J Schwan

Join us in a few weeks for CheckIN. I’ll be delivering our State of VC, where we’ll go deep on the Great Tilt thesis and what it means for venture in 2026. We’ll also be releasing our full State of Venture 2026 report alongside the event. It takes a hard look at what’s happening under the hood with AI and how it’s reshaping capital formation, company building, and risk appetite across the ecosystem. If you’re building, investing, or allocating capital, you'll want to understand this thesis. Hope to see you there!

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DeveloperTown Acquires Boundless LLC to Accelerate Growth in AI, Automation, and Rapid Prototyping Indianapolis, IN — January 27, 2026 — DeveloperTown LLC (developertown.com), a leader in digital innovation and software development, today announced its acquisition of Boundless LLC (buildboundless.com), an Indianapolis-based software development firm known for technical excellence and fast, scalable product delivery. The acquisition represents a strategic step in DeveloperTown’s continued investment in next‑generation solutions. With Boundless’s expertise, DeveloperTown will expand its initiatives around artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and rapid prototyping, enabling organizations to accelerate innovation and bring digital products to market more efficiently and effectively. “We’re incredibly excited to welcome Boundless into the DeveloperTown family,” said Michael Kelly, CEO at DeveloperTown. “Boundless’s technical strength and agile mindset will help us push the boundaries of what’s possible, particularly in how we help clients apply AI and automation to transform their businesses.” As part of the acquisition, Boundless co-founders Jason Ward and Caleb Francis will join the DeveloperTown leadership team. In their new roles, they will help define and lead strategic initiatives across AI, automation, and product innovation, ensuring that both teams are aligned around a shared vision for accelerating client success. “This merger is a natural fit,” said Jason Ward, Co-Founder of Boundless. “DeveloperTown’s storied history and strong partnerships create a stable base for our focus on agility and innovation.” Caleb Francis, Co-Founder of Boundless, added: “Together we can create better products and services for our partners and the people they serve.” The combined organization will continue to operate under the DeveloperTown brand, with integration efforts planned throughout Q1 of 2026. Clients can look forward to enhanced technical capabilities, expanded service offerings, and a steadfast commitment to helping businesses innovate with confidence. For more information, visit www.developertown.com. Media Contact:  Jason Ward  Partner, VP of Product Services  DeveloperTown LLC  jward@buildboundless.com  (317) 201-0838 

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We are not a traditional accelerator. We are not a sales agency. We are a performance venture fund. It's an unfair advantage.

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I’m excited to share that BCforward has made a $1 million strategic investment in Stellar a fast-growing AI consulting firm based right here in Indianapolis. As BCforward continues to evolve, this investment reflects a deliberate move to embed advanced AI capabilities including generative AI and machine learning into our consulting and delivery model. We’re not just talking about AI, we’re building with it, integrating it, and delivering value to our clients through it. Stellar brings a bold vision and deep technical expertise. Together, we will co-develop AI-driven solutions that elevate how we serve enterprise clients across financial services, healthcare, life sciences, and beyond. This is more than an investment, it’s a partnership that strengthens BCforward’s commitment to innovation, local tech ecosystems, and future-focused growth. And it’s just one of several strategic moves we’re making as we expand our digital transformation capabilities globally. #AI #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #StrategicGrowth #BCforward #Leadership #IndianapolisTech #StellarAI #FutureOfWork

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Excited to share this important milestone for Riveron and Kohlberg !! Our partnership with Cuesta Partners represents a bold step forward in reimagining the Office of the CFO. By combining Riveron’s deep financial and operational expertise with Cuesta’s AI-native data and technology capabilities, we will just not enhance processes, we will be helping finance and technology leaders fundamentally transform how value is created across the enterprise. The future of the CFO and CIO organization will be intelligent, integrated, and insight-driven. This partnership accelerates that future. Proud of both teams and looking forward to what we’ll build together. #AIForward #Riveron #AI

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3 Minute Playbook: Actionable Insights in Milwaukee WI - Rental & Construction Equipment Customers Milwaukee, the 36th largest market for construction spending, is projected to see $12.98 billion in construction investment by 2030. Yet, in 2025, big-brand dealers and rental companies struggle with siloed, unreliable data that cripples their revenue potential by not allowing them to 'complete the picture' on customer potential. BiltData.ai's predictive opportunity intelligence platform changes the game, layering critical intel at a salesperson’s fingertips to answer: who rents & owns what equipment, and what’s my share of their fleet? This precision drives 5x efficiency and doubles profitability in just one year. Picture a salesforce unburdened by endless spreadsheets or misfired leads. Accessible in three clicks, easily distill millions of records into a clear, actionable map of your business landscape. By transforming customer and prospect data with our complete-the-picture approach, we deliver not just insights but a competitive weapon. Focus on the vital few, cut through the noise, and make your next quarter your best yet...in 3 clicks.

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"Creating a space for Detroit's Continuous Improvement community to grow is just what the city needs." - Donald J. Watza There are several hundred CI pros in the Detroit area. All have similar challenges. Very few actually know each other. Connecting the nodes not only benefits the practitioners in terms of best practices, opportunities, and networking, it also benefits the companies they serve. Don and I discuss this topic and more during a recent conversation on CI Coaching. Check out the full episode in the link in the comments. #continuousimprovement #leanmanagement #operationalexcellence #cicommunity #impruveruniversity

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Since our inception as DHX Software over a decade ago, we've prided ourselves as being a software firm that speaks to executives about their businesses and then turns that into valuable software products--mostly custom backend systems including ERPs, CRMs, customer portals, and reporting/analytics systems. The thought has always been that our customers--CEOs, CFOs, Sales VPs, etc.--don't want to talk about technology, they want to talk about processes, constraints, concerns and most importantly they want to talk about the result they are trying to create. Then, they want us to go away and manage the technology for them. I've been thinking that with with the recent emergence of development tools such as Replit and Cursor that leverage AI, we need to double down on that business-first focus. Not only do we need to work with our customers to understand and enable their current business, we need to help them understand and enable where they could be going. In other words, we need to focus as much on the corner office as we do on the back office.

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