Travis M. Drouin

#CPA & Partner at Baker Tilly US @BakerTillyUS; I work with investor-backed #tech companies; #GAAP #tax expert

[Pejman Nozad @pejmannozad]

Too many Pear VC founders are getting their visas challenged—and it’s downright absurd. Entrepreneurs build America, so let’s open the doors for innovators, not shut them! @elonmusk @DavidSacks

[Travis M. Drouin @TravisDrouin]

@larryvc Study habits

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

Very interesting - not much difference between top 5% of VC funds, top 25% of VC funds, and all VC funds except in 10X+ outcomes.

[Travis M. Drouin @TravisDrouin]

@brucemreading I just offered to intro someone to you earlier today and then I see this 😂

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

Appreciate Niraj Shah, Co-Founder/CEO of Wayfair, sitting with Volition partner, Sean Cantwell, to discuss the Wayfair journey and lessons learned for other emerging companies. One of the best Scaling Success episodes IMO. @nshah10 @seanpcantwell $W

https://t.co/xVz1wBnKC9

[Brian Halligan @bhalligan]

A lot folks are negative on the application layer of ai. I keep hearing that the "LLM wrapper applications" will get disrupted by the LLM's.

I think you could argue that back in 2006, when HubSpot was founded and SaaS was exploding that all of us were "database wrapper applications." The industry blossomed by adding data, workflow, and deep domain expertise on top of those databases.

I think LLM wrapper application companies will thrive by adding data, workflow, and deep domain expertise on top of the LLM's.

[Travis M. Drouin @TravisDrouin]

Love this one!

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

A new board meeting question:

Is there anything you considered putting into the board deck that you decided to take out at the last minute?

Some of the most interesting ideas (and conversations) can sit in this space.

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

Best tech acquisition in history? Definitely on the short list. Which other deals deserve consideration?

[Bruce Reading | CEO of Act! - A Small Business CRM @brucemreading]

As someone who has been in business for decades, I've made more than my fair share of poor decisions based on gut instinct.

As a result, when tools and tech emerged to improve my odds and outcomes, I took a career-altering interest in learning about them.

🧵1/5

#DataAnalytics

[Bruce Reading | CEO of Act! - A Small Business CRM @brucemreading]

When was the last time someone on your team said "I don't know" or "I disagree"?

If it has been a while, it might be time to look in the mirror.

This question is one I use to check myself every now and then.

1/6

#Innovation #LeadershipDevelopment #TuesdayFeeling

[Travis M. Drouin @TravisDrouin]

We're excited to share the news and continue the journey, building a world class CPA and Advisory practice to meet the needs of our customers! https://t.co/oW0xnXAY4t

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

This is a compounding table which shows the return multiple achieved presuming the compound rate and # of years (e.g. compound at 50% for 4 years = 5.1x multiple). Investors and operators should know this table well because it shows the power of consistent compounding.

[Bruce Reading | CEO of Act! - A Small Business CRM @brucemreading]

Just about everyone hates "selling themselves".

In my last post, I shared the importance of understanding the gap between customer intent and your marketing/sales efforts.

Now let's talk about selling yourself with integrity.

🧵

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

The path to profitable growth:

1. Get your cost structure right.
2. Get your unit economics right.
3. Get your working capital right.
4. Get your capital structure right.
5. Invest wisely to grow.

Miss any one of the first four steps, and you might not get to the last step.

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

Ask a VC/PE investor what their focus is and you'll likely get a sector.

Ask an entrepreneur what their focus is and you'll likely get an unsolved problem.

The market size for uncompetitive sectors is small. But, the market size for unsolved problems is infinite.

That's why when I'm in a rut as an investor, not sure what to focus on, I find it more productive to think like an entrepreneur rather than an investor.

Instead of asking myself what sectors should I focus on, I ask what are unsolved problems worth solving?

With that switch in lens, suddenly the opportunity set goes from being narrow to being wide open.

[Mark Gallagher @markpagallagher]

“Yes, SVB” highlights @SiliconVlyBank’s ongoing commitment to the innovation economy. Visit our website to learn more about SVB’s unmatched capability to support founders, innovators and investors. https://t.co/bQbMtLKcbH

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

I’ve come to appreciate over time that social skill and relational skill are different things. It’s common in my industry to find people who are socially strong but relationally weaker. You will also find less commonly people who are relationally strong but socially weaker.

Social competence seems to index more on speaking skills and comfort with group dynamics, but relational competence indexes more on asking good questions, listening, empathy, and depth coupled with comfort with one-on-one interactions. They can be quite different skill sets.

The most common misperception I see in this industry is people who are socially strong and relationally weaker conflating the two and not realizing their own relational weakness.

On the flip side, people who are relationally strong but socially weaker often don’t fully appreciate their own relational strength because social skill can be a more viscerally observable and valued trait.

[Harvard Business Review @HarvardBiz]

Networking isn’t about reaching out to as many people as possible. It’s about connecting with people who you can learn from — and who might learn from you. https://t.co/08gE8jv1uN

[Larry Cheng @larryvc]

Simple but great advice from our strategic advisory board today: consumer companies need a clear, simple and compelling message on why a consumer should care before scaling marketing spend. Early adopters may navigate more obtuse messaging, but the mass market needs clarity.

[Brian Streig, CPA @cbriancpa]

Today I'm looking down at my new tattoo and thinking about how accountants put ourselves in boxes to meet an outdated version "professional".

We say we want diversity, but only if it fits inside this box. Among the other types of diversity, we need diversity of spirit to attract the next generation to our profession.