Jehan Noon

Most startups die trying to get what an existing business already has — Customers Cash flow Systems Brand trust Why start from zero when you can buy from momentum? Buy a business doing $500K–$2M in revenue. Leverage seller financing, SBA, or private capital. Keep the team, fix the margins, and scale. It’s not about being an entrepreneur anymore. It’s about being an acquirer. Startups are hope. Acquisitions are math. And math wins. 🦈

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Numeric is transforming the role of the modern finance professional, from a passenger who observes the business to a driver who engineers business outcomes. Super excited to share that IVP is leading the company’s Series B; deepening our partnership as Numeric expands from close management into a connected finance platform — unifying close, analytics, and now cash management. Their new cash management product tackles one of the most painful workflows in accounting. Where legacy tools automate less than 30% of transactions, Numeric achieves 90%+, saving teams days of manual work every month. As a former CFO, I’ve felt the pain of disconnected systems and manual reconciliations firsthand. Numeric is redefining what modern finance looks like: connected, intelligent, and built for real-time decision-making. We’re backing Parker Gilbert and his team as they bring clarity and connection to the heart of finance. More from Ryan Lawler at Axios: https://lnkd.in/gARRsj24 

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At Brightstar Capital Partners, we believe success begins with strong relationships built on trust, alignment, and a shared vision to help great businesses grow. While capital is essential, we focus on building long-term partnerships built through hands-on experience and a commitment to lasting value. Our investment evaluation process is grounded in sectors we know deeply. We focus on cash-flowing businesses where we see an opportunity to optimize operations and foster ownership culture, helping to grow the company better than it could on its own. Ultimately, we judge success by a simple question. Five or 10 years after we exit, if someone calls a founder or partner we’ve worked with and asks, “Should I work with Brightstar?” I want the answer to be yes. That is our definition of real value creation.

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Excerpted From the Stanford Closer Look Series paper titled: "THE CEO SCORECARD: HOW DIRECTORS SELECT A CEO WHEN THEY HAVE REAL SKIN IN THE GAME" "In this Closer Look, we consider the perspective of ValueAct Capital, an institutional investor with extensive, direct experience serving on the boards of directors of portfolio companies during multiple succession events. Through an analysis of these events, ValueAct has identified common deficiencies, including the manner in which required skills are identified and framed and the process by which they are evaluated. "ValueAct has also observed that many companies do not use rigorous scorecards built on quantitative metrics to guide the CEO evaluation process. Instead, the qualifications for a replacement CEO are often expressed as a list of vague qualities or adjectives, such as “leadership,” “vision,” “customer-centricity,” “communication skills,” “operational excellence,” and others. "Why are scorecards not more rigorous? Part of the problem lies with the board. All too often, board members lack a clear consensus around a company’s strategy and priorities and struggle to define the company’s future success in terms of specific outcomes. Without consensus, it is not possible to develop a rigorous and objective scorecard by which to evaluate potential internal and external candidates." Think about what ValueAct is saying. Boards (not sometimes but all too often) have difficulty defining the future success of a company in specific outcomes. This is obviously a huge problem in regard to defining what is needed in a new CEO in terms of experience, skills and track record. But it is also a huge problem in regard to: 1. Holding management accountable for results. If there is no consensus on outcomes, how can there be clarity in regard to what is expected of management? 2. If the board has a lack of consensus or clarity in regard to what the value creation drivers are how can there be any assurance that the board is doing its job well in allocating capital and driving operating performance and longer-term shareholder value? Said another way, how can shareholders have any degree of comfort that the board is focused on the development of the full potential of the company? Without major value creation initiatives with measurable results there cannot have been a deep dive diligence process designed to identify the full potential of the company. If such a process is absent, then there must also be the absence of a value maximization governing objective. And if that is absent, what is the role of the board? #valuemaximization #corporategovernance #boardofdirectors #governance #shareholdervalue

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My review of Pablos Holman's seriously probing (yet occasionally witty) book, Deep Future, about the core technologies that can transform key industries, in CTech by Calcalist. A must-read for any DeepTech investor or entrepreneur.

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“A great co-founder relationship is like steering a ship together—you both have your hands on the wheel, and if you’re not aligned, you’ll drift off course. Authenticity, transparency, and trust aren’t optional—they’re everything.” –Tanis Jorge A huge thank you to Tanis Jorge for joining our recent Founders Network global keynote! As a serial entrepreneur and expert on co-founder dynamics, Tanis shared heartfelt insights on what makes—or breaks—the most important relationship in a startup. She reminded us that beyond metrics and milestones, true success often comes down to the human connection between founders. When nurtured with honesty and empathy, that partnership can become one of the most meaningful relationships you’ll ever have—regardless of the company’s outcome. Tanis, thank you for your wisdom, optimism, and for reminding our community that great partnerships build not just strong companies, but lifelong bonds. #FoundersNetwork #CoFounders #StartupJourney #FounderWisdom #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #StartupLessons #TanisJorge #BuildingTogether #GlobalKeynote

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Layer is tackling one of the most overlooked pain points for SMBs: accounting. They’re gaining real traction doing so. Emergence is leading their seed round to bring embedded, AI-powered accounting to the SMB software stack. Kevin Spain highlights what makes this team and product so compelling. 

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