Nick Cromydas
Greater Chicago Area
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Articles by Nick
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Rewriting the Playbook for Search Firms in an AI ERA
Rewriting the Playbook for Search Firms in an AI ERA
Let’s get this out of the way— before reading this you should know I’m about as biased as it gets, given my day (and…
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Why Startups Are the New College DegreeDec 11, 2018
Why Startups Are the New College Degree
I started my professional career as a volunteer tennis coach at Northwestern University, with 12-hour days teaching…
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Creating a “White Glove” Talent ProcessJul 6, 2017
Creating a “White Glove” Talent Process
“Candidate Experience” seems to be a new, popular buzzword for the talent industry. I have a better phrase for it:…
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Building the Midwest: Money. Liquidity. Talent?Jun 20, 2017
Building the Midwest: Money. Liquidity. Talent?
A funny thing seems to be happening locally in the Midwest startup ecosystem. Raising money no longer seems to be the…
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We’re Launching our Referral Recruiting Company, Hunt ClubJun 24, 2015
We’re Launching our Referral Recruiting Company, Hunt Club
Over the past 9 months we've operated in a closed beta, working to build a better referral recruiting model. Hunt Club.
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Investor / Mentor / Advisor "Whiplash" & Building Your Dream Team.Feb 26, 2015
Investor / Mentor / Advisor "Whiplash" & Building Your Dream Team.
It’s hard to ignore a former CEO of a Fortune 100 company’s opinion on your startup. Really hard.
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Activity
11K followers
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Nick Cromydas posted thisQuick take. I’m officially taking a short position on the business lunch (which is sad given it's one of my favorite things #ShoutoutTheDearborn) One of the most underinvested parts of building an AI native services business is the sales process. For years, services were sold through referrals, meetings, and confidence built in the room. That’s changing. Gen Z still wants trust. They just don’t want the theater. No long lunches. No over selling. No happy hours. Just show me you can do the work better than anyone else. We've worked with three gen z category creators recently who all: - Asked for product demos as looms - Wanted to see real candidate lists in platform - Preferred text or WhatsApp over calls They bought executive search without going through a traditional sales process or actually chatting with anyone on a call. The future of services is frictionless, product driven, and trust first. For the first time, I believe clients will demand this from service providers, the same way they have demanded it from software. I’m not saying the service provider goes away. And I believe very much in "Culture matching" between service provider and client. But I do think the market in time is increase its demand "You show your work" before prospective clients take any of their time...
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Nick Cromydas shared thisExcited to be sponsoring and playing at one of my favorite events of the year, 19th Annual Silicon Alley Golf & Pickleball Invitational — Silicon Alley Sports' annual charity sports & networking day! Join me on May 18th at Ardsley Country Club. Tickets still available 👇 #SiliconAlleySports #PlayWellDoGood https://lnkd.in/gc8sNAe4
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Nick Cromydas posted thisWe’re hiring a GM in NYC and a couple other markets. You’ll own a market/set of relationships, work directly with top PE/VC-backed companies, and operate at the center of talent decisions. A few things that matter: 1. Deep understanding of the PE/VC ecosystem and ideally strong existing relationships 2. Knows how to win and close, not just participate 3. Naturally relationship-driven but competitive as hell 4. Can operate at both high touch and high volume 4. Builds presence fast in a market (events, dinners, conferences, etc) / not afraid to work a room 5. Obsessed with talent and how teams get built 6. We love SuperIC's (former leaders who prefer to "Do" v "Manage". 7. Must be in NYC (or want to relo there) This role is a nightmare if you: - You hate IRL - Your first instinct isn't to "Get on a plane" or "Show up to meet a client" - You hate business development/sales - You don't get energy meeting 5-8 new people a day - You need 3 dedicated resources to get anything done... - You think hustle is sending 5 emails a day Strong comp package to support the transition from leader to what we call "SuperIC" Only downside: you’ll have to hang out with me when I’m in NYC... We’re the only AI-native search firm at scale, and we're innovating aggressively at the intersection of trust/network effects, AI and prof services. We think thats a good place to be right now... DM me, email me and we love referrals :)
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Nick Cromydas shared thisDream team assembling. Congrats Neha, Katie, Titiaan, Sujoy, and Nadeem and looking forward to watching you take the AV industry by (electric) storm!Nick Cromydas shared thisBig news! We're welcoming three exceptional leaders to the Terawatt executive team: Sujoy Haldar, CFA joins as CFO, bringing experience from Uber, Covariant, and Palmetto — and a track record of building financial infrastructure for high-growth companies. Titiaan Palazzi joins as Chief Product & Strategy Officer. Most recently at Snowflake (via acquisition of his AI startup Myst AI (acquired by Snowflake)), he brings deep energy industry expertise and a proven ability to build and commercialize products from the ground up. Nadeem Sheikh joins as Chief Business Officer with 20+ years at the intersection of mobility, energy, and emerging tech. This includes architecting the industry's first commercial AV partnerships at Lyft and co-leading the $550M sale of Lyft's AV division to Toyota Motor Corporation. We're in the middle of the fastest expansion in Terawatt's history, on track to double our national footprint this year. This team gives us the firepower to match that ambition. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eR3vy84u
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Nick Cromydas shared thisHaven't been to NYC in a minute, and aside from the food, remembered why I love this city so much. The ecosystem just doesn't quit. Win, win big or lose, they keep playing. Some favorite moments from the week... Tom Cortese first changed the fitness game with Peloton Interactive, and is now making the best damn sandwich experience I've had in a while... Try the club at Counter Service, you won't regret it. We missed ya Steve! Chieh Huang is shifting from bulk goods delivered right to you, to helping the next generation of talent find their true north/next meaningful role in the moment they need it most with Pelgo. David Politis started created the category in SaaS Ops, and is now helping empower the next generation of CEO's with Not Another CEO Tom Buiocchi aka the king of facilities mgmt (sorry tom, I know you'll hate this ;) is advising a stable of first, second and third time entrepreneurs with generosity, kindness care and openly sharing his playbook that drove a $1.2B outcome. Swapping life, family, AI and talent tips with three of the best in the PE game from L Catterton, Jillian Gilloran & Jeff Weiser & Ginna Doyle from Alpine Investors Chopping up the future of talent with Jack Mahoney from Indeed. And of course, getting to see so many hunt clubbers in person and in the wild Matt, David, Nathan, Dave, Allen, Thomas, Stephen, Brian. Until next time NYC. You have me inspired.
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Nick Cromydas posted thisA few weeks ago I posted about the leap from functional leader to first time C Suite executive. The response was bigger than I expected and a lot of people asked for a framework to evaluate it. The team at Hunt Club pulled together a simple scorecard to help both hiring managers and candidates think through the decision more clearly. Link in comments.
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Nick Cromydas posted thisFew thousand searches into the talent game. Executive search is a high trust, high velocity game. Most failures are self-inflicted. If you're engaging a recruiter / search firm / consultant, follow these playbooks: 1. Don't do contingent search for anything below Director. If you don't trust a partner to do an exclusive search, find a new partner or time-box exclusivity with one partner. A candidate getting hit by multiple firms is the conversion "Kiss of death". It's to ask for a portion of the fee at success from time to time (especially on the first engagement together). 2. Ask your exec search partner to present 1-2 "Out of the box" archetypes for candidate pools before signing them up. If the market dries up, you need someone who can match skills to roles and push you to think differently. 3. Add one week to the process & let your search partner meet other execs, board, etc. This can cut 30-60 days off the backend by wrangling misalignment. 4. Please ask the question "Who's doing the work and what % of the work i.e. A) Research work B) Outreach Work C) Screening / Assessing Candidates D) Joining Status Calls E) Closing and Selling Candidates If exec, you're paying for a partner doing at LEAST 50% of the work. Otherwise you're a transaction to them. 5. Meet your search partner in person. You talent partner can learn more about culture and matching behaviors in a 15 minute in-person than 15 hours of zoom. 6. Be direct, open and honest on if compensation ranges are "Hard" or open. Everyone has a budget. 7. Set a process during the kickoff. Design who's at the table, and what role they have in the process; A) Who's on the panel B) Is the person on the hiring panel a "Consultant" or "Consensus" player i.e. are we seeking feedback but will still make the call OR this person has to be a "Greenlight". 8. If you're 150 days into a process and the feedback is "The market isn't responding", and you don't have traction or new ideas on where to find talent... fire that firm and find a new partner. 9. Commit to 24 hour turnarounds on feedback - momentum creates outcomes, time kills all deals. 10. Trust > Perfect. This is a high trust job. Hire people to do it who will go to the end of the earth for you, not just transact. Not the person your board trusts and referred to you, and is pressuring you to use, the person you trust to get the job done. This post was not written by AI ;)
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Nick Cromydas posted thisFirst time CXO? Some food for though as you explore the market... 1. Partner with a CEO who understands where you're coming from in your last gig - If you're coming from a BigCo into a smaller environment, work for someone who understands that. Vice versa. Operating modality / style & speed matching sink more first time executives than anything else. 2. Start Narrow / Expand Your Remit after You Nail it - Running a business is not the same as running a function. Board meetings, ELT dynamics, cross functional fires. That is the job now. Nail your lane first, then grab more. 3. Your first team is now your leadership team, not your directs - This does not mean you stop caring about your functional org. It means you prioritize the business. Your ELT peers are your primary team. If you cannot operate as a business leader first and a functional leader second, you won't make it. 4. Don't sleep on the importance of comm styles - If there are real friction points in how you communicate during interviews, pay attention. Misalignment compounds into big issues. Big issues will end with you finding your next CXO job soon after. 5. Talk to a customer of the company you're joining, BEFORE you join. Or three. Please. Pretty please. You can learn more about a company in 30 minutes here than 15 hours of interviewing.
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Nick Cromydas reposted thisNick Cromydas reposted this👀 You haven’t seen a playbook like this before. Complete with real-world commentary from the field, get a peek inside what PE firms are really looking for in leadership. This guide is built for mid-market private equity firms and their portfolio leaders. Inside, we: - Outline what institutional-grade leadership actually looks like - Share a practical executive scorecard tied to value creation - Offer a clear way to spot gaps before they impact performance Drawing on our executive placements and recent conversations with PE sponsors across our network, this is a perspective you won’t want to miss. Get your guide: https://lnkd.in/gQ5jeAXf #PrivateEquity #Leadership #PE #ExecutiveSearch
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Nick Cromydas liked thisNick Cromydas liked thisEveryone in hospitality in talking about AI. We’re building it for the people who are already moving when most systems are still catching up. At Snapfix, AI isn’t a feature you demo in a boardroom, it’s something that quietly removes friction from the real work of hospitality. Our CEO, Brett Robbins put it best: AI only matters when it removes a specific barrier that stops hotel teams doing their best work. From instant AI task creation to intelligent housekeeping schedules that adapt in real time, we’re focused on one thing: making work flow better for the teams on the ground. That means: • Guest requests turning directly into actionable tasks with zero human input • Housekeeping schedules that dynamically prioritise what matters most • IoT + BMS integrations that surface issues before they become problems • Turning guest feedback into real, trackable tasks for your team Snapfix AI is built for corridors, not boardrooms. Whether it’s a request for fresh towels in Room 104 or an alert flagging a TV issue in Room 214, Snapfix AI will make sure the right person sees it, at the right time, with zero noise in between. Every feature clears the noise, so your team can spend more time on the moments guests remember. AI that works for your team. Not instead of them.
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Nick Cromydas liked thisPlanFit matches. PlanGPT explains. Together, the most sophisticated AI-enabled decision support infrastructure in Medicare. Powered by GoHealth.Nick Cromydas liked thisPowered by GoHealth: Proprietary AI, Designed for Medicare Choosing a Medicare plan isn't a transaction. It's a high-stakes decision that impacts someone's health, finances, and long-term outcomes. At GoHealth, we believe the technology guiding that decision should be as sophisticated, accountable, and compliant as the system it supports. That's why we've built our Guided Sales Platform entirely in-house — purpose-built for the complexity, nuance, and regulatory rigor of Medicare Advantage. At the core are PlanFit and PlanGPT, two proprietary AI systems working together to deliver objective, clear guidance at scale. PlanFit: Backed by analytics from nearly 30M consumer touchpoints and CMS data, PlanFit applies machine learning to match beneficiaries with plans based on their health profile, providers, prescriptions, and priorities. With 3M+ plan evaluations generated, it gives licensed agents transparent, objective recommendations they can clearly explain — driving measurably better long-term retention. PlanGPT: Custom-built on a large language model, PlanGPT goes deeper — translating dense, regulated plan documents into clear, compliant, personalized answers in real time. It helps agents navigate tradeoffs, surface nuanced coverage and eligibility criteria, and anchor every recommendation in auditable plan data. The result: enrollment support that strengthens trust, adheres to compliance, and delivers peace of mind in one of healthcare's most complex and regulated environments. This is what modern Medicare sales should look like: purpose-built, aligned with CMS priorities, and relentlessly centered on the beneficiary. #PoweredByGoHealth #AIFirst #ModernMedicare #MedicareAdvantage
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Nick Cromydas liked thisNick Cromydas liked thisOur marketing team is growing. This time, in Singapore 🇸🇬! We're looking for a Director of Marketing, APAC who can own full-funnel marketing strategy across our growing Asia-Pacific portfolio, driving occupancy, and brand awareness in equal measure, while also being the kind of hands-on operator who knows what it takes to launch and grow physical locations in complex markets. If you're a performance-driven marketer who also loves building brands from the ground up, we'd love to hear from you.
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Nick Cromydas liked thisNick Cromydas liked thisBest industry event of the year! LET'S GO! ⛳ Darren Herman, Richy Glassberg, Matt Tepper, Pete Deutschman, Eric Danetz, Cammy Keiler, Nick Cromydas
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Nick Cromydas liked thisNick Cromydas liked thisEvery year, Camp Hungryroot reminds me how special this company really is. This week, our corporate and fulfillment center leadership teams came together in Atlanta for our fifth annual Camp. This year’s theme was “Making Waves” — a reminder that meaningful impact comes from momentum, collaboration, and a willingness to keep pushing forward. One of the highlights was having several of our supplier partners join us. Building a great food company takes all of us working together, and it was inspiring to reflect, reconnect, and align on what’s ahead. Here’s a look at our intro video 🌊🎥
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Nick Cromydas liked thisNick Cromydas liked thisHey Chicago 👋 We’re looking for a technical project manager to join our team. It’s a customer facing role that will consult, design, and manage the deployment of AI systems for web-to-lead and quoting for B2Bs. Yes! The high value kind. If this sound like you, or someone you know, please apply, share, or reach out for more info!
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Vanderbilt University
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Activities and Societies: 4 Year Men's Varsity Tennis Letterman, 2 Time Team Captain, Student Athlete Advisory Committee
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Sean Smith
Search Fund Ventures • 8K followers
I spoke with Christien Louviere of BDE Capital about his journey from a $330mm exit to becoming an independent sponsor. Christien shared excellent insights for folks looking to partner with business owners, rather than buy sellers out completely. Below are a few of the topics we covered: - Why he moved from “zero-to-one” startups to a buy-then-build strategy - How Christien's background shaped a focus on growth vs. cost-cutting - Why 20–40% rolled equity is central to his deal structures—and how it builds trust with sellers - Using scenario analysis with AI tools to evaluate management teams and uncover hidden key-person risks - How to identify when a $3–5M EBITDA company truly has a middle management layer—or is still founder-reliant For anyone investing in or buying small businesses, Christien’s approach provides a fresh lens on growth, alignment, and deal structuring. 🎥 Watch the full interview here → https://lnkd.in/ekfkaiej 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e86Agx6V
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Kal Amin
7K followers
I’m thrilled to officially announce our $3M seed investment in Propel People, a company we built inside the 1848 Ventures studio to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the #construction industry today: the skilled #labor shortage. For small and medium-sized contractors, hiring isn't just a challenge. It's the number one threat to their growth, profitability, and safety. With 94% of contractors struggling to find qualified workers, it’s clear that traditional hiring methods aren't built for the trades. That’s why we built Propel People. It’s a mobile-first, AI-powered hiring platform designed for how construction actually works: in the field. By leveraging smart candidate ranking, instant #SMS-based screening, and a fully #bilingual interface, Propel helps contractors build great crews faster and more efficiently. I’m also thrilled to formally announce that industry veteran Dexter Bachelder is at the helm as CEO. Having worked with Dexter and the team over the last few months, we've already seen the impact of his leadership. His 25 years of experience scaling construction tech companies will be instrumental as Propel People enters this initial stage of growth. This investment reinforces our core thesis at 1848 Ventures: building AI-native companies that solve fundamental pain points for the #SMBs that form the backbone of our economy. A huge congratulations to Dexter and the entire Propel People team on this milestone. We are incredibly proud to partner with you to support the people who build our world. Read the full announcement below. #constructiontech #venturecapital #seedfunding #ai #skilledtrades #smb
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Madelyn Rutter
TechNexus Venture… • 3K followers
If you’re a founder building a company in complex or industrial markets, the most aligned CVCs are often the legacy, industry-rooted ones (many of them based right here in the Midwest). These are groups that want to pilot, deploy, and actually change how the business operates. When a corporation leverages their venture program designing it for real integration and applied learning, everything moves faster...for everyone involved. Read the full article on StartMidwest: https://lnkd.in/g8qWkUNN
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Anjli Jain
ElevenX Capital • 35K followers
Closing the Deal: Lessons from Mill and Matt Rogers Mill's partnership with Amazon and Whole Foods exemplifies the strategic alignment essential for a startup's success in today's competitive landscape. Matt Rogers emphasizes the importance of understanding your partners’ values and aligning your mission with theirs. At ElevenX Capital, we recognize that strategic partnerships can amplify growth and innovation. How do you evaluate potential partnerships to maximize value in your portfolio? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship
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Greg Clark
Beckett Industries • 4K followers
Rides2U, one of Beckett Industries' portfolio companies, continues to scale with the launch of its product and service at the University of Michigan. Another step in its strategic rollout across college towns nationwide. Built for safe, reliable, reservation-based transportation, Rides2U focuses on community trust and predictability, not random availability. Each ride is pre-scheduled, every driver vetted, and the experience designed for peace of mind — especially for students, parents, and campus communities. In a category driven by speed, Rides2U is winning on safety, reliability, and community connection, becoming the trusted mobility platform for markets the big players often overlook. #ridesafe #rideshare #annarbor University of Michigan University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business
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John Neis
Clarevia Ventures • 3K followers
At Venture Investors Health Fund we have experienced the impact that funds of funds (FoF) can have on capital availability. Our first experience was with the Venture Michigan Funds, two state sponsored funds of $95M and $120M. That’s big enough to make a large enough commitment to justify opening an office in the state (at least $15M). The idea was to attract experienced firms from out of state and their syndication networks. The commitment couldn’t be more than 25% of a fund and the funds had to invest at least that amount in Michigan. It worked. They stopped collecting data in 2018, but by that time, the funds had invested $264M in 56 Michigan companies. Through syndication, total invested was $1.71B (6.45x). VMF 1 returned 1x by 2018, and VMF 2 was 3x. Annual economic impact had grown to $303M. That data was before HistoSonics, Inc. got FDA approval triggering its meteoric rise. The company may have never gotten off the ground without VMF. Series A had 5 funds, 4 from Michigan, 3 of which opened a MI office because of VMF. Badger Fund is also State funded, but the first fund was only $25M, so they pursued a different strategy of helping launch first time funds, resulting in new funds across the state. We need that too, and it has impacted the number of funds and companies able to get VC backing. NVNG Investment Advisors, LLC is a private effort targeting corporate investors. We need more participants in the asset class, but small institutions and companies can’t always make the scale of investment to get diversification or hire the in house expertise for fund selection. A FoF like NVNG provides that. All different, all playing important roles. To be an Exempt Reporting Advisor, 80% of investments need to be directly into companies, precluding FoFs. The DEAL Act would lower the threshold to 50%, so a FoF that did 50% direct co-invest could qualify, lowering the barrier to formation. Ask Congress to make that happen.
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Sundeep Peechu
7K followers
AI for CFOs and operations teams that can illuminate the business equation and optimize it. AI for health systems that helps them with everything from claims to better care. The next wave of multi-billion-dollar companies will be built around ideas like these. That’s why Felicis just published our first-ever Call for Startups. We’re eager to meet founders who see what others miss. These are the areas capturing my imagination. Whether you fit here or you're inventing something new, I'd love to hear from you.
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Jeffrey Seah
MSW Ventures • 7K followers
🥾 #bootstrapping as a mindset should be ephemeral, one that requires a deliberate transition away from as a business enters sustained growth Appointing an established auditor is often regarded as a luxury and not part of bootstrapping Audits discipline a business - to be methodical, thorough and deliberate - traits that acquirers often seek in due diligence After all, "What gets inspected, gets respected," Anon We will share the traits of venture businesses sought and respected by MNC acquirers, join us if your business is out of the #bootstrapping mindset #fulfillingpotential #hepmil #oobmil
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Aaron Berkey
Okeanos • 4K followers
Function Health announces their $298M Series B, to help us all live healthier, happier and longer. “It is not good enough to be in a world where AI exists and not be applying it to your health,” Jonathan Swerdlin, CEO and co-founder of Function, told TechCrunch. You should be able to manage your biology. The objective of Function Health is to apply the best available technology to human health.” https://lnkd.in/esCkcFsn Okeanos 🚀🚀
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Salesfully.com
2K followers
Startups don’t need VC to grow. Revenue-based financing doubled from $1.8B in 2021 to over $3.8B in 2024 and average deals are ~$350k with a 6% cap. Funding mix in 2025: VC 52%, crowdfunding 14%, RBF 11%, angels 10%, partnerships 7%, grants 6%. 1,500 companies raised $700M via crowdfunding in 2023. Explore smarter funding options: https://lnkd.in/ebTeA_MX #StartupFunding #AlternativeFinance
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