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There are 30 million romance readers in the United States and 50% of them read a book a day—but romance has often been overlooked in publishing. Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo, co-founders of 831 Stories, met as college students at the University of Chicago and are now on a mission to build the Marvel of romance. In this episode they speak with Sara and Phil, who invested in their vision, about building a subscription model, growing community events, and signing a “First Look” deal with Hulu. They also get candid about the work required to run a business with your best friend, how they've learned to ignore bad investor advice, and why books are just the beginning. Watch this episode on YouTube. // MORE FROM 831 STORIES // Learn more about 831 Stories and purchase their books by heading to 831stories.com. Give yourself some love and use the code OVERSUBSCRIBED for 15% off your order. Follow them on Instagram @831stories, on TikTok @831storieshq, and on Substack 831stories.substack.com. // SPONSORS // Quo: Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/FOSTER. Gusto: Try Gusto today at gusto.com/FOSTER, and get three months free when you run your first payroll. Skims: Shop Everyday Cotton, and all of my favorite bras and underwear, at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you! Select "podcast" in the survey and be sure to select our show in the dropdown menu that follows. Hill House: Visit hillhousehome.com and use code fosters at checkout for 20% off your first purchase of $150 or more.Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to Oversubscribed, a bonus podcast from Sara Foster and her business partner, Phil Schwarz. This is a business podcast for anyone curious about stories of success and failure from entrepreneurs—covering rejection, pivoting, and knowing when to stick to your vision. You can expect to hear from us once a month. Our first guest is Andrew Yang, who you may know from his 2020 presidential run and infamous proposal: universal basic income to offset job loss due to automation. Six years later, the future he predicted is here. In this episode, Andrew breaks down why he believes the AI disruption to white collar workers now mirrors the manufacturing collapse of the 80s and 90s, why Universal Basic Income needs to happen sooner rather than later, and what inspired him to start Noble Mobile. Sign up for Noble Mobile today using our link and pay $10 for your first month, noblemobile.com/foster. Learn more about Oversubscribed Ventures and Corazon Capital: oversubscribedvc.com, corazon.com.Follow Sara on Instagram @sarafoster and TikTok @sarasadmomfoster. Follow Phil on Instagram @philbrandn. Follow Oversubscribed Ventures on Instagram @oversubscribedvc. // SPONSORS //Skims: Shop Everyday Cotton, and all of our favorite bras and underwear, at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you! Select "podcast" in the survey and be sure to select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.Bobbi Brown: Visit BobbiBrown.com and use code SaraFoster15 at checkout for 15% off your purchase.Quo: Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/FOSTER. Qualia Life: Go to qualialife.com/WFP for 50% offPlease note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joel Abramson, managing partner at Top Down Ventures Today’s In The Channel episode lands on the same morning that Vancouver-based Top Down Ventures announces the close of Founders Fund I at C$38 million – oversubscribed against an original target of US$25 million, and positioned as the first institutional venture fund focused exclusively on early-stage software and AI for the managed service provider ecosystem. Managing partner Joel Abramson joined the show to walk through the fund’s thesis and what it means for the channel. Abramson co-founded and led Fully Managed through more than a dozen acquisitions before its $137 million acquisition by Telus Business Solutions in 2021. He joins general partners Chris Day (founder of IT Glue and ScalePad) and Mark Scott (founder of N-able) at Top Down – three operators who between them have spent about 75 years building and scaling companies inside the MSP ecosystem. The fund’s first exit – zofiQ to ConnectWise, which closed in January 2026 – returned 5.3 times the invested capital in roughly six months. Abramson describes it as a case study in what Top Down looks for: founders solving singular problems with exceptional depth, validated by real MSP operators rather than generalist investors. The macro thesis is equally compelling. The global IT services market is projected to grow from $600 billion to over $1 trillion by 2030. And in 2026, SMB IT spend is on track to outpace enterprise IT spend for the first time ever – a shift Abramson contrasts with what he calls the “SaaSpocalypse” in enterprise, where headcount reductions are translating directly into fewer SaaS licenses. The fund’s LP base of more than 100 MSP operators – including Pax8 – acts as a flywheel for validating investments, sourcing design partners, and connecting portfolio companies with the customers best positioned to stress-test what they’re building. Find Top Down Ventures, including their newsletter and annual research report, at topdown.com. Read Full Transcript Robert Dutt: Hello and welcome to In The Channel from ChannelBuzz.ca, bringing news and information to the Canadian IT channel community for the last sixteen years. I’m Robert Dutt, editor of ChannelBuzz.ca and your host for the show. If you caught The Buzz this morning – and you really should have – you already know the headline. Vancouver-based Top Down Ventures has closed Founders Fund I at $38 million Canadian, oversubscribed, as the first institutional venture fund focused exclusively on early-stage software and AI for the managed service provider ecosystem. The story behind it, though, is rich. Top Down was founded with three partners with deep roots in the Canadian channel community: Chris Day of IT Glue and ScalePad, Mark Scott who founded N-able, and today’s guest, Joel Abramson, who ran Fully Managed through more than a dozen acquisitions before its $137 million sale to Telus Business Solutions in 2021. The fund already has its first exit in the books. zofiQ, an agentic AI platform for MSP service desks that ConnectWise acquired just six months after Top Down’s investment, at 5.3 times the invested capital. Joel joined me this morning to talk about why MSP software needs its own dedicated venture fund, what the first exit tells us about where agentic AI is headed, and one market shift that has the team genuinely excited about the decade ahead. Let’s get right into it. My chat with Joel Abramson. Joel, thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it. Joel Abramson: Great to be here, Rob. Robert Dutt: I wanted to start with the origin story here. I think it’s an interesting one in that you had a big role in building and running Fully Managed through a dozen or so acquisitions, then sold – instead of going off and retiring on a boat somewhere or that sort of thing, you ended up in venture investing in specifically MSP software. Can you walk me through how that happened? How did Top Down come together? Was this something that you sought out or something that Chris Day pulled you into? How did that happen? Joel Abramson: Yeah, well, let’s be clear – I do love being on boats. To tell the origin story, you get to go through a 25-year journey of the MSP ecosystem itself, because there are three general partners: Mark Scott, Chris Day, and myself, Joel Abramson. Our journey dates back to the early 2000s when Mark Scott started N-able, and he was one of the pioneers that really helped value-added resellers and break-fix IT service providers become MSPs. I meet people every time I’m out on the road who have a story about working with N-able – transitioning their revenue model from break-fix to recurring. N-able is a phenomenal company today and I think Mark’s legacy lives on there. Mark started that company and then exited just before the SolarWinds acquisition. Then he went on to start a service provider called CareWorks – an MSP focused on senior care facilities. A really interesting vertical, as well as broad SMB. But I’ll pause his story and focus on Chris, because Chris is founder and chairman and really sets the vision for Top Down. Chris had an MSP as well back in the early 2000s. Eventually that was Fully Managed, and that’s where I joined him. I had a small – much less successful – MSP called Packetsafe Networks, and I rolled my little MSP into Chris’s marquee MSP, Fully Managed, and together we set on this journey. We wanted to bring that company to ten cities with $10 million in revenue in each city and then sell it to a Canadian telco – and it’s not revisionist history, it was actually the goal. But then a couple of years into our shared journey at Fully Managed, Chris got pulled into building software. It was because I’d built a bunch of software for Fully Managed to run on, and he made the mistake – or the fortuitous opportunity – of showing it to his peer group. His peer group was like, “I want to use that.” So he said, “Okay, well, I’ll build it for you.” He started building a documentation platform from the ground up and called it IT Glue, and that was a phenomenal ride for him – taking it from a couple of peer group mates trying it out to selling to Kaseya in 2018 and building a very large company in a relatively short amount of time. Not without a tremendous amount of hard work and grind. He was on the road with pop-up banners signing up logo by logo by logo in the early days, but eventually the movement just took shape and every MSP realized that they needed a documentation platform, and IT Glue took off. So IT Glue exits to Kaseya in 2018. Chris has to make that decision: do I want to golf and travel for the rest of my life, or what brings me joy? And so he actually started Top Down as a way to re-engage back with the MSP community. He had an early portfolio of three companies: Warranty Master, a company he had started with his brother; Backup Radar; and Quoter. Together those three early companies started to grow at their own individual pace. Keep in mind, we’re still running Fully Managed over here – I’m running it for him. Then we ended up putting Fully Managed together with Mark Scott’s MSP, and that’s how the three of us came together. Then yes, we did a number of acquisitions. We grew Fully Managed to be $100 million in revenue. It wasn’t the straight line Chris and I had talked about – ten cities in ten years – but it was maybe seven cities. The bridge version: Telus came in and said they wanted to acquire Canada’s largest MSP, which was Fully Managed at the time. They had done a bunch of research and nine months later we consummated that transaction, at the end of 2021. I’d been working with Chris for a number of years on the early-stage portfolio, because we’d get a couple of calls every month with people saying, “Hey, I’m starting this project, Chris, are you interested in taking a look?” So we started to build this reputation as investors in early-stage MSP software companies. We tried some other stuff – everything from consumer packaged goods (we still have a couple of investments) to starting a country music label, which we’ll save for another time. But we always knew our home, I think, was in the MSP space. After the Fully Managed exit, we decided we wanted to really compound our impact. We had this idea of a venture fund – and maybe I’ll pause there, because I can continue the journey, but we’ll wait and see if you have any questions up to that point. Robert Dutt: Understandable. It’s a wild journey, and it really is back to the heart of the early days of the MSP movement – as you say, from break-fix and VAR models. I guess tell me a little bit about where you’re at now. The fund is positioned as the first institutional VC targeting early-stage software and AI for this ecosystem. Why do you think this space needs a dedicated fund? What does a generalist venture fund miss or get wrong when they’re looking at the space? Joel Abramson: We’ve been doing early-stage investing for a few years – five years. At the same time, Warranty Master became ScalePad, and ScalePad started to gain really, really great momentum. ScalePad brought in a growth equity partner, Integrity Growth Partners, who are just phenomenal folks. They capitalized the business and that grew ScalePad from $10 million to $50 million. They were great partners, great board members, and we watched these guys – we were like, wow, we’ve been through this journey a couple of times. They add a lot of value, and we’re really excited about that relationship. We were doing our thing with the early-stage companies, and so we looked across the ecosystem. We said, there is a ton of capital that’s ready to invest in companies in the MSP ecosystem when they get to a certain scale – that was kind of the scale that ScalePad had gotten to. Then we looked down and said, well, what about the guys that are just starting out? There’s not a ton of support. There’s a ConnectWise pitch contest that grants $60,000 or $70,000 to early-stage companies. And there are early-stage investors – we’ve seen companies like Pax8 and Huntress go through many rounds of financing and they started somewhere. But we saw that the strongest source of capital in the MSP ecosystem was actually coming from angel investors. It was Joe Paniterri and Kevin Blake and Channel Angels, and they had done a number of deals, bringing together really early-stage capital and putting $100,000 into a business fueled from a number of different folks. That’s really, really cool. But where’s all the venture? You look across horizontal software and there are funds of venture that just pour in. In the big markets – the Valley and New York – and then in secondary markets, there are funds focused on those areas. But we saw early-stage MSP software companies as vastly overlooked. So we said, what if we could bring together capital from the MSP ecosystem? Because we’ve made plenty of millionaires just by acquiring them with Fully Managed. You look at how that scales out across the ecosystem: you’ve got Evergreen and Integris and Thrive and all these folks buying up MSPs. The stats are over 200 search funds, family offices, and MSP aggregators buying MSPs right now. That’s generating a lot of wealth for a lot of people. Then you have MSPs that are super profitable and people are making good cash flow. Then you have all the software companies that have exited with similar stories to Chris’s. There’s actually quite a bit of capital that could be put to work back into the ecosystem if we just found a way to harness it and focus it on innovation. We said, instead of doing a couple of deals a year, what if we could make 8 to 10 investments a year by bringing capital together? And then what if we could build a system around that to take everything we’ve learned working with early-stage companies – applying those practices, bringing folks together for design partners, early customers, advice, and partnerships in the MSP ecosystem? So we set out to raise a $25 million venture fund, and we said we were going to focus on educating the MSP ecosystem on what investing in a venture fund looks like, because it’s really just going to fuel innovation for MSPs themselves. Our goal was to have half the fund raised from the MSP community and half from outside – similar to what it was at Fully Managed: let’s tell the world about what a great opportunity exists in MSP. We were super successful in the first bucket. We got really well received by the MSP community. We have over 100 LPs in the fund and we exceeded our target of $25 million. In the second bucket, we still have a lot of work to do. We’re one year into our Outliers podcast, we’ve produced one white paper, and we’ve had hundreds and hundreds of conversations in the institutional community, educating funds of funds and family offices on the opportunity for early-stage MSP software investing. We only got a couple of participants in this fund – which is all right, because it shows the strength of the MSP ecosystem. We still oversubscribed our target. But we’re excited to continue that journey of educating institutional investors for our second fund and beyond. Robert Dutt: You mentioned you’re in at the early stage. Where in the lifecycle do you typically start looking, and what does a target portfolio company look like at the point you’re getting involved? Joel Abramson: I’ve only been doing this for a few years, so I’m still learning some of the language, Rob. But we talk about early stage being right at inception – which is called pre-seed, the first money into a company. Maybe they have an idea of what they want to build, a prototype, a business plan, some people, but they haven’t actually started that path to launch – all the way up to around that first million or million and a half of revenue, where they’d be called a late-seed investment or an early Series A. So maybe it’s the second money in, or in a Series A it could be the third. But really we’re focused on the early stage where we can leverage the strength of our LP base – a lot of strong MSPs – as well as the strength of the community that Top Down works to enable and bring together. That can be for design partners, early customers, folks to help with advice, and then partnerships in the MSP ecosystem. Maybe a company is working with ScalePad to solve a problem and ScalePad can help by bringing that product to its customer base. It’s really about building the things that matter most to MSPs. And that’s why I think we love this ecosystem so much – it’s a partnership of vendors and service providers. If we look forward to how AI is going to impact things, you have small and medium businesses at the frontline – all the enablement use cases there, all the cybersecurity use cases. Then you have the service provider layer, which is MSPs helping them with all those things. Then you have a middle layer of supply chain software like the companies we invest in. And on top of that, you have the hyperscalers, the cloud companies, the frontier companies. That four-tiered system really matters, because without the innovation from Microsoft and Anthropic, the macro doesn’t move forward. But very rarely is it going to go straight from there into frontline workers’ hands. The two layers in between – the layer we invest in, and the MSPs themselves – are really what’s helping bring the value from the top to the end market. We think it’s an incredibly resilient ecosystem. We think there’s nobody better positioned to help with AI transformation than MSPs. And that layer between the frontier companies and the hyperscalers and the MSPs is really important – that’s where innovation happens on their behalf, and that’s the kind of companies we’re investing in. Robert Dutt: One example of that would be zofiQ, which I think was your first exit – and some pretty startling numbers there: a six-month turnaround, selling to ConnectWise, bringing back more than 5x what you put in. What did you see in that company that made you say “we’re in,” and what did the ConnectWise acquisition tell you about the market for PSA and agentic AI and where that’s all headed? Joel Abramson: It starts with Lee and his team. We get the fortunate opportunity to look at a lot of things that are being built and we’re still learning, trying to keep pace. As the last couple of years have played out, we’ve been students of what people are building and how they’re looking at solving problems, armed with the knowledge of the last 25 years of the ecosystem. When we met Lee, we were really impressed with him as a founder. He had a strong track record of purpose-building solutions. When Chris and I sat down with him, it was obvious he was solving singular problems with a tremendous amount of depth, versus some of the other folks we’d seen building solutions who were really going an inch deep and a mile wide. Knowing how mission-critical these solutions are to MSPs – that for every time they mess up a service ticket, they put that customer relationship at risk – we knew that Lee’s approach was just bang on. He was obsessed with solving singular use cases. It showed in the team he put together, the technology he built, and what customers were saying about the product. It’s very atypical to make an investment and then six months later have it acquired. When it was all going down and we were talking to the ConnectWise folks, it was bittersweet. We’re so happy to see ConnectWise gain this incredible capability, but we were sad to know we weren’t going to have Lee in the Top Down portfolio anymore. Ultimately, thrilled – because what it means for ConnectWise is that they can get this really powerful technology into a lot of people’s hands. That has a tremendous impact for the ecosystem, the end market, the MSPs partnered with ConnectWise. They can get this great innovative technology out into the market much faster than Lee could on his own, just going out and telling the story and waiting for the momentum to build. Thrilled for ConnectWise, thrilled for Lee and the team to jump into an organization like ConnectWise. And proud that we were able to play a tiny part on that journey. Robert Dutt: zofiQ was automating the service desk with AI agents. From what you saw inside that experience with them, and looking across the portfolio now, I’m curious – especially given your background running an MSP – when you’re talking to MSPs about what some of these companies are doing, how ready are they to adopt and operationalize this kind of agentic tooling? Both in terms of willingness and interest, which I’m sure is high, and actual aptitude and ability to make the operational changes that come with it? Joel Abramson: It totally depends on the MSP’s maturity. I’ve been through the life cycle of MSP maturity many times – two steps forward, one step back, a bunch of times. Every MSP is on a similar treadmill of growing and maturing, then having to embrace new technology, then getting hit by outside factors: whether it’s COVID, the move to remote work, the push back to the office, or the change in technology. It’s not a static industry, but it is an industrial-strength ecosystem because it’s so mission-critical for the customers MSPs serve. Everybody is at their own part of the journey. Companies like zofiQ come around and they focus on building the right technology, then working with the ideal MSPs that are at a place where they can embrace it. I go back to an inspirational investor, Dave Lahn, who always talks about the different buckets of work: the hero work, all the work that supports the hero work, and then all the work that should be done but isn’t. I think about MSPs with that third bucket. As a 20-year MSP operator, there were all these things I knew I wanted to do but could never get around to because we were always fighting fires, then trying to do proactive work, then project work – it compounds and you never had enough hands for the work that should be done that isn’t. I think that’s one of the huge opportunities with AI – actually getting that work done, staying on top of it, and providing more stable, secure environments for MSP customers. If AI is the great enabler for MSPs themselves, then how exciting is it to be in a position where I can’t think of a service provider that supports small and medium businesses that’s better positioned to bring AI enablement down to that market than an MSP. I doubt it’s the accountant, I doubt it’s the janitor or the maintenance people. I think it’s the MSP, because you’re already talking technology. As MSPs continue to evolve from the server room to boardroom conversations, AI is an incredible hook to get into that conversation. That’s why the work ScalePad does around customer success and supporting the strategy conversations is so critical. But the next wave of companies we see are really around helping MSPs actually deliver AI use cases successfully to their customers. That transformation will take place for a long, long time. Robert Dutt: Your base of limited partners includes more than 100 MSP operators, including Pax8. That’s unusual for a VC fund. Was that a deliberate choice? And how does having operators as limited partners actually change how you source and evaluate deals? Joel Abramson: It just makes us so strong. We have the brainpower of over 100 people there for us to tap and leverage. At our Horizons event in November – where we bring all of our LPs together – I’ve never seen a more aligned group of individuals, focused on supporting the supply chain of an ecosystem, come together and have meaningful conversations without any real individual agenda. We think about it as a flywheel. We have a group of limited partners with all of our capital in this fund together. Of course we all want to make money – but I think what drives that outcome is supporting innovation and figuring out exactly where the best place to put capital is today that can have the largest impact tomorrow. zofiQ is a perfect example. Here’s a strong founder with a huge problem, solving it at the deepest level, that MSPs are going to be able to take forward and dramatically impact their businesses and their customer experience. That, to me, is the genesis of venture investing: aligning all those things and putting the right pieces together. We think about the strength of the mindshare of our LPs, figuring out ways to connect them with our portfolio companies, ways to validate our thesis and investments by harnessing that energy, and then making the right investments and providing the right support throughout a portfolio company’s lifecycle, thanks to that really, really strong LP base. Robert Dutt: So if I’m an MSP owner listening to this – not an investor per se, just someone running a managed services shop – why should I be paying attention to what you guys are doing and what you’re funding? What’s the typical practical downstream impact on my business? Joel Abramson: You could look at our portfolio with a degree of confidence that these companies are getting great support to build great products, that they’re talking to top MSP operators around the world to help shape what gets built. The average MSP is the benefactor of that, because it means they’re getting great product built that they can use in their MSP or deploy to their customers. We’re doing this to earn and keep the reputation that a Top Down-backed company means tier-one innovation, great people behind it, that it’s been validated and tested – and that MSPs themselves can be the benefactor of that by leveraging this technology. Robert Dutt: You closed this fund at about $38 million, oversubscribed, in what you called a slog of an environment – and I get that. What does that tell you about where institutional capital is actually flowing in 2026? And what does a successful Fund I set up for Fund II? Joel Abramson: A lot of institutional capital is flowing towards the frontier companies and the supply chain of AI. We think that’s great, because just like the Microsofts and Googles that have powered the ecosystem for the last ten years, we think heavily capitalized AI companies are fantastic for the downstream companies – the software companies we’re investing in, the AI companies we’re investing in, the MSPs themselves, and the SMB layer. Capital flows down as well. As vertical-focused funds like ours demonstrate a strong track record, more institutional capital will flow into vehicles like ours. Certainly a lot of capital is tied up at the top right now, but we see that as a great thing because we’re not super concerned about the capital cycles of the next three months. We’re much more concerned about the capital cycles of the next two decades. As we’ve mobilized a non-insignificant pool of capital to support early-stage MSP software companies, we strive to earn the right to have a second fund with a more diverse group of participants, and subsequent funds beyond that – as long as we continue to find the right companies to partner with and add value along the way. Robert Dutt: And that seems like – just with the names you’ve mentioned and the names I can think of off the top of my head – a target-rich environment. There are lots of companies building specifically for the MSP market for obvious reasons. But I’m curious: without necessarily naming names or tipping your hand, what problem or product category are you most excited about in the MSP software pipeline right now? Where’s the white space that’s still underbuilt? Joel Abramson: In our research paper, we talk about two big macro things happening in the market right now. One: we think this market – let’s broaden it to IT services, not just MSP – is going from a $600 billion addressable market to a $1.3 trillion addressable market, certainly $1 trillion by 2030. That’s a huge market. On the MSP side specifically, we have four or five scaled companies at or above a billion in revenue. Ninja is on its way up there. N-able, of course, is a big company. But you’re talking about a much larger addressable market – there’s still empty canvas where new companies can scale up to fill the middle and eventually be alongside some of those platforms. We expect those platforms to continue to grow and thrive, and we hope to build or invest in companies that can partner with them to take advantage of their distribution and ultimately make small and medium businesses better through MSPs. All that said, what are some of those categories? I don’t think it’s new MSPs starting up and buying PSA – that market is fairly saturated. Nor do I think it’s more EDR or XDR – those are pretty saturated markets too. There’s still market share that will trade, don’t get me wrong, and innovation will build on top of it. But doubling the market requires new products, new revenue streams, and obviously AI is a critical part of that. Whether it’s the evolution of agentic service work to do all the work that should be done but isn’t, or raising productivity levels so the service is that much better, or helping the average SMB with a sophisticated IT strategy that evolves into an AI strategy – we see the category of AI services enablement for MSPs as a huge, huge opportunity. In the enterprise, we’re living through what I call the SaaSpocalypse – the idea that big SaaS companies are going to see fewer licenses because people are going to downsize headcount and thus take an impact on their top line. But we see the SMB market as more resilient, because my accountant with 60 people and one person in marketing – they’re not going to downsize that one-person marketing department. That person is actually just going to get that much better thanks to all the tools they’re using. SMB IT spend is expected to outpace enterprise IT spend for the first time ever in 2026. We believe that’s because of the resiliency of the SMB market – the idea that when a big tech company lays off 5,000 people, those people don’t all sail off into the sunset. A lot of them move into the SMB economy and start small businesses. Maybe the IT folks start an MSP. So we see the SMB part of the economy continuing to thrive, and it’s showing itself this year – thanks to this crazy stat that SMB IT spend will outpace enterprise IT spend for the first time ever. For all those reasons, we’re very excited about the opportunities it creates in the companies that we’re invested in. Robert Dutt: That is a crazy stat, and it’s worth underlining – because of where you and your peers and so much of this community is focused, right in that SMB space. And closer to home, as a Canadian podcast, we’re very much a nation of SMBs. So it really is super impactful here. Joel Abramson: Yeah, I would agree. Robert Dutt: For people who want to follow what you guys are doing – whether they’re founders, MSPs, or just interested in what’s coming in terms of new AI-first MSP software – where do they find you? How can they find out more? Joel Abramson: TopDown.com. We publish a newsletter and try to share all the learnings we’re gaining each quarter. We publish a white paper annually. We have a conference in November called Horizons – if you’re interested in investing in the MSP ecosystem, our goal is to bring everybody together as peers. We do a lot of dinners and events around the big MSP events. Our goal is always to bring everyone together as peers, not in a supplier relationship where you’re being sold to – just everybody trying to solve this thing together. The community aspect of the MSP ecosystem is so strong, and that’s how you engage. I’m pretty easy to find and always interested in a conversation with anybody from inside the ecosystem or outside, as we try to build this thing one brick at a time toward 1.3 trillion of addressable market. Robert Dutt: Brilliant. Go get that. Go build that. I appreciate you taking the time, Joel. Joel Abramson: Thank you so much for having me. Robert Dutt: There you have it – Joel Abramson from Top Down Ventures. I’d like to thank Joel for his time this morning. Thank you as always for listening to In The Channel. A few things stuck with me from this conversation. First, the framework Joel described: frontier AI companies at the top, then the supply chain software layer that Top Down invests in, then MSPs, then SMBs at the front line. It’s a clean way to think about how AI value actually gets delivered to small and medium businesses. And the point that MSPs are the most natural vehicle for that delivery is hard to argue with – from where I sit, and probably from where you sit too. Second, that stat about SMB IT spend outpacing enterprise IT for the first time ever this year. If we’re in what Joel calls the SaaSpocalypse for the enterprise, we’re in a resilience story for SMB. For an audience of MSPs, that’s your market, and that’s your moment. And the zofiQ story. A six-month hold, 5.3 times the invested capital to ConnectWise. What Joel said about what made it work – going deep into a singular problem rather than an inch deep and a mile wide – is as much a product philosophy lesson as it is a venture capital story. If you want to follow what Top Down is doing, find them at TopDown.com, where they publish a regular newsletter and annual white paper on the state of MSP capital. Their Horizons conference runs every November if you’re engaged in this ecosystem as a founder, an operator, or an investor. If you’re enjoying the show, please give the podcast a follow or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or most of the major podcast directories. Ratings and reviews are always encouraged. Until next time, I’m Robert Dutt for ChannelBuzz.ca, and I’ll see you in the channel.

Stephen Grootes speaks to Quintin Rossi, Spear CEO after the company raised R1 billion through an oversubscribed accelerated bookbuild. The capital raise, completed at a slight premium, signals strong investor appetite for Western Cape-focused property exposure. The Money Show is a podcast hosted by well-known journalist and radio presenter, Stephen Grootes. He explores the latest economic trends, business developments, investment opportunities, and personal finance strategies. Each episode features engaging conversations with top newsmakers, industry experts, financial advisors, entrepreneurs, and politicians, offering you thought-provoking insights to navigate the ever-changing financial landscape.    Thank you for listening to a podcast from The Money Show Listen live Primedia+ weekdays from 18:00 and 20:00 (SA Time) to The Money Show with Stephen Grootes broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj and CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show, go to https://buff.ly/7QpH0jY or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/PlhvUVe Subscribe to The Money Show Daily Newsletter and the Weekly Business Wrap here https://buff.ly/v5mfetc The Money Show is brought to you by Absa     Follow us on social media   702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702   CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/Radio702 CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

¿Por qué a veces te compran sin que vendas y otras veces no hay forma de cerrar la venta? La diferencia no es el producto, ni el precio, ni la persona. Es el TIEMPO que han pasado contigo antes de que les pongas una oferta delante. En este episodio profundizamos en una idea de Oversubscribed de Daniel Priestley que es de las más accionables del libro: ✅ Qué es la Regla de las 7 Horas y por qué funciona  ✅ Por qué tu cerebro no distingue entre tiempo digital y presencial  ✅ La fórmula 80-20 para educar y entretener sin mezclarlas mal  ✅ Qué son los "productos para prospectos" y cómo usarlos para que la gente te conozca con bajo riesgo 

¿Y si el problema de tu negocio no fuera que no vendes suficiente, sino que estás intentando venderle a TODO el mundo? Daniel Priestley explica en su libro Demanda de Más (Oversubscribed, 2015) como lanzó su primera empresa a los 21 años con una tarjeta de crédito de 7.000 dólares. En 12 meses había facturado más de un millón. Su secreto: generar MÁS demanda de la que podía atender. Eso cambia todas las reglas. En este episodio vemos: ✅ Por qué solo hacen falta DOS personas interesadas para que tu precio suba ✅ Cómo crear tu propio mercado y separarte de tu industria (con el caso de un entrenador que pasó de 45 libras/hora a 40.000 libras/año por cliente) ✅ Por qué la gente no compra lo que quieres vender, sino lo que OTROS quieren comprar ✅ El sistema de señales: cómo saber que tu producto va a estar sobrevendido ANTES de ponerlo a la venta ✅ Por qué está bien decir no, hacer esperar y ser diferente a todo tu sector Este libro es el tercer episodio del Bloque de 4 libros sobre Posicionamiento y Marketing Digital que estamos publicando.

What is financial freedom? The Business Strategist Daniel Priestley on why AI makes lifestyle businesses easy. Daniel Priestley is an award-winning serial entrepreneur and self-made multimillionaire. He is the co-founder of Dent Global and ScoreApp, and the author of several international bestsellers, including Oversubscribed and Key Person of Influence. He explains: ▪️How to build a personal brand that survives the AI automation wave ▪️The 2029 AI financial crash prediction  ▪️Why traditional wages are disappearing in the power law economy ▪️The "tombstone exercise" to identify AI threats to your business ▪️The $1M hidden opportunity in AI businesses Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:55 Why The Rise Of AI And Robotics Forces Us To Rethink Our Place In The World 00:09:52 The Birth Of The Interest Algorithm 00:16:11 Could AI Trigger The Next Financial Crash? 00:20:03 The 6 Entrepreneurial Skills You Must Learn To Survive The AI Era 00:24:08 The New AI Gold Rush: Business Opportunities Most People Are Missing 00:35:11 The One Human Advantage AI Still Can't Replace 00:44:31 These Jobs Will Disappear Within 5 Years 00:47:43 Ads 00:49:54 What Happens To Workers When AI Replaces Their Jobs? 00:54:59 “Market Distortions”: The Hidden Economic Effects Of AI 01:00:32 Why People Are Leaving The U.K. 01:06:13 The Bear Case For AI 01:09:17 The System Is Breaking: Why Our Economy No Longer Matches Reality 01:13:48 Should AI Wealth Fund Society? The Radical Economic Debate 01:16:01 Ads 01:17:56 Why Building A Personal Brand May Be The Safest Career Move Today 01:20:34 How Playing With AI Tools Today Could Change Your Future 01:23:51 Employee Vs. Entrepreneur: The Mindset That Will Define Winners 01:25:18 Why Writing Is Becoming A Superpower In The AI Age 01:28:02 The One Question That Could Change Your Career Path 01:31:26 Why Thinking Too Narrowly Could Cost You The Future 01:37:41 Is Passive Income Real - Or Just Another Internet Myth? 01:42:53 Why So Many People Lose Motivation (And How To Fix It) 01:50:27 Survivorship Bias: The Harsh Truth Behind Success Stories Enjoyed the episode? Share this link and earn points for every referral - redeem them for exclusive prizes: https://doac-perks.com Follow Daniel: Instagram - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/15J7ORb  YouTube - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/3EqYLXT  Website - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/AcymoLQ Scorecard - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/VrBLNa Score App - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/FNab1ht You can purchase ‘Lifestyle Business Playbook: How to Have Fun, Freedom and Fulfilment With Your Own Business': https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/GpE0H2H The Diary Of A CEO: Join DOAC Circle - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/EVyBm53  The Diary Of A CEO book - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/67654nf  The 1% Diary - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/2mrbk7t  Conversation Cards - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/Ex8Yc9b  Get email updates - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/7Az7mkJ  Follow DOAC on Instagram - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/6KoLc6C  Sponsors: Pipedrive - https://pipedrive.com/CEO Cometeer: https://cometeer.com/steven for $30 off your first order LinkedIn Marketing: https://www.linkedin.com/DIARY

Interview with Frederick H. Earnest, President & CEO of Vista GoldOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/vista-gold-nysevgz-mt-todd-redesign-cuts-capex-59-to-425m-unlocks-22b-npv-8050Recording date: 2nd March 2026Vista Gold Corp (NYSE:VGZ) is one of the most straightforward re-rating stories in the junior gold sector. The company owns the Mount Todd Gold Project in Australia's Northern Territory — one of the country's largest undeveloped gold deposits — and is executing a structured plan to reach detailed engineering commencement in 2027 and first gold production approximately 27 months thereafter.The investment case begins with a valuation gap that is both large and quantifiable. Vista Gold currently trades at approximately US$350 million. By comparison, the lowest-valued junior Australian gold producer — a company generating less than 150,000 ounces per year, which is the same production rate Mount Todd targets — carries a market capitalisation of approximately $1 billion. Higher-performing peers such as Capricorn Metals, producing 120,000 to 150,000 ounces annually, trade at valuations approaching $8 billion. The re-rating that accompanies the transition from developer to producer is the primary mechanism through which Vista Gold expects to create shareholder value.The feasibility study, completed in 2025, rightsized the project from its previous 50,000 tonne-per-day design to 15,000 tonnes per day, cutting capital costs by 59% and meaningfully reducing financing risk. Crucially, the study was modelled on a conservative $2,500 per ounce gold price. With spot gold now well above that assumption, the project's economics — and the payback period on construction debt, estimated at approximately 18 months at current prices — have improved materially without any change to the base case.The company is currently executing three parallel workstreams to advance the project toward a construction decision: modifying permits to reflect the updated project design, building an eight-to-ten person executive team in Perth to manage development and operations, and completing supplementary metallurgical and geotechnical studies. A geotechnical program, set to begin within weeks, could support steepening of the west pit wall, further improving economics by reducing the strip ratio.Financing momentum is building. A $39 million raise, upsized to approximately $44.8 million via overallotment, was oversubscribed approximately 2-to-1 by institutional investors across the US and Canada. The construction financing stack is expected to combine conventional bank debt, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund, a potential streaming arrangement with Wheaton Precious Metals, and an equity component. The project is estimated to support a debt ratio of 60–65% of total capital, and the company is also evaluating an ASX listing to broaden its investor base.Expansion optionality adds a further dimension. Mount Todd has been designed to allow scaling to 22,500, 30,000, or 45,000 tonnes per day, making it a credible strategic target for mid-tier and senior producers seeking large ounce additions. That optionality, combined with the project's location in a tier-one Australian jurisdiction, underpins M&A interest alongside the organic development pathway.For investors, the near-term catalysts are clear: Northern Territory permit grants, geotechnical results, federal authorisation, and a construction financing mandate. Each represents a discrete milestone with the potential to narrow the gap between Vista Gold's current developer valuation and the producer multiples it is targeting.View Vista Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/vista-gold-corporationSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

In this special live episode of the Beautiful Business Podcast, host Chloe Bannister is joined by two business heavyweights, Daniel Priestley, international speaker and best-selling author, and Peter Czapp, co-founder of The Wow Company and BenchPress. Join the pair for a powerful discussion on how to drive profitable agency growth in today's economy. With data, stories, and practical advice, this episode is packed with strategies for agency founders who want to grow without sacrificing profit or purpose.From identifying the right metrics to rethinking client acquisition, and from the psychology of pricing to the potential of AI, Daniel and Peter offer a candid and insightful look at what it takes to run a truly beautiful business in 2026 and beyond.Topics Covered:Why profitable growth is harder than ever, and what to do about itThe metrics that really matter: gross profit, revenue per person & conversion ratesWhy most agencies fail at ROI reporting (and how to fix it)Choosing the right clients (and walking away from the wrong ones)Creating demand with waiting lists, assessments, and positioningAvoiding the red ocean: niching, campaigning, and speaking to budget holdersThe mindset shift that separates successful agency owners from the restPractical applications of AI for agency performance and team capabilityBuilding a founder brand and becoming a key person of influenceThe power of specialisation, recurring revenue, and long-term client valueKey Takeaways:Focus on outcomes, not outputs: ROI drives retention and referrals.Campaign, don't niche: own your positioning without limiting growth.Build demand before supply: profitable agencies have waiting lists.Clients buy confidence, be the expert who makes their decision easy.Don't confuse revenue with success. Chase profitability, not just growth.About the Guests:Daniel PriestleyEntrepreneur, international speaker and best-selling author of books like Oversubscribed and Key Person of Influence. Daniel helps founders build demand-led businesses and scale with impact.

Today in Lighting is brought to you by Elite Lighting, innovating safer, efficient lighting since 1998. Learn more. Highlights include: The Celebration of Life for Paul Marantz in New York City Cree LED and Blizzard Lighting Settle Dispute Pull Logic Closed an Oversubscribed $3.3 Million Seed Round MaxLite Appoints Kyle Shane as Vice President of Strategic Accounts, National Distribution

Reconnaissance Energy Africa or ReconAfrica CEO Brian Reinsborough joined Steve Darling from Proactive to announce the successful completion of the company's previously disclosed financing, which was oversubscribed and raised more than $36 million in gross proceeds. The strengthened balance sheet positions ReconAfrica to accelerate activity across its expanding asset portfolio and advance a multi-pronged capital program planned for 2026. Reinsborough explained that the new capital will be deployed to fast-track work programs in both Namibia and offshore Gabon. The financing follows encouraging results from the Kavango West 1X well in the Kavango Basin and the recent addition of the Ngulu Block offshore Gabon, which includes the Loba oil discovery, further diversifying the company's exploration and development opportunities. In Namibia, ReconAfrica plans to conduct an extensive production test at the Kavango West 1X discovery well and install production casing, while simultaneously progressing toward spudding the next Kavango appraisal well. These activities are intended to further evaluate the commercial potential of the discovery and build momentum toward delineation of the resource. Offshore Gabon, the company plans to reprocess seismic data covering the Loba discovery and the broader exploration inventory on the Ngulu Block. This work is expected to advance the project toward the delivery of a resource report and achieve drill-ready status for a future appraisal well. As part of the financing, BW Energy Limited, through its wholly owned subsidiary BW Energy Services Limited (BWESL), participated by acquiring 2,315,780 Units for total consideration of approximately C$2.2 million. Each Unit comprised one common share and one-half of a common share purchase warrant. Reinsborough noted that the oversubscribed financing provides the company with the financial flexibility required to pursue multiple high-impact catalysts in parallel, as ReconAfrica works to unlock the potential of its onshore and offshore assets and deliver value through disciplined exploration and appraisal activities. #proactiveinvestors #reconnaissanceenergyafricaltd #tsxv #reco #otcqx #recaf #NamibiaOil #EnergyExploration #OilAndGas #ExplorationFinancing #Oversubscribed #NamibiaEnergy #KavangoBasin #GabonOffshore #NguluBlock #LobaDiscovery #SeismicReprocessing #AppraisalDrilling #StrategicInvestor #BWEnergy #EnergyMarkets #UpstreamEnergy #ProactiveInvestors

W 189 odcinku podcastu Business Marketer kontynuujemy fascynującą rozmowę z Łukaszem Żukowskim z firmy DFirst oraz tradycyjnie gościmy Pawła Jaczewskiego z rekomendacją książkową.CZĘŚĆ 1: Łukasz Żukowski - AI w praktyce marketeraNajważniejsze wątki:

Find me, Granger Forson, at www.bizsmart-gloucestershire.co.uk or connect with me on LinkedIn.   This episode of ScaleUp Radio features Michael Colling-Tuck, founder of Agency Bristol, a specialist marketing agency helping medical and technology innovators reach both patients and healthcare professionals. With over twenty years in healthcare, Michael has seen how even the most brilliant inventions can fail if no one knows they exist. His agency bridges that critical gap, giving groundbreaking products a fighting chance to reach the people whose lives they can transform.   What makes Michael's story stand out is the combination of deep industry experience, genuine humility, and the relentless curiosity of a founder who has seen the highs and lows of scaling. From watching masterclass marketing moments in China to almost getting it wrong twice with his own cash flow, Michael's honesty about resilience, learning, and leadership gives listeners a real and relatable founder story.   He shares how Agency Bristol crafts campaigns that empower advocates, surgeons, clinicians, and patients, to become the best storytellers for new technologies. It's a blend of creativity, structure, and empathy that transforms technical ideas into powerful messages that resonate with real people.   Whether you're a startup founder or a seasoned business leader, this conversation is a lesson in balancing vision with reality. Michael shows that success doesn't just come from clever campaigns, but from finding joy in the grind, trusting your team, and always learning from the journey.   To ensure you don't miss any inspirational future episodes do subscribe to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts.   So, let's now dive into the inspiring journey of innovation, resilience and purpose with Michael Colling-Tuck.   Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin   Book a call with Granger - 30 minutes value add conversation for Business owners with Staff. https://api.goexela.com/widget/bookings/catchupgrangerugx7zl   You can get in touch with Kevin & Granger here: kevin@biz-smart.co.uk grangerf@biz-smart.co.uk   Kevin's Latest Book Is Available! Drawing on BizSmart's own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up. More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/   Michael can be found here: https://www.agencybristol.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-colling-tuck-48529020/   Resources: Why People Don't Buy Things by Harry Washburn - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/why-people-don-t-buy-things-five-proven-steps-to-connect-with-your-customers-and-dramatically-improve-your-sales-harry-washburn/43f9c7d071d7ddbc?ean=9780738201573&next=t Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/black-box-thinking-growth-mindset-and-the-secrets-of-high-performance-matthew-syed/2e1b2c9c68295eb5?ean=9781399830379&next=t Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/oversubscribed-how-to-get-people-lining-up-to-do-business-with-you-daniel-priestley/3262406?ean=9780857088253&next=t Shogun by James Clavell - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/shogun-book-one-of-the-asian-saga-the-book-that-inspired-the-emmy-bafta-and-golden-globe-award-winning-tv-show-james-clavell/17dcf2869a8b1584?ean=9780340766163&next=t Crystal Palace Podcast - https://www.cpfc.co.uk/palace-tv/palace-podcast/ Diary of a CEO podcast - https://stevenbartlett.com/doac/ Totally Football podcast - https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/podcast/200-the-totally-football-show/ Michael Colling-Tuck podcast - https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/5OvrvVSySrhTXBJ6EalzY4?utm_source=generator&t=0 Spark app - https://sparkmailapp.com/ WhatsApp - https://www.whatsapp.com/?lang=en Shazam - https://www.shazam.com/    

Al Mansour breaks ground on MG plant. Budget deficit widens. Net foreign assets rise. Luxury tourism project.Morning Drive is your daily download of the essential headlines shaping Egypt. From business policy and finance to the latest in tech, all in under 10 minutes. Hosted by ‘Synthetic Salma’ — an AI-powered version of our own Executive Editor Salma El-Saeed. You can read the full newsletter on the website: https://enterprise.news/egypt/en Morning Drive is brought to you by Madinet Masr, GRANITE Financial Holding and Bonyan for Real Estate Investments. Learn more about how you can advertise with EnterpriseAM by emailing Moustafa Taalab mtaalab@enterprisemea.com And check out our other show Making It, where we speak to CEOs and entrepreneurs about building a great business in the region: https://omny.fm/shows/making-it See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it really take to be oversubscribed—to have more demand than supply, on purpose? In this deep-dive with bestselling author and entrepreneur Daniel Priestley, we unpack the strategy behind creating demand-and-supply tension, building “with or without you” energy, and designing an official capacity that protects your customer experience (and your margins). We cover why great brands market before they launch, how to collect signals not sales (waitlists, applications, discussions) to manufacture demand ethically, and the four-phase cadence—planning, build-up, transparency, release—that turns interest into sold-out outcomes. Daniel breaks down niche vs luxury, pricing power (Rolex vs airlines), why “sold out” is a feature, not a bug, and how many businesses would earn more with fewer customers by focusing on the 10% who hold 60% of the spend.You'll hear real examples (Glastonbury registrations, Ferrari applications, CrossFit communities, Esther Perel's premium positioning), plus practical math for working backwards from your ideal year to the conversations you need to create. We also hit mindset: redefining success across life stages, leading with integrity, and running campaigns a few times a year instead of marketing 24/7. If you want to launch better, price smarter, and create demand that lasts—this one's for you. About Daniel Priestley:Daniel Priestley is an entrepreneur, investor, and bestselling author whose books—including Key Person of Influence, Oversubscribed, and 24 Assets—have shaped how founders position, price, and grow. As founder of Dent Global, he's helped thousands of leaders build standout personal brands and oversubscribed products using clear, actionable frameworks for demand creation and sustainable scale.About Brad SugarsInternationally known as one of the most influential entrepreneurs, Brad Sugars is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and the #1 business coach in the world. Over the course of his 30-year career as an entrepreneur, Brad has become the CEO of 9+ companies and is the owner of the multimillion-dollar franchise ActionCOACH®. As a husband and father of five, Brad is equally as passionate about his family as he is about business. That's why, Brad is a strong advocate for building a business that works without you – so you can spend more time doing what really matters to you. Over the years of starting, scaling and selling many businesses, Brad has earned his fair share of scars. Being an entrepreneur is not an easy road. But if you can learn from those who have gone before you, it becomes a lot easier than going at it alone.Please click here to learn more about Brad Sugars: https://bradsugars.com/Learn the Fundamentals of Success for free:The Big Success Starter: https://results.bradsugars.com/thebigsuccess-starter

Interview with Mark Chalmers, President & CEO of Energy FuelsOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/energy-fuels-nyseuuuu-us-critical-minerals-production-hub-7503Recording date: 8th October 2025Energy Fuels represents a uniquely positioned opportunity in the critical minerals sector, combining operational uranium production generating positive cash flow with strategic development of rare earth and heavy mineral sands assets addressing acute Western supply chain vulnerabilities. The company recently validated this strategy through a $700 million convertible bond offering completed in one week with Goldman Sachs as sole bookrunner, oversubscribed six to seven times at a remarkably low 0.75% interest rate.The investment thesis centers on several compelling factors. First, Energy Fuels operates the only conventional uranium mill in the United States with existing permits and infrastructure capable of processing radioactive monazite ore. This creates a significant competitive moat that would require competitors years and hundreds of millions of dollars to replicate. The White Mesa Mill in Utah provides operational flexibility to process either uranium (240,000 pounds per month capacity) or rare earths depending on market conditions, allowing management to optimize revenue generation dynamically.Second, the uranium business is currently cash flow positive and ramping toward two million pounds of annual production from 100% owned mines. Management projects this uranium revenue will generate sufficient cash to fund all corporate expenses plus rare earth and heavy mineral sands development without requiring ongoing equity dilution. This self-funding model distinguishes Energy Fuels from development-stage competitors who must continuously access capital markets. The White Mesa Mill restarted processing Pinyon Plain ore in early August 2025 and will run "well into next year," providing visible near-term cash generation.Third, Energy Fuels' strategic focus on monazite processing provides access to heavy rare earths—specifically dysprosium, terbium, and samarium—that MP Materials' bastnäsite deposits lack. These heavy rare earths are essential for high-performance permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defense applications. Critically, heavy rare earth prices currently command premiums three to four times higher than Chinese alternatives, while neodymium-praseodymium prices have surged from $55 to $85-90 per kilogram, reflecting strong demand for non-Chinese supply.Fourth, the company has tangible near-term development opportunities rather than aspirational long-term projects. The Donald rare earths project in Australia is fully permitted, shovel-ready, with capital costs estimated at $300 million and exceptionally high grades of heavy rare earths. Phase 1 would produce approximately 7,000 tons per year of monazite. The Phase 2 expansion at White Mesa would create processing capacity comparable to Lynas. Multiple feasibility studies on Toliara (Madagascar), Donald, and White Mesa Phase 2 are expected by year-end, providing updated development economics.Fifth, partnerships demonstrate downstream integration progress. POSCO collaboration has advanced to producing sintered magnet blocks being incorporated into electric vehicles in 2025. The company has engaged former General Motors personnel to assist with metal, alloy, and magnet development, showing serious commitment to building integrated non-China supply chain capabilities.The macro context amplifies the opportunity. China controls approximately 70% of global rare earth production and nearly 90% of processing capacity, while the United States imports more than 90% of its uranium. Western governments view these dependencies as national security risks, particularly as clean energy transition, transportation electrification, and defense modernization drive unprecedented critical minerals demand.Energy Fuels offers investors operational cash generation today funding strategic positioning in materials where Western supply chain security commands significant price premiums, backed by existing infrastructure, proven execution capability, and exceptional recent market validation through favorable institutional financing.View Energy Fuels' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/energy-fuelsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

Mayberry Jamaican Equities says its latest bond offer, which closed last week, was oversubscribed.First Rock Real Estate says it has repaid its debt to Sagicor Bank, ending the receivership for Hambani Estates.Jamaica's point to point inflation rate fell to 1.2 percent in August. That's the lowest it has been since the 1960s.Global credit rating agency Fitch has maintained its credit rating and outlook on Jamaica after the country's recent general election.The US Federal Reserve has finally cut the benchmark interest rate for the first time since last December.

Welcome back to another episode of Upside at the EUVC Podcast, where Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen of SuperSeed, Andrew J Scott of 7percent Ventures, and Lomax unpack the forces shaping European venture capital.This week, veteran journalist Mike Butcher (ex-TechCrunch Europe, The Europas, TechFugees) joins the pod. From the creator economy eating media brands, to Europe's fragmented ecosystem and the capital gap that just won't die, we dive into EU-Inc, Draghi's unfulfilled reforms, ASML's surprise bet on Mistral, Europe's defense awakening, Klarna's IPO, and quantum's hot streak.Here's what's covered:00:01 – Mike's ResetTechCrunch Europe closes; Mike reflects on redundancy, summer off, dabbling in social and video.03:00 – Media Evolution & Creator EconomyFrom '90s trade mags → TechCrunch → The Europas & TechFugees. Blogs as early social media; today's creators (MrBeast, Bari Weiss, Cleo Abram) echo that era. Bloomberg pushes reporters front and center as media becomes personality-driven.06:45 – Europe's Ecosystem & Debate CultureEurope isn't Silicon Valley's 101 highway — it's dozens of fragmented hubs. Conferences like Slush, Web Summit, VivaTech anchor the scene, but the missing ingredient is debate. US VCs spar on stage then grab a beer; Europe is still too polite.12:00 – All-In Summit DebriefMads' takeaways from LA: Musk on robotics (the “hand” bottleneck), Demis Hassabis on AGI (5–10 yrs away), Eric Schmidt on US–China AI race, Alex Karp on Europe's regulatory failures. The Valley vibe captured, but it's only one voice.17:00 – EU-Inc & Draghi ReportDraghi's 383 recommendations, just 11% implemented. €16T in pensions sit mostly in bonds; only 0.02–0.03% flows into VC (vs 1–2% in the US). Permitting bottlenecks: 44 months for energy approvals. Panel calls for a Brussels “crack unit,” employee stock option reform, and fixing skilled migration.35:00 – Deal of the Week: ASML × MistralASML leads a €2B round in Mistral at €11B valuation. Strategic and cultural fit (Netherlands ↔ Paris) mattered more than sovereignty. Mads: 14× revenue is a bargain vs US peers. Andrew: proof Europe's VCs are too small — corporates must fill the gap. Lomax: ASML knows it's a one-trick pony with 90% lithography share; diversifying into AI hedges risk.49:00 – Defense & Industrial BaseRussian drones hit Poland, NATO urgency spikes. UK pledges defense spend to 2.5% GDP by 2027, but procurement bottlenecks persist. Poland cuts red tape under fire; UK moves at peacetime pace. Andrew: real deterrence is industrial capacity. Mike: primes must be forced to buy from startups; dual-use innovators like Helsing show the way.59:00 – Klarna IPO & the Klarna MafiaKlarna IPOs at $15B (down from $46B peak). Oversubscribed; Sequoia nets ~$3.5B; Atomico 12M → 150M. A new “Klarna Mafia” of angels and operators will recycle liquidity back into Europe's ecosystem.01:03:00 – Quantum's Hot StreakPsiQuantum ($7B, Bristol roots), Quantinuum ($10B, Cambridge), IQM (Finland unicorn), Oxford Ionics' $1B exit. Europe has parity in talent but lacks growth capital. Lomax: “Quantum is hot, but a winter will come.” Andrew: Europe can win here — if the money shows up.01:05:00 – Wrap-upThe pod ends on optimism: Europe may not own AGI, but in quantum it has a fair fight.

Why Your Business Needs To Be Irresistible with Daniel Priestley | Business Growth PodcastIn this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, host James Vincent sits down with bestselling author, entrepreneur, and thought leader Daniel Priestley at Sky Studios. Daniel has built, scaled, and sold companies across the world, and his books Key Person of Influence, Oversubscribed, and Entrepreneur Revolution have influenced thousands of entrepreneurs.This isn't theory, it's real-world experience. Daniel shares why many business owners work harder than ever yet earn less, and how rethinking productivity, branding, and team structures can change everything.“People don't buy what you do. They buy the assessment that shows them the path of least resistance from where they are to where they want to be.” — Daniel PriestleyWhat You'll Discover in This Episode- Why fun is a biological signal of productivity and how teams can use it to unlock creativity.- How personal branding has become 20x more powerful than company branding in today's market.- Why scorecard marketing is the next big thing (and how to use it in both sales and recruitment).- The difference between teams and talent—and why high-performance companies are built around a small group of extraordinary people.- How AI has already changed recruitment and business models—and why every business must adapt or risk being left behind.- The simple frameworks for scaling: the 2-person scout team, 4-person firestarter team, 8-person core team, and 30-person performance team.- Why finding unmet needs in your market can unlock explosive growth.- Why live events, from private dinners to webinars, still outperform pre-recorded content in building trust and authority.Highlights from the ConversationDaniel explains why the old “work harder” mantra doesn't work anymore:“Productivity isn't coming from labour. It's coming from insights, technology, and connecting the dots. If you're only working hard, you're not even playing the right game.”On building a personal brand:“For 10 years I built other people's brands. Then I realised the future belongs to those who step into the spotlight. You need to be a key person of influence in your industry if you want to attract real talent.”On AI disruption:“The business you had in 2025 is dead. You must reinvent around AI—speed to value is everything now.”On scorecard marketing:“Don't sell the treatment plan. Sell the assessment first. Doctors don't start with surgery—they start with the scan. Businesses should too.”On scaling with small teams:“An 8-person team today can do what used to take hundreds. With the right leverage and tech, small groups can create seven figures in profit.”On unmet needs:“Touch the raw nerve and you can have one year that pays for the whole decade. Most businesses exist, but the ones that explode are the ones solving a problem no one else has cracked.”

In this episode of Grow a Small Business, host Troy Trewin interviews Renita Wolf, founder of Poe Wolf Partners, who transitioned from a Fortune 50 CFO career to helping small and mid-sized business owners prepare for successful exits. Renita shares her insights on why nearly 90% of businesses listed for sale never sell, and how she guides owners to align their business with personal goals while increasing value and reducing owner dependency. She discusses the emotional challenges of letting go, the importance of being organized and consistent, and her holistic approach to exit planning. Renita also reveals how she bootstrapped her firm, leveraged mentors, and embraced learning as part of her entrepreneurial journey. This inspiring conversation highlights the critical steps entrepreneurs must take to protect their legacy and maximize success when planning their exit. Why would you wait any longer to start living the lifestyle you signed up for? Balance your health, wealth, relationships and business growth. And focus your time and energy and make the most of this year. Let's get into it by clicking here. Troy delves into our guest's startup journey, their perception of success, industry reconsideration, and the pivotal stress point during business expansion. They discuss the joys of small business growth, vital entrepreneurial habits, and strategies for team building, encompassing wins, blunders, and invaluable advice. And a snapshot of the final five Grow A Small Business Questions: What do you think is the hardest thing in growing a small business? Renita Wolf said the hardest thing in growing a small business is staying confident when you don't know everything and are running everything yourself, often with just a small team. She explained that uncertainty can shake confidence, but she overcomes it by being comfortable learning new things and accepting that she might be bad at them at first, knowing she will improve over time What's your favorite business book that has helped you the most? Renita Wolf shared that her favorite business books are “Key Person of Influence” and “Oversubscribed” by Daniel Priestley, which she always goes back to. She also values the work of Blair Enns, especially his books on Winning Without Pitching, since sales was not her forte and these resources helped her approach clients more effectively. Are there any great podcasts or online learning resources you'd recommend to help grow a small business? Renita Wolf recommended Donald Miller's Business Made Simple and the StoryBrand podcast as excellent resources for small business owners. She explained that they cut through the noise in the marketplace and provide a clear, actionable framework that makes it easier for entrepreneurs to stay focused and grow their businesses. What tool or resource would you recommend to grow a small business? Renita Wolf recommended that every small business owner should have a simple KPI dashboard with around five key metrics. She explained that tracking these helps owners think strategically, measure consistency, and monitor progress—whether it's content strategy, social engagement, or other business drivers—making it a powerful tool for sustainable growth What advice would you give yourself on day one of starting out in business? Renita Wolf's advice to herself on day one of starting her business would be: “Don't wait for perfect — just start.” She emphasized that taking action early is more important than waiting until everything feels ready. Book a 20-minute Growth Chat with Troy Trewin to see if you qualify for our upcoming course. Don't miss out on this opportunity to take your small business to new heights! Enjoyed the podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes or your preferred platform. Your feedback helps more small business owners discover our podcast and embark on their business growth journey.     Quotable quotes from our special Grow A Small Business podcast guest: Being organized and consistent is the foundation of small business success – Renita Wolf Your business is more than financials — it's your legacy for family, community, and employees – Renita Wolf Focus on who you serve, how you help, and what makes you different from the competition – Renita Wolf  

Bob Archer, President & CEO of Pinnacle Silver & Gold (TSX.V:PINN - OTC:PSGCF - FSE:P9J) joins us to discuss the oversubscribed ~C$1.7M financing and how it will accelerate work at the El Potrero Project in Mexico. Bob outlines the immediate plans for these funds, including: Advancing underground and surface mapping/sampling along a 1.6 km structure with historic high-grade production. LiDAR survey to refine structural targeting and guide drilling plans. Preparing for an underground drill program aimed at defining ore shoots for potential small-scale production. We also discuss the company's strategy to generate cash flow quickly, leverage existing processing infrastructure, and pursue additional acquisitions to grow into a multi-mine operator. Bob highlights the balance between minimizing shareholder dilution and advancing toward production in a challenging financing market.   Please email me with any follow up questions you have for Bob - Fleck@kereport.com. Click here to visit the Pinnacle Silver and Gold website to learn more about the company and read over the recent news.

50 South Capital, a global alternatives asset manager under Northern Trust Asset Management, closed two private equity funds—Private Equity Strategic Opportunities Fund V at $1.2 billion and Private Equity Core Fund XI at $893 million—both exceeding fundraising targets and attracting commitments from wealth managers, family offices, and financial intermediaries. The oversubscription of these funds reflects increased demand for alternative assets and highlights the importance of investment strategy, performance, and risk management in the private equity sector.Learn more on this news by visiting us at: https://greyjournal.net/news/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Book Club episode, Charelle Griffith and I dive into Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley—well, two versions of it! We talk about building demand, the power of signals, and what it takes to create offers people line up for. If you're tired of chasing customers and want to flip the script, this episode is for you.MAKING GOOD SHOW NOTES:https://makinggoodpodcast.com/302CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM:https://instagram.com/laurentildenGET 100 MARKETING PROMPTS (free!):https://makinggoodpodcast.com/100promptsGet your free training: Marketing 101 Video Training + Workbook.

Circle's IPO blew past expectations, pricing high and oversubscribed 25x, signaling Wall Street's growing appetite for stablecoin exposure. NLW breaks down the offering's details, why fintech insiders think Circle is still undervalued, and what this means for future crypto IPOs. Plus, JPMorgan embraces crypto ETFs, Bitcoin treasuries surge, and Congress continues its political theater over the Clarity Act. Brought to you by: Grayscale offers more than 20 different crypto investment products. Explore the full suite at grayscale.com. Invest in your share of the future. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal. To learn more, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠Grayscale.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.grayscale.com//?utm_source=blockworks&utm_medium=paid-other&utm_campaign=brand&utm_id=&utm_term=&utm_content=audio-thebreakdown)⁠⁠⁠ Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBreakdownBW Subscribe to the newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thebreakdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8 Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownBW

In this episode, Jay and Dan take a delightful detour from their usual business and personal development banter. Instead of talking tactics, they dive into the stories, books, and films that have genuinely changed their lives. If you're looking for a fresh dose of inspiration (and a few laughs), this one's for you.Dan's Pick: Aliens – A sci-fi classic with pulse rifles, space Marines, and a badass survivor. Sigourney Weaver's resilience and grit left a lasting impression on Dan's life and even… his dating preferences?Jay's Pick: Good Will Hunting – A masterclass in talent, self-sabotage, and the power of mentorship. Also, the only film he had on his iPad for years (not mad about it).And The Books... Key Person of Influence by Daniel PriestleySparked Dan's entrepreneurial journey. A practical guide to becoming a known and trusted figure in your niche.What to Do When It's Your Turn (and It's Always Your Turn) by Seth GodinA flight read that changed everything. This book gave Dan the mindset shift to own his gifts and go big. Beautifully designed and brutally motivating.The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet HolmesTactical, timeless, and totally transformative for anyone wanting to master sales and business development. Bonus: Learn about the Hit List 100 strategy.Oversubscribed by Daniel PriestleyThis book flipped Jay's marketing mindset—stop chasing people and start having them queue for you. Led to his iconic "Grenade foit Eight" challenge.Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell MaltzA game-changer on self-image, confidence, and inner transformation. Jay's go-to recommendation for anyone dealing with self-doubt.The Shrink and The Sage by Julian Baggini & Antonia MacaroA unique read where a psychologist and philosopher answer the same life questions. Thought-provoking, stoic, and criminally underrated.

Daniel Priestley is a successful entrepreneur, author, and speaker known for his expertise in business growth, personal branding, and entrepreneurship. He is the co-founder of Dent Global, a company that helps small businesses scale through strategic positioning and influence. Priestley has written several best-selling books, including Key Person of Influence and Oversubscribed, which focus on building authority, attracting opportunities, and creating demand in competitive markets.In our conversation we discuss:(00:00) - Why should people tune in to a podcast about entrepreneurship?(03:01) - How do economics change over time?(08:04) - Job replacements and new jobs brought by new discoveries(15:36) - Value of work(26:32) - How to choose the right business for you?(34:18) - How do you know if it's a good business?(41:24) - Starting a business with the full capacity of AI(54:54) - AI wrapper businesses(1:01:50) - AI advancement effects on having experts(1:06:44) - When to decide if you'll focus on one thing or multiple things in business?(1:16:14) - The 5 P'sLearn more about Daniel:https://danielpriestley.com/  / danielpriestley  https://www.instagram.com/danielpries...Watch full episodes on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@seankim⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect on IG: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/heyseankim⁠

In this episode of Grow a Small Business, host Troy Trewin interviews Maxwell Nee, the mastermind behind ScoreApp, a platform revolutionizing lead generation for small businesses. Maxwell shares innovative strategies to boost customer engagement and drive growth. Discover how ScoreApp helps businesses gain unmatched insights into their audience, turning data into actionable results. Tune in to learn game-changing approaches to thrive in today's competitive market! Why would you wait any longer to start living the lifestyle you signed up for? Balance your health, wealth, relationships and business growth. And focus your time and energy and make the most of this year. Let's get into it by clicking here.   Troy delves into our guest's startup journey, their perception of success, industry reconsideration, and the pivotal stress point during business expansion. They discuss the joys of small business growth, vital entrepreneurial habits, and strategies for team building, encompassing wins, blunders, and invaluable advice.   And a snapshot of the final five Grow A Small Business Questions: What do you think is the hardest thing in growing a small business? According to Maxwell Nee, the hardest thing in growing a small business is finding the right people. He illustrates this by pointing to well-known success stories, noting that these achievements were often the result of small, effective teams or "pods". He gives examples like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple, Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google, and Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg as the initial forces behind Facebook. While acknowledging that some individuals within these teams might have been more influential than others, Maxwell emphasizes that the contribution of two, three, or four individuals working together was crucial to realizing their success. What's your favourite business book that has helped you the most? Maxwell Nee credited two transformative books for shaping his entrepreneurial approach: "OverSUBSCRIBED" by Daniel Priestley, which revolutionized his mindset on creating unstoppable demand by making businesses "must-haves," and "The Outsiders" by William N. Thorndike, which revealed how unconventional CEOs achieved outsized returns through radical capital discipline and independent thinking. Are there any great podcasts or online learning resources you'd recommend to help grow a small business? Maxwell Nee mentioned that he doesn't really have specific great podcasts or online learning tools to recommend for professional development. While he listens to podcasts like "Diary of a CEO" and the one he was being interviewed on, his preferred approach is to become deeply engaged with specific individuals who align with his learning objectives at a particular time. He typically spends around three months focusing on one person, thoroughly reading their books and listening to their podcasts multiple times before moving on to someone else. What tool or resource would you recommend to grow a small business? Maxwell Nee suggests that small business owners can benefit from using time blocking to manage their many responsibilities more effectively by pre-planning their schedules. He also highlights Score App, a lead generation software that uses quiz marketing to gamify the process and significantly increase conversion rates while filtering out unsuitable leads, as a valuable resource. In terms of professional development, Maxwell prefers to deeply immerse himself in the work of specific individuals for extended periods rather than broadly following podcasts or online learning. Two influential books he recommends are Oversubscribe by Daniel Priestley and Outsiders, which offers insights from unconventional CEOs. What advice would you give yourself on day one of starting out in business? Maxwell Nee would tell his younger self on day one of starting out to have a deliberate conversation about the learning curve . He wishes he had the awareness to work for free with someone he admired in a cool industry for about six months to "sponge it all up". He believes this approach would have been faster than his initial self-funded journey, where he paid for his own learning and personal expenses Book a 20-minute Growth Chat with Troy Trewin to see if you qualify for our upcoming course. Don't miss out on this opportunity to take your small business to new heights! Enjoyed the podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes or your preferred platform. Your feedback helps more small business owners discover our podcast and embark on their business growth journey.     Quotable quotes from our special Grow A Small Business podcast guest: Success isn't about working harder; it's about working smarter with the right people – Maxwell Nee Entrepreneurship is a mindset—adapt, innovate, and keep moving forward – Maxwell Nee Growth happens when you stop thinking small and start acting bold – Maxwell Nee      

Tell us what you like or dislike about this episode!! Be honest, we don't bite!In this episode of No Bollocks with Matt Haycox, Matt sits down with Daniel Priestley, celebrated entrepreneur, bestselling author, and creator of the "Key Person of Influence" methodology. Daniel unpacks the harsh truths about why so many entrepreneurs fail to grow their businesses and build lasting wealth in today's chaotic world. This is the ultimate playbook for anyone who's ready to stop making excuses and start building real, scalable success.What You'll Learn in This Episode:The power of personal branding: why it's not optional anymore.How Daniel built and scaled multiple businesses, including a £10M empire.The surprising failures and lessons that shaped his career.Why most entrepreneurs focus on the wrong things (and how to fix it).The truth about AI, marketing, and dominating in an oversaturated market.Practical tips to create demand, scale faster, and attract the right team.Daniel shares no-bollocks insights on what it takes to become a leader in your industry and why playing it safe is costing you everything. If you're ready to transform your mindset, adopt winning strategies, and make 2025 your breakthrough year, this episode is a must-listen.Timestamps0:00 – Meet Daniel Priestley2:51 – How Daniel Built His First Business4:25 – Did He Know What He Was Doing?6:59 – Personal Branding: What Obama Got Right12:57 – Influencers vs. Key People of Influence21:09 – Why Your Personal Brand is Non-Negotiable28:28 – How AI is Making the World Noisier30:39 – Should You Start or Buy a Business?34:19 – The Power of Scorecards40:18 – Should You Run a Consultancy Business?42:10 – Hiring Hacks: What Matt's Doing Wrong54:24 – How Equity Can Motivate Your Team56:20 – Investors vs. DIY: Which Path is Better?58:44 – Fixing the Education System: What We Need to Teach1:06:20 – Wrapping UpConnect with Daniel Priestley:

On this episode of Found, Dom is joined by Sara and Erin Foster along with their advisor at Oversubscribed Ventures, Phil Schwarz. Across their careers, the Foster sisters have co-founded the clothing line Favorite Daughter, co-led creative for Bumble Bizz and Bumble BFF, and currently co-host a podcast together. Erin Foster even created the top Netflix show “Nobody Wants This,” starring Kristen Bell. But in this conversation we get into how they made the pivot to VC, the type of investments that excite them the most, and how they balance all of the different facets of their careers. 00:00 - Introduction 02:27 - Empathy in VC 04:41 - The Influence of Whitney Wolfe Herd and Kim Kardashian 09:45 - Working with Family 12:27 - Prioritizing Mental Health and Work-Life Balance 15:24 - Media Perception of Female Founders

In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas sits down with Jan Lynn-Matern, Founder and General Partner at Emerge, a global pre-seed fund backed by over 100 leading operators in the future of work and learning. Jan shares Emerge's mission to democratize access to opportunity for early-stage founders, providing not just capital but deep expertise and a community of seasoned professionals.Together, Andreas and Jan dive into how AI is transforming work and education. They discuss Emerge's investment philosophy and focus on impact, the importance of nurturing curiosity from a young age, and Jan's insights on the European market and its dynamics. Jan sheds light on the evolving landscape of education, the challenges and opportunities posed by generative AI, and how these shifts are redefining job markets. The conversation explores the critical need for adaptability and upskilling within organizations to keep up with technological change and how AI could become a powerful tool for enhancing learning and career development.This episode offers a nuanced look at Jan's journey, Emerge's investment approach, and the unique role AI plays in reshaping the future of work, learning, and access to opportunity.Go to eu.vc to read the core take-aways.Chapters:00:02 Meet Jan from Emerge00:25 Emerge's Mission and Impact01:48 Personal Stories and Inspirations02:23 The Role of AI in Learning and Work04:16 Founding Journey of Emerge07:31 Investment Philosophy and Strategies20:01 The European Opportunity21:36 Technological and Societal Convergences25:43 Investment Themes: Learn, Navigate, Work38:51 Consumer Learning and AI in Education39:49 Challenges in Formal Education Systems40:50 The Decline of Traditional Universities42:30 AI-Powered Learning Support for Students44:50 Innovative Education Models 46:09 Personal Experiences with Education Systems49:19 Navigating Career Choices with AI56:23 AI in Recruitment and Career Development01:01:11 Upskilling and AI Adoption in Enterprises01:07:50 Future of Education and Final Thoughts

Are you ready to use Key Person of Influence to get your business goals? This week's episode with New York Times bestselling author and leader of Dent Global, Daniel Priestley, has all the answers you need. Daniel Priestley is a New York Times bestselling author and the leader of Dent Global, where he and his team develop entrepreneurs to stand out, scale up, and make a positive impact. 40,000 entrepreneurs have attended his workshops around the world, and over 3000 people have taken part in his accelerator programs. Needless to say, he's making his mark by helping others make their mark. This is Daniel Priestley 's story... Daniel Priestley was working at McDonald's when he met Randy, the franchisee. Randy encouraged Daniel to look into entrepreneurship, and Daniel began reading The Emyth. This book opened the door to entrepreneurship for Daniel and made him feel that it was something he could do. Daniel went on to write several books on the subject, including Key Person of Influence and Oversubscribed. In Key Person of Influence, Daniel outlines the five Ps of becoming a key person of influence: pitching, positioning, production, promotion, and profit. By following these steps, Daniel believes that anyone can become a key person of influence in their industry.  Tune in now to learn how to stand out, scale up, and make a positive impact! In this episode, you will learn the following: Daniel shared what lessons he learned from Randy when he works at McDonald's (00:04:00) Who a key person of influence is and why does it matter in today's world? (00:09:06) The five P's of key Person of Influence (KPI) (00:12:55) The importance of pitching in enrolling people into a new way of thinking and behaving.(00:15:00) The Eiffel tower analogy (00:19:56) Who is a good example of a key person of influence (00:22:50) Why a key person of influence, helps move a business or an organization from functionality to vitality” (00:26:24) Why people are focused on the entire marketplace instead of focusing on the key few (00:32:36) What is Signaling and why is it important (00:42:30) The importance of having a central philosophy or mission around what you do (00:52:00) What are the Four types of products.(00:55:00) Why campaigning is an effective approach (00:59:40) The idea that social media can be used as a tool to build a personal brand (01:07:00) Notable quotes: “We all have the ability to make a dent and that we can do it while also having fun doing it. But we have to do it using the right strategies that will allow us to make the kind of impact that we want to make” - Billy  “Anyone can play an instrument. Not everyone could play an instrument well” - Billy “Prolific beats perfect” - Billy “When you become a key person of influence, your goal is not to try and sell you, and you don't make a lot of you're not trying to make money by selling your time and your energy and all that sort of stuff. People aren't buying you. They're actually just attracted to your business empire, and your empire sits around you” - Daniel  "The real skill with pitching is there's an element of leverage." - Daniel  Resources: Daniel Priestley Website:  Danielpriestley.com https://www.dent.global/ Books: https://danielpriestley.com/daniel-priestley-books/ Socials:  Linkedin: Daniel Priestley Instagram: @danielpriestley Twitter: @DanielPriestley Facebook: Daniel Priestley Connect with me: Email Addresses: billy@podify.com and saleebey@gmail.com This is an encore episode and was originally published on December 9, 2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What makes your house a home? For starters, it's spending time there, relaxing, cooking and watching TV. These days, that means lots of subscriptions, which also means lots of money. In fact, Americans spend billions of dollars on subscriptions they've actually forgotten about. On the Science of Success, WSJ's Ben Cohen looks at the booming subscription business and ways to help you get that spending in check. What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: FOEPodcast@wsj.com  Sign up for the WSJ's free The Future of Everything newsletter. Further reading:  The Real Reason You're Paying for So Many Subscriptions  Americans Are Canceling More of Their Streaming Services  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textSubscribe to AG Dillon Pre-IPO Stock Research at agdillon.com/subscribe;- Wednesday = secondary market valuations, revenue multiples, performance, index fact sheets- Saturdays = pre-IPO news and insights, webinar replays00:07 | CoreWeave Plans Share Sale at $23B Valuation- AI cloud computing company- Share sale to allow existing shareholders to tender $400M-$500M- Valuation increased from $19.1B in May 2024 to $23B (primary)- Previously valued at $7B in December 2023- Secured $7.5B credit facility from Blackstone and Carlyle in May 202401:05 | Revolut to Launch Stablecoin Amid $45B Valuation- London-based online bank- Plans to enter $119B stablecoin market dominated by Tether and USDC- Recently received UK banking license, revenues reached $2.2B with 45M users- Stablecoin may not be available in the U.S. due to regulatory issues- Valuation: $45B (primary, Aug 2025)01:57 | Alan Secures $193M in Series F, Valued at $4.5B- French insurance tech company- Raised $193M led by Belfius, with participation from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and others- Covers over 500,000 people; added 150,000 new customers since February 2024- Expected to reach $500M annual recurring revenue- Valuation: $4.5B (primary)02:47 | Neuralink's FDA Breakthrough Device for Restoring Vision- Elon Musk's brain chip company- Blindsight implant for blind patients received FDA "breakthrough device" status- Device aims to restore low-resolution vision, similar to "Atari graphics"- Also working on implants for paralyzed patients to control digital devices- Secondary market valuation: $7.2B (+107% vs Nov 2023 round)03:49 | Lionsgate Partners with Runway for AI-Driven Film Production- Studio behind Hunger Games, John Wick, partners with AI startup Runway- Runway provides custom AI models for storyboarding and special effects- Expected to save millions in production costs- First of its kind for Runway, reflecting broader AI adoption in Hollywood- Runway in talks for new funding at $4.0B valuation (primary)04:51 | OpenAI Partners with T-Mobile to Launch AI Platform, IntentCX- Partnership to create AI-driven platform, IntentCX, enhancing customer retention- Platform to leverage data from millions of T-Mobile subscribers- Launch scheduled for 2025, aims to prevent churn and automate services- OpenAI's valuation at $150B (primary)05:39 | OpenAI's Oversubscribed $6.5B Capital Raise- OpenAI nearing completion of a $6.5B fundraising round- New pre-money valuation set at $150B (primary), up from $86B earlier in 2024- Investors include Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and Thrive Capital06:21 | Databricks Opens European HQ, Valued at $45.5B- AI data management company- Opening new five-story European HQ in London to support 400 UK employees- Valuation: $45.5B (secondary), +5.4% vs Nov 2023 round07:01 | Canva Raises Subscription Prices by Over 300%- Graphic design SaaS company- Canva Teams subscription price increases from $120 to $500 annually- New features include AI tools like Magic Studio; Pro and Enterprise plans unchanged- Secondary market valuation: $27.6B (+6.3% vs Jan 2024 round)08:02 | Wiz Launches Cloud Application Security Tool, Wiz Code- Cloud security provider- New tool integrates with developer environments to resolve cloud risks in code- Enhances collaboration between security and development teams- Valuation: $17.8B (secondary), +48.3% vs May 2024 round08:55 | Pre-IPO Stock Market Weekly Performance- agdillon.com/subscribe to receive weekly pdf report in your inbox09:47 | Pre-IPO Stock Vintage Index Weekly Pe

Technological advances have inundated daily lives and resulted in a massive oversubscription in unnecessary activities. How do we take back our time? On this episode, Julio Vincent Gambuto discussed his book, Please Unsubscribe, Thanks.

Andrew spoke with 120+ VCs to raise a $1.5M pre-seed round. He closed $2.7M and had demand for many millions more. He devoted 90% of his time to fundraising, but only took weeks from the first meetings to close. 99% of founders I meet do not fundraise at this level. It takes them longer to close, they have fewer choices and raise less. This is a specific, detailed and tactical guide to closing a round. If you're ever going to raise, you need to listen.Why you should listenWhy talking to more investors will help you raise 10x faster.How to use an investment memo to articulate your thoughts and as a base to build a pitch deckHow to get warm introductions to VCsHow to take control of investor meetings and put VCs on their heelsKeywordsfundraising, seed round, investors, memo, deck, pitch, negotiating terms, trust, conviction, dilutionTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:02)How Taxwire Thought About Fundraising(00:04:02) The Start of Taxwire(00:06:32) Making a Memo Before a Deck(00:09:50) Reaching Out(00:16:10) Wanting to Oversubscribe(00:21:32) Keeping Control and Qualifying Investors(00:31:10) The Basic Structure of the Pitch(00:34:24) Target Close Day(00:39:01) The Timeline for Fundraising and Meetings(00:44:41) Deciding Who to Accept Funds From(00:50:18) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

This week, Pvolve founder Rachel Katzman joins Sara, Erin, and Phil on Oversubscribed. She shares her story and they discuss the importance of connecting with the right people, the benefits of staying behind-the-scenes, taking a leap of faith, and more.Use promo code FOSTER15 at pvolve.com

This week, Kroma Wellness founder Lisa Odenweller joins Sara, Erin, and Phil on Oversubscribed. She shares her story and they discuss the necessity of taking risks, how to build a brand, the importance of good partnerships, and much more.Use code OVERSUBSCRIBED for 20% off at kromawellness.com

This week, Out of Office co-founders Jan Seale and Coabi Kastan join Sara and Phil on Oversubscribed. They share their story and discuss the importance of having different skillsets, bringing more women into fundraising, failure, and much more. 

This week, SoulCycle and Peoplehood founders, Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler, join Sara, Erin, and Phil on Oversubscribed. They share their story and discuss what makes a good co-founder relationship, when to take the leap, how to scale a human experience, and much more.

This week, Harley Finkelstein, the president of Shopify, joins Sara, Erin, and Phil on Oversubscribed. He shares his story and they discuss what makes a good entrepreneur, why starting a business is not for everyone, the cost of failure, and much more. 

How did Favorite Daughter come to be? Hear the full story on the first official episode of the Oversubscribed podcast. Listen to the rest of the episode and follow the show on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify.

On the first official episode of Oversubscribed, Sara, Erin, and Phil sit down with Suzy Biszantz and Jennifer Stender Hawkins to share the story of how Favorite Daughter came to be. They discuss the initial DM that went unanswered, the importance of authenticity, dealing with self doubt, and much more.

What is Oversubscribed and how did it come to be? Erin and Sara sit down with their partner in Oversubscribed Ventures, Phil Schwarz from Corazon Capital. They discuss what it takes to create a fund, why they chose the name, and the process of raising money.  They also cover why they want to talk to founders who are in the thick of it.(This was recorded in 2023)

All week on an article (coming soon), but still time to… Meet a couple of new parents, hi Stacey Miller.  Conf planning for LA is ON!  Stacey will be heading to Stanford. https://curesyngap1.org/events/conferences/syngap1-conference-2024/  See Corey's trip to NYC.  You need countable seizures to participate.  Watch his talk at the conf.https://youtu.be/Rwwdifsu1g8  Talk to STXBP1 about Natural History Studies.  This is something we need to think about together.  e.g. a consensus protocol could save us a placebo arm. PubMed count is up to 2 for 2024, now a story from China. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38171555/    Ed's been busy!  Cafe Syngap Episode 8 went live  https://curesyngap1.org/podcasts/cafe-syngap1/   Conference Family Day Recap by Paulina Polanco https://curesyngap1.org/blog/syngap1-family-day-2023-a-beacon-of-hope/   Conference Science Day Presentation Videos are being added to the blog (both English & Spanish versions, though videos are only available in English); soon they'll all be added to the blog as well as on YouTube https://curesyngap1.org/blog/syngap1-conference-2023-science-day-a-summary/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsztjHbsR38&list=PLjpr3a14_ls0mKD_Z6xD0vYHt2JtJ1YBD   Studies - Rochester (need 100 more) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w35jLJRZC3zCviyCHNHCFeh0dETctzLA/view   CHOP/ENDD (need 50 more) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ASUkKQOgjbs9hkJVCJ40N8MbVFH4X9_h/view   Newsletter #36 out Saturday AM Jan 6  https://mailchi.mp/syngapresearchfund.org/2023recap   Resolutions for 2024 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D-vTe_lH2iyfmu-5DobGx0hT2x7XGwx-WNcW8ElwDBg/edit   Attend a conference or two (pre-register for Los Angeles) https://curesyngap1.org/events/conferences/syngap1-conference-2024/   Write a blog, make a movie, share your Warrior's story, be a guest on Stories or Cafe (contact AFrye@curesyngap1.org or Merlina@curesyngap1.org)   Upcoming Webinar #86 James Goss (Five Years of Funding Innovative Research for SYNGAP1) link https://Syngap.Fund/Five Jan 18, 12:00 ET, 9:00 PT Rare Disease Day - join us in DC; two blog posts:   What is Rare Disease Day & why is it the last day in February? https://curesyngap1.org/blog/what-is-rare-disease-day-why-is-it-the-last-day-in-february/   You Should Represent SYNGAP1 During Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill https://curesyngap1.org/blog/you-should-represent-syngap1-during-rare-disease-week-on-capitol-hill/   Sign up for the studies I mentioned in #S10e128   1 - NEW!!! GLOBAL -  Every english speaking caregiver on earth: Rochester survey, 15 minutes, online. https://redcap.link/NDDCaregiverSurvey   2 - GLOBAL - Multiple Languages - #SRFunded - Every caregiver of a patient 17 years or older: Andrade Adult Surveys. Ilakkiah.Chandran@uhn.ca   3 - GLOBAL - #SRFunded. Every english speaking caregiver on earth: Tom Frazier, eye tracking study, at home, 20 minutes every 3 months for a year. KHuba@jcu.edu   4 - USA: https://ciitizen.com/syngap1/srf/ as always!  This data is critical and being used by multiple partners. Sign up/refresh!   5 - USA, East of the mountains: ENDD@chop.edu free natural history study!  #S10e105 https://youtu.be/qy5YrPIlH0I?si=4sl_IaLCA7YA6WpM West of the mountains, we are setting up at Stanford and Colorado.  Please get in there ASAP.   6 - Texas: QEEG at Cook Childrens.  Email Corey. All studies are on https://curesyngap1.org/studies/   Give all three of our podcasts 5 stars everywhere.   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/syngap1-podcasts-by-srf/id6464522917    This is a podcast subscribe! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/syngap10-weekly-10-minute-updates-on-syngap1/id1560389818 Episode 130 of #Syngap10 - January 12, 2024 #epilepsy #autism #intellectualdisability #id #anxiety #raredisease #epilepsyawareness #autismawareness #rarediseaseresearch #SynGAPResearchFund #CareAboutRare #PatientAdvocacy #GCchat #Neurology #GeneChat

It's common sense to think “I have a business. I should sell as much of my product to as many people as I can”. So why do companies, like Rolex or Ferrari, make so much money by limiting the amount of product that they sell? Why would anyone throw up road blocks in front of their own potential customers? And why is creating tension in the supply and demand equation a way to get people to want to buy from you? Daniel Priestley returns to talk with Chris about his concept of being “Oversubscribed”. Daniel asserts that many marketers have forgotten the number one rule of marketing - An imbalance in supply and demand sets both the price and the profit of a product. An “oversubscribed” business, then, is simply one that has limited or constrained supply, and there are more people that want that supply than is available. Daniel argues that you can create this tension between supply and demand by creating an official capacity, make sure people know what it is, and understand that it's in hot demand. But that's just simple supply and demand, right? Well, yes, but Daniel is going to take you through some of his methods for artificially creating the tension between supply and demand, so that you can get your business to the point of being oversubscribed. He'll discuss the three ingredients you need to get people to buy, why “signal collecting” is so important, and the five phases of a bullet proof campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this bonus episode of Oversubscribed, Sara and Phil sit down with 10Beauty co-founders Justin Effron and Alex Shashou, who have created a fully automated manicure machine. They discuss the importance of finding the right partner, handling setbacks, building a product from the ground up, asking for introductions, and more.Executive Producers: Erin Foster, Sara Foster, and Allison BresnickAssociate Producer: Montana McBirneyAudio Engineer: Josh WindischThis episode is sponsored by Skims (skims.com)Check out 10Beauty: https://www.10beauty.co/

On this bonus episode of Oversubscribed, Erin, Sara, and Phil sit down with Louisa Serene Schneider, Founder & CEO of Rowan. They discuss how Rowan came to be, how to make tough decisions for your business, learning from the negatives, and more.Check out Rowan and use the code WORLDSFIRST for $15 off online and in store.Executive Producers: Erin Foster, Sara Foster, and Allison BresnickAssociate Producer: Montana McBirneyAudio Engineer: Josh WindischThis episode is sponsored by Sakara (sakara.com/foster)