Robert Seolas

Plaid is built to make it easier for businesses to build and scale financial products that people trust. That trust starts with knowing who you’re working with. As Plaid helps platforms onboard and support millions of businesses, verifying business identity accurately and efficiently is foundational. That’s why Plaid partners with Middesk to automate business verification during onboarding — confirming core business details, reducing manual review, and helping teams make confident risk decisions without slowing down the customer experience. Together, we help Plaid deliver faster onboarding, stronger compliance, and a more durable foundation for growth across the financial ecosystem they power. We’re proud to support Plaid as they help teams move fast while maintaining trust at scale. #KYB #KYC #AML #BEV #businessverification #financialservices #onboarding #compliance #smallbusiness #SMBs

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Founders are often optimistic about growth. Sometimes, that confidence leads to funding ideas that don't fully pan out. Royalty-based growth capital is structured to limit downside risk compared to traditional venture-backed paths. Vik Thapar of Cypress Growth Capital explains that, even if outcomes fall short of early expectations, founders often still exit with meaningful results because they retain the majority of ownership. 🎙️ Tune into the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gxkEsH3Z 👇🏽 Find Us Here https://lnkd.in/gTdPMk8P #privateequity #privateequitypodcast #privateequityvaluecreation

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Early-stage startups: Without strong financial resources and planning, your growth may stall. Key priorities at this stage include: 📈 Setting clear goals even if revenue is zero 📊 Building a flexible 12-month budget to track burn rate 🤝 Leveraging free resources like SBA and SCORE mentors Lay the groundwork for scalable growth with 5th Line—discover more: https://hubs.ly/Q03z33rR0 #earlystage #financialresources #startupgrowth

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Weather delays. Compliance gaps. Lost days and lost dollars. Every contractor knows the pain. Pavewise, based in North Dakota and built by operators who’ve lived it, has just raised a $2.5M seed round led by C2 Ventures Fund II, alongside Connetic Ventures, Service Provider Capital, M25, gener8tor 1889, and Broadwater Capital. Their platform brings real-time compliance, weather, and production tracking to road construction, helping crews make better calls, cut rework, and keep projects on time. This is exactly what we mean when we talk about our thesis, Dirty, Dull, and Dangerous innovation: solving real operational problems in essential industries with durable tech. https://lnkd.in/eecPMHdN

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If you're in Bend, OR Tuesday this week, I will be presenting content from my new book - "Market Engineering" at the "What the Tech, Bend" event. AI may be transforming all industries but as long as humans are "in the loop" at any point in the buying decision, great Market Engineering will produce $B outcomes.

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We build tools that don't exist yet. Custom software, AI plugins, and infrastructure for businesses that refuse to settle for off-the-shelf. https://lnkd.in/em26Kzfe

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How do founder-builders compound through acquisitions without creating chaos? Founder-led acquisitions compound when you connect Operating Cadence to Acquisition Cadence—then rebaseline the combined business fast. The goal isn’t “close the deal.” It’s “operate tighter after the deal” with one version of truth, clear owners, and a repeatable rhythm. Builder Flywheel: Baseline operating truth (owners + definitions) Run cadence weekly (CRAID) Maintain a living target pipeline (always screening) Screen fast (fit rules + kill criteria) Diligence with evidence (not opinions) Integrate Day 1/30/90 (planned pre-close) Rebaseline the combined entity (same cadence) Which step breaks first for you—target flow, screening, or integration? Connect with us to bring visibility, clarity and action that will improve your capital return on your next aquisition.

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Fundraising? Nail Your “Use of Funds” Story Many founders fumble here: They raise $500k but can’t explain exactly how they’ll use it. Investors want to know: ✅ How much will go to growth? ✅ How much for product development? ✅ What milestones will this funding unlock? Your “use of funds” isn’t just a slide in your deck. It’s a reflection of your priorities and execution plan. Clarity here = confidence from investors. Before you pitch, ask yourself: “Can I explain exactly how every dollar raised will drive us forward?” Founders, how did you allocate your last funding round? Let’s learn from each other. #FinArchitect #InvestorReady #StartupFunding #FounderTips #VCInsights

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#1 aside from the grants is the VCs hadn’t had exits in a while so there wasn’t as much money circulating plus AI makes it hard to tell who’s real. I was told to show bottom line results then VCs would be there so I moved to production and pragmatic GTM strategies while bootstrapped. Audrey Cunningham-Jackson

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~Introducing ALIGNCAP. Most founders don’t struggle because their ideas are weak. They struggle because their timing, narrative, or positioning is misaligned with the capital they approach. ALIGNCAP exists to work before the pitch. We help early-stage founders: assess investor readiness clarify their narrative understand fit before outreach avoid premature or misaligned fundraising We don’t promise funding. We don’t sell access. We focus on alignment. Because the right capital, at the wrong time, can do more harm than good. Alignment over capital. — ALIGNCAP Founder–Investor Alignment Platform

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Excited to join Midday Connect tomorrow to talk broadly about how investors actually think when evaluating founders and companies and what we think about Symphonic Capital! If you can't make it, I recently wrote about what we look for specifically—how we back AI companies closing gaps in healthcare, finance, and workforce. Written with stories from four of our portfolio founders. Read "AI as Infrastructure" here: https://lnkd.in/eDNqG7K2

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The funding environment in 2026 isn’t frozen it’s more disciplined than ever. Investors are still deploying capital, but they’re looking for startups that combine clarity, traction, and structure. What investors are prioritizing now: 🟢 Clear revenue logic and a realistic growth plan  story alone isn’t enough. 🟢 Disciplined use of funds demonstrating how every pound drives measurable impact. 🟢 Transparent cap tables and well-sized option pools  messy ownership slows decisions. 🟢 Founders who are investor-ready  data room, projections, and compliance in order before the first meeting. Rounds are smaller than the wild days of 2021, but more predictable, with typical UK seed rounds in 2026 ranging around £1.5–3m and ~20% dilution. International investors are increasingly active, and policy stability continues to support fundraising. Undo Capital helps founders stay ahead of these expectations by automating eligibility checks, share issues, and compliance, so founders can focus on scaling their business rather than paperwork. #InvestorReady #StartupFunding #CapTable #Fundraising2026 #UKStartups #Founders

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