Operating at the Intersection of Technology and the Capital Markets
Category: Venture Capital
Robotic Process Automation ("RPA") flirted with Tech stardom in 2018 and 2019 as a number of companies in the space received significant Technology press. UiPath's recent $750 million Series F round and its lofty $35 billion post-money valuation (Alkeon Capital and Coatue led the round), points the spotlight squarely on the space once again. Read … Continue reading RPA’s Day In The Sun
The Venture Capital model is broken. VC interests are not aligned with the best interests of their limited partners nor of their portfolio companies. VC's push portfolio companies too fast in a short-term greedy effort to maximize valuations at the expense of operational rigor: VC's push portfolio companies to generate warp speed revenue growth at … Continue reading Venture Capital Is Broken
Amazon is developing a reputation for poor deal etiquette. Specifically (as reported by the WSJ), Amazon is using intelligence gathered by its venture arm during deal due diligence to develop competitive offerings. Microsoft, Google, Walmart, Alibaba, Shopify and others will likely capture a percentage of venture and M&A deal flow that otherwise would have gone … Continue reading Poor Reputations Travel Quickly
Regardless of who wins November's general election we expect higher corporate income tax rates in 2021 or more likely 2022. Today's 21% U.S. corporate tax rate will likely climb back to 35% or higher should Trump win re-election or to 40-45% should Biden win the Presidency. We expect companies to control expenses as a result … Continue reading Higher Corporate Income Tax Rates and Advanced Automation Are Coming
Layoffs are not only taking place across the retail, restaurant, travel and hospitality industries. A number of other industries including the Technology industry have absorbed their fair share of layoffs as well. Some early-stage Technology companies are conserving cash by replacing cash compensation with equity. The list below includes approximately 60 companies (primarily Tech companies) … Continue reading Layoffs Have Extended Beyond Hotels and Restaurants
Time for VC's to write down their portfolios. The same holds true for Private Equity portfolios. We led with VC's in the title because venture-backed valuations bear little resemblance to any economic reality whereas private equity valuations are largely grounded in reality. Public company valuations are not going to snap back to normal. The U.S. … Continue reading Public Service Message to VC’s: Time to Write Down Your Portfolios
The TEK2day PropTech Outlook provides our perspective on where we believe the PropTech industry is headed over the next few years. Major themes include: I.) further industry consolidation and II.) AI-driven revenue opportunities and operating efficiency gains. The TEK2day PropTech Landscape (link at the bottom of this article) includes company names, descriptions, CEOs, 2019 revenue … Continue reading TEK2day PropTech Outlook & LandscapePremium
A recession is defined as an economic period where GDP declines for two consecutive quarters. We believe the next recessionary period will be different as a result of artificially low interest rates. The United States' proclivity to print money and maintain artificially low interest rates makes it difficult for institutional investors to find yield. Gone … Continue reading The Next Recession Will Prove Different for U.S. Equity Markets
One of the services we provide at CEORater includes a CEO Personality Profile derived from Natural Language Processing applied to earnings call transcripts. Research out of Stanford University - Charles OReilly and David Larcker - demonstrates a correlation between CEO Personality and company outcomes. Separate efforts apply similar analytic methods toward evaluating institutional investors. Institutional … Continue reading When Evaluating Institutional Investors Ferraris Are A Red Flag.
PE firms can’t cut their way to prosperity in perpetuity. Strategic Acquirers We applaud when strategic acquirers defeat PE buyers for coveted assets (for a list of strategic acquirers that do M&A well click here). Our rationale is that strategic acquirers are typically motivated to optimize acquired assets so as to maximize ROIC over the … Continue reading The PE Model Is Unsustainable
