Will Quist

It is incredible what care.fi has built - an OS for healthcare players —unifying RCM, claims intelligence, and embedded finance into a single execution layer. Welcome to July Family, Care.fi

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I spoke with Christien Louviere of BDE Capital about his journey from a $330mm exit to becoming an independent sponsor. Christien shared excellent insights for folks looking to partner with business owners, rather than buy sellers out completely. Below are a few of the topics we covered: - Why he moved from “zero-to-one” startups to a buy-then-build strategy - How Christien's background shaped a focus on growth vs. cost-cutting - Why 20–40% rolled equity is central to his deal structures—and how it builds trust with sellers - Using scenario analysis with AI tools to evaluate management teams and uncover hidden key-person risks - How to identify when a $3–5M EBITDA company truly has a middle management layer—or is still founder-reliant For anyone investing in or buying small businesses, Christien’s approach provides a fresh lens on growth, alignment, and deal structuring. 🎥 Watch the full interview here → https://lnkd.in/ekfkaiej 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e86Agx6V

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🚨SOMEONE YELLED 🔥AND CHANGED THE NARRATIVE 😮 🚒 SOFTBANK HAS HAD its share of turmoil between the WeWork meltdown and other missteps. Not taking any chances on NVDA---total exit, not just a trim. Why would they tank their own stock price? 🚒 ORACLE WE HAVE followed since June as CDS5Y doubled according to ICE Data Services. Morgan Stanley expected net adjusted debt to rise from $100B to about $290B by fiscal 2028 and recommended hedging with five-year CDS. 🈹 BARCLAYS HAD BEEN bullish as recently as September, yet, made a total about face today with a "SELL" rating in the face of mixed consensus: * Oracle shares fell 2% after Erste Group cut the rating from buy to hold, trading as low as $228.89, finishing around $235.95 on a mid-day volume surge of ~31% above average. * Despite downgrades, others raised price targets (e.g., Guggenheim to $400, Piper Sandler to $380, BofA upgraded to buy) and the consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of $323.69. * Even so, insiders sold 204,254 shares (~$60.2M) in the past 90 days, even as large institutions like NorgesBank, Jennison, Nuveen, and Vanguard added or increased stakes, signaling mixed insider versus institutional flows. 🔥SOMETHING SMOLDERING, like a coal fire in the bowels of the Titanic. If nerves are on edge about ORCL taking on mega-debt, what are investors to make of Coreweave's babbling CEO on CNBC this morning? 😮 MICHAEL BURRY sounded his siren about accounting tricks in some AI names. Could this be a repeat of Worldcom et al? Same script, different players. #Oracle #Barclays #Zerohedge #CNBC #Coreweave #ErsteGroup #PiperSandler #MichaelBurry

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"Worst market since [1830]" or similar hyperbole. No doubt it's very tough, but I think this mammoth first time fundraise from Vista founding team member Brian Sheth highlights the fact that a blue chip investment background, attributable connection to successful deals, an attractive investment strategy and LP connectivity can cut through the noise in a big way. No doubt the GP commitment was significant too... William Blair worked on this raise I believe. https://lnkd.in/gDTuyNEd

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Market volatility rewards investors with valuation discipline. In early-stage investing, consensus can crowd into certain sectors and drive valuations above fair value. Alpha then lives at the frontiers, where the signals show up before the crowd prices a premium to the investment trajectory. At Decasonic, we’ve been building toward this reality for years. Our “AI building AI” strategy is backed by substance. It reflects how we systematically surface what others miss. Our latest post, The Alpha Frontier: AI for Early Signal Discovery, proposes a three step framework for deploying AI for non-consensus signals. 1. AI-enabled data sensors to separate signal from noise. The next decade of venture returns belongs to AI Native venture investors who can synthesize diverse, real-time datasets for faint signals versus noise, in addition to the subjective evaluations of investment narratives. 2. AI-driven identification of emerging, non-consensus themes. Frontier markets don’t announce themselves. These are markets engineered by innovators and investors who take early risks to build this category around customer use cases. Patterns for category building emerge, again detected with the help of AI. We are tracking three major themes across our investment sourcing today from a universe of 20 AI defined themes and 100s of subsectors across 8+ data sources. 3. Mapping non-consensus signals to asymmetric early-stage opportunities. When attention, valuations and traction diverge, that’s where outlier returns are born. As I shared recently in our annual investor event, three aspects will ensure we survive and thrive in market volatility: market timing, valuation and durable adoption. Similar playbook for winning dot com and social web investing applies to today's Web3 and AI investing. ⏩ This is the core of our investment edge: combining decades of venture pattern recognition with AI agent teammates and applications that scale our ability to see around corners. We’re investing in the people and technologies pushing the boundaries of Web3, AI, and the broader frontier of AI Native capabilities, long before they become obvious.

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I’ve spoken to over 2 dozen MDs at PE firms I can confidently say that the arb of figuring out how to implement Vertical AI at portfolio companies is very real right now It will fundamentally change underwriting for those who can do it predictably and unlock generational returns. Most are aware they need to act. Very few have.

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Activist Investor Galloway Capital Partners Buys 6.01% of Noodles & Company "The filing further said that Galloway “intends to engage the board and management” regarding share performance, operations, management, governance — including potential changes to the board of directors — conflicted party transactions, capital allocation policies, and strategy." #activistinvesting #shareholderactivism #corporategovernance https://lnkd.in/gJr3tFgJ

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🥾 #bootstrapping as a mindset should be ephemeral, one that requires a deliberate transition away from as a business enters sustained growth Appointing an established auditor is often regarded as a luxury and not part of bootstrapping Audits discipline a business - to be methodical, thorough and deliberate - traits that acquirers often seek in due diligence After all, "What gets inspected, gets respected," Anon We will share the traits of venture businesses sought and respected by MNC acquirers, join us if your business is out of the #bootstrapping mindset #fulfillingpotential #hepmil #oobmil

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💡Emerging GP Fundraising Insight #8: Rolling Closes Keep You Moving Small funds can't always afford to sit still until the target is hit. Rolling closes let you start deploying earlier, build a track record, and show momentum to prospective LPs. One GP told me that for Fund I ($5M target), he took capital as it came, signed, wired, and got to work. It wasn't perfect, but it kept the lights on and the deals moving. Sometimes the "sign and wire as it comes" approach is the only way to get moving. Takeaway: Momentum is a fundraising asset and rolling closes can help you keep it. Has anyone here used rolling closes as a strategic advantage?

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