Silicon Valley Journals’ Post

🌟Shaquille O'Neal 🚀🌟Shaquille O'Neal Began Building His Estimated $500 Million Portfolio By Investing In This Tech Titan When It Was A Startup🌟🚀 🔥Early Adoption: Shaquille O'Neal's decision to invest in a tech startup early on highlights his foresight and willingness to embrace emerging opportunities. 🔥Strategic Diversification: Transitioning from sports to strategic investments, O'Neal exemplifies the importance of diversifying one’s portfolio to secure long-term financial stability. 🔥Continuous Learning: By educating himself about the tech industry, O'Neal shows the value of continuous learning and personal growth in achieving financial success. 🔥Risk-Taking and Reward: His ability to take calculated risks by investing in startups demonstrates that taking chances can lead to substantial rewards. 🔥Patience and Long-Term Vision: O'Neal’s success story underscores the significance of patience and long-term vision in investment, proving that substantial returns often come from early, sustained investments. 🔥Reinvention and Growth: Moving from a celebrated athlete to a savvy investor, O'Neal’s journey inspires others to reinvent themselves and explore new career avenues. 🔥Influential Role Model: As a high-profile figure, O'Neal serves as a role model, showing that strategic financial decisions can lead to immense wealth and influence. 🔥Empowerment Through Knowledge: His story emphasizes the power of being well-informed and making educated investment choices to build a substantial portfolio. 🔥Building a Legacy: By creating an impressive investment portfolio, O'Neal is building a legacy that extends beyond his athletic achievements. 🔥Encouraging Financial Literacy: O'Neal’s journey encourages others to pursue financial literacy and explore investment opportunities to achieve financial independence. ✅️Share Your Startup Story 🚀📲 https://lnkd.in/ggir3Qap ✅️visite our website🌐 https://lnkd.in/dad4nH #ShaquilleONeal #InvestmentJourney #TechInvestment #FinancialSuccess #StrategicDiversification #ContinuousLearning #RiskTaking #LongTermVision #RoleModel #FinancialLiteracy #BuildingLegacy #EmpowermentThroughKnowledge #scoopearth

🥁 We have a date! --> See you on Sunday 29th Sep. at 2:05pm to 3:25pm on the "Future Stage" at Bits & Pretzels 🥨 📣 The Topic: Beyond Scaling: New Pathways for Funding & Growth Capital 🤔 Why should you care? German and European scaleups often have difficulties raising sufficient money 💸 for their continued growth, specifically in the late stages of expansion. This slot aims to provide insights into European best practice approaches for scaleup financing, directly from the successful founders and their respective investors. 🎉 I am super excited to be hosting the session and be interviewing incredible individuals: 🎤 Interview 1: From Early-Stage Investments to Growth – with Gregor Haidl (HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds) + Jan Rabe (Rabot Energy)   🌉 Interview 2: Closing the late-stage gap as a public VC – Dr. Anne-Kathrin Hinze (DTCF | DeepTech & Climate Fonds) + Lucio Milanese (Proxima Fusion)   💰 Interview 3: Late-Stage Investments & Venture Debt – Cyril Teixeira da Silva (European Investment Bank (EIB) + Conrad Rasmus (Protembis GmbH) 🎡 The slot closes with an interview highlighting the power and importance of founders to re-invest in their own ecosystem – and thereby closing the circle of founding and being funded.   ⚙ Interview 4: Fly Wheel Investments - state of European Angel Investing – Jan Reichelt (10x Founders) and Gregor Henrik Unger (caesar.) When we talk about growth financing, the quickly turns towards complaining that there is just so much more venture capital in the US and that we are at a disandvantage in Europe. While this is a fact, we should stop whining about it and rather should look at the strengths of Europe and learn from the startups who made it. Lets go! 🕺 Big shout-out to Sabine Wiesmüller, PhD and Marina Plietsch who master-minded the stage 👏 Start2 Group / German Accelerator / EXIST - Existenzgründungen aus der Wissenschaft / Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action

Our 2023 Impact Report is out 🚀 On my side, we are continuing to expand the network between the BII start-ups and international investors. The feedback the start-ups receive at each pitch session is extremely valuable in helping the founders to understand the patterns of the questions being asked. Not only does this enable them to adapt accordingly, but also to build a strong case that is commercially strong and resilient. Thanks a lot Adrian Friederich for your support and input on the investor network. 💚 Read the full impact report here: https://bit.ly/3QiunBZ

🌟✨🚀 Happy New Year To My Fellow Enterpuners, Always Remember One Important Thing 🚀✨🌟 In case we did not know, 2024 is here with us. That means it’s once again time to take stock of what the year has meant for us. The ever-present entrepreneurial challenges, the woes, the successes, and losses – all these have now contributed towards making us the strong people we depict today. Out of the ashes of despair, we have fought our battles. Through times of uncertainty, we have been resolute. And through it all, we have managed to pursue our goals with relentless energy and focus. We are capable of being the change we want to see; we are simply dreamers. Builders & Innovators . New ideas and new visions are what set us apart from the rest, and we are never afraid to be different. The past year’s lessons & success will become the basis around which everything new is constructed in 2025 ; let’s keep challenges into opportunities and unsuccessful attempts into basebuilding steps. Welcome 2025 for our new ERA. Tag that friend who is building something great and spread the entrepreneurial motivation! 💪🚀💼 #EntrepreneurLife #DreamBig #2025Goals #web3 #AI #fintech

🚨Investors, we’ve been cooking something up, especially for you. 🚨 INVEST is a new track at Turing Fest which is solely for early-stage VCs, with a group of carefully selected funds like Accel, Seedcamp, MMC, and plenty more. We’ve curated an afternoon of keynotes, firesides, panels, and peer-led round tables. All of this discussion will be followed by founder/investor drinks, and then a causal investor-only meal to follow. The following morning will see founder/investor matchmaking opportunities. Investor tickets will also give access to the main conference, with its triple themes of Build (product & engineering), Grow (GTM & customers), and Lead (people & company-building). We want to stimulate genuinely useful discussions about challenges and opportunities in the industry right now, how the near future might look, and what best practice looks like at the world’s best funds. In addition, this is an opportunity to meet fellow investors and build connections that can lead to working together. 🔥🔥🔥 MEET YOUR #INVEST SPEAKERS: 🎙Tom Wilson, Partner, Seedcamp 🎙Matt Robinson, Partner, Accel 🎙Eamonn Carey, Partner, Tera Ventures 🎙Akshat Goenka, Partner, Moonfire 🎙Sophie Winwood, Partner, Foxe Capital 🎙Mark Hogarth, Partner, Techstart Ventures LLP To apply for the INVEST ticket and to find out more about our new INVEST track and speakers run to https://hubs.ly/Q02DbLnG0 #INVEST #investor #TuringFest #tech #techevent

🚀 In celebration of World Investor Week (7-13 October 2024), FasterCapital is excited to launch a powerful suite of educational tools designed to help you master the investment game! 💡📈 Join our Investors Network: https://lnkd.in/dpyMrSs To read the full article, you can visit the following link: https://lnkd.in/gxjZZT7T Hesham Zreik #WorldInvestorWeek #SmartInvesting #InvestorEducation #FinancialFreedom #VentureCapital #FinanceTips #InformedInvesting #GlobalInvesting #FasterCapital #InvestmentStrategies

⚡ Is there still such as thing as 'proprietary deal-flow' in the UK and US early-stage markets? In my experience the 'proprietary deal-flow' argument used by VCs in their own fundraising is now more likely to be the occasional 'proprietary deal'. A decade ago, the early-stage funding landscape was starkly different. Fewer sources of capital meant unique deals were easier to identify and secure - both as angels and VCs. But times have changed… 💡 The key is not in trying to create exclusivity but in broadening your ability to assess deals effectively 💡 For me, this was given a boost when I joined Cambridge Angels; a lot of smart coinvestors - often exited tech entrepreneurs themselves - who could help with deal assessment. That decision was transformative. It enabled me to evaluate and ultimately back pioneering deep tech companies like Xampla, zeroRISC, and Epoch Biodesign. 👉 The takeaway? Whilst you can't really control your deal flow, you can influence how you assess opportunities. In today’s competitive environment, this skill can make all the difference 🙂

I recently came across Carta’s State of Private Markets Q3 2024 report from Peter Walker's recent LinkedIn post. The report immediately grabbed my attention with some big-picture insights that felt spot-on for today’s market climate. Here are a few highlights that stood out to me: 1️⃣ Deal Activity and Capital Raised Are Steadying: Funding held mostly flat from Q2, with a modest 4% increase in the number of deals and a 12% uptick in capital raised. Although not a huge jump, it’s encouraging to see deal flow stabilize as the market works through a tough year. 2️⃣ Valuations Up Across Most Stages: Even as down rounds remain high, Carta’s data shows valuations are trending upward at various stages. This could suggest a more selective market where the companies that do secure funding tend to be the ones with stronger fundamentals and potential. 3️⃣ Bridge Rounds Losing Share in Later Stages: Fewer Series A, B, and C companies are relying on bridge rounds, signaling that startups at these stages are finding more stable paths to their next funding. However, bridge financing remains common at the seed stage, underscoring the higher risk and need for runway among younger companies. 4️⃣ Geographic Resilience Beyond Silicon Valley: While the West (especially California) still leads in capital raised, states like New York and Massachusetts are emerging as strong secondary hubs, with investment spreading into new innovation ecosystems—a promising trend for long-term resilience. Beyond just a steadying market, Carta’s report reflects a shift toward higher standards across the board. After years of rapid growth, investors are now focusing on companies with strong fundamentals, driving a more selective approach. It’s a “quality over quantity” mindset that summarizes the current market dynamics.

Which trends are shaping the VC ecosystem in DACH in 2024? I had the chance to deep-dive into the topic for Startup Insider and summarised it in 4 graphs. What struck me the most is point 3 ▶ the (massive) lack of growth capital in Germany, resulting in growth rounds being led for the large majority by foreign investors. In fact, growth funds account for only 14% of all active VC & growth funds in Germany - nearly half the share of the UK and France. As a result, in 2023 only 10% of growth rounds above €50m were led by local funds in Germany, compared to nearly 50% in the UK and nearly 70% (!) in France - highlighting a gap to fill as much as an attractive opportunity to take advantage of. You can read the full analysis exploring also the rise of Munich, climate-tech funds & CVCs on Startup Insider 2024 VC Report - which includes an overview of the 100 most active VCs in Germany, including IRIS! Link in the comments ⤵

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗼 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗔 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 This guide breaks down the essentials of valuing tech startups at various stages of growth. Key takeaways include: 1️⃣ Startup Phases: Understand the milestones from early development to market dominance and how they affect valuation. 2️⃣ Capital Requirements: Learn how funding needs change with each phase, from prototype development to rapid market penetration. 3️⃣ Key Questions for Capital: Answer critical questions like market timing, technology feasibility, and scalability to secure funding. 4️⃣ Valuation Risks: Grasp how early-stage risks affect valuation and expected returns for investors. 5️⃣ Investor Expectations: Recognize what VCs and angels seek in terms of returns and exit strategies. ----- Follow All Chance to learn from more innovative insights