Robert F. Smith on AI and SaaS: Transform or Perish

🚀 @Gamma Raises $68 M Series B, Hits $2.1 B Valuation with $100 M + ARR Gamma, the AI-powered presentation platform often billed as the “anti-PowerPoint,” has secured a $68 million Series B round at a $2.1 billion valuation, backed by leading investors including Andreessen Horowitz. The company reports surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenue and scaling rapidly in the enterprise content-creation space. 📌 Why this matters ~Gamma’s strong metrics (70 million users, 600K+ paying customers, $100 M ARR) show that AI-first content tools can transition from novel to mainstream. ~The startup is reshaping how businesses create presentations, websites, social media posts—automating design, layout and brand consistency in minutes. StartupHub.ai ~The round underlines investor confidence that content-creation infrastructure, not just front-end apps, is becoming mission-critical in the AI era. 🛠 How Alacrity EXTN LLP Can Help ✅ Deal Structuring & Capital Advisory – Supporting startups in pricing, equity, dilution and control when valuations accelerate. ✅ Valuation & Growth Modelling – Building models that reflect high-velocity SaaS businesses with network effects, creator platforms and strong monetisation. ✅ Strategic Growth & Exit Planning – Crafting path-to-scale strategies, strategic partnerships and exit readiness for founders in creator-economy and content-tech spaces. Takeaway: Gamma’s leap is a signal: as enterprise workflows evolve, the tools that simplify creation, scale brand-compliant content and embed AI into everyday tasks will lead. If you’re building in the creator-platform or content-tech infrastructure space, now is the moment to get structured for scale. #AI #ContentTech #CreatorEconomy #SaaS #StartupFunding #SeriesB #Valuation #StrategicAdvisory #AlacrityEXTN

Last week, I had some phenomenal conversations. I talked with fund managers, enterprise software CEOs, lots of startup founders, and had some meaningful LinkedIn/email conversations with a handful of executives. Here's what I learned: • Sometimes it's as easy as bringing an existing technology or idea to a new market • If you like an idea and believe there's a market for it, copy it and make it better • For company-wide adoption, it's much easier to sell software top down than bottom up • AI has made the cost of development so much lower that industries that were too small to be serviced in the Saas era are now getting access to tailored, unique solutions in the AI era • Asking "Do you face similar issues as Company X?" opens more doors than "What problems do you have?" • It's all about the unique experiences and skills you bring to the table • The solution is not AI; it's a well-thought-out solution to the problem that may be a quicker or better solution through the use of AI We've got a good 6 or 7 pains that companies need solved, ranging from mosquito bite pains to shark bite pains. I'm looking to get a good, solid 10 shark bite pains before locking in on presales for an idea. If you've got an idea you think needs to be built, shoot me a message. (Throwback to a Sandbox build night with Nathan—nearly 2 years ago now)

The fundraising game has fundamentally changed. The old rules? They're largely obsolete. Jason Lemkin of SaaStr.com recently highlighted a critical shift in the VC landscape for 2025, noting how dramatically the rules have transformed in the last 18 months. 👉 **Founders who aren't adapting are getting left behind.** Traditional pitch decks and infrequent meetings are no longer enough to capture investor attention in an AI-powered world. Investors expect efficiency, real-time data, and the ability to engage on their terms, 24/7. While some founders are still perfecting slide decks for one-off meetings, others are leveraging AI to automate their initial investor screening and scaling their presence around the clock. Imagine engaging with potential investors without needing to be physically present, offering them an interactive, always-on conversation powered by your website content. This isn't about replacing human connection; it's about *optimizing* it. By automating the preliminary screening process with AI-trained pitches, founders can: → Scale their reach exponentially. → Pre-qualify investors before allocating precious time. → Engage investors globally, across all time zones. → Focus on high-value conversations, not repetitive introductions. The future of fundraising isn't just about having a great idea; it's about how efficiently and intelligently you can engage with the right investors. **What are you doing this weekend to rethink your fundraising strategy?** 💡 Ready to revolutionize your investor engagement? Turn your website into a talking AI pitch in 20 seconds. Discover true founder efficiency at talkingpitch.com #TalkingPitch #Fundraising #StartupFounders #InvestorScreening #AI #VentureCapital #StartupLife #FounderEfficiency #247Engagement #AIEra #TalkingPitch #Fundraising #StartupFounders #InvestorScreening #AI #VentureCapital #StartupLife #FounderEfficiency #247Engagement #AIEra

Founders, how many hours did you spend on your last pitch deck? Be honest. For too long, the traditional pitch deck has been a time sink, a bottleneck in the fundraising journey. Countless hours are poured into perfecting slides that investors often scan for mere minutes, rarely capturing the dynamic conversation they truly want. Good news: The future is here. According to a recent Venture Insights report (October 27, 2025), early-stage founders are rapidly embracing AI platforms to transform their websites into interactive, conversational investor pitches. This isn't just a trend; it's a revolution in efficiency and engagement. Imagine pasting your website URL and, in just 20 seconds, having a fully interactive AI pitch ready to engage investors 24/7. No more endless slide revisions. No more generic presentations. Just real, dynamic conversations that pre-qualify investors and get you to quality meetings faster. This shift frees up founders from countless hours of deck creation, allowing them to focus on what truly matters: building their business. Investors, in turn, get a richer, more interactive experience, leading to better deal flow and more informed decisions. → Stop building static decks. → Start building dynamic conversations. Ready to stop building decks and start building meaningful investor conversations? Discover how TalkingPitch turns any website into a talking pitch in 20 seconds: talkingpitch.com What's the most frustrating part of traditional pitch decks for you? Share in the comments! #TalkingPitch #Fundraising #StartupFounders #AI #PitchDeck #VentureCapital #StartupLife #InvestorScreening #URLtoPitch #ConversationalAI #TechStartups

The VC fundraising landscape has been completely reinvented in the last 18 months. Are you still using a pitch deck? According to a recent analysis by SaaStr.com (October 2025) of over 1,000 VC pitch decks, the rules of fundraising have dramatically changed, especially for B2B startups in the AI era. Founders are still spending countless hours crafting static presentations that often fail to capture investor attention in a rapidly evolving market. The traditional pitch deck, once the cornerstone of fundraising, is proving increasingly ineffective at conveying the dynamic potential of AI-driven ventures. So, what’s the solution? The future isn't in more slides; it’s in more conversations. Imagine transforming your website into an interactive AI pitch in just 20 seconds. No more endless design revisions. No more struggling to keep investors engaged. This is exactly why TalkingPitch exists. We empower founders to instantly generate a conversational AI pitch from any website URL, allowing investors to engage 24/7, ask questions, and get real-time answers. This revolutionizes how investors screen opportunities, moving beyond passive viewing to active, qualified engagement. Stop building decks. Start building dynamic conversations that get your startup funded in the new AI economy. 💡 Ready to adapt and thrive? Turn your website into an interactive investor magnet in 20 seconds. Discover the future of fundraising at: talkingpitch.com What’s the most frustrating part of building a traditional pitch deck for you? Share your thoughts below! #TalkingPitch #Fundraising #StartupFounders #InvestorScreening #AI #PitchDeck #VentureCapital #StartupLife #FundraisingTips #InvestorRelations #ConversationalAI #URLtoPitch

The era of the static pitch deck is over. If you're still spending weeks crafting a perfect deck, you're missing the seismic shift in venture capital. According to SaaStr.com's recent analysis (October 2025) of 1,000 VC pitch decks, the fundraising landscape has "completely transformed in the last 18 months." Most founders, they argue, "still don’t realize just how dramatically the rules have changed." Why? Because investors are now looking for *engagement*, not just information. They want to *talk* to your vision, not just read about it. This is where the "20-second URL-to-Pitch" revolution comes in. Imagine: → No more endless slide revisions. → No more generic templates. → No more hoping your deck gets past the first glance. Instead, you paste your website URL into TalkingPitch. In just 20 seconds, you have an interactive AI-powered pitch that investors can engage with 24/7. They can ask questions, delve into specifics, and get real-time answers – all without you having to be present. This isn't just about efficiency; it's about *effectiveness*. You're not just presenting data; you're facilitating a dynamic conversation that pre-qualifies investors and truly showcases your startup's potential. The new rule of fundraising in 2025 is simple: your website is your new pitch deck. Make it conversational. 💡 Ready to instantly transform your website into an interactive investor magnet? Discover the power of 20-second AI pitch generation at talkingpitch.com What's the biggest time-sink in your current fundraising process? Let's discuss below! #TalkingPitch #Fundraising #StartupFounders #InvestorScreening #AI #PitchDeck #VentureCapital #StartupLife #FundraisingTips #InvestorRelations #URLtoPitch #ConversationalAI

Legal AI startup Harvey just raised $150M at an $8B valuation.  Niche vertical SaaS is where the biggest winners are emerging. Here’s why you should pay attention👇 In Q2 2025, 46% of all SaaS M&A was vertical SaaS. And the bigger players are buying smaller, niche SaaS to dominate entire industries. Traditional verticals (healthcare, real estate, education, hospitality) are strong. Hyper-niche ones are stronger. Think: - Software just for dental clinics - Tools for boutique hotels - Platforms for small schools Hyper-specialization is creating tons of M&A action. Private equity firms lead this buying spree by acquiring niche SaaS, combining them, and creating valuable companies. > Thoma Bravo acquired NextGen Healthcare for $1.8B > Vista Equity Partners bought Mindbody for ~$1.9B > Bain Capital bought HealthEdge for $2.6B The winning formula is clear:  Deep industry integration + embedded finance + AI defensibility. The next decade belongs to founders who build the operating systems of industries. --- Our team at FE International is more bullish than ever on the rise of AI-first businesses. If you're a founder curious about your company’s true value, get a free valuation. (Link in comments) 👇

A $4.5 billion valuation. No product demo. No revenue. Just trust. On October 28th last year, a little-known AI startup called Sierra raised $175 million. Its product was still largely under wraps. Its market still emerging. Yet it was instantly valued at $4.5 billion. Why? Because investors like Sequoia Capital, Benchmark , Thrive Capital, and Greenoaks weren’t betting on the product. They were betting on the people behind it. The co-founder, Bret Taylor, had previously helped build Google Maps, led Salesforce as co-CEO, and chaired the board of OpenAI. His track record spoke louder than any pitch deck ever could. Investors weren’t buying what Sierra had built. They were buying who was building it, and the belief that this team could navigate ambiguity better than anyone else. That’s the part of venture capital people rarely talk about. You can run all the numbers, study every market, analyse every TAM… But in the end, every great investment is an act of trust. And that trust starts with people. At ETA Technologies, this is exactly what we quantify. Our psychometric AI helps investors go beyond the deck to understand how founders think, collaborate, and cope under pressure. We measure traits like resilience, alignment, and adaptability, the same invisible factors that made investors back Sierra before the world even saw its product. Because you can analyse financials all day long, but it’s the team that determines whether those numbers ever become reality. The Sierra story is a reminder for all of us: 💡 You can’t predict the market. But you can understand the people who shape it.

☀️ OxValue.AI joins the SeedLegals Partner Marketplace! ☀️ ⭐ We’re excited to announce that we are now officially part of the leading platform SeedLegals Partner Marketplace, connecting 65,000+ founders and 35,000+ investors across the UK startup ecosystem. Together, OxValue.AI and SeedLegals are bringing AI-driven, data-backed company valuation tools directly to founders and investors, helping them make smarter, faster, and fairer decisions during fundraising and investment. 💠 To celebrate this collaboration, use SL02 as Invitation Code at login for 15% off your valuation (one-time discount) Valid for both IP Valuation (£450 + VAT) and Enterprise (£850 + VAT) plans. Offer expires on 10 December 2025. At OxValue.AI, we leverage AI and data analytics to empower innovators, investors, and institutions with accurate, affordable, and unbiased valuations — supporting innovation and accelerating technology commercialisation worldwide. Learn more about our partnership on 👉 https://lnkd.in/eYeZP-xp Explore our website 👉 https://www.oxvalue.ai/ #SeedLegals #OxValueAI #StartupValuation #Partnership #AI #AIValuation #AI

💡 “We Didn’t Buy Leads. We Bought Proof.” Most startups buy attention. We built something that earns it. Early on, we faced a choice: Spend $25k chasing attention — or invest $10k proving the model. We chose the second path on purpose. Because confidence without evidence is just noise. So we ran three small pilots — scoped, measurable, outcome-driven. The results: • 100% client expansion. • Organic referrals. • Inbound from teams we hadn’t even pitched. That $10k didn’t buy marketing. It bought momentum. At Work Simplr, we’ve built the infrastructure for AI-enabled, project-based work — where companies move faster, students build real experience, and every project has measurable ROI. The pilot didn’t save us. It validated everything we’ve been building. This is what traction looks like when the market finally catches up to the vision. Investors call it efficiency. Customers call it a relief. We call it proof the model works. If you’re an investor looking for proof that AI is transforming how work gets done — not someday, but right now — we should talk. If you’re leading a team that needs real results from early-career talent and AI-enabled execution — this is your next unfair advantage. (We’re expanding the next round of pilots now.) Work Simplr (Techstars ‘25, Gener8tor '24) Avinash U. Eric Severson #execution #earlycareer #rapidscope #FiveInFive