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Every entrepreneur has a defining moment. For Canadian businessman and investor Kevin O’Leary, it occurred in the 11th grade.
O’Leary, nicknamed “Mr. Wonderful,” shared with AFROTECH™ that he was fired from an ice cream shop after working only a few hours as a scooper. The shop’s owner instructed him to scrape the tile floors, which he refused to do since it was not in his job description. READ MORE
In venture capital, they call it “pattern matching” — identifying similarities in successful investments — but Claire Bristow and Adele Moynihan spotted a different pattern: the escape route their female colleagues were taking.
Both women recently left roles in Australian venture capital for chief of staff positions at high-growth startups. READ MORE
It’s getting tough out there for the little guys.
Small-cap stocks have started to lose some of their performance zing compared with large caps. The reason: Private equity and venture capital firms have been snapping up many promising small companies that otherwise would likely have gone public, wresting those potentially lucrative opportunities away from public investors. Over the past two years there has been a widening gap in quality between large-cap and small-cap stocks, according to a recent Morningstar analysis. That includes returns on assets, returns on equity, net margin and debt-to-capital ratios showing that overall, small-cap stocks have increasingly weaker fundamentals compared with large caps, Morningstar passive strategies analyst Zachary Evens said. READ MORE
You’ve likely heard the grim statistic that women receive less than two percent of venture capital (VC) funding. Within that low number, women over 50 are nearly invisible in the funding landscape. Silicon Valley touts the skills of the youth and eagerly invests in these founders, but I’d like to challenge the myth that innovation only belongs to the young talent out there.
Women over 50 are a group of innovators who largely get ignored and passed over, but this is a missed opportunity. If investors are looking for the next successful business, they might not want to overlook the women who don’t fit the Silicon Valley mold. It’s a well-known fact that the best portfolios thrive off diversity and investing in founders is no different. READ MORE
Getting off the ground is less about ideas and more about capital for many small business owners and startup founders. Great ideas, dedicated teams and solutions that herald breakthroughs are most often left unattended due to the one resource needed to propel any stage of growth: money.
While the media spotlights billion-dollar valuations and massive fundraising rounds, the truth is that most founders are navigating a financial system that wasn’t built for them. Access to venture capital is often reserved for the well-networked or already established, leaving early-stage entrepreneurs on the outside looking in. READ MORE
Last week, two Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) LP decks leaked to Newcomer. As far as I (and Google and ChatGPT) can tell, this is only the second time ever that internal Andreessen Horowitz documents have leaked. The firm is notoriously secretive.
I am much too humble and my fund is much too insignificant to seriously believe that my Substack from September 3—“Andreessen Horowitz is not a Venture Capital Fund”—and its subsequent republishing on Fast Company could possibly have annoyed the Sand Hill Road behemoth so much that it decided to leak its own LP deck for the first time in history. READ MORE
What underlying fundamental trends can indicate that a company might be in decline? More often than not, we'll see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining amount of capital employed. Trends like this ultimately mean the business is reducing its investments and also earning less on what it has invested. In light of that, from a first glance at Venture (SGX:V03), we've spotted some signs that it could be struggling, so let's investigate. READ MORE
Major players like Anthropic and xAI have secured multi-billion dollar rounds, while smaller startups outside the AI sector are finding it harder to raise money. Kyle Sanford at PitchBook describes the result as a split market - it's either AI or not.
In the US, 62.7 percent of VC funding went to AI companies, compared to 53.2 percent worldwide. In total, global VC investment for 2025 stands at $366.8 billion, with $250.2 billion coming from the US. READ MORE
Global venture funding gained significantly in Q3 2025, closing up 38% year over year, Crunchbase data shows, as massive funding deals, particularly for giants in the AI sector, continued to lead.
All told, Q3 venture investment reached $97 billion, up from $70 billion in Q3 2024, per Crunchbase data. Quarter-over-quarter funding was up slightly from $92 billion in Q2. READ MORE
In recent years, Venture Capital-as-a-Service (VCaaS) has become more predominant since it offers more flexibility than the traditional VC model. It is designed perfectly for corporations, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds that want to engage in startup investment without managing a full-fledged VC team. Let’s understand the mechanics behind VCaaS and why corporations are embracing it. READ MORE
As the rush towards AI-related companies continues on Wall Street, data from Crunchbase showed on Monday that the sector enjoyed a bulk of venture funding in the third quarter, with names including Anthropic raking in billions.
BY THE NUMBERS
Global venture funding in the third quarter increased 38% year-over-year to $97 billion, increasing slightly from $92 billion in the second quarter. READ MORE
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison have recently engaged in an unofficial battle for the title of the wealthiest person on the planet, with each amassing a net worth of around $400 billion.
But following the news of Musk's eye-popping compensation package proposal, he may soon run away with that title with little opposition. READ MORE
On August 7, 2025, the White House issued Executive Order 14330, Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors (the Order), directing the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue guidance that facilitates investment in “alternative assets” by participants in 401(k) and other defined contribution (DC) plans. The stated goal of the Order is to give all retirement plan participants access to the same benefits of alternative investments—potentially higher returns and diversification of risk—that are already enjoyed by large investors and governmental plans.
Although many commentators have focused on the risks of allowing individuals with limited investment experience to direct their retirement savings into, say cryptocurrency, the Order is in fact both broader and narrower than that example. It is broader in that it covers plan investments not only in digital assets such as crypto, but also private equity and debt, precious metals, real estate, infrastructure projects, and lifetime income insurance products. It is narrower, however, in that the Order itself (as opposed to its statement of purpose) focuses almost exclusively on investment through an asset allocation fund, such as a target date or lifecycle fund. This article will address questions raised by the Order. READ MORE
The Federal Reserve cut rates again, but analysts say cheaper money won't fix private equity's (PE) massive problem. Traditionally, they'd take companies public on the stock market for huge profits, but that exit door has narrowed shut, down 46% in 2024 from the previous five-year average.1
"Private equity firms are increasingly trading assets among themselves or accepting lower returns," Kevin Khang, Vanguard's senior international economist, noted in recent analysis.2 "The $11 trillion industry's aggressive use of leverage, which once defined the model, is now being reined in, forcing a strategic rethink." READ MORE
President Donald Trump has finally cleared the way for a tentative deal that would keep video-sharing app TikTok operating in the US through the creation of a new, separate American-run entity.
After months of delays, the order gives some shape to the deal and confirms that under the new framework, the US-based arm of TikTok will be controlled by large American investors, who will own 80% of the entity, with ByteDance retaining 20%.
The president said that Oracle, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch will be involved. READ MORE
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will work with the Department of Labor (DOL) to develop protections for workplace retirement plan participants interested in private market investments, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins told Fox Business in a live interview on Tuesday.
The Trump administration’s plan to open 401(k) retirement accounts to private market investments—as per his Aug. 7 executive order—seeks to open up far greater access to opportunities that have traditionally been restricted and available only to high net worth investors and pension funds. READ MORE
Although the capitalization and prudential regulation of insurers is complex, the economic essence of an insurance company is simple.
A company is established with capital and regulatory licenses. It agrees to make future benefit payments and/or cover the economic cost of certain risks in return for receiving premiums. Because of the time lag between the receipt of premiums and ultimately having to pay out — which can be decades — if the company is well run, it will enjoy an ever-increasing “float” of money. READ MORE
A new survey from Empower shows that a growing number of employers are preparing to offer private market investments – such as private equity, private credit, and private real estate – within defined contribution retirement plans.
The findings reflect a broader shift in the retirement landscape, with plan sponsors, advisors, and participants expressing increased interest in expanding access to these asset classes. READ MORE
For decades, venture capital has been synonymous with chasing unicorns—those rare startups valued at a billion dollars or more. But a new generation of investors is rewriting the script, prioritizing sustainable growth and healthier founders over high-stakes bets. At Chicago-based 11 Tribes Ventures, General Partner Kristina Chapple and Founder Mark Phillips are betting that a thriving founder creates a flourishing company. They are literally putting money behind that belief by dedicating 2% of every investment as non-dilutive capital for coaching, therapy, and personal development.
This founder-first approach is not only unusual in venture capital but also reflects a broader shift among emerging managers who emphasize founder support, resilience, and mental health. Instead of holding out for one or two unicorns, they aim to nurture more companies toward $100 million exits. As Chapple put it, “healthier founders lead to better returns.” READ MORE
The MBA-to-VC pipeline remains a very real thing. But that path is a little shakier than it once was, according to PitchBook reporting and new academic research.
Harvard placed 50 of its 1,004 MBA graduates into VC roles in 2024, with a median starting salary of $177,500. Stanford placed around 30 from its smaller class. More than 10,000 Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton MBA alumni currently hold senior positions at U.S. VC firms, PitchBook data shows. READ MORE