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Great morning at the Alliance of M&A Advisors DFW chapter breakfast. Bill McCalpin presented the latest AM&AA national market update survey results, which were very insightful. Key Take-Aways * Owners and Buyers are motivated to transact and age/retirement are driving a growing supply of companies for sale * Half of owners who intended to go to market in the 1s half of 2025, postponed or withdrew their sale process. Deal volume returned to normal in the 2nd half of 2025 * Active deals currently under LOI show higher cumulative total deal value, showing that deals postponed in 2025 are now driving higher M&A volume in early 2026 * EBITDA multiples look to be ticking up by~+0.6x reflective of the high-margin, high-growth companies that are dominating transactions recently * Companies are under-prepared for sale and preparation in advance directly addresses the most prevalent causes of deal failure Mindy Kay McRae Broadbent Jordyn Arons Rosen, CIC, CPCU Aurélia Desmot #mergersandacquisitions

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Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting Jeff Murphy, Executive Director of North Texas Angel Network, as a guest on our podcast. Did you know about NTAN? 💸 $850K+ invested in 2025 so far, pacing ahead of 2024, which closed at $1M. 📈 2023–2024 investments totaled $2M across 20 companies. 👥 Surpassed 60 active members in 2025, strengthening pitch event participation and deal capacity. 🤝 Increased syndication with other Texas Angel networks, expanding access to top startups across Texas and the U.S. 🚀 Actively finalizing new investments and onboarding members ahead of this week's pitch event. Want to stay updated on our upcoming events? Subscribe to our newsletter 👉 https://bit.ly/4hbX9iZ Chihiro Kurokawa

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Tinker Air Force Base generated $7.5B economic impact in FY2024, up 11% from FY2023. Oklahoma's largest employer with 26,000 workers is adding 2,350 jobs. Defense manufacturing creates startup opportunities. #VC #GrindVentures

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Proud to be a founding member and serve as Chair of the Advisory Board for the newly launched TexCap Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank focused on aligning private capital with public-interest policy in Texas. Today we released our first report—a comprehensive, data-driven review of the 89th Texas Legislature, covering tax equity, infrastructure, grid resilience, and AI governance. This is about more than policy. It’s an evidence-based blueprint for long-term prosperity in Texas. Major shoutout to Gavin N., our Founder and CEO, for spearheading this initiative with vision, grit, and a deep understanding of how public-private collaboration can shape a better future for Texans. His leadership is what made this launch possible. Read the full report here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gz-FvyJR #txlege #TexCapPolicy #ResponsibleCapitalism #PolicyLeadership #TexasFuture

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I am pleased to announce the launch of 𝗧𝗮𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘆𝗮 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 and our first early-stage fund: 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗜. Doug Moore and I have founded this firm based on our strong belief that Texas is uniquely positioned for early-stage growth.  Investing in private companies and startups has transitioned from an optional pursuit to an essential component of a forward-looking investment strategy. 𝗔 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀.  𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺—𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲—𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀. Our venture fund is committed to a dual mission: we provide capital and operational support to innovative founders across Texas, and we are dedicated to giving back.  A portion of the General Partner (GP) profits will be channeled to Tapasya Foundation (501c3) (https://lnkd.in/gStuXrrM), which will deploy these funds directly into the communities where we live and operate. 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀! 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲: https://lnkd.in/gjAmTb2f  #VentureCapital #Texas #StartupInvesting #EarlyStage #TapasyaVentures

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In this article for LvlUp Ventures, I shared 15 of the best actionable lessons from top venture capital investors based in Texas and Latin America, focused on fundraising, product-market-fit, finance, and how they evaluate founders and startups. 📄 This article is based on in-depth VC insights from interviews 🎙️ featured on the InspirAcción Startup Podcast y Newsletter. (*) InspirAcción in Spanish = InspireAction in English. 🎯 No fluff. No recycled advice. Just real perspective from investors actively deploying capital across the U.S. and LatAm. ⬇️ Below are 4 of the 15 key takeaways 𝟏) 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝟓𝟎 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 - Content is crucial, but how you communicate it effectively matters just as much. - Ideally include one slide that highlights your competitive advantage versus both direct and indirect competitors, positioning your startup as the ideal solution to solve the problem for your target segment. - Use the main message of each slide as the headline (not generic titles like “The Problem” or “The Solution”). By Mariano González Vasconcelos, Founder & General Partner at MGV Capital. 𝟐) 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞: 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 You need to dedicate many hours not only to preparing materials, but also to mental and physical preparation to hear a large number of “no’s.” The human body is not built to handle that much rejection. Ending a 9–10 hour day of calls without a single “yes” can be brutal. If you’re not mentally prepared, it can really bring you down. By Damaris Mendoza Loera, Partner at 500 Global. 𝟑) 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 It’s critical to have a data room ready before starting the fundraising process. For us, interviewing employees, former employees, customers, and potential customers is essential. It’s one of the areas where we gather the most insights before investing. Having all of this ready in advance makes the process much more efficient. By Federico Gómez Romero, Head of Cathay Latam. 𝟒) 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 For example, have one person focused on business, one on technology, and one on operations. Execution capability is key, founders must be operators and move fast. To truly assess this, it’s important to look not only at what they’ve executed before, but also how they executed it. By Claudio Barahona Jacobs, General Partner at CVC Latam. 👉 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ebjkP9Rc #VentureCapital #Startup #Fundraising #Founder #VCInsights #LatAm #TexasVC #EarlyStage #LvlUpVentures #VC #Tech #Investor

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The Texas Legislature just passed an interesting, and somewhat curious, proposal to maybe, kinda, sort of invade the internal affairs doctrine for businesses incorporated in other states but operating principally in Texas or listed on the Texas Stock Exchange | TXSE Group Inc? Texas SB1057/HB4115 passed May 7, 2025. It would allow corporations that meet certain criteria to amend their governing documents to block shareholder proposals unless the shareholder holds the lesser of $1 million worth of securities or 3% of the securities entitled to vote. The conditions to take advantage of this provision are that the corporation must: (1) be listed on a national exchange; and (2) either (a) have its principal office in Texas or (b) be listed on an exchange that has its principal office in Texas. What's notable about this is that neither condition requires the entity be incorporated in Texas. Texas corporations already have the ability to set their own rules with regards to proxy solicitations, so this law would seemingly have no effect on them. Instead, SB1057/HB4115 appears to allow foreign corporations to opt out of their state of incorporation's laws regarding shareholder proposals in favor of a regime in Texas that is more hostile to activist shareholders. But the entity would still remain incorporated in another state, presumably still subject to that state's conflicting corporate governance laws. I understand the motivation, but I'm not confident this is a direction that will ultimately prove helpful. On the specific substance, Delaware and Nevada law probably already allowed this type of limitation on shareholder proposals. And the SEC appears to be likely to take its own steps to limit proxy solicitations from certain types of activists. So, SB1057/HB4115 does not do much to change the status quo. But on the larger scale, it could be problematic for states to start attempting to regulate the internal affairs of foreign corporations. To begin, there would be obvious potential for exactly the types of conflicts the internal affairs doctrine was intended to prevent. And there are dangers if states engage in an arms race of "choose your own adventure" corporate governance that allows companies to elect aspects of corporate law from different jurisdictions in a patchwork fashion, at least insofar as their place of incorporation has not decided to leave the issue up to the corporation to decide for itself. A corporation wishing to take advantage of Texas corporate governance should probably be benefited and burdened with the entire Texas corporate scheme, which is incredibly flexible but is written to balance shareholder interests against other concerns in different ways through different provisions.

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Baker Botts is pleased to host its 2026 Dallas Board of Directors Forum on February 10 at Old Parkland in Dallas, held in partnership with the NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) North Texas Chapter. This annual forum brings together directors and senior advisors to discuss emerging governance challenges shaping boardrooms today—including AI, effective board oversight, Texas’ data center boom and developments related to the Texas Business Court. The program will feature timely panels and briefings, including: Shareholder Activism: Emerging Trends and Effective Board Oversight Featuring Valerie Mack (FTI Consulting), Jonathan Salzberger (Innisfree), and Andrew Siegel (Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher), moderated by Baker Botts Partner John Lawrence. Brief: AI as a Strategic Imperative Insights from Baker Botts Partners Sarah Dodson and Rich Harper on board-level oversight of AI-driven transformation. Brief: The Texas Business Court in Action A practical overview from Baker Botts Partners Tom O'Brien and Monica H. Smith on how the Court’s early activity may affect companies doing business in Texas. Powering the Future: Texas’ Data Center Boom, Economic Growth and the Boardroom Agenda Featuring Brett Collard (Compass Datacenters), Bryan Marsh (StratCap Data Centers), and Jennifer Warren (Contributing Editor, DCEO; Founder, Concept Elemental), moderated by Baker Botts Partner Samantha Crispin. Learn more and view the full agenda: https://okt.to/z6OaKT

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