Joshua Lee, founder and CEO of Ardius, a Mucker portfolio company acquired by Gusto, is a visionary who embodies the spirit of Southern California’s startup ecosystem. Known for seamlessly blending venture building with operational rigor, Joshua’s journey as a founder, investor, and mentor is deeply rooted in his commitment to proving that world-class, venture-backable companies …
In Q3 2025, the total global VC funding reached $97B, marking the fourth consecutive quarter exceeding $90B and a robust 38.6% year-over-year increase. Q3 was characterized by extreme capital concentration with mega rounds ($500M+) capturing more than 30% of all funding and just 18 companies securing one-third of total capital deployed. AI dominated with $45.1 …
Distressed debt can be an investment opportunity that allows you to effectively beat the market. In 2024, Brazil had a real interest rate of 35.1%, greater than the returns of the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Nasdaq 100. With such returns, you could more than 20x your investment portfolio in just 10 years. The …
Sometimes the most transformative ideas begin with a simple question: what if legal work could be as intuitive and data-driven as fintech? For Anuscha and Ziyaad, the leap from scaling a successful payments startup to founding Qanooni wasn’t just about technology—it was about reimagining what trust, automation, and client-centric innovation could mean for law firms …
For early-stage startups, setting up a cap table might not feel as pressing as product development or fundraising. Yet it is one of the most critical documents you can create. According to the State of the Cap Table Industry 2024, almost 90% of startups use equity-based compensation and update their cap tables in real-time to …
In just a few years, SportsEdTV has become one of the world’s leading platforms for sports education, offering thousands of free and premium training resources to athletes, coaches, and parents worldwide. With over 1 million social media followers, 4,000 videos and articles, and more than 400 senior contributors, the company has built a digital ecosystem …
In 2022, US IPO activity plummeted by 83% and has yet to recover to the levels seen in 2021 or even 2020. However, the surge of IPOs in those years has distorted expectations of what ‘normal’ looks like for the market. Looking back over two decades, the median annual number of IPOs since 2000 is …
In this edition of Founder Spotlight, we’re featuring Melvin Christopher, Co-Founder and CTO of Myna, Inc. Melvin is helping to shape the future of AI technology for the restaurant industry. In our interview, he discusses building scalable AI solutions, leading teams, and driving innovative ideas in digital marketing. His technical skills and entrepreneurial drive have …
The British mathematician, Alan Turing, in 1947, famously said, “What we want is a machine that can learn from experience”. Turing never named his idea anything. Fast forward eight decades, and what he envisioned is finally shaping up. AI is now the buzzword in the financial markets and the defining theme in the big technology …
Harjit Singh is the Founder and CEO of Transacta Capital, a buy-side M&A advisory firm redefining how mid-market technology companies scale. With over a decade of experience leading corporate development strategies; including helping a New York based IT Service Company to build one of the largest startup ecosystems with 700+ portfolio companies and a finance …
The general consensus is that uncertain market conditions have held back a number of companies from going public. While the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) has risen steadily since 2023, activity remains far below the highs of 2020 and 2021. Due to such market conditions, many companies have ended up with elongated IPO timelines. …
The Million-Dollar Question Every Founder Faces: Should you spend an extra $800 monthly on a specialized CPA when cash is tight and runway is everything? When we asked founders across industries—from bootstrapped solopreneurs to venture-backed unicorns—about their biggest financial mistake, the answer wasn’t overspending on marketing or hiring too fast. It was picking the wrong …
EQVISTA | NYSE: There is a famous saying… the journey is the reward, you work hard and have very high expectations but there are also moments which stand out. Last week, I went from introducing the first Real-Time Private Stock Valuation Index to a group of finance professionals at Javitz, to the NYSE closing bell for …
In 1993, Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem founded NVIDIA as a fabless manufacturer of graphics accelerator chips for desktop computers. At the time, NVIDIA had secured funding of $20 million from investors like Sequoia Capital and Sutter Hill Ventures. In 1999, NVIDIA came up with the GeForce 256, which it positioned as the …
In this edition of Founder Spotlight interview, we introduce Cihan Duezguen, Co-Founder and CEO of Green Banana Group. In this interview, Cihan shares his vision behind building bnplx.io, a platform designed to simplify Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) for retailers and providers. With several years in payments (Giropay, Worldpay, FIS) and retail, Cihan saw clear …
This edition of Founder Spotlight features Mike Collins, the founder and CEO of Alumni Ventures, the largest venture capital firm in America focused on individual investors since its founding in 2014. Under his leadership, Alumni Ventures has grown rapidly and was ranked by Time as one of the top 25 venture capital firms. Mike built …
When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were scaling Apple Computer beyond their garage operation in 1978, they turned to a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) that provided $500,000 in startup capital. This crucial funding helped launch the revolutionary Apple II computer and transformed a two-person startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies. Small …
Apple Inc. is one of the top five IT giants in the United States with a market capitalization of $3.445 trillion as of August 2025. The company’s ownership structure is characterized by institutional investors, with over 60% of shares held by major investment firms, while retail investors maintain a substantial 51.43% stake. Apple’s capital structure …
On June 29, 2010, Tesla Inc., went public, becoming the first American carmaker to launch an IPO since 1956. Back then, Tesla was a young company with a big goal: to change the auto industry with fully electric cars. Shares started at $17, raising $226 million to help develop the Model S sedan. In October …
Start-up capital flows increasingly through Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs), yet many late-stage decision makers still misunderstand the moment at which those promises morph into real shares. The investors and start-ups are increasingly favoring SAFEs in the pre-Seed investment ecosystem (which featured in 91% of Q1 2025’s pre-Seed deals) over notes. The vast majority …
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