Jennifer Ding

I heard an interesting comment when I was interviewing a PE leader for my recent book: "Most PE firms don't want to open the kimono on their value creation playbook. They think it's their secret sauce." But after interviewing several dozen of PE leaders for the last 2 books (and working with plenty more directly), I've discovered: There's very little that's truly proprietary anymore. Everyone has access to the same tools Everyone reads the same books Everyone attends the same conferences Everyone uses the same consultants What we often mistake for proprietary knowledge is simply common sense needing strong execution. The "secret" isn't in knowing what to do - it's in the doing of it. One operating partner said it well: "The real magic isn't in the playbook - it's in the team running the plays."

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Flare Capital Expands the Team, Again…  Ours is an extremely competitive business. In addition to providing capital, venture capitalists assist with recruiting, connecting portfolio companies to potential customers, and setting strategic direction. Great entrepreneurs have no shortage of investors with whom to partner. Therefore, the privileged position for investors is to flex on thought leadership and be able to draw on relevant prior experiences. As such, we could not be more excited to welcome Dr. Graham Gardner and Dr. Rochelle Walensky as Executive Partners to the firm. Flare Capital Partners

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Why are MBAs from top grad schools always choosing search funds over McKinsey? Simple. Why spend years giving suggestions in decks no one will read when you can actually implement changes yourself and capture the economics? Search funds have figured out that there's massive value in young operators positioning themselves as succession plans for cash-flowing "boring" businesses. They're buying companies that need operational improvements and getting paid for making those improvements happen. But search funds focus on the buy-side. There's a parallel opportunity on the sell-side that most people are missing. Investment banks are sitting on portfolios of companies with fixable operational issues. Customer concentration, succession planning gaps, weak financial controls. These aren't deal killers, they're value creation opportunities. The banks know these issues exist but don't have the operational capability to fix them. They either walk away from deals or try to sell companies "as is" and hope for the best. That's where fractional executives come in. You have the operational experience to actually implement changes, not just recommend them. And unlike traditional consultants, you can structure compensation around value creation rather than just billable hours. The opportunity is to do for sell-side what search funds are doing for buy-side. Help companies get from where they are to where capital allocators need them to be.

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Boards are supposed to help founders. Over the past 19 years, I've watched many trap them instead. As companies scale, many boards turn from insight to oversight and stop doing what founders actually need: Help making big, hard decisions. Early boards tend to be small, the board members are close to the business and highly invested in it. They argue from first principles. They help founders think. Later-stage boards often look more impressive on paper - they have more independent directors, committees and process. Somewhere along the way, collective problem solving gets replaced with oversight. The board shifts from helping the CEO make better decisions to monitoring decisions that have already been made. Strategy discussions get safer, real debate gets rarer and meetings become more about risk management than judgment. This usually coincides with the introduction of more professional board members. For better or worse, they often optimize for governance, optics, and liability management. That’s their job. But it’s not always what the company needs in moments of real uncertainty. Then, CEOs stop using them as thought partners. That’s a problem. So what should founders do? A few principles that help: • Keep the board as small as you can for as long as you can • Add directors for new insight they bring, not what boxes they check • Treat board seats like senior hires, not trophies • Design meetings for debate rather than reporting • Be explicit about when you want input vs approval Good boards should improve decision-making. If your board isn’t making you think harder, it’s probably not doing its job.

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This week Tulip Interfaces became Acequia Capital's 23rd unicorn company. When we made the first investment into Tulip in 2015, it was clear to Hank and I that we were early. It was going to take some time, but that massive legacy industries had no idea the amount of innovation and value was out there, waiting to be won by companies that could master software and machine intelligence. These observations and others led us to develop two investment theses we’ve been executing on since; what we termed “New Industrials.” Fast forward 10 years and the idea that a broader industrial reinvention is underway is now almost a given across the capital markets and leading companies. A movement has sprung up around us. It’s much more in vogue to back physical technology startups now, but most investors misunderstand what great ones look like, and how numerous the barriers to adoption are. We’re fortunate to benefit from a decade of lessons and insights from watching up close as incredible founding teams have built immensely valuable organizations, these include Stoke Space, Radiant, Formlabs, Atomic Industries, Applied Atomics, Harbinger, Dirac, Inc., Rainmaker Technology Corporation, AnySignal, EthonAI, Flow Engineering, Milvus Advanced, Rivelin Robotics, Adaptyv, KMB Telematics Inc., Tactian, Nimble Precision, sensmore, Hyperdrives, Ethos Space Resources, Antaris, TransAstra, Rightbot Technologies, Provectus Algae, Arctoris, Flexe, Coronal Technologies, Exapto, Visolis, Vorticity Inc., XENOPS AI, and many others. My takeaway from 10 years of investing in industrial reinvention is that we are still at the beginning. We have a long way to go and the next 10 years will move a lot faster than the last. Thanks to our founders for the continued trust and partnership.

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Layer is tackling one of the most overlooked pain points for SMBs: accounting. They’re gaining real traction doing so. Emergence is leading their seed round to bring embedded, AI-powered accounting to the SMB software stack. Kevin Spain highlights what makes this team and product so compelling. 

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Greenfield Partners is proud to be deepening our partnership with Capitolis as they announce today a $56M strategic round. If you’ve spent time in market infrastructure, you know how rare it is to see deep market insight paired with real product velocity. The team at Capitolis has both, and the result is infrastructure that makes capital markets safer and more efficient. We’re increasing our investment alongside Barclays, BNP Paribas, J.P. Morgan, fellow investors Canapi Ventures, 9Yards Capital, and existing investors Citi, Morgan Stanley, State Street, and UBS to fuel the next stages of Capitolis’ Capital Marketplace and Portfolio Optimization solutions. https://lnkd.in/exK8nQYx Kudos to Gil Mandelzis and the entire Capitolis team!

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Advice from Luke Carroll for VC's raising their first fund. I’ve been thinking a lot about how CIOs and fund selectors like Luke Carroll at Reference Capital look at emerging managers and what that means for those of you raising Fund I. A few takeaways that really stuck with me: 1️⃣ Venture is a power law, not a participation trophy 2️⃣ “Access” is your actual product Capital is abundant; differentiated access is not. A first-time fund has to prove: Why the right founders will choose you over established brands What proprietary communities, ecosystems, or networks you sit in How your career to date translates into non-commoditized deal flow and insight If an LP can’t clearly see your access edge in the first 5 minutes, they’ll mentally file you under “nice, but interchangeable.” 3️⃣ Be honest about marks and “zombie risk” We’re coming out of a cycle where a lot of portfolios are still marked to the 2021–2022 world. CIOs are looking straight through shiny TVPI to ask: Which companies have raised recently at real, external prices? Where are you still relying on old marks? How will you avoid building a tail of zombie positions that never raise again and never get written down? For Fund I, that means leading with realized outcomes and externally priced rounds wherever possible – and being transparent about where risk lives. 4️⃣ LPs crave simplicity, not clever structures Family offices and private clients in particular are gravitating to vehicles and relationships that are “bankable and operationally simple.” For emerging managers, that’s a strong argument for: Keeping fund structures and terms straightforward Making capital calls, reporting, and communications highly predictable Reducing friction rather than showing off how innovative your docs can be Your operational experience is part of your edge. 5️⃣ Your fund is a solution, not a story CIOs don’t buy “great funds,” they solve portfolio problems. The question on their side of the table is: What specific gap in geography, stage, theme, or risk profile does this fund fill for us? How does this manager’s sizing, reserves, and pacing plug into our broader private markets plan? If your deck doesn’t answer that explicitly, you’re asking the LP to do your job. 6️⃣ The questions a CIO would actually ask you From the LP side, the conversation quickly becomes: What is the one thing that makes this fund truly non-commoditized? Who are the 10–15 founders or co-investors that would call you first, and why? If you never raised Fund II, what about this vehicle would still make it a win for your LPs? As a first-time manager, internalizing this LP lens is uncomfortable but powerful. It forces you to sharpen your thesis, right-size your fund, and be radically clear about what makes you worth the illiquidity, complexity, and time. If you’re raising or thinking about a Fund I, what’s the clearest articulation of your edge that would stand up in front of a CIO like Luke Carroll?

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CoLaborator Capital Backstop™ System's Owners & Operators Focus. Last week I shared a post introducing the CoLaborator Capital Backstop™ System and the idea of creating a more collaborative approach to growth and acquisitions. A few people asked a good question afterward: “What does this actually mean for operators and business owners?” Here’s the reality we keep seeing across manufacturing, logistics, and distribution: Great businesses often reach a point where the next stage of growth becomes difficult to pursue alone. Sometimes it’s because: • expansion capital is limited • acquisitions require additional partners • leadership bandwidth becomes stretched • succession planning starts entering the conversation • strategic opportunities appear that are bigger than one company can pursue independently At the same time, there are many operators, searchers, and investors actively looking to partner with strong companies in these industries. The challenge isn’t opportunity. The challenge is connecting the right people in the right structure at the right time. That’s the reason we began developing the CoLaborator Capital Backstop™ concept. The goal isn’t to act like a broker or intermediary. Instead, the idea is to build a collaboration platform where operators, owners, and acquisition partners can explore things like: • strategic partnerships • tuck-in acquisitions • roll-up participation • growth capital opportunities • succession pathways that preserve leadership continuity We are currently spending a lot of time speaking with leaders in: Manufacturing Logistics Distribution Industrial Services If you’re an operator or owner in one of these industries, I’d genuinely enjoy hearing about what you’re building and where you see the next phase of growth going. Sometimes the most valuable thing is simply starting the conversation early. — Virgil Andry Founder & CEO CoLaborator, Inc. thecolaborator.com #manufacturing #logistics #supplychain #entrepreneurship #partnerships #businessdevelopment

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"CFO" often gets shorthand as "the one who says no." Here at Seismic, it's a whole lot more nuanced than that. In a recent Forbes CFO Newsletter, Seismic CFO Evan Goldstein shares how modern finance leaders balance discipline with partnership – leading with questions, not roadblocks, and focusing on long-term value over short-term wins. Read the full piece to see how Evan breaks down what it takes to shift from "CF-No" to strategic collaborator ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dUMNviht ​

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Venture has always been a power law. What’s changing is how tightly LPs are underwriting to it. In our conversation with David Clark, one point stood out: If a small group of managers consistently capture the outliers… That’s where capital concentrates. Which makes the middle a harder category to underwrite. Not because those firms are underperforming, but because the case for why this manager gets you to those outcomes is less clear. It’s not about returns in isolation. It’s about conviction. To earn real conviction from LPs today, what do you think a middle firm needs to show? �� Link in the comments.

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Following the latest PERE compensation report, more from our sister company Sousou Partners. David Marsh has a report coming on European portfolio company CFO compensation — a role where low exit volumes are reshaping not just pay levels, but how packages are being structured. Reach out to David if you'd like a copy.

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💡Emerging GP Fundraising Insight #8: Rolling Closes Keep You Moving Small funds can't always afford to sit still until the target is hit. Rolling closes let you start deploying earlier, build a track record, and show momentum to prospective LPs. One GP told me that for Fund I ($5M target), he took capital as it came, signed, wired, and got to work. It wasn't perfect, but it kept the lights on and the deals moving. Sometimes the "sign and wire as it comes" approach is the only way to get moving. Takeaway: Momentum is a fundraising asset and rolling closes can help you keep it. Has anyone here used rolling closes as a strategic advantage?

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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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To paraphrase Andre Agassi, "Integration is everything." A few extra dollars (compared to the purchase price) budgeted and spent in the first year can be the difference between realized synergy and value destruction.

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Middle market deal activity continues to tell a very clear story: where you operate matters just as much as how you perform. Business services are leading volume, averaging ~6.2x EBITDA. Valuation is no longer just about size or profitability, it’s about positioning within a broader platform strategy. Companies that fit into consolidation themes or operate in resilient, non-cyclical sectors are seeing outsized premiums. At Minerva Valuations, we’re seeing this play out in real time across mandates. Let’s talk! #MergersAndAcquisitions #BusinessValuation #LowerMiddleMarket #RollUps #MinervaValuations

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I’m stepping more directly into interim and operating CFO work. Over the past decade, I’ve consistently been brought into sponsor-backed and growth-stage platforms at inflection points — acquisitions, liquidity pressure, lender negotiations, audit remediation, capital raises, or operational scale. I build institutional-grade financial infrastructure fast. That means: • Liquidity visibility and covenant discipline • Clean audits and lender credibility • Transaction-ready reporting (QoE, data rooms, integrations) • Repeatable forecasting and KPI frameworks I work where capital and operations intersect — ensuring companies are positioned to access funding, execute deals, and scale without losing financial control. I’m open to select interim and fractional CFO mandates where execution speed and clarity matter. If you’re a sponsor, CEO, or investment partner navigating one of those moments, let’s connect. — Ken Anthony Stanford MBA | CPA | Growth Infrastructure CFO

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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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Growth and profitability are not opposing forces. If anything, they're sequential. Once your unit economics work - every additional customer can spread fixed costs thinner, every transaction can make ops more efficient, and every bit of volume can give you better terms with suppliers. Solving for fundamentals will ensure growth makes you profitable, and doesn't become the thing that keeps you from it. Shreyans wrote a great piece on it, link in comments.

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