NEWS & PRESS
Midwest startups have seen an upswing in investment activity over the last few years — and for good reason. Not only do Midwest startups often require much less capital to scale their operations, but the Midwest is home to many industrial hubs. Is the tech migration to the Midwest a passing fad or here to stay?
Over the past decade, family offices have become increasingly interested in the realm of direct investments and coinvesting. This trend has led family offices to gather specified asset pools and the talent required to allocate capital directly into private markets. Today, nearly every family office has decision-makers with firsthand experience in successfully operating businesses. While the direct investment route affords greater control and transparency, it’s not without its downsides. Here are the pros and cons of direct investing and how to identify when investing in venture capital funds and working closely with venture capital managers makes more sense.
Originally published on StartupNation
As the COVID-19 pandemic horizon stretches onward and a return to normalcy appears ever more distant, adaptation is the only option. What makes founders essential when fortifying a startup against unpredictable risks? Some essential traits distinguish the very best startup leaders - here’s how to cultivate them.
Just as aviation is ruled by gravity, so is the trajectory of your business venture. The harder gravity pulls, the more difficult it is to grow your startup and reach exit velocity. Perhaps now more than ever, successful startups are the ones that learn to generate lift on their own and maximize any boost they gain from outside investors. For most successful startups, there are a few essential strategies that can help generate lift where they need it the most — to counteract gravity before it pulls them back down to earth.
Ascend Venture Capital partner Dan Conner has made a career of funding and helping build startups. As a venture capitalist himself, Conner shared what he believes every founder should know when seeking to raise capital with FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller as part of the FreightWavesTV show, "Fuller Speed Ahead."
Originally published on InvestorConnect.org
On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall is joined by Dan Conner of St. Louis-based Ascend Venture Capital. Before coming into investing, Dan worked as an engineer, primarily in the oil, biofuel, and wind energy industries. After getting his MBA, Dan ended up in the VC world, in the enterprise sector. According to Dan, he owes his success to ‘putting in the legwork’, researching thousands of companies to find the select few he likes.
