocks. We have proven our ability to be a full lifecycle solution for critical and rare earth elements, we have also proven our ability to be a value added partner to existing flow sheets through #PoweredbyReElement. We have now developed processes for #rareearth ores, #lithium ores, recycled #lithiumionbattteries, recycled #rareearth magnets. Today we announced that we can eliminate multiple steps and significantly reduce costs and simplify the flow sheets for #lithium brines. We are excited about the versatility and cost effective nature on how we unlock and open the supply chains throughout the world through collaboration and partnerships. https://lnkd.in/gJBA2Hm5 ReElement Technologies American Resources Corporation $AREC

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-Founders should avoid overuse of revenue multiple: what it really means in startups’ valuation- Traditional valuation methods rely on a company's financial statements. If founders use revenue multiples in dealing with potential investors, they should understand the basics of valuation. Otherwise, it might appear as a lack of common sense. Here's a breakdown of the basic approaches and why revenue multiple was invented. https://lnkd.in/gbYqTpAC #Hypergrowth #Valuation #HITSERIESCAPITAL #TANAAKK

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