Ronald C. Pruett, Jr.

🔥 🔥 🙌 🙌 🎆 🎆 I'm *fired up* to share this. #VentureIQ by the 9point8 Collective is officially live. We've heard from investors of every size and type that it takes too long and costs too much to evaluate deal flow; this limits the scale and speed at which these capital allocators can operate. To address this problem, we've created an innovative solution which delivers high fidelity diligence information near instantaneously. From a time and cost perspective, VentureIQ immediately creates leverage to look at more deals - and creates space to focus deeply on the most meaningful opportunities. To learn more, you can reach out to me directly or visit VentureIQ.ai. I'll close with some thoughts on my team, to whom I'm so grateful. Blair Merlino, Neal Ghosh and Evan Allen don't just talk about interesting concepts, point out problems or pontificate on what could be. Instead, they identify a problem, frame and validate the solution, and do the work to bring it to reality. VentureIQ is the best example I've seen of this, to date. #VentureCapital, #FamilyOffice, #PrivateEquity #CorporateDevelopment #Startups

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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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This analysis is interesting, but it lacks judgment based on data analysis and profit margin calculation. Currently, manufacturers of 6DOF VR all-in-one headsets are selling each unit at a loss, yes, you heard it right, they are incurring significant losses. One company in the industry expanded from 400 employees to 2000, then downsized to 200 after experiencing two years of severe loss-making investments, and now they are focusing on the B2B market. Meta's quarterly losses even exceed hardware sales by tenfold. Continuing this kind of business model is simply burning investors' money. Products like Oculus Go, with a form factor of 3DOF all-in-one headsets, have completely different use cases from products like Quest, which are 6DOF all-in-one headsets. This market does not have consumer users; it focuses on dozens of application scenarios such as education, training, healthcare, and entertainment. These scenarios demand customized products with relatively lower performance requirements. They need simple deployment and user-friendly operation. What's especially important for B2B industries is that manufacturers can develop different functions based on different scenarios and software to meet various customer needs. Moreover, over the past few years, tens of thousands of software and hardware manufacturers, content providers, and integrators have benefited from these 3DOF scenarios. They are making money; they are not incurring losses, especially not from failed products as mentioned in the article. https://lnkd.in/g2vdM9nH

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Agency kickbacks or minimum buy agreements with media vendors. Are they wrong? These types of agreements have been around for decades but have recently come under scrutiny due to antitrust documents emerging from Google’s trial in the U.S., which revealed details of their agency incentive plan. Often structured as MSAs (Master Service Agreements) or other forms of service agreements, these deals provide agencies with a “kickback” or discount in exchange for committing to purchase a certain amount of media from a specific vendor. These agencies also typically receive preferred treatment, such as better payment terms, faster delivery, and other perks. I don’t believe the premise of these agreements is inherently bad. The logic is clear: the agency secures better pricing and service for committing to a certain level of spend, while the vendor gains more predictable revenue. This can be a win-win, leveraging economies of scale for both parties. However, here’s where I see the issue. This setup works well when brands have decent budgets and are open to experimenting with new vendors or advertising tactics. But the dynamic changes when brands face tighter budgets and shift focus toward bottom-of-the-funnel marketing, prioritizing immediate sales over broader brand awareness. This situation strong-arms agencies into prioritizing deals with major vendors like Google, Meta, or other retail media networks, often at the expense of other media partners or sacrificing long-term brand-building strategies. If local media and agencies don’t collaborate effectively to educate clients on the value of brand awareness campaigns, agencies risk becoming little more than utility managers, focused solely on transactional deals. What are your thoughts on agency kickback agreements or minimum spend agreements in today’s media environment?

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What do you do when a radical new technology puts your main product right in the crosshairs of disruption? Listen to David Okuniev — co-founder of Typeform | Ask awesomely — discuss the challenges of innovation within existing structures. David shared a game-changing insight: Radical innovation is really, really difficult to do inside your own product. He emphasized the need to break free from the constraints of familiarity and embrace change from outside the box. Henrik Werdelin and I have both seen our fair share of this in our respective careers. What struck us most was how David leveraged structure to overcome the innovator’s dilemma. By creating a culture of experimentation and providing space for bold ideas, he propelled Typeform beyond incremental improvements. What other hacks have you seen or employed to help your organization overcome the innovator’s dilemma? Share your stories below! 👇 And if you want to dive deeper into our conversation, click the link in the comments to catch the full podcast episode!

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Since early 2021, VC quarterly exit values have plummeted to $50B or below, a stark contrast to the six consecutive quarters of $100B+ exits before then. With IPOs dwindling and M&A activity slow, the future of venture industry exits appears uncertain. Will we see a surge in private venture-backed company acquisitions? This could be a crucial and innovative strategy to boost VC exits. Increased private acquisitions might offer a much-needed lifeline, providing a creative solution to the current exit drought in the venture capital market. #venturecapital #inspireglobalventures

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