Bob Solomon
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
5K followers
500+ connections
About
I help enterprise (B2B) software companies and their venture/PE owners build valuable…
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5K followers
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Bob Solomon shared thisGreat stuff from Steve Keifer.12 AI Technologies to Supercharge Your Outbound GTM12 AI Technologies to Supercharge Your Outbound GTM
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Bob Solomon reposted thisBob Solomon reposted thisVertical AI is coming for commerce, and its a multi-$T dollar opportunity. We call them Dark Marketplaces, and there's one key to the kingdom. When AI enables transactions to occur autonomously, the need for UI or even for human intervention, disappears... the Marketplaces goes Dark. In our new essay this week, Omar El-Ayat and I discuss why the key to this holy grail is *judgment abstraction*... using new wedge products + modalities of AI to learn how humans make trusted purchase decisions. It's not a function of model quality — it's a function of per-vertical, per-company, per-user data. What informs purchase satisfaction, consciously or not? How to do you get the data (integrations, voice, vision, direct input, etc.)? It's a fundamentally hard problem, and LLM agents aren't enough. In this essay, we introduce 2 frameworks to understand Dark Marketplaces: 1) The Four Stages of Judgment Abstraction. Mapping the journey from decision support to Dark Marketplace. Each a deeper level of abstraction & trust. No company operates at Stage 4 yet. 2) The Engagement × Proximity Matrix. → how much behavioral signal a product captures (engagement) → how close it sits to the actual transaction (proximity) We also cover: → Why Dark Marketplaces emerge in B2B first → The ~40 companies closest to the threshold today → Five principles for founders building toward Dark Marketplaces More in this week's essay at The Verticalist: https://lnkd.in/dX4nKbMa
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Bob Solomon reposted thisBob Solomon reposted thisThe next era of Lytica begins today - check out our latest press release. I'd call it a product launch but that doesn't do it justice. This is game changing for #procurement leaders and their teams. Anyone buying electronic components - particularly those buying $50M or more - now has a guide to not just defend against price increases, but to see clearly across their supply chain and know exactly what to do each step along the way in their negotiation process. Does defense against supplier price increases matter to you? Does de-risking supply? If these things matter to you, request a demo of Lytica's Neo today by following the link in the comments below.Lytica’s Neo AI Negotiation Agent for Electronics ProcurementLytica’s Neo AI Negotiation Agent for Electronics Procurement
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Bob Solomon reposted thisBob Solomon reposted thisBob Solomon Solomon and Michael Marcus just made the case that you can read a vertical's financial shape and predict where its software roadmap goes next. 👀 Their new analysis pairs Powerlytics data on 33 million US businesses with census data to show what each top SMB vertical can actually support beyond the wedge. Restaurants point to payments. Lawyers' offices to the front office. Residential remodelers to supplier and inventory workflows. Mechanical contractors to procurement, lending and collections. The value is the method. Better data, sharper calls on where workflow ownership deepens into durable product-market fit. Swipe for the breakdown and see the full analysis linked in the comments.
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Bob Solomon reposted thisBob Solomon reposted thisThe US government's Economic Census covers every industry in the country. Revenue, company count, concentration — all of it, updated every five years. Bob Solomon has been running VSaaS market selection analysis on that data for years. His latest work compares the 2017 and 2022 censuses to answer a sharper question: which markets grew the fastest and became more fragmented at the same time? That combination — growth plus fragmentation — is the signal. It means a market is expanding but no single player has locked it up. New entrants can still win. The median revenue CAGR across all 820 industries between 2017 and 2022 was 5.19%. The markets in the upper right of Bob's chart ran well above that while also fragmenting — solar power generation, mobile food services, and multifamily housing construction among them. The data tells you where things have been. The judgment call is where they're going. Bob's full analysis, including the specific industries in each quadrant, is available for founders and operators here: ordnl.link/Www1Ajp New data from Bob is coming soon — follow along so you don't miss it.
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Bob Solomon shared thisGo Kimia Hamidi and NationGraph!Bob Solomon shared thisToday I'm thrilled to announce that NationGraph has raised $18M USD in our Series A led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Perplexity's Fund, XYZ Venture Capital, Reach Capital, and angel investors who have built iconic companies. Selling into government is uniquely complex. Over 110,000 institutions, each with its own portals, formats, and funding cycles. The buying signals are buried in meeting minutes, budgets, purchase orders, and RFPs most people will never find. Companies miss the moment. Agencies default to known vendors, not the best ones. We saw the disconnect and to solve this, we’re building the intelligence layer to make public sector markets visible and accessible. This round of funding enhances our ability to serve the teams that serve the public sector. We're incredibly excited to support our current customers and continue to help them excel. I’m also incredibly excited to have Croom join our board. We're grateful to have you as our partner on this next part of the journey. Thank you to Ross Fubini and JeanClaude Dorsainvil at XYZ, Esteban, Enzo, and Wayee at Reach, Francisca, Joanna, and Kelly from the Perplexity Fund Team, Diede, at GG1, and every angel investor who continues to drive our mission forward. Nothing gives me more confidence than the work this team puts in every day. To our incredible team, thank you for all the effort you have put in to building something special. Eden, Matt, Mae, Mitchell, Luis, Justin, Woo, Steph, François-Xavier, Josh, Alexander, Adam, Jason, Victor, Tanjum, Luke, Efim, Christian, Imran. We share our in-depth vision of the future in our announcement post linked below. 👇
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Bob Solomon reposted thisBob Solomon reposted thisFraud in production payments is happening every day. Email-based approvals are the weakest link. 🎙️ In this interview, Eved CEO Talia Mashiach sits down with Bob Solomon to unpack where fraud risk really lives, why traditional workflows fall short, and what companies must change now to protect budgets, vendors, and teams. ▶️ Watch the full conversation on youtube! https://lnkd.in/ekP2j_KQ #ProductionFinance #FraudPrevention #EntertainmentFinance #APSecurity #Eved
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Bob Solomon shared thisB2B marketplaces differ significantly from their B2C and C2C counterparts. Let's analyze their take rates separately.https://bit.ly/3ZaeIbT #B2B #Marketplaces #takerates
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Bob Solomon shared thisB2B marketplaces differ significantly from their B2C and C2C counterparts. Let's analyze their take rates separately. https://bit.ly/4ryuyJv #B2B #marketplaces #takerates
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Bob Solomon liked thisBob Solomon liked thisOne of the spaces being disrupted the fastest by AI is outbound GTM. If you aren't following this space, you should be. There is a ton of innovation from companies like Clay, Exa, Landbase, Instantly, and Smartlead, who are building tools to scale outbound ABM at a scale never before imagined. There is so much going on that it makes my brain hurt at times just trying to keep up with all the new players and capabilities. In this latest edition of my Growth Trajectory newsletter, I summarize how it all fits together and the 12 technologies you should be considering to add to your outbound GTM stack.12 AI Technologies to Supercharge Your Outbound GTM12 AI Technologies to Supercharge Your Outbound GTM
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Bob Solomon liked thisBob Solomon liked thisConstruct Capital is co-hosting Athletes & Industrials with Nexxa.ai at #BOSTechWeek on May 26. The best industrial companies don't just run operations, they optimize like athletes. A curated evening for the founders and operators reshaping the future of industrial AI. RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gGtfrBVp
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Bob Solomon liked thisBob Solomon liked thisMy first time attending the American Spice Trade Association annual meeting, and it certainly won’t be my last! Grateful for the warm welcome and the new connections! #ASTA
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Bob Solomon liked thisBob Solomon liked thisI will be speaking at the Avetta Summit in Chicago this May. I look forward to connecting with everyone. Join us from May 19–21: https://lnkd.in/ewd5QChD #AvettaSummit2026
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Bob Solomon liked thisBob Solomon liked thisTed Turner, 1938–2026 Ted Turner died Wednesday at 87, surrounded by his family. For me, that name carries a specific weight; not just the man, but a city he willed into existence and a period of time when Atlanta felt like the center of the world. I moved here in 1993, in part because of a brief encounter with Turner during an internship I had with President Carter, with the Olympics only three years out and the whole place vibrating. Ted Turner was at his apex. He had been named Time’s Man of the Year in 1991, on the back of CNN’s Gulf War coverage, the first war the world watched live, in color, from a hotel balcony in Baghdad. He had just married Jane Fonda. The Braves were in the middle of their dynasty run, beamed into every American living room on TBS as “America’s Team” because he said they were and nobody could argue otherwise. Cartoon Network had just launched. He had already acquired the MGM film library. He would soon add New Line and Castle Rock. He was one of the largest private landowners in America. He was peak Captain Outrageous when I met him. And he was Atlanta. Atlanta was him. Coke gave the city its money, Delta gave it its hub, MLK gave it its conscience, but Turner gave it its swagger. CNN Center sat downtown like a flag planted. The 1996 Olympics bid had been won in 1990 on the premise that Atlanta was a global city, and the only reason the world believed that premise was that Turner had spent a decade making it true on cable. Maynard Jackson was finishing his third term, the official “bird” of Atlanta was the “construction crane,” and the entire city had Turner’s personality: brash, ambitious, slightly absurd, and absolutely convinced it belonged at the global table. Carter and Turner were the two Georgians who proved you could run global institutions out of Atlanta. One built a peace center, the other built a news network, and they understood each other in ways that were obvious to anyone who was fortunate to see them in a room together. Turner’s billion-dollar UN pledge in 1997 wasn’t out of character; it was Carter-coded ambition. A brief encounter and handshake from him in that environment did something to a young person. It told you that the future was being built somewhere specific, by specific people, and that you could go stand near it. That’s why I moved here. He bet the company more times than anyone should and won most of those bets. He lost the last big one in the AOL–Time Warner deal, which is the part of every Promethean life nobody wants to dwell on but also the part you can’t ignore. All the great visionaries share an affinity for risk-taking. Turner also had self-awareness: “If only I had a little humility, I’d be perfect.” That line is funny because it’s true, and true because he meant it. Captain Outrageous. Mouth of the South. He bet on Atlanta when betting on Atlanta wasn’t the obvious trade, and a generation of us followed him here and called it home. May his memory be a blessing.
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Bob Solomon liked thisBob Solomon liked thisThe Introduction to Sustainable and Impact Investing course at the Harris School of Public Policy stood out as one of my favourite class. Noelle Laing, CFA and John Oxtoby brought something that's hard to manufacture in a classroom, real industry perspective, candor about the complexities of the field, and a genuine investment in student learning. What made the course valuable wasn't just the curriculum. It was the honest engagement with how ESG and impact considerations actually function inside investment firms, where the theory meets budget pressures, fiduciary obligations, and the very real tension between financial returns and long-term social outcomes. Those nuances maybe sometimes in textbooks, and having instructors willing to go there made the discussions genuinely substantive. A highlight outside the classroom John Oxtoby opened his home to the cohort last weekend for the class BBQ, a gesture that reflects the kind of teaching that extends well beyond course hours. On a lighter note, one of the most memorable parts of the class may have been the rotating selection of cookies we got to try throughout the quarter, each week seemed to feature a new bakery from somewhere across Chicago that was bought in by the professors. Safe to say the bar for classroom snacks has now been set very high. It was a pleasure of reconnecting with John W. Rogers, Jr., Ammar Rizki, Megan Murday, who had previously attended the class as guest speakers and shared reflections on impacting with intention. Thank you to Amy Muska O'Brien, John Goldstein, Jake Barnett, Liqian Ma, Daniel F. C. Crowley and Nishit Shukla who gave us practical insights on how theory connects to their work life. Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago has handed me a lot of valuable experiences and this has been one of them. Grateful for the people, the perspectives, and the push to think bigger about what investing can actually do. Carrying this one forward.
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Education
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Volunteer Experience
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Staff to Chairman
President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
- 2 years 3 months
Economic Empowerment
Supported John Rogers, Chairman of President Obama's Advisory Council on Financial Capability. Federal task force attempting to improve Americans' knowledge of personal financial concepts.
Publications
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The Nine Value Propositions of B2B Cloud Platforms
Self
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Sourcing for Facilities: The Seven Step Process
PRSM National Conference
Review of how to apply a classic Seven Step Sourcing Process to Facilities Management Spend. Presented with Paul Walsh, formerly of Gap, Inc.
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Languages
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French
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Plaid's recent $8 billion valuation through employee share sales signals a notable 31% increase from last year, reflecting a growing trend in fintech around using share liquidity as a strategic tool. This practice isn’t just about numbers—it plays a crucial role in employee retention and tax optimization, helping companies stay competitive in attracting and retaining top talent. While Plaid’s current valuation remains below its 2021 peak, this strategic move highlights how private firms are evolving their capital and talent management approaches. Key insights: 1. Employee share sales provide financial flexibility and motivation for employees. 2. Share liquidity strategies can influence company valuations and investor perceptions. 3. This trend may shape how fintech companies structure growth and retention plans going forward. How do you see employee share liquidity impacting fintech innovation and talent management in the next few years? #artificialintelligence #businessautomation #productivity
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Chassi
Finance and GTM teams often operate in silos. This division costs portfolio companies and PE sponsors millions in recoverable leakage and slows value creation. At the PEI Operating Partners Forum 2025, top PE operators shared with Ryan Richards how they bridge this gap. They revealed that misalignment appears quickly in forecasts and slows cash conversion. One operator noted, "The revenue was there. The cash wasn’t." This disconnect frequently occurs between the deal's close and the cash receipt. Read the full article to understand how operators achieve this alignment and drive compounding value: https://lnkd.in/gXr3kCMd #PrivateEquity #ValueCreation #Finance #GTM #OperatingPartners
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