VC, PE, and AI - Oh my!

This is your monthly dose of Full Send.

Greetings 👋. It's our April edition of No Half Sends - happy Q2! Your bracket is busted, but hopefully your budget is right on track. The solar eclipse is coming and there’s nothing AI can do to protect your eyes. Whether or not you win your bracket pool or if you’re not in the path of the solar eclipse, we’re glad you’re here following along.

To frame our update: we help growth companies elevate their financial data through tech-forward accounting and finance services.

A client last week said: “This is exactly what I needed to prepare for my investor conversation next week. Thank you.”

Let’s Dive In 👇.

💥 TL;DR: Full Send

1. Venture Capital vs Private Equity Accounting 💰
2. Is it Appropriate to Use Emoji’s in Email? ✌️
3. The Swift Golden Age of “AI” Investing is Over 🤔
4. The Colorado Inno Bracket Challenge 🏀
5. Times Square Again? Come On. ✅

☝️ Accounting for Venture Capital vs Private Equity

We’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of venture capital and private equity backed companies. While many productized solutions in our market would treat these equally, there are some key approach differences to be aware of. This is why working with a firm that understands your business, goals, and strategy can make a massive difference in your growth.

Venture Capital: VC firms typically invest in early-stage, high-growth companies.

• Focus is on future growth, assumptions, and unit economics. The underlying accounting data, and its organization, is key in understanding how to adequately plan for the future.
• Emphasis is on cash, burn rates, and future rounds of funding. It’s imperative to know what the runway looks like in order to appropriately advise how and when to raise your next round. If the financials and transactional management are not timely, it can lead to significant issues in future fundraise planning.
• Sensitive accounting areas like revenue recognition, accrual accounting, and cost of sales allocations can drastically impact your KPI presentation. Ensure you have alignment with your accounting partner in each of these areas.

Private Equity: In contrast, PE firms usually invest in more mature companies, often with the intention of restructuring them to unlock value.

• Management will place a strong emphasis on cash flow analysis, operational efficiency, and profitability. A strong accounting partner can yield quality metrics in each of these areas, but most importantly - can provide specific recommendations to further systematize the operational efficiency of the accounting and finance rhythms.
• Key stakeholder reporting is materially different than VC and oftentimes carries a higher degree of compliance requirements like debt covenants and financial audits.
• Budgeting, cost control, and margin improvement are all marquees of any PE investment. The accounting department’s role is to collaborate cross-departmentally to assemble the financials in a way that drives actionable data for management.

Generally, folks think about accountants as just accountants, but when you give us a business scenario inclusive of current state, desired future state, as well as capital sources, it helps us better understand how to manage the numbers.

🔊 Go on, Queen. Use Those Emojis.

If you are conflicted with what the right amount of exclamation marks or emoji’s is in business communication, this is for you.

In a scientific poll conducted regarding the use of emojis in business communication, we have concluded that the use of emojis are generally acceptable in today’s business environment. Results below.

201 of you responded to the poll. 30% are all in on emojis. 12% would fire you immediately if you ever used an emoji and the remaining 58% feel generally open to the usage, dependent upon audience/circumstance.

THIS IS A HUGE WIN FOR HUMANS TRYING TO COMMUNICATE CONTEXT.

Scenario 1 »»»» “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.”

Scenario 2 »»»» “Congratulations 🎉 We’re so proud of you!”

I’ll be honest, I like seeing the energy coming from Scenario 2.

That being said…

1. Know Your Audience
2. Lean Into Your Intuition
3. Don’t Overdo It

🚀 Need to know: Startups

> Intuit’s Mint shuttering is opening a MASSIVE door. The personal finance space is being upended and personal finance startups are here for it. Companies like Copilot and Monarch are jumping in to grab market share. Copilot has grown more in the last 4 months than in the previous 4 years! (One man’s trash is another man’s treasure)

> Don’t invest in AI, invest around AI. Industrials are getting a lot of love from Venture Capital as the wind in AI’s sails has started to dwindle. AI-related startups raised ~ $50B in 2023. Today, there is far more scrutiny around AI investment and the company’s problem/solution equation - is the problem being solved big and unique enough to turn into a home run. (The simple days of AI are gone)

> Startups, Don’t Lose Your Special Sauce. According to Harvard professor Ranjay Gulati, successful organizations have one thing in common: a soul. This is a fantastic interview around soul - and why it’s not just culture, purpose, or you - the founder… (HBR on Strategy)

Are you fundraising/hiring? Know someone who is? We want to feature those in our network who are seeking capital, connections, or resources. Reach out to us at howdy@fullsendfinance.com for more information!

🏗️ Colorado Startups: Our Backyard

> Ok, Techstars isn’t moving out for good, but there is a void to fill. As a mentor for the Techstars Boulder accelerator, I’ve had a variety of conversations around the topic of ‘who will step in Techstars’ shoes?’. There isn’t a straightforward answer, but there is general acknowledgement that an opportunity exists to further our precious startup ecosystem. What do you think could fill the void? (What’s Next?)

> Investing in ‘AI’ may be passé, but AI cybersecurity is hot. You love to see it. When disruptive tech is seemingly the downfall of all knowledge workers, opportunity abounds. Liminal, a B2B AI security startup for regulated industries is aiming to solve the problems related to the protection of sensitive data or proprietary information in a world that is fueled by LLMs. They recently raised ~ $3.15M from High Alpha, Matchstick Ventures, and more. Time to build, Liminal! (Denver AI Startup for Regulated Industries)

> The Colorado Inno Madness Bracket is BACK. Check out the startups that made it into the 2024 bracket this year. Some familiar names on that list - cast your votes and show your support of those startups in our backyard! (CO Inno Madness Bracket)

Help share No Half Sends 🙏

Wouldn’t the accounting, finance, and startup world be a better place if more people had access to top-notch accounting and relatable humans? Take a minute to share our newsletter with your friends—they’ll thank you for having access to accountants with taste. Sub here.

👉 If you’d like to be featured or have a message that would be helpful for our community, please let us know:

• If you’d like to broadcast your current or upcoming fundraise
• If you’ve shipped a new product or launched in market
• If you’re hiring and want to spread the word

We want to amplify voices of the builders, backers, and servant leaders. Reach out!

🏔️ Sending it in the Wild

> Over the last month, you could find members of our team in New Zealand, Mexico, Costa Rica, and California. The best part is that we’re living out our values and building an internal environment with the appropriate redundancies to allow folks to live their lives! You love to see it.

> I’ve been recording podcasts left and right. How to Build a Winning Culture. Recruiting in Accounting. Upcoming episodes on From Zero to Millions, The Unique CPA, and Growing Your Firm. Keep your eyes peeled, who knows where I might show up next.

> Ok, Ramp is just flexing now. Yes, this is real. No, we didn’t ask for it. Yes, we’re grateful to have such awesome partners who believe in our mission, values, and vision. It’s humbling. At this point, we’re thinking about just building our own billboard in Times Square 😆

Clickbait: For all of you that consider yourselves big fans of Solar Eclipses, this one is for you. Yep, you’ll probably go blind if you look at it. For those of you that live in isolation from society - it’s on April 8th.

‍

✌️ Roman @ Full Send

Why Full Send? We’re on a mission to elevate financial data through high quality accounting and finance services, building more knowledgeable and engaged team members, and engaging in our industry to move accounting and finance forward.

Send us your feedback at howdy@fullsendfinance.com and help us stay as sendy as humanly possible. We’re ready to listen.