AutoFi Master Class is designed exclusively for automotive dealerships looking to significantly boost volume and profitability through digital sales. Hosted by industry expert Joe St. John, the 13-week course will lay out the seismic changes in the industry, before diving deep into how auto dealers can meet the demands of 21st century shoppers.
Venture 'Rules Are Changing' as Funds Aim Beyond Unicorns (FundFire)
On August 26th, Laconia was featured in FundFire’s article, Venture 'Rules Are Changing' as Funds Aim Beyond Unicorns , examining various paths being taken by venture managers in pursuit of outsized returns.
Here are some highlights from the piece:
The piece drew a clear distinction between larger venture managers searching for the next unicorn, and “upstarts” such as Laconia and Boston-based Hyperplane, “which invest more deeply in early stage startups across their portfolios – similar to the operational “value creation” focus that buyout firms use to improve established companies”. These new model emerging managers are “aimed instead at helping entrepreneurs build profitable, sustainable businesses.”
“We’re looking at some of the emerging [venture] managers taking a new approach to access opportunities that the more established firms are not focused on or not built to capitalize on”
“The larger the size of the fund, the more you have to make sure you hit that fund-maker to deliver returns”
We (Laconia) had the opportunity to contribute our perspective on the topic, sitting down virtually with Associate Managing Editor, Tom Stabile to discuss the nuances of our approach, how we execute, and benefit of a more hands-on approach with founders and portfolio companies during the early stages. As our partner Geri Kirilova noted, the ability “to spend greater time and attention to help smaller startups develop good business practices – and solid organizations and teams – at the early stage” is critical to our ability to create value and drive better outcomes for founders and LPs. Laconia strives to enhance outcomes through operational execution, sales acceleration, and capital strategy, thereby reducing early stage risk.
Note - FundFire is a subscription based news service, the preceding is a synopsis.
EY Announces Andy Schwartz of xtraCHEF as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2020 Finalist
Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Andy Schwartz, Co-Founder and CEO of xtraCHEF, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2020 Greater Philadelphia Award finalist. Now in its 34th year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors entrepreneurial business leaders whose ambitions deliver innovation, growth and prosperity as they build and sustain successful businesses that transform our world.
Inc. Named Ocrolus 30th Fastest Growing Private Company in America
Ocrolus, the leading human-in-the-loop infrastructure company that transforms documents into actionable data with over 99% accuracy, today announced that it has been named to the annual Inc. 5000 list as the 30th fastest growing private company in America. The company ranks as the fastest growing software company in New York and the sixth fastest growing software company nationwide.
xtraCHEF Partners with Toast to Empower Restaurateurs with Free Tools
xtraCHEF, the leading accounts payable (AP) automation and back-office business intelligence solution for restaurants, today announced they’ve entered a preferred partnership agreement with Toast. In light of the COVID health crisis, xtraCHEF has released two new free offerings, Sync and xtraCASH, that help restaurants streamline their operations in an incredibly difficult operating landscape.