Brandon Davito

Really like the Audere Capital team’s methodology and framework for thinking about over-the-horizon innovation technology, and the strong signals of future winners. • Wave 1: Extract (efficiency at lower cost/higher speeds) • Wave 2: Expand (into new high margin markets & products initially deemed impossible) • Wave 3: Entrench (standardize, institutionalize and become the default platform and system for its space) Boom! #vc #startups #investing #investorplaybook

6

1 Comment

I will be the moderator for this panel on April 22 about the decarbonization of cross-border supply chains. The panel features a great combination of Asian investor Lawrence Yen, and entrepreneurs/ practitioners from the industry Jian Zhang, CEO of CFEX, Inc., and Kevin Ku, a Product Engineer from Watershed. The panel aims to examine the dynamics from upstream to downstream of the ever-changing supply chain and how tech companies should respond, not just to follow compliance regulations but also to explore new procurement, investment, and product design opportunities, especially after the passing of Climate Disclosure Rule by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on  March 6, 2024. I cannot find a better combination of panel speakers on this topic. I'm very grateful to them being willing to share their first-hand observations during #sfclimateweek. Special thanks Yohanna Maldonado for connecting the speaker, and Maggie Li Michelle Cheng for organizing the event. Lastly, I am happy to share the promo code with my network. Please don't hesitate to ask for it if you would like to join. #SFCW #DECARBONIZATION #SUPPLYCHAIN #CROSSBORDER

34

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!

4

2 Comments

Dinner. Drinks. EV Charging. Last night Robert Diamond and I hosted a dinner in NYC for several EV charging executives. These executives build hardware, create site selection tools, match organizations to talent, advise on M&A, and accelerate EV adoption in cities. We talked about; - Funding early-stage hardware companies - The impact ridesharing is having on EV adoption - NYC’s "Green Rides Initiative" requiring Uber and Lyft to electrify by 2030 - Transitioning from the “MySpaces” to the “Facebooks” of EV charging companies - Changes to expect in charging infrastructure policy if the White House changes hands in November The next generation of charging infrastructure executives have a unique blend of business acumen and policy insights allowing them to understand how government decisions directly impact their company's operations. Over the next few months, we will host dinners for executives, founders, policy advisors, and investors in Boston, DC, and Dallas. DM me if you’re interested in joining.

196

71 Comments

Are you developing a medical device or digital health? Come learn about regulatory and legal impacts and how design for manufacturing is critical to your startup's success.

32

I believe the single most important thing needed for EVs to truly take over is charging at home and this report clearly shows this. Thats why Pando Electric is dedicated to bringing EV charging to every multifamily home in the US at scale.

13

I find it hard to believe that with millions of EVs entering the market and the proliferation of AI compute that PGE is actually going to have excess capacity in 2040 without any additional generation from 3rd parties. I am also curious if there are enough transmission lines and if PGE views that as someone else’s problem. Maybe they are planning on AI and ACTUAL figuring it all out! https://lnkd.in/gybsMmaw

10

5 Comments

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

23

1 Comment

Enjoyed sitting down with EisnerAmper to discuss carbon reporting and ESG These reports are time consuming and complex, but they don’t have to be Greenplaces can help: https://lnkd.in/euD_uJ4p

14

Rubrik’s IPO Signals Venture Capital Optimism and Growth Opportunities Rubrik’s recent IPO triumph serves as a powerful signal for venture capital investors. The company’s valuation surge provides hope for reasonably priced growth financing rounds. However, many companies still find themselves below the valuation of their last funding round, patiently awaiting brighter days. Here’s a closer look at Rubrik’s journey: Successful IPO: Rubrik’s stock price soared 17% on its debut day, closing at $37. The firm’s valuation now stands at approximately $6.49 billion. Upsized Offering: The IPO raised a whopping $752 million, fueling Rubrik’s expansion plans and valuing the company at $5.6 billion. Steady Growth: Rubrik’s valuation has steadily climbed. In January, a Series E round valued the company at $3.3 billion, up from $1.8 billion in 2017. Investment Backing: Microsoft, Greylock, and Lightspeed have all backed Rubrik, reinforcing its potential. #IPO #VentureCapital #TechCompanies #GrowthOpportunities #DataSecurity #CloudComputing #Cybersecurity

8

1 Comment

Earlier this year, we surveyed our fellow Los Angeles-based GPs to get a pulse check on the LA venture ecosystem. Here’s what we found: 💗 Deal flow is healthy, and most LA venture investors (68%) are seeing the same or more deal flow YoY. ✈ LA investors are spending time in a variety of markets, with NYC, Austin, and SF following closely on LA’s heels. 🔍 Innovation is concentrated in AI and machine learning, space, and commerce. 💸 Funding is happening, but it’s barbell-shaped, with deals concentrated at the early and late stages. Funding post-Series A has been challenging. 🚩 LA is differentiated, but not without its challenges. Key difficulties include not attracting enough AI talent (despite having the largest number of engineers graduating from our region over any other in the United States); talent relocated to more tax-friendly or less expensive locations; and the great SoCal / NoCal divide 🙏 Thank you to all our many respondents! I’m so glad to be part of a venture ecosystem that includes great minds like Anna Barber, Brent Murri, W. Christine Choi, Sarah Tomolonius, Rob Smith, Win Chevapravatdumrong, John Tabis, Jill Royster, Jesse Draper, Ashley Balla, Britt Danneman, Tram Lai, Carmen Palafox, Elaine Russell, Deborah Benton Amanda Schutzbank, Brian Lee, Petra Griffith, Minnie Ingersoll, Shamin Walsh, Gabe Greenbaum...wow, this list could go on forever...plus too many other exceptional humans to name. You know who you are! Explore our findings more deeply with our survey dashboard: https://bit.ly/3JsaLaB

82

5 Comments

To all #climatetech #founders and #funders in NYC and beyond, please join us on June 5th for an evening of #breakthrough #decarbonization #innovation at the ReGen Accelerator #DemoDay! 🎉 Get ready to be inspired by our cohort of #earlystage startups: ​ ▶ aich2 is engineering a novel #hydrogen ecosystem, built around Solid Hydrogen carriers. ​​ ▶ carbogenics produces sustainable #carbon adsorbents from difficult-to-recycle organic waste, including coffee cups and wastewater screenings ​​ ▶ TeamStack.ai is driving better performance by harnessing #AI, data, & the collective intelligence of teams. ​ ▶ Tesleon LLC uses compelling characters and #storytelling to instill compassion for communities and our planet in the next generation. ​ ▶ Tolam Earth is a trusted #marketplace for high-quality, high-impact carbon offsets. Don't miss out! Secure your spot below. Big thank you to Brown Rudnick LLP for hosting this event, our partners at ClimateHaven for their hard work and dedication during the entire program, and to our incredible network of #mentors and #facilitators, each of whom have dedicated time to working with these incredible founders this spring, including Jason Ambrose, Marina Rakhlin, Lauren Zujkowski, Stuart DeCew, Matt Puccini Andy Rooks, Nina Raab, and Bill Stephney. And of course Shai Tamary, Lars Korby and Sarah Cleveland, without whom we would not be able run such a #program. #innovation #sustainability #climateaction #accelerator

45

1 Comment

“Be quick, but don’t hurry.” John Wooden, the great UCLA basketball coach coined that phrase, and this week will offer interesting opportunities to watch pros applying it: the NBA Playoffs, yes, but also SF Climate Week. I’ve been thinking about how to apply the proper balance of patience and urgency to the climate fight. First, what does Wooden’s advice mean? Prolific basketball scorers will often talk about the need to “let the game come to you.” In other words be aggressive, move with purpose, probe for openings… but not to the point where you are hurrying into the teeth of the defense and in so doing making careless mistakes or missing the right play. The notion of patience also applies over time. Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers famously talked a few seasons ago (in a very impatient sports town) about trusting “The Process” in turning the league’s worst team into one of its enduring best. Back to climate. While hundreds of functional technologies/approaches are being deployed in thousands of ways across all industries to draw down emissions, it will take time we don’t really have — maybe a generation — to scale up these new methods enough to keep us under the warming levels above which really bad things happen. It can be depressing, and I’m certainly not alone in wanting to push harder. But it occurs to me that some of that urgency could qualify as hurrying in Coach Wooden’s sense. This (possibly contrarian?) perspective comes in part from an executive coach who once reflected that I sometimes struck him as having “both the gas and brake pushed down all the way.” He—and my team it turned out—experienced a grinding between my inner drive to quickly usher everything from decisions to workstreams through to conclusion and a desire to gather more information and make the perfect set of moves. Both “pedals” represented an exertion of control; and the solution to this inner tension was actually to practice patience by easing up with *both* feet. Point being this: amidst our ever-increasing incentives to ramp up velocity with decreasing margins for error, I wonder if being a bit more methodical each day could significantly improve the end result. In a realm as complex and fraught as climate, with so many entrenched defenses, could daily 1% improvements to our patience compound our effectiveness over time? Taking the extra breath to be more present in a conversation and learn more about another perspective. Sitting with the discomfort of ambiguity while waiting on more information. Trusting in the flow of things, the skills of colleagues, the angles that will appear and allow us to make outsized impact with more leverage than if we hadn’t allowed the game come to us. Think about it this week. As a hoops fans or climate warrior, a connector or caretaker — where and how could a little more patience help improve your part of the game? #ClimateChange #Sustainability #EarthDay #Improvement https://lnkd.in/gmyV3DYt

8

1 Comment

Hey fellow founder (and people who want to be founders one day), Lately I've really been enjoying Matthew Kee from Tundra Angels' series "Why We Passed on This Startup". I think it's super helpful for folks like myself whose first investors are people that they know very well and have deep trust with and who are in the very early stages of exploring investment with unfamiliar and/or institutional investors. https://lnkd.in/gWWqEMt5 No angle here, just something I've found useful and wanted to share. (Sadly Tundra Angels only invests in Wisconsin companies - I asked 😜 ) #founder #foundersjourney #fundraising #startupfinancing #venturecapital #angelinvestment #femalefounder #startup #entrepreneurship

20

4 Comments

A great example of the ecosystem coming together to do this important work: "Symbiosis will work to solve this by setting a new benchmark for best-in-class nature restoration projects that have a high certainty of positive climate impact. We’ll develop shared criteria for project design and measurement, update these criteria based on the latest science, and pool demand for carbon removal credits that meet our high bar. We'll also share our project criteria publicly, helping other companies to adopt best practices and increase their confidence in high-quality, nature-based carbon removal projects."

8

Congratulations to CEO David McAnelly and the leadership team at Salt Creek Capital. Well done, David, and here's to continued success! Entrepreneurs looking for an exit? We are actively seeking opportunities to acquire businesses in the lower middle market in California. If you are considering selling your business, we would love to discuss potential opportunities and explore how we can achieve mutual success. Let's connect and see how we can collaborate and share a prosperous future. #Leadership #Growth #LosAngelesArea #MandA #ExitStrategy #Buinessforsale #BusinessBrokers #Innovation #BusinessDevelopment #StrategicAcquisition #IndustryLeader #MarketExpansion #Entrepreneurship #SellYourBusiness #BusinessOpportunity #FutureGrowth

9

3 Comments

Throw back Thursday! 😊Excited to look back at 2023 through the publication of our Catalyst Fund Impact Report! The report spotlights the hard work of our portfolio companies after a year of work with them, as they continue to build game-changing solutions from precision agriculture technologies to water access solutions or waste management tools. 👉 Dive into our portfolio companies' impact to date, our theory of change, and how we empower bold founders to build a climate-resilient future for millions of Africans. 👉 Learn about our gender lens investing approach, sustainability focus, and how our startups are driving green growth and positioning Africa as a leader in climate action. 👉 Explore spotlights on select portfolio companies and discover how Catalyst Fund's hands-on venture building accelerates the path to scale for early-stage climate tech in Africa 👉 See the recognition our fund has earned to date and join us in investing for a climate-resilient future on the continent. Sand to Green, Bekia inc, Visual and AI Solutions (VAIS), Assuraf | Insurance, Simply, Eight Medical | Techstars ‘23, Farmz2U, Farm to Feed, Octavia Carbon, PaddyCover, Agro Supply, NoorNation, Scrapays, THOLA, Earthbond, Zebra CropBank, Medikea, Keep IT Cool, Tolbi Link to download the report: https://lnkd.in/ejJjH6aD

34

8 Comments