John Ellis

Having a Cars and Capital event tomorrow in Southern California with Oren Klaff. If you want to join message me. https://lnkd.in/gDQ4D39u Oren Klaff Bridger Pennington #InvestorEvent #FamilyOffice #InvestmentOpportunity #CarlsbadEvent #PrivateEquity #WealthManagement #InvestmentConference #CapitalRaising #NetworkingEvent #IndustryLeaders #FinancialGrowth #InvestorsMeetup #WealthBuilding #BusinessGrowth #InvestmentForum

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It’s one thing to go to events in DTC and e-comm, it’s another to fully take advantage of them. Here are my two main takeaways from the conversations I had at Shoptalk in Vegas: 1) Meeting/chatting in person is key to deepening relationships. I had the opportunity to meet customers, partners, and even Prive team members for the first time in person while at the event. Chatting in person helped us bond and understand each other better, which holds a lot of value. It was also cool to see that even in a very competitive market, people are still genuinely kind and friendly. It might seem from the outside that competitors should dislike each other, but I saw first-hand at ShopTalk that we’re all in this together and can still be kind to one another in the process. 2. Strong partnerships are something more brands are looking for. When talking with brand founders, the one big thing a lot of them mentioned was the desire for a strong partnership with every company they work with. Many people shared that they were left unsupported with tools/tech after buying them — this underscored the value of our approach at Prive. We prioritize a partnership mentality, offering whatever help our customers need post-onboarding. For a lot of brands and industry leaders, the emphasis is on the quality of partnership, not just the product features. Overall, ShopTalk was a blast and it was great getting to chat with every single one of you. If you were there — do you feel a similar way?

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Since COVID, we've seen an acceleration of "health as wealth" - where 82% of the US population consider wellness a top priority - and, while we did see some slower growth in the subsequent years in terms of volume and M&A post 2022, we have conviction that spend on health and wellness as a whole is again on an upward swing. In our latest benchmark report, covered by Beauty Independent, we focus on VMS and the trends that are driving volume back to the category: the growth of GLP1 and its impact, nootropics as ADHD alternatives to prescription drugs, among others. We also include some representative companies in these categories such as SoWell Health and Thesis, respectively. Thanks to the participating funds in this one: Madeline Kaplan Selva Ventures Emily Bullman JamJar Investments Odile Roujol Fab Co-Creation Studio Ventures Lerer Hippeau, and Brian Buchert of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. for a strategic perspective. More on the article linked... https://lnkd.in/ge-u7Pq5

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An interesting article below, that demonstrates out how San Diego is punching above its weight.  And how Connect's strategy and execution over time, contintues to be central to that success. The article describes the current state of the market in Seattle.  (And i love Seattle.) It's a market that we tend to track with relative to venture fundings.  They used to kick our butts, we outraised them each of the last three years.  This despite the fact they have 3x as many funds there, and 9x the amount of resident capital there. (per pitchbook) Some key takeaways:  * They continue to compare themselves to SIlicon Valley. Instead, we leverage our proximity. *They whine there's not enough local investors (see note above - they have more than us). We bring over 200 VCs to SD annually! * They say founders are not connected with one another. We bring CEOs together regularly, in a variety of ways - private dinners and through our Springboard program. * They say they need to elevate their image on a national & international stage. Why we created and continue to build Five.Ten.Thirty (aka Inno Day).  * And the last paragraph - they need to concentrate on making their region a great place to live. Our mantra: "It's about Better, not Bigger." (See XEO, TL Fund). THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT. WE ARE ON A MISSION TOGETHER!!!  (Comments, whining, suggestions on SD always welcome.) https://lnkd.in/g6Rq_f2Y

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Great time on the Embracing Erosion podcast w/Devon O'Rourke! We talked about: 🚀 How to scale a company from concept to 9-figure exit 🔄 How to break away from the traditional consulting model and apply product approaches ⏩ Why it’s important to iterate quickly and often with messaging 💸📈What signals are important to pay attention to when investing in startups and much more!

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Shout-out to founders. Shout-out to the teams and individuals that commit to and push founder-led businesses forward. Building something meaningful is hard. Sometimes you have to play a role that does not come naturally because that’s what the business requires at the moment in time. Other times you have to make decisions that come with uncertainty and the best you can do is just figure it out…quickly. We’ve built RevBoss for 10 years, but we are in the process of re-building it for the 3rd time because that is what is required of us to deliver value to our clients. Will it be hard? Yes. Will it come with a bunch of bumps and bruises? Yes.   Will everything be okay at the end of the day? Absolutely. RevBoss exists to grow B2B founder-led businesses. I’m gearing up to talk with Adam Robinson, CEO of a founder-led business, RB2B, who also is in the business of helping B2B businesses grow. Join us on Aug 13th as we’ll be chatting about growth at founder-led companies and how to build a growth engine that works: https://lnkd.in/eVyJQjpC PS - excited to share our RevBoss journey more publicly, so feel free to follow along if you're interested.

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RETHINKING RETIREMENT We've been investing in the Future of Work since we launched BBG Ventures, targeting underserved segments like deskless workers (Anthill, OX) and solopreneurs (Topline Pro). Over the summer we spent time digging into another deeply underserved segment of the workforce: Boomers. By the end of this decade, the entire generation will have hit retirement age and, for the first time, Americans 65+ will outnumber those under 18. This has huge implications for every aspect of society, and it mandates that we start thinking differently about retirement. The question for all of us is this: Can we re-focus healthy Americans 60+ on a new phase of productivity, a “third act” that enables them to keep learning, keep earning, keep socially-engaged and contributing to the nation’s economic growth? And what role can AI play in helping every senior identify their unique skill set and personal priorities — and connect them with the right opportunities? We have some thoughts on how to make this happen, and we'd love you to give it a read, add your feedback, forward it to a founder who's working in this arena (or who you think might be intrigued), and share it! AgeTech has been too focused on death and decay; it's time we embrace longevity and give older Americans a way to keep working -- on their terms. cc: Carol Magalhães Isaacs, CFA Nisha Dua, Claire Biernacki, Drew Silverman Fennessy

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