John Elton

I'm so excited to continue supporting Prolific Machines, Inc., and the incredible Deniz Kent, PhD ,Max Huisman, and Declan Jones. Today's cellular biology processes are incredibly expensive, inefficient, imprecise, and sometimes purely ineffective. These processes are used from everything from making antibodies to treat diseases, to fermentation used to make high-value nutritional proteins in baby formula, to whole cuts of cultured meat. Prolific has developed a biology platform that leverages light to guide cell behavior and optimize performance over time using AI. By combining light, bioengineering, hardware, and AI in fundamentally new ways, Prolific can help pharmaceutical, nutritional, and therapeutics companies get to market faster, less expensively, and more efficiently — ultimately in hopes of helping improve outcomes — a mission any of us can get behind. Mark Cuban Peter T. Frederick Blackford Cooper Rinzler David Adelman Darco Capital Breakthrough Energy Michael Schulson Kevin Love Tobias Harris Breyer Capital Charles Besser Brennan Besser Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants https://lnkd.in/ea2TqdQk

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One of my proudest moments as an investor occurred today as Alaffia Health announced its series A because it shows how the Aperture® Venture Capital vision of multi-level, multi-generational #impactinvesting is succeeding in the marketplace. Here’s the model in its most basic form : ✅As diverse fund managers with meaningful capital to allocate, we are changing the VC landscape every day just by doing our day jobs. ✅As Black/Brown investors with ~40 years experience collectively, Aperture GPs have access to talent /excellence that others do not, so our portfolio *organically* is more inclusive by race, gender and geography even while optimizing for financial outcomes (all about the alpha). ✅Our most successful portco’s are using financial #innovation to solve market problems that impact underrepresented demographics and underserved communities. Alaffia Health is a shining example of the impact portion of our overall fund thesis, and we couldn’t be prouder of TJ Ademiluyi and Adun Akanni, MPH, PMP - the dynamic brother-sister founder duo whose vision we have steadfastly supported on their journey. Congratulations to TJ and Adun from William Crowder and myself, as well as the whole Aperture team- Marjorie King Philip McKenzie Yves Louis-Jacques Tanvi Lal Michelle Dhansinghani Lisha Bell Katie Kelly Amy Chung Cindy Chong, CFA Brian Fernandes-Halloran Monroe France Jayden Pantel Darren Herman Evan Wladis Neal Triplett Thomas Scriven Peter Ammon Irina Bit-Babik Tim Milanich Rob Rahbari

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WE DID IT! After 2 years of pushing through the biggest downturn in VC in decades, Matthew Stotts 🌐 and I made it to the finish line with Fund I! We couldn't have done this without One Small Planet (Will Peterffy and Jack Wielebinski 🙏), Regen Network and Regen Foundation (Austin Wade Smith Gregory Landua and Will Szal), and a dozen other family offices and angels who believed that we can build a nature-positive economy utilizing our eye for software and our history as founders from day 1 A shout out goes to all of our founders (only four announced today, but watch this space - there are multitudes!) who trusted us enough to give us a spot on their cap table for this 10-15 year journey. This is the best job in the world, and it's because we get to work with people like you who have weird ideas in the best possible way. Using Bitcoin as anchor base load to decarbonize residential housing in America's most expensive energy market? Make every complex supply chain legible to machines so we can find and eliminate deforestation in commodity supply chains? Build deeply liquid environmental asset markets to price ecosystem services, on a blockchain, that no one needs to know is a blockchain? I'm so excited to get to work on this stuff for the next 10-15 years minimum, and to see what we can accelerate with our tiny fund in the next 5-6 years as we approach 2030 Onward! https://lnkd.in/gy3B-DFe

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His career started when someone said to him, “well, have you thought about venture capital? We don’t think that you’d be any good at it.” The rest is history. Today’s Alt Goes Mainstream episode features one of the legends of the venture capital industry. Peter Barris joined New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in 1992 after a storied operating career as President and COO at Legent Corporation and an executive at GE Information Services. He served as Managing General Partner and Chairman of NEA from 1999 to March 2024. Under Peter's leadership, NEA saw tremendous success, growing into one of the world's largest venture capital firms and raising the largest-ever venture capital fund a number of times. Today, NEA's AUM stands over $25B. Peter was responsible for investing in a number of foundational and industry-transforming technology companies, including Salesforce, UUNET, Groupon, WebMD, Workday, CareerBuilder, Tempus AI, and more. We had a fascinating discussion about the early days of venture capital and how the industry has evolved. We covered: * The inside story of how almost every other Partner said no but Peter's investment turned out to be a 75x return. * What's the “best characteristic and the death characteristic” of an entrepreneur? * In today's hypercompetitive market do VCs have enough time to make good decisions? * Why the world of venture capital is about influence. * What does it mean to earn an entrepreneur’s trust as a VC? * Why VCs with operating backgrounds can bring unique value to startups. * How NEA came up with the term "Venture Growth Equity." * How can a VC tell that a founder is good at experimentation and that they have the good judgment? * Why specialization and domain expertise are prerequisites in today’s venture industry. Thanks to Ultimus Fund Solutions for sponsoring this episode of the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Thanks Peter for coming on the show. It was an honor and a pleasure to hear your views on the evolution of an industry and for you to share your wisdom and experiences. https://lnkd.in/eEJGEFWe

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Of note: Your health records are coming to new apps This in an interesting change, and a somewhat Epic change. All puns intended. If you don’t know, the leading medical record storage solution in the US is operated by Epic. A rather critical problem is that if you walk (well drive) between two hospital in the US, the medical records tend not to follow you, unless you carry a large Manila envelope. Having Epic (and others) via TEFCA allow export of records arguably allows you to only carry your phone, which is a very siginificant change. This also (arguably) opens up a huge new innovation sector. Epic is one of the organizations that has been helping the US federal government establish the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, or TEFCA. The goal being to iron out both the legal and technical requirements for sharing patients' data at scale. Health-care data in the U.S. has historically been siloed and difficult to move around. Clinics, hospitals and health systems can store their information in a variety of formats across dozens of different vendors, and there hasn't been a trusted nationwide mechanism in place for transporting it securely. This means if a patient moves to a different state or visits a new hospital, their medical records tend not follow. PS. If you want appreciate how profitable the US medical sector is, Epic HQ has a restantant designed to look like Kings Cross from the Harry Potter movies. https://lnkd.in/g8NaWza8

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Check out my recent post on why President Trump is the forcing function for us to solve the “Missing Middle” and catch the industrial Tsunami of onshoring coming to the US!

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🎃 Ready to carve out your path to Product-Market Fit?🎃 Join Companyon Ventures’ Behind the Curtain roundtable tomorrow (Oct 30) with Michael Ho, Firas Raouf, Eric Morgan, and Hersh Tapadia as they 'exorcise' the mysteries of PMF. Don’t ghost us—RSVP in the comments 👻 https://lnkd.in/emCJcn4w #emergingmanager #venturecapital #productmarketfit

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Economies thrive with automation, and Formic is accelerating state-of-the-art robotics & AI across our factories and warehouses:

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🌟 Boston’s Trailblazing Health Tech Startups! 🌟 I thought it would be nice to give a little shout out to some of the health tech startups in Boston putting in work. PathAI – Leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance the accuracy of pathology diagnoses, PathAI is paving the way for more precise and efficient disease detection. Akili Interactive – Bridging healthcare and digital therapeutics, Akili is developing video game-based treatments for cognitive disorders, bringing a unique approach to mental health and wellness. Biofourmis – This predictive health analytics leader offers remote patient monitoring solutions, allowing healthcare providers to offer personalized care and anticipate patient needs. Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. – Specializing in synthetic biology, Ginkgo Bioworks is transforming drug development and diagnostics by creating custom organisms, fueling innovations in biotechnology Omada Health – A pioneer in virtual care, Omada Health provides digital health solutions to manage chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and mental health, bringing healthcare directly to patients. Buoy Health – Powered by AI, Buoy Health offers personalized health guidance and telehealth support, helping users make informed decisions about their health from home. Eqrx R – Focused on affordable drug development, EQRx is working to make essential medicines accessible, addressing one of healthcare’s biggest challenges—affordability. #BostonHealthTech #InnovationEcosystem #DigitalHealth #HealthcareInnovation #Startups

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New York City startups are addressing the lack of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) by installing curbside solutions. These startups, such as It’s Electric, Gravity, and Voltpost, offer different approaches, including tapping into existing power sources, utilizing fast charging technology, and integrating chargers into lampposts. Despite challenges like grid capacity and vandalism, these startups aim to make EV ownership more accessible and appealing to urban residents.

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In this exciting episode of the Duran Inci Podcast—where innovation meets deep insight—I am thrilled to host Alex Berg, a pioneering entrepreneur who is revolutionizing industries with his innovative approach at Cratos Equipment, often dubbed "The Tesla of Construction." Visionary Insights: Dive into the motivations that drive top entrepreneurs beyond mere profit. Learn about Alex's passion for transforming the status quo and how it leads to groundbreaking results. The Power of 'WHY': Discover how aligning business operations with core values can shape the future of an industry and forge unstoppable teams. Challenging the Norms: Unpack why tackling complex challenges is essential for creating a fulfilling and impactful future. This episode is a must-listen for aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone eager to explore the limits of what's possible in business innovation. Tune in and be inspired to think differently and act boldly. #EntrepreneurialSpirit #InnovativeLeadership #VisionaryThinking #BusinessTransformation #CratosEquipment #DisruptTheStatusQuo #FutureOfBusiness #PodcastForChange #DuranInciPodcast #ChallengeConvention

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Last week, we shared the first part (1/2) of our perspectives on vertical SaaS (vSaaS), more specifically on which metrics define the performance of vSaaS businesses and outlining the benchmarks for each of these metrics. If you have not yet read the piece, give it a read here - https://lnkd.in/d94n2bgN This week we published the second part (2/2) where we call out certain strategies deployed by successful vSaaS companies like Procore Technologies Toast ServiceNow Zenoti and others that can be used to improve the metrics that matter. Read on to layer the numbers with the strats- https://lnkd.in/dPkmWFax Do reach out if you are building in the space or want to exchange notes / feedback on the perspectives. #fintech #verticaSaaS #embeddedfinance #investments

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Open-source models can be a strong lever for increasing gross margins at AI companies, especially those that have hefty cost structures (e.g., enterprise sales orgs that require significant customer success or implementation resources, as well forward-deployed AI services models common in healthcare and life sciences). One of many reasons to maintain a modular and flexible stack with minimal dependencies when building an AI company. More on the importance of flexibility in the AI stack: https://lnkd.in/eA2XATRk h/t Delip Rao #ai #artificialintelligence #generativeai #healthcare

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We are so excited to announce our investment in Raechel Lambert, Bernard Kobos, and Ryan Lambert and their company, River Platform Company. River is a platform that empowers brands and influencers to build large-scale, in-person communities. To date, the platform has hosted over 2,000 events with 3,000 crowdsourced hosts and 55,000 attendees across more than 15 cities worldwide. We like to think of it as the operating system for community management. If the Catholic Church were founded today, it would use River to coordinate its global activities. No kidding. Jason Calacanis, the American internet entrepreneur and investor known for his All-In podcast with Chamath Palihapitiya, David O. Sacks, and David Friedberg, saw their potential early on. So did Balaji Srinivasan, Bryan Johnson, Tim Ferriss, and many others. We met the River team six months ago and have been incredibly impressed by their big-picture thinking, relentless hustle to connect with the right people and flawless execution. And as if that wasn’t enough, working with them is an absolute pleasure. These guys are a source of renewable energy. We’re proud to be part of this journey alongside wonderful co-investors like Blue Wire Capital, Blockwall, Solana Foundation, very early Ventures, and LAUNCH. Congratulations to the entire River team on this exciting milestone! We know firsthand that when things seem effortless, it’s because a tremendous amount of hard work went into making it happen. Want to join or host an IRL community event? Head over to getriver.io. #getriver #community #blockchainfounderscapital #startup #venturecapital #creatoreconomy

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The healthcare landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by advancements in technology and a deeper understanding of patient care. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ambar Bhattacharyya, Co-Managing Partner at Maverick Ventures, on the latest episode of The Full Ratchet. Ambar has partnered with numerous billion-dollar companies like hims & hers, Cityblock Health, Devoted Health, and ConcertAI. His unique journey from rural America to becoming a prominent figure in venture capital offers invaluable insights into the future of healthcare and technology. We discuss his investment strategy at Maverick Ventures, the megatrends shaping healthcare, the impact of AI on the industry, and the importance of integrated care. Ambar also shares his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in healthcare investment, offering a comprehensive view of what lies ahead. Check out TFR Episode 438 to catch our conversation. You'll be glad you listened. Link to the full episode is in the comment section below.

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Hey folks, I think you might be aware that what we're building at DeepCast includes a podcast discovery and exploration platform for listeners at www.deepcast.fm. We also recently unveiled www.deepcast.pro -- a promotions, marketing, and monetization platform for podcasters (and folks like networks and agencies who support them). "You make the shows, let us help you with what comes after." Shows claimed and processed via DeepCast Pro are also published for listener consumption on DeepCast. High value all around! If you're a podcaster, claim your show at www.deepcast.pro to get started. Free speaker-labeled transcripts for all your episodes as well as generated insights for each (key takeaways, quotes, topic & keyword sets, summaries, and more) plus many more features—and growing daily! We're shipping fast over here! (Thanks to Rachel Perez Hosna Qasmei Kim Burgaard Benjamin Moon Rachel Magana Hari Ramachandran!)

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Who will be the next supply chain consolidator? From 2011 to 2021, XPO scaled up from $70M to $20B, fueled by a combination of organic growth and 18 acquisitions. The model was extremely successful. But the supply chain ecosystem remains extremely fragmented. There is plenty of room for new consolidators to emerge as winners. In the food supply chain software arena, one emerging acquiror is GrubMarket Inc. They have built a network model to help food suppliers automate their relationships with their customers. GrubMarket has acquired over 100 companies to date. They are expecting to exceed $2B in annualized revenue. And they just announced their latest purchase: Butter 🧈, a SaaS platform to automate food distribution. Kudos to Mike Xu, Winston C., and all involved! #logistics #supplychain #consolidation https://lnkd.in/emY4wpsy

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How much is your tech company worth?  I look beyond the IP – the people and their post transaction commitment, data created by the technology, anchor customers, strategic partners, recurring revenue, backlog…. These all are indictors I look for in the roll-up companies I am part of and in the F500 M&A I have done in the past. A quick read of the advice from myself and my fellow colleagues at the Forbes Technology Council on what to consider in calculating the current and potential worth of your company’s technology. What do you think we are missing?  What do you think creates the most value? Need help? Reach out! Take care of yourself, and if you can, someone else. Red Summit Board Services & Advisory Forbes Technology Council Forbes Councils Forbes Savitri Sagar Pankaj Chawla Didem Ün Ateş Nihinlola Adeyemi Alonso Vargas Jay Samuels Joshua L. John Cho Raj Indupuri Mike Capone Denis Mandich Richard C. Ricks Russ Kennedy Hadi Ganjineh Will Conaway Dax Grant Savneet S.

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Congrats to all the 2024 IA40 winners! Looking forward to celebrating them and talking about all the latest AI trends at our upcoming conference on October 1st and 2nd. At Madrona, we have spent over a decade partnering with and investing in intelligent application companies, observing their influence and impact across various verticals. We believe these apps are poised to shape the future of software and the next wave of computing. You can read more insights and thoughts about this year's winners and the current AI landscape: https://lnkd.in/g2CjX_rj

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