Top 4 Curated VC Picks + Must-Read Top 3 Books for 24Jan2024
Discover the top 4 curated VC picks and the must-read top 3 books for January 24, 2024. Learn about cyber training gaps, micro funds, emerging VCs and the Foundry Fund.
The Report by Bob Semple, Board Intelligence and the Corporate Governance Institute Found That Board Members Are Lacking Support When It Comes to Cyber Resilience
Technology Magazine: With Research Finding That 60% of Board Members Have Not Received Sufficient Cyber Resilience Training, Boards Must Adapt Quickly
Cybersecurity continues to be a concern for businesses, with a report conducted by technology services company Accenture highlighting how CEOs lack confidence in their organisations’ ability to protect against cyberattacks, despite seeing cybersecurity as vital to business growth.
And according to recent report findings, that concern extends to the boardroom, with the report finding that almost two-thirds of board members have not received adequate support and training regarding cyber resilience in the past 12 months.
Techcrunch: Last week, my colleague Aria Alamalhodaei wrote an exclusive on defense and space tech venture firm Countdown Capital’s plan to shut down. Jai Malik, the founder of Countdown, said in a letter to his LPs that due to how competitive the industrial tech sector has become, he is no longer confident about smaller venture firms’ ability to secure the meaningful stakes in startups they’d need to produce worthwhile returns.
As Aria wrote, the letter reads like a cold glass of water to the face. While winding down the fund is a mature move — GPs have a fiduciary duty to their LPs, after all — the news doesn’t help the growing scuttlebutt in the VC world that most micro funds can’t survive outside of a bull market like 2021’s.
Foundry: Foundry 2022 will be our final Foundry fund.
While VC firms rarely make decisions like this, it’s precisely what we planned to do when we started Foundry in 2006. From our founding, we intentionally decided not to build a legacy or generational firm —one meant to live beyond the tenure of the founding partners. Instead, we intended to focus on the work of investing, re-evaluating each potential new fund as our fundraising cadence required. For nearly 20 years now, that cadence has been to raise a new fund every three to four years. Each time, we make a deliberate decision to raise a subsequent fund. But not this time.
Pitchbook: Holiday jet lag isn’t the only thing keeping VCs up at night.
Countdown Capital‘s announcement last week that it is shutting down marked a rocky start to 2024 for emerging managers. Jai Malik, founder and GP of the early-stage industrial tech investment firm, wrote in a LinkedIn post that, despite strong performance, “the future of this space favors larger firms than mine.”
Emerging managers are worried: Many are giving LPs more leeway on terms and extending their fundraising time frames, and even top-tier firms are holding off on introducing premium carry. 2024 will be a year that decides which GPs turn into tenured players.
Selling To The C-Suite by Stephen Bistritz and Nicholas Read
According to Stephen Bistritz and Nicholas Read, selling to senior-level, or ‘C-Suite’, executives requires different skills and strategies from the more traditional departmental-level sale. It’s all about timing.
SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
Having spent time observing top performers, Neil Rackham has distilled their expertise into a methodology we can all use to better our sales: SPIN Selling. Nearly all effective sales calls can be broken down into four stages.
Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham
A great organization must not only accommodate the fact that each employee is different, it must capitalist on this difference. Rather than focus on addressing the weaknesses of our teams, we need to exploit their talents and turn them into strengths that we can exploit.
We're super excited to share the latest episode of the Female VC Lab Podcast with you. Joining us this time is the incredible Keri Findley, CEO and CIO of Tecora Capital. 🌟
🔑 5 Keys You'll Learn in This Episode:
1.
From Research to Investment: Keri takes us
AI and Inductive Reasoning: Possibilities and Implications
by Joao-Pierre S. Ruth, Senior Editor | Information Week
Ai and inductive reasoning possibilities and implications0:00/2332.6824491×
How artificial intelligence sifts through data to generate results can be influenced by the underlying framework and methodology it deploys. Inductive reasoning, or induction, is
Now, with fresh eyes, I see my part in the success of my relationships. I take accountability when it is appropriate. I step up and apologize when I have been less than kind.
🗒️ Boards Must Adapt as Tech Advances Show Cyber Training Gap
Technology Magazine: With Research Finding That 60% of Board Members Have Not Received Sufficient Cyber Resilience Training, Boards Must Adapt Quickly
Cybersecurity continues to be a concern for businesses, with a report conducted by technology services company Accenture highlighting how CEOs lack confidence in their organisations’ ability to protect against cyberattacks, despite seeing cybersecurity as vital to business growth.
And according to recent report findings, that concern extends to the boardroom, with the report finding that almost two-thirds of board members have not received adequate support and training regarding cyber resilience in the past 12 months.
Click here to read more
🗒️ Countdown Capital winding down is not a bad omen for micro funds
Techcrunch: Last week, my colleague Aria Alamalhodaei wrote an exclusive on defense and space tech venture firm Countdown Capital’s plan to shut down. Jai Malik, the founder of Countdown, said in a letter to his LPs that due to how competitive the industrial tech sector has become, he is no longer confident about smaller venture firms’ ability to secure the meaningful stakes in startups they’d need to produce worthwhile returns.
As Aria wrote, the letter reads like a cold glass of water to the face. While winding down the fund is a mature move — GPs have a fiduciary duty to their LPs, after all — the news doesn’t help the growing scuttlebutt in the VC world that most micro funds can’t survive outside of a bull market like 2021’s.
Click here to read more
🗒️ The Final Foundry Fund
Foundry: Foundry 2022 will be our final Foundry fund.
While VC firms rarely make decisions like this, it’s precisely what we planned to do when we started Foundry in 2006. From our founding, we intentionally decided not to build a legacy or generational firm —one meant to live beyond the tenure of the founding partners. Instead, we intended to focus on the work of investing, re-evaluating each potential new fund as our fundraising cadence required. For nearly 20 years now, that cadence has been to raise a new fund every three to four years. Each time, we make a deliberate decision to raise a subsequent fund. But not this time.
Click Here to Read More
🗒️ Threat of irrelevance looms over emerging VCs
Pitchbook: Holiday jet lag isn’t the only thing keeping VCs up at night.
Countdown Capital‘s announcement last week that it is shutting down marked a rocky start to 2024 for emerging managers. Jai Malik, founder and GP of the early-stage industrial tech investment firm, wrote in a LinkedIn post that, despite strong performance, “the future of this space favors larger firms than mine.”
Emerging managers are worried: Many are giving LPs more leeway on terms and extending their fundraising time frames, and even top-tier firms are holding off on introducing premium carry. 2024 will be a year that decides which GPs turn into tenured players.
Click Here to Read More
Top 3 book summaries this week 📚
Selling To The C-Suite by Stephen Bistritz and Nicholas Read
According to Stephen Bistritz and Nicholas Read, selling to senior-level, or ‘C-Suite’, executives requires different skills and strategies from the more traditional departmental-level sale. It’s all about timing.
SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
Having spent time observing top performers, Neil Rackham has distilled their expertise into a methodology we can all use to better our sales: SPIN Selling. Nearly all effective sales calls can be broken down into four stages.
Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham
A great organization must not only accommodate the fact that each employee is different, it must capitalist on this difference. Rather than focus on addressing the weaknesses of our teams, we need to exploit their talents and turn them into strengths that we can exploit.
Read Next
E102: Keri Findley: Tacora Capital
We're super excited to share the latest episode of the Female VC Lab Podcast with you. Joining us this time is the incredible Keri Findley, CEO and CIO of Tecora Capital. 🌟 🔑 5 Keys You'll Learn in This Episode: 1. From Research to Investment: Keri takes us
The Intersection of Blockchain and Quantum Computing: A New Era of Innovation
Blockchain and quantum computing are intersecting to create a new era of innovation in technology.
Unbound: No 197
AI and Inductive Reasoning: Possibilities and Implications by Joao-Pierre S. Ruth, Senior Editor | Information Week Ai and inductive reasoning possibilities and implications0:00/2332.6824491× How artificial intelligence sifts through data to generate results can be influenced by the underlying framework and methodology it deploys. Inductive reasoning, or induction, is
I am refreshing my relationships
Now, with fresh eyes, I see my part in the success of my relationships. I take accountability when it is appropriate. I step up and apologize when I have been less than kind.