Max Yoder

Chicago's startup scene is heating up! 🎊Starbridge (AI govtech) raised $42M led by David Sacks' Craft Ventures 🥳Zerohash (crypto) closed $104M Coinflow's CEO made it clear: "You can raise a large Series A in Chicago. You don't have to move to SF." With 213 early-stage rounds in just 3 quarters and $3B+ annual VC, the #7 US tech hub is proving you can build billion-dollar companies in the Midwest...

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Weather delays. Compliance gaps. Lost days and lost dollars. Every contractor knows the pain. Pavewise, based in North Dakota and built by operators who’ve lived it, has just raised a $2.5M seed round led by C2 Ventures Fund II, alongside Connetic Ventures, Service Provider Capital, M25, gener8tor 1889, and Broadwater Capital. Their platform brings real-time compliance, weather, and production tracking to road construction, helping crews make better calls, cut rework, and keep projects on time. This is exactly what we mean when we talk about our thesis, Dirty, Dull, and Dangerous innovation: solving real operational problems in essential industries with durable tech. https://lnkd.in/eecPMHdN

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I interviewed the man behind 60 VC funds. Chris Rizik has backed 800+ startups and built the Midwest startup ecosystem. Here are 10 lessons that can save you years ↓ 1 - Back the learner Chris invests in GPs who: learn fast and own their mistakes. 2 - Democratize to outperform More voices = better deal flow. Broad networks find top 1% founders. 3 - Know when to walk If trust slips, end it early. Protect your time and LP capital. 4 - Specialize to win In the AI era, specific focus beats broad ideas. Niche expertise compounds. 5 - Be founder-first Help with intros, hiring, and strategy. Service earns allocation. 6 - Play long games Great returns come from patience not impatience. 7 - Make your story investable Simple thesis. Clear edge. Evidence of repeatability. 8 - Treat LPs like customers Communicate early. Report clearly. Show how your fund works. 9 - Build local, scale global Strong regions create repeat founders and faster cycles. 10 - Do the unglamorous work Reference calls. Post-mortems. Portfolio help. This is the job. If you’re a founder, GP, or investor, this episode is a field guide. Want the link? DM me for the Spotify episode.

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Rides2U, one of Beckett Industries' portfolio companies, continues to scale with the launch of its product and service at the University of Michigan. Another step in its strategic rollout across college towns nationwide.   Built for safe, reliable, reservation-based transportation, Rides2U focuses on community trust and predictability, not random availability. Each ride is pre-scheduled, every driver vetted, and the experience designed for peace of mind — especially for students, parents, and campus communities.   In a category driven by speed, Rides2U is winning on safety, reliability, and community connection, becoming the trusted mobility platform for markets the big players often overlook. #ridesafe #rideshare #annarbor University of Michigan University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business

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Just launched... A $100 million bet that Columbus can become America's startup capital. Ratmir Timashev and Jeff Schumann are officially going all-in on Columbus. This week’s launch of OH.io is a massive, privately funded (entirely by Timashev) play to turn Columbus a world leading hub for B2B AI startups. The goal is simple but huge... import 100 of the world’s best B2B AI startups and build their commercial engines right here. It’s a departure from the typical Silicon Valley VC funding model. They're offering... • Startups keep 100% of their equity. • OH.io hires and pays for the sales and go-to-market teams to scale these companies in exchange for a performance-based cut of revenue. • They're planning for 2,000 new high-wage tech jobs in Columbus over the next five years. But there’s more to the vision than just sales teams... • OH.io is building physical spaces across Columbus for startups to "collide"... Inspired by Silicon Valley's Sand Hill Road or Paris's Station F. • They're creating a tech conference that they want to be the greatest in the country... think SXSW. -- The OH.io team, led by Ratmir and Jeff, includes leadership of Seth Metcalf, Alex Husted, Dhinuka Perera, and Kevin Colón. They have huge plans for OH.io, B2B AI startups, and Columbus. Full profile story with interview at OhioX / Ohio Tech News - linked in the comments.

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Graymatter Labs just cracked open the cognitive wellness market with a $1.3M Seed round led by Venrex and APEX, with Palette Ventures joining the mix. The Chicago startup isn't selling another "smart drink", they're engineering a focus revolution. This isn't caffeine hype or pharma cosplay. It's plant science built for people who live in the red zone: #entrepreneurs, #athletes, #firstresponders, and anyone chasing clarity without the crash. Co-Founders Jim Phillips and Novisa M. Petrusich didn't stumble into this. Phillips, a serial founder who scaled Charm.io and helped launch Ritual.co's U.S. arm, hit burnout the hard way. Years of overclocked caffeine and late-night stimulants ended with a heart surgery that forced him to rethink how humans fuel their brains. The result: Bright Mind, a #nootropicdrink mix with 27 plant-based ingredients that hits in 5-15 minutes and sustains for hours. No jitters, no comedown, no synthetic shortcuts. Novisa Petrusich left a career managing billions in private equity and venture capital to take Graymatter full-time. At Five Elms Capital, she backed companies like Spacelift and Kno2, but saw a bigger equation at play: the mind itself. Now she's scaling a bootstrapped, profitable company posting 2,000% YoY growth, 30%+ MoM gains, and 90% subscriber retention, all before outside capital. Numbers like that aren't noise; they're proof of demand. Venrex's Tom Fleming called Graymatter a "category-defining consumer brand." APEX's Koen Bosma said investing was a "no-brainer." Palette Ventures' Nina Faulhaber highlighted the market shift, people are done medicating their minds and ready to strengthen them. #ADHD affects millions, the global nootropics market is set to hit $73B by 2034, and consumers are ditching synthetic quick fixes for natural, science-backed stamina. Bright Mind feels like the future because it's engineered for feel. Four proprietary blends, #BrainX, #Go, #Flow, and #VisionDefense, sync to deliver clarity, calm, and clean energy. It's crash-free, #HSA/#FSA eligible, and powered by adaptogens like Lion's Mane, Ashwagandha, and Cordyceps. Call it mental fitness in a scoop. #Startups #StartupFunding #EarlyStage #VentureCapital #SeedRound #BeverageTech #Plantbased #MentalHealth #MentalWellness #Healthcare #HealthTech #Technology #Innovation #TechEcosystem #StartupEcosystem If software engineering peace of mind is what you crave, Vention is your zen.

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💥 Metropolis Technologies Raises $𝟭.𝟲𝗕 💥 Funding comes in 2 rounds: $500M equity round led by LionTree and $1.1B from J.P. Morgan. Metropolis is now 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 $𝟱𝗕. With the fresh funding, the plan is to take their "recognition and payment-automation" tech beyond parking assets. This would include retail stores, drive-throughs, gas stations, hotels and partnerships with real estate/asset owner. Congrats to Alex Israel, Peter Fisher, Courtney Fukuda, Travis Kell, Ryan Hunt,Chris Sherman, Robert Bland, Paul Rooney, Lookman Olusanya and the rest of the Metropolis family. #fundraise #parkinginvestment #parking #parkingindustry #metropolois Parking Today Media Parking Network B.V. National Parking Association International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI) Tim Maloney Advisory Tim Maloney Reservations Lab

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In 2026, everything I do will be in service of founders. Specifically: helping founders cross the line from 'builder' to 'operator.' It’s the first Sunday, and I felt inspired to share a mini-manifesto for the year ahead. This transition (from builder to operator) is where I see many high-potential founders struggle most. Building is the easy part (for most of you). - You can ship. - You can hustle. - You can close early deals. Where companies actually die? Business systems and operations. I’ve helped build three different businesses past $20M ARR. Never alone. Always with teams. Always with systems. At a certain point, founder-led everything becomes the bottleneck. Sales is usually the first place this shows up. When sales lives in the founder’s head + inbox, growth caps. Not because the founder can’t sell, but because the business can’t operate without them. From ‘Founder Chapel’ to ‘David Beats Goliath,’ and through the projects and partnerships I take on this year, everything will serve one goal: Helping founders transform into EXCEPTIONAL operators. The kind people want to work with, follow, invest in, and trust with real responsibility. Builders are common these days. Operators are much rarer. Companies scale when systems carry the weight founders were never meant to carry alone.

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Founders! Don't underestimate the power of a good "forwardable email". You want people to help make intros on your behalf...so be thoughtful and strategic about the content and format of your email. Use bullet points. Stick to the top 3-5 points an investor would get most excited about. Make sure you have one sentence that clearly answers: "What does this company do?" Don't make them dig for it! Have a clear ask at the end. Keep it short and make it concise. And double check formatting, spelling, font colors, etc... *Send!*

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The Secret VC is back with more "real talk" over on StartMidwest this morning. The part that's going to get a reaction: "The Midwest has a lot going for it - talent, grit, real customer problems, access to a large local market - but our angel stack can sometimes get in its own way. ‘Pay-to-play’ groups with small checks paired to big-firm demands? That’s a mismatch. Good angels literally write their checks (big or small) on a vibe, they accept that most early bets won’t work, and they resist the urge to treat venture like real estate with quarterly comps. This game has a long feedback loop, and the failures usually show up first. If you can’t stomach that as an angel, then write fewer checks or pick a different asset class. When founders encounter those mismatches, they do something rational: they go where the capital market fits the job to be done. I don’t take it personally when a team headquartered here raises elsewhere. I made the investment to help them win; if ‘winning’ requires a different capital stack, great. Then go get it. My job is to make sure they reach the milestones that unlock that next round, wherever it lives. The regional ego trip helps no one; the company needs what the company needs. Having said that, yes it would be great if we had more early stage capital and if we were able to write larger checks at a later stage. But that isn’t the founders fault." Thoughts on all that Wolf Starr, James Edward Feagin IV, Mike Supeck, Will Zell, Patrick Klein, Christopher Deutsch, Carl Erickson? Feels like you all are working to improve some of this. Is it working? Much to discuss... https://lnkd.in/emjtuDVC

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If you have to pay your CTO $200k, you’re already behind. Ryan Baird, founder of Baird Augustine, a Silicon Valley neo investment bank, and the Focus On Risk community, sees this pattern all the time. Founders launching with $0 payroll between them tend to outpace those burning $200k salaries from day one. From what I have seen, startups take off when the CTO is equity instead of a high salary. Here’s Ryan explaining why lean teams get the upper hand. 👇

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Most founders don’t realize this, your website can look perfect and still say absolutely nothing about who you are. A few months ago, I spoke with a manufacturing CEO from Illinois. He’d just spent $30K on a new website: sleek design, modern layout, fast load time. But something felt off. When I asked what message his website was sending, he paused and said, “Honestly? It could belong to anyone.” That’s the problem with most modern websites. They’re beautiful… but bland. The same stock photos. The same buzzwords: Innovation. Quality. Excellence. The same “Get a Quote” button that doesn’t really say anything. Here’s the truth: A website isn’t just about looking professional. It’s about showing your brand’s identity, personality, story, and promise. Because people don’t remember pretty websites. They remember authentic ones. Think of it like your factory floor Every tool, machine, and process is designed for your operations, not someone else’s. Your website should work the same way. That’s why we help founders build custom, branded digital experiences that reflect who they are, not just what they sell. If you’re tired of blending in with template websites, start by learning how to choose the right partner for your next project. 📘 The Smart Founder’s Guide to Choosing the Right Software Partner: https://lnkd.in/gFeU_S-C 📗 The Smart Founder’s MVP Planning Guide: https://lnkd.in/g387mqmC 📙 The Smart Founder’s Budget Blueprint: https://lnkd.in/g8wWwsv6 Download your guide today, and build something that looks like you, not everyone else. #SmartFoundersGuide #BrandStrategy #WebDesignForFounders #DigitalIdentity #CustomWebDesign #ManufacturingFounders #AuthenticBranding #BusinessGrowth #StartupBranding #WebsiteDesign #BrandDifferentiation #FoundersJourney #DigitalTransformation #BuildYourBrand #ModernManufacturing

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Startup Studios aren't incubators or accelerators or VC's... they are actually a mix of all of them. The Studio will take an idea, filter it through an incubation process to make sure it's worth moving forward with. If it makes it through, it moves through the first round of funding and team hiring phase. When it makes it through it goes into launch phase. If it makes it past the launch stage, it goes into accelerator phase which may come with another round of funding and a restructuring of executive leadership. The Studio is involved at each stage which is why they are called Studios as they see it through from ideation to exit, true company builders!

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𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗽, 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗣 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟰 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀. Tomorrow's board meeting looms. They want to know why DTC revenue is down 18%. They don't want to hear about your 500 unqualified applicants or the two "perfect fits" who ghosted after round three. You put on the confident face. "We're handling it internally while we find the right leader." But internally? You're drowning. 🔻 The freelancer you hired last month just increased their rate 🔻 Your team is burned out 🔻 That recruiter who promised "top-tier talent" sent you someone who thinks Shopify Plus is a subscription box This isn't just about missing revenue. It's about you working 70-hour weeks while your kids ask why you missed another dinner. It's about wondering if leadership is one bad quarter away from "restructuring" your role. It's about carrying the weight of that last bad hire who cost you $200K and six months of momentum. You're not failing. The system is. Post-and-pray recruiting doesn't work for transformational roles. Neither does hoping the perfect candidate stumbles across your LinkedIn job post between 200 others. What actually works: 🔹 Building targeted pipelines before you need them 🔹 Embedding interim talent Day 1 while you hire right 🔹 Using scorecards that predict performance, not pedigree You didn't get to your level by doing things halfway. Stop recruiting that way. What's keeping you working past midnight – missing targets or missing talent?

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Launching a studio is theory. Landing your first venture is proof. Anyone can launch a studio. You can create a brand, write a thesis, put a positioning narrative on a slide, and convince yourself you’re building something transformational. That’s the theory. The real test is this: Can your studio take a zero-stage idea and turn it into a functioning venture with real traction…fast? This quarter we launched Bifrost Defence. That wasn’t the achievement. The achievement was what happened in the next six weeks: A functioning unmanned surface vessel prototype. CAD and mission plan defined. Filed IP. Technical advisor locked in. A build team in place. Investors expressing interest. Field tests already underway. Not “working on the idea.” We produced a venture that exists in the real world. Studios aren’t judged by their vision. They are judged by their velocity. Apollo (our operating system) is only valuable if it produces evidence. Liftoff is only useful if it accelerates a venture into reality. A studio earns credibility the moment it can point to something concrete and say: We built that.

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