Jennifer Jones

AI doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to work for society’s most critical industries. From healthcare to defense, current solutions lack the deep knowledge to solve organizations’ highly complex use cases. Enter Trase, led by Grant Verstandig, Baskar Sridharan, and Joe Laws. Trase is combining industry-leading tech with deep domain expertise to deliver autonomous, end-to-end, turnkey agents designed to drive real ROI across highly regulated sectors, with compliance, trust, and security guiding their every move. Today, Trase launched out of stealth with $10.5 million in pre-seed funding from Red Cell Partners and VIPC | Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation. Learn how we’re enabling last-mile AI adoption across various enterprises, starting with healthcare, energy, and national security: https://lnkd.in/egJYdNKz

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Institutions don’t fail all at once. They fail when design can’t keep up with change. In Davos this week, I’ll be joining the inaugural gathering of the Institutional Research Network, a new initiative convened by The Digital Economist. The focus is not another set of conversations but the patient work of connecting research, markets, and governance so ideas can take institutional form and hold under real-world pressure. Some initiatives are about visibility. This one is about durability. #Davos2026 #InstitutionalDesign #IRN #TheDigitalEconomist

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I spoke with Christien Louviere of BDE Capital about his journey from a $330mm exit to becoming an independent sponsor. Christien shared excellent insights for folks looking to partner with business owners, rather than buy sellers out completely. Below are a few of the topics we covered: - Why he moved from “zero-to-one” startups to a buy-then-build strategy - How Christien's background shaped a focus on growth vs. cost-cutting - Why 20–40% rolled equity is central to his deal structures—and how it builds trust with sellers - Using scenario analysis with AI tools to evaluate management teams and uncover hidden key-person risks - How to identify when a $3–5M EBITDA company truly has a middle management layer—or is still founder-reliant For anyone investing in or buying small businesses, Christien’s approach provides a fresh lens on growth, alignment, and deal structuring. 🎥 Watch the full interview here → https://lnkd.in/ekfkaiej 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e86Agx6V

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Great insights from the Houlihan Lokey team on how the Salesforce ecosystem is evolving, and how consulting partners like Zennify are helping to lead the way.

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Big milestone for Firmable. We’ve raised $14m Series A led by Airtree. Sales has moved through a few big waves: intuition-led, CRM-led, data-led. We’re now entering the next one – intelligence-led sales. The opportunity isn’t just better data. It’s turning that data into clear direction and action, without adding more work for sales teams. That’s what we’re building at Firmable: a foundation of trusted external data, layered with intelligence that helps sellers know who to focus on and when. Led by Airtree, this round supports our expansion across Asia and into the US – and accelerates the build-out of AI agents that take the admin work off sales teams so they can focus on what they do best. Proud of the team, grateful to our customers and investors. We’re just getting started. Read the exclusive in the AFR. https://lnkd.in/gr66uknb Leigh Jasper | Tara Salmon | Karthik Venkatasubramanian| Chester Thompson| Chath Widanapathirana

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Growth at all costs is out. Strategic expansion is in. One stat from our new report that says it all: By $100M ARR, 67% of growth comes from expansion, not net-new customers. We’re seeing a mindset shift among top-performing founders. They’re prioritizing customer success early, building in product-led growth loops, and measuring how they grow, not just how fast. Full analysis and benchmarks here: https://lnkd.in/gZruurYs #AI #SaaS #CustomerSuccess #BeyondBenchmarks

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What does the "new era" of private equity look like? This week at PEI NEXUS, Bain & Company's Chairman of Global Private Equity Practice Hugh MacArthur recapped the firm's latest Global Private Equity Report. Hugh noted that firms will need to focus on what they do well in a “new era” for private equity. These sentiments echoed much of what Private Wealth Forum speakers, including Arax Investment Partners Founder and CEO Haig Ariyan, Laird Norton Wetherby CIO Ron Albahary, CFA, Ardian Managing Director, US Private Wealth Solutions Ava Mallin, and Citi Wealth Head of Private Equity and Real Estate Jeffrey Locke, shared on stage at PEI. This week's AGM Alts Weekly dives into what a "new era" in private equity might look like, connecting dots and data points from Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company's 2026 reports on the state of the private equity industry. Some key themes defined the takeaways from both reports: ➡️ Returns will not be a dime a dozen: Bain's punchline? "12 is the new 5." ➡️ Megadeals, big questions: 2025 witnessed an increase in global buyout deal value. However, just 13 deals of $10B or more contributed 69% of the growth in 2025, accounting for $274B of the global gain. ➡️ A K-shaped industry: Private equity appears to turning into a K-shaped industry, with “a subset of elite funds [being] on the upswing while everyone else muddles through.” ➡️ No fun in fundraising: McKinsey noted that core, closed-end fundraising has “become more competitive, selective, and time consuming.” ➡️ Continuation nation: There’s been a marked rise in continuation vehicle activity, but only represents less than 10% of exit value. ➡️ Mid-sized deals not so mid: Megadeal activity grabbed the headlines. But deal sizes $1-5B deals grew 29%. Growth in the $1-5B deal size segment could be encouraging for specialist buyout funds. There are some key questions for allocators to grapple with as they think about what private equity might look like in the future. 1️⃣ Do allocators believe public markets will continue to outperform private markets? 2️⃣ Will fundraising bounce back? 3️⃣ Can firms kick value creation into motion? 4️⃣ Are both GPs and LPs ready to handle how investors might look to exit evergreen vehicles? 5️⃣ For LPs, are they finding managers that have an edge? Read on for more👇 This week's Alt Goes Mainstream's AGM Alts Weekly, brought to you by DealsPlus, covers: 🗂️ AGM Index, an index that tracks the leading publicly traded alternative asset managers. 💻 Who is hiring: Senior-level positions from companies Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Inc., Ares Management, EQT Group, Blue Owl Capital, Franklin Templeton, Fortress Investment Group, iCapital, Goldman Sachs, Ultimus Fund Solutions, Krilogy, MSCI Inc. Subscribe👇 to see the latest trends & navigate this rapidly changing landscape as alts go mainstream. https://lnkd.in/eRKN25jy

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**Leveraging Community Feedback for Elevated Engagement** X's initiative to use Community Notes for identifying top posts underscores the power of user feedback in shaping content engagement. As venture capitalists, understanding community sentiment can help us guide portfolio companies towards creating more relevant, impactful content. At ElevenX Capital, we believe that aligning product offerings with user preferences is crucial for sustained growth. How can we, as investors, harness community insights to support startups effectively? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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Company building in energy is shaped by early decisions that compound over time—how capital is structured, how technical risk is absorbed, and how teams prepare for scale well before it arrives.    Much of my work with founders centers on navigating those choices as deep science becomes real businesses. The details differ across power, materials, and industrial systems, but the challenge is consistent: building companies that can operate, adapt, and grow over long horizons.  You can see that work taking shape across the Breakthrough Energy portfolio. https://lnkd.in/eXd72trE

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Agency M&A is on fire. 🔥 At Merge, we’re seeing more activity than ever, especially for agencies valued under $20M. Buyers are coming from every direction: PE-backed platforms, strategic acquirers, and first-time entrepreneurial buyers. It’s simple economics: demand is outpacing supply. Here’s what’s happening in the market 👇 1️⃣ The sub-$20M sweet spot This is where the action is, and it’s all about the size of the buyer pool. At this level, agencies attract interest from every buyer type: strategic acquirers, PE groups, entrepreneurs, and even financial or silent investors. The moment you move above $20M, that pool narrows fast, leaving mostly private equity. Under $20M, the field is wide open, and that competition is driving pricing and velocity. 2️⃣ The rise of the entrepreneurial buyer A few years ago, agency M&A was dominated by PE firms and large strategics. Not anymore. Now everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, and agencies have become one of the most accessible, profitable entry points. Today’s market is full of independent entrepreneurs, many using SBA financing to buy their first agency. This new wave of buyers is keeping demand hot and competition fierce. 3️⃣ The AI effect (and reality check) Last year, everyone was nervous about AI. Now buyers are confident. AI is reshaping (not replacing) the landscape. Brands still need to drive growth, visibility, and revenue. The agencies leveraging AI intelligently, not fearing it, are the ones commanding premium multiples. 4️⃣ Story clarity wins every time If a buyer can instantly understand what you do and who you serve, you’re already ahead. The agencies getting the most attention have a crystal-clear story, whether that’s a defined vertical or a sharp capability focus. You might alienate some buyers, but for the right one, you’re a perfect fit. ❤️ 5️⃣ Down year? Still sellable. Revenue dips aren’t deal killers. Buyers care about normalized profitability and strategic fit. If you’ve right-sized your team and tightened margins, we can adjust the expense base in modeling, and buyers will still line up if the fundamentals are strong. What we’re seeing on multiples 💰 • Agencies under $2M in adjusted EBITDA: 3–6× • Agencies over $2M: 5–8× Where you fall within that range depends on what you do, how well you do it, and the risks buyers perceive about your agency. Typical structure: 💵 Majority cash at close 📈 Performance-based earnouts 🤝 Rollover equity when there’s a platform angle Bottom line: The agency M&A market is booming. Smart founders are taking advantage of it. The “wait and see” crowd is missing the moment. 💬 Send me a message to talk about what your agency is worth in today’s market!

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Got to have a great call today with Jonathan Hakakian. Jonathan is the co-founder and Managing Partner of SoundBoard Venture Fund - an early-stage fund investing primarily outside major coastal hubs. They've built a portfolio of 40+ companies across the US in underserved geo., with notable exits including Jump (acquired by Uber). We didn't talk enough about what he's doing - because we got wonderfully sidetracked. We talked about The Fulcrum; Work. About Iranian food. About food as both a love language and a window into culture. About learning and the 2nd part of life journey... And then we got into something I care deeply about: how to fund the companies that aren't "VC backable" by traditional standards but are absolutely worth backing. Not every great business fits the venture mold. Jonathan gets that. SoundBoard is built on character over skill, close founder relationships, and creative structures that meet founders where they are. That's my kind of investor. Heidi Knoblauch you should be in this conversation. I think you'd connect on much of this part! I'm excited by Jonathan's approach. His thoughtfulness. The way he shows up for founders outside the usual corridors. Ive learned quite a bit from him. Very much looking forward to our next call - and to his next fund. This is how ecosystems get built. One good conversation at a time.

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🚨NEW EPISODE: Recorded live at FUTURE TITANS 2026 - Jeff Perry of Carta sat down with the iconic Seth Levine, co-founder of Foundry. Seth has been in venture for 25 years, built Foundry from scratch as an emerging manager himself, and has backed about 50 emerging manager funds through his fund of funds. He has genuinely seen every side of this table. They went deep on building Foundry, why VCs are in the influence business, not the decision business, and why the concentration problem in venture is not only bad for LPs, but also for the innovation ecosystem overall. And why Seth's new book, Capital Evolution, is so important for the future of America. 🎧 Links to listen... Apple: https://lnkd.in/ehQUQ2EM Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eU4FExpg

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Lower launch costs, dual-use tech validated by government demand, and faster exit timelines mean generalist VCs now have a real entry point. With $4.5B invested across 48 companies this year, venture funding in space is scaling beyond rockets into applications, infrastructure, and defense. Space is colliding with climate tech, AI, and resource plays. FireSat’s wildfire monitoring constellation, Planet Labs’ collaboration with Anthropic, and Interlune’s helium-3 vision show that the next wave of space investment is not about launch but about applications with terrestrial impact. Historically, space investments took decades to return capital. Now, IPOs like Voyager and Karman Space & Defense, plus the prospect of strategic acquisitions, make the sector investable within standard VC fund timelines. This is critical for bringing more generalist investors into the market. Let's build!

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PE Boards as a Differentiator (for portfolio companies) If you heard the Shore Capital episode on "Invest Like the Best" podcast - there is one interesting insight for PE firms. Board Composition: - each board is built like a sports team with complementary skills - operators, VOC, adjacent sector experts This is a true differentiator because most boards are not intentionally built like a high-performing sports team. Also, there is one particular operator profile every B2B portfolio company should have on its board: a GTM expert (i.e. former CRO). All B2B portfolio company board discussions consistently focus on sales and revenue growth, making this one of the most impactful board roles. All top decile PE firms have a GTM expert in-house as an Operating Partner specializing in GTM who joins board meetings to spot upside opportunities and help see around corners and mitigate risks. P.S. Relating to the GTM, sales, and growth side, there’s a well-known story about Michael Ovitz serving on the board of Gulfstream Aerospace while it was owned by the PE firm Forstmann Little & Co. Michael Ovitz said that he and other board members, like Colin Powell, were so focused on GTM they even got on the phone to help sell jets. It was an entirely GTM-focused board which helped turn around Gulfstream. #pe #privateequity

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Two weeks ago on Swimming with Allocators, we sat down with David Clark, CIO at VenCap, to talk about what decades of venture data can teach allocators. One takeaway that stood out: discounts don’t matter as much as people think in venture secondaries. Because venture is such a power-law asset class, outcomes are driven by exposure to a few massive winners. Whether a stake is bought at a small discount, or even a premium, often matters far less than the quality of the underlying company and its upside. Great conversation on venture returns, manager selection, and the nuances of how allocators should think about secondary investments. 👇 Link in the comments.

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Much of the money and time in healthcare happens past the point of diagnosis. The money: $200B of spend on specialty drugs. The time: putting patients on therapies requires clinical judgment, and navigating a labyrinth of paperwork and people. The result is a byzantine status quo where patients get life saving therapies denied or delayed, and hospital systems capture only $80B of the $200B of drug spend that they originate. Latent’s groundbreaking clinical AI is a portal into the future. Patients get therapies quickly with personalized care, and hospitals transform their bottom line. As a result, Latent has seen extraordinary traction, working with over 50% of the top 20 U.S. health systems in under a year. Latent is one of the biggest and most strategic opportunities in healthcare, sitting in between providers, payors, patients, and pharma. Spark Capital is delighted to support Rishabh Jain and Sriram Somasundaram and this consequential company and to work with Sarah Guo and Michael Dixon.

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Public Co. Boards - Think And Function Like A Raider Or Activist "There are numerous providers that work with public companies to develop defenses against shareholder activism. Yet the most foolproof way to avoid corporate raiders or activist investors is to position the company for value maximization and go about creating the same. It is axiomatic that raiders and activists do not pursue high performance companies." #corporategovernance #governance #boardsofdirectors #investors #institutionalinvestors #shareholderactivism #shareholdervalue https://lnkd.in/g3vvw6SM

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Why do private equity sponsors and CFOs see AI so differently? 98% of PE sponsors demand immediate AI adoption while 68% of CFOs admit they don't know where to begin. This disconnect reflects a broader truth about innovation—vision without executional guidance creates paralysis. In my experience, the CFOs asking 'where do I start?' often end up ahead of those with grand strategies but no practical roadmap. The shadow AI economy shows us the answer: start with what employees are already using successfully, then scale with proper governance... The question isn't whether AI transformation will happen—it's whether leadership will learn from the 90% of workers who've already figured it out. Read more in the latest Velocity Meter newsletter:

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