A growth investor at Lead Edge Capital explains how professional investors decide which companies are worth backing, and what separates an exciting company from one that can actually survive diligence: the screen, the technology, the fit, and the relationship. Aaron Darr did not arrive in investing by a straight line.
An Army sergeant who went on to run three private equity-backed companies, buy 58 businesses, and return $2.5 billion to investors tells founders where they stall, why it happens, and what to fix before they sell: the unit, the org chart, the balance sheet, and the books. Adam Coffey describes
A CEO who lost his first company to undercapitalization tells founders what that mistake actually costs: the years, the seat, and the reason you keep raising money long after it stops feeling urgent. Ben Allen grew up in a commodity trading house on the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa, where
A CEO who sold her company to its own employees tells founders what the other exit actually costs: the valuation you give up, the debt that slows you down for years, and why the work only starts once the deal closes. Most founders weighing an exit are choosing between private
A buyer who acquires manufacturing companies for a living tells owners what he is really assessing: the one question that exposes founder dependency, and why the buyer most likely to clear out your team isn’t the one owners fear. Most owners picture the same scene when they hear private equity:
An agency owner who sold his company and then bought ten more tells owners what their business is actually worth: the five roles between doing the work and owning the asset, and why earnouts are where sellers lose money. Most agency owners are the bottleneck in their own company and