Eric Golden

Transforming Visions into Reality: The Future of Tech Manufacturing California Forever's Solano Foundry, a sprawling 2,100-acre manufacturing park, stands to redefine advanced tech manufacturing. With the potential for 40 million square feet of innovative space, this initiative could significantly revitalize the local economy and attract cutting-edge firms. At ElevenX Capital, we believe that such ambitious projects underscore the importance of strategic investment in infrastructure to drive technological advancements. How do you see large-scale manufacturing shaping the future of innovation? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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Some very welcome news for VC and PE firms, as well as other entities investing in startup and emerging growth companies. The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has announced the suspension of the implementation and enforcement of the data collection and reporting regime imposed by the Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Law (FIPVCC). This decision comes pending the completion of a rule-making process initiated by the DFPI in response to feedback from stakeholders affected by the regime. As a result, the DFPI will not require covered entities to submit further registrations or file reports by the April 1, 2026 deadline. For more information, visit the DFPI website: https://lnkd.in/eqjJbSFz

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Why Silicon Valley is really talking about fleeing California (it's not the 5%) The recent trend of billionaires leaving California raises critical questions about the underlying factors influencing their decisions. It’s more than just the 5% tax rate; it's about the evolving landscape of opportunity and regulatory challenges impacting innovation. At ElevenX Capital, we see this as a pivotal moment for venture capital to adapt and explore new markets that promote entrepreneurship and growth. How can we better support startups in regions outside traditional tech hubs? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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Working with NRF to pursue our patent strategy is an important step in recognizing that proprietary AI systems and workflows are becoming a new form of intellectual property for modern firms. Great to partner with George, John McBride, and the team at Norton Rose Fulbright as we work at the frontier of how AI can transform investment decision-making in venture capital. At Decasonic, we believe the next generation of companies will reinvent with AI workflows and systems how organizations operate, how leaders make decisions, and how teams collaborate with intelligent systems. In going through this streamlined process, it's clear to me that many more startups should clarify their IP strategy. Our internally developed AI platform, RLEN, reflects that philosophy. We are building AI not to automate tasks and flourish outcomes, in collaborative ways for human and AI teammates. This enables our investors to test ideas, explore alternative perspectives, and reach deeper insights faster when navigating uncertainty. More broadly, we are seeing trailblazing work across industries and cities as leaders experiment with how AI can reshape communities, companies, and countries. Leadership with AI forever transforms. We are still in the early innings. Appreciate the partnership and collaboration from the Norton Rose Fulbright team as we continue inventing and innovating. Special shoutout to my colleague Abdul Al Ali who's listed as a co-inventor.

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Starboard Built Big Stake in BILL Holdings, Plans to Nominate Directors "Activist investor Starboard Value owns an 8.5% stake in BILL Holdings and intends to run a boardroom challenge to push for changes at the financial automation software company that serves small and midsize businesses around the world, it said in a filing on Thursday. "BILL Holdings, which has a market value of nearly $5 billion and sees more than 1% of U.S. gross domestic product flow through its platform, saw its stock price lose nearly half of its value since January." #corporategovernance #boardsofdirectors #activistinvesting #shareholderactivism #governancearbitrage https://lnkd.in/gQhi_A5b

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📢 Attention Venture Capital Fund Managers: New California Transparency & Reporting Law You Must Know - Deadlines Looming! 📊 California has ushered in a first-of-its-kind transparency regime that will meaningfully impact VC firms with a nexus to the state — no matter where you’re headquartered. Under the Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Act, covered entities must register and report demographic data on the founding teams of companies in which they invested during 2025 - beginning this year. 🔎 Here’s what VC firms need to know (high-level): ✅ Who is covered? Any "venture capital company" that 1) primarily invests in or finances early-stage or growth companies and 2) has a CA nexus — including: • Headquarters or significant presence in CA. • Investments in CA-based companies or companies with significant operations in CA. • Solicits or accepts investment from CA residents/account holders. 📅 Key deadlines: • March 1, 2026: Register with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) as a covered entity. • April 1, 2026: First annual demographic report due, covering 2025 investments. 📊 What must be reported? • Aggregated, anonymized demographic data voluntarily provided by founders (gender identity, race/ethnicity, disability status, veteran/LGBTQ+ status, CA residency). • Numbers and dollar amounts of investments in companies primarily founded by diverse teams. • Principal place of business for companies. 📋 Covered entities must distribute the standardized DFPI survey to founding teams to collect this information and incorporate it into their annual report. ⚠️ Why this matters: This requirement extends beyond traditional Silicon Valley firms. Even funds without a physical CA office may be caught if they have a CA investor or portfolio company. Non-compliance could expose firms to enforcement actions and penalties. ⚠️ What DFPI Still Needs to Clarify or Finalize Despite the statutory framework, material implementation details are still evolving, including: • Final reporting format and submission mechanics • How DFPI will interpret “CA nexus” in edge cases • Treatment of complex fund structures, SPVs, and parallel vehicles • Data validation, audit expectations, and record-retention standards • Enforcement posture and penalty framework for non-compliance • How updates or corrections to prior-year reports will be handled In short: the obligations are real, but the operational playbook is still being built, but funds that wait until guidance is finalized may find themselves compressed on timing. 🔗 Learn more and access official DFPI resources: 👉 DFPI VCC Reporting Program: https://lnkd.in/gHRxvwHP 👉 DFPI Survey: https://lnkd.in/gV_Bh2vM 💬 Be sure to discuss how this impacts your firm’s compliance and reporting strategy with your friendly neighborhood fund counsel.

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The announcement of Lila Sciences’ $235M Series A and $1B+ valuation marks a significant milestone, and it’s only the beginning. Lila is building a new model for discovery by combining AI and automated labs to accelerate breakthroughs in life sciences, chemistry, and materials. They are tackling some of the most significant opportunities in science and technology, and I couldn’t be more confident in Geoff and his team as they scale what’s ahead. I have had the privilege of knowing Geoffrey von Maltzahn for many years, and backing him once again through March Capital is both a professional and personal highlight. His leadership, vision, and ability to execute on transformational science give us great conviction in Lila’s future. Congratulations to Geoff and the entire Lila team on reaching this next chapter. I am honored to continue this partnership and look forward to what’s to come. Read more about Lila here: https://lnkd.in/gQfk6msT

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If your fund has California LPs or portfolio companies, California's new FIPVCC law requires you to register with the state and report demographic data on your founding teams. Even if you're not based there. The registration deadline is March 1st and the first report is due April 1st. Non-compliance runs $5,000/day. Shayn Fernandez and Matt Jones broke it all down (with a The Bear reference, because it felt right): https://lnkd.in/dgVaGWM6

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Big milestone for Ayar Labs — $500M Series E at a $3.75B valuation. This raise underscores just how critical optical I/O and co-packaged optics (CPO) have become in the AI and HPC era. As compute scales, the bottleneck is no longer just processing — it’s moving massive amounts of data efficiently, with lower power and latency. That’s where Ayar’s photonics platform is positioned to fundamentally reshape system architecture. Notably, this round combines top-tier institutional investors (Neuberger Berman, ARK, Insight, QIA, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, 1789 Capital) alongside strategic leaders like AMD, MediaTek, NVIDIA, and Alchip. That mix of financial and commercial backers signals both capital confidence and ecosystem pull. The focus now: scaling high-volume production and test capacity to accelerate deployment of their CPO solution. Moving from breakthrough technology to manufacturing scale is the real unlock. Congrats to the Ayar Labs team on continuing to push the semiconductor and photonics frontier forward. #optical #photonics #semiconductor #AI #HPC

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Seed Stage Venture Debt? Most early founders think venture debt is something you raise at the Series B or later. It is seen as something you layer on once the business is fully “bankable” and later stage. But what if this paradigm is limiting growth for early stage companies? And what if founders can utilize a flexible product at the early stages to reduce dilution? At Top Corner we see it differently: - We underwrite The Founder and to enterprise value, not formulaic metrics - We believe debt can work much earlier, typically right after product-market fit (Seed/Series A) - Our debt is designed to support founders, not constrain them - Our structures are flexible, with none of the traditional debt mechanics that weigh down early stage founders (financial covenants, MAC defaults or investor support clauses) - Our process is fast (think weeks, not months) - Our capital is significantly less dilutive than equity, but can be used just like a dollar of equity: to hire, build, experiment and scale When used for growth, debt can help teams hit more milestones and empower founders to raise their next round on stronger term, all while preserving meaningful ownership for both founders and early investors. A recent example: Top Corner partnered with NxLite in February 2025, providing Seed stage debt capital that allowed the company to acquire critical equipment and fully prepare its 45,000 squarer foot production facility prior to raising additional equity. NxLite produces advanced coatings for windows and transparent barriers that dramatically reduce energy consumption and support a more sustainable built environment. With this early capital, NxLite achieved production capacity to serve a strong roster of Fortune 500 enterprises, creating a strong foundation for its next phase of growth. NxLite closed a $9.2M Series A in September 2025 at a meaningful valuation increase. We’re excited to support David Mather and the NxLite team as they build on this momentum. https://lnkd.in/g-Fipd9K

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A new California law (FIP VCC) is forcing VCs to ask portfolio company founders about their sexual orientation, disabilities, and more – all so it can be reported to the state. We built a new system to help funds on AngelList comply without ever seeing individual founder responses. To preserve founder privacy everywhere, we've decided to make the system available to any fund for free, regardless of who they work with for fund admin. You can use it today: fipvcc.com

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Last night, we closed Soundcore Capital Partners Fund III at $450 million — oversubscribed at the hard cap. 🚀 117 LPs. 12 countries. I am deeply grateful to every Fund III LP for the trust you placed in our team and our strategy. 11 years ago, I started Soundcore with a simple conviction: that small business owners in non‑discretionary service sectors deserved a respectful, operationally intensive partner — and that PE could be built the right way, from the ground up. There was no platform to leverage. No built‑in capital base to hire the talent this strategy demands. From the start, what existed was an unwavering conviction in the mission, a relentless work ethic, and a commitment to building this firm—step by step—into the very best in PE. Using the formula I created, we have built market‑leading platforms in highly fragmented, essential service sectors — long before it was fashionable to do so. Like any long journey, Soundcore was tested in ways I could not have anticipated. There were moments when staying the course was difficult and uncomfortable. What mattered most during those periods was resilience and integrity. Over the past several years, I spent countless hours on the road meeting with existing and prospective LPs — engaging in deep DD and thoughtful partnership discussions. The scrutiny made Soundcore better. More disciplined. More durable. At the same time, our team remained intensely focused on the portfolio and employees driving daily performance. Operationally, Fund III already reflects one of the most focused and active periods in our firm’s history: 👉 Five platforms built with over $540 million in revenue 👉 28 acquisitions completed 👉 17 acquisitions in 2025 alone — our most active year to date 👉 Meaningful expansion of our team, with deeper operational and investment expertise The LPs in Fund III were discerning and did the work. They conducted extensive DD and evaluated us based on data and firsthand reference work. We are grateful for their rigor and for their partnership mindset. We also diversified and strengthened our global LP base across public and corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, consultants, insurance companies, single family offices, fund of funds, multi-family offices, wealth managers, asset managers, and ultra-high net worth investors. We do not take that responsibility lightly. The close of Fund III is not a finish line — it is a mandate. Our focus remains singular: disciplined execution, operational value creation, and delivering performance consistent with the trust placed in us. To our LPs — thank you for your rigor, candor, and partnership. To the Soundcore team — your professionalism, resilience, and unwavering confidence in what we are building made this possible and I share this achievement with you. To my wife — thank you for the strength, patience, and support that made this journey possible. We move forward focused, proud, aligned, and accountable. Onward.

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A sweeping new California employment law will soon limit clawbacks/repayment provisions tied to signing bonuses, relocation costs, training, and other incentives. My Lowenstein Sandler LLP partners Julie Werner and Amy Schwind explain the restrictions, exceptions, and next steps for employers ahead of the Jan 1, 2026 effective date. #EmploymentLaw #ExecutiveCompensation Read more: https://lnkd.in/eT6w5pWE

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Santa Barbara Venture Partners has raised a $25M second fund to invest into software and AI, as covered in The Wall Street Journal Pro, Axios Pro Rata, and here in Pacific Coast Business Times. Fund II builds on the success of six successful exits (full and partial) in five years, Fund I’s top quartile performance, and a major competitive advantage in offering extensive customer acquisition and marketing expertise to SBVP portfolio companies. Fund II extends the firm’s unique strategy of generating continuous returns for investors in an asset class otherwise plagued by illiquidity challenges. Five years in, all fourteen SBVP portfolio companies are performing well. SBVP generally invests in companies with $2M to $50M in recurring revenue which are growing 75-200%+ that have outstanding client retention metrics. The firm typically participates in Series A through C rounds, or SBVP buys stock directly from existing founders or other shareholders. Many of SBVP’s 150+ fund investors (from across two funds and fourteen SPVs) are top marketing and sales executives from leading tech firms. They provide the portfolio with expertise in over 25 different marketing and customer acquisition channels and methods to accelerate revenue growth. Limited Partners include leaders from Adobe, Google, Procore Technologies, AppFolio, Snowflake, Salesforce, Zoom, RingCentral, CBS, Pinterest, and various other top firms. LPs work with portfolio companies on demand generation, sales, and marketing, and accelerate product marketing, revops, audio/TV marketing, content, social media, SEM, media buying, account-based marketing, customer success, sales enablement, branding, strategic alliances, trade show marketing, and other areas. https://lnkd.in/gkwaxivz

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Revolutionizing Art Stewardship: Strobe Ventures portco Winston Artory Group (WAG) is using blockchain and unique data to redefine trust in a $3 trillion industry A core Strobe thesis is that specialized vertical marketplaces (particularly those underpinned by blockchain rails) will serve to 'unbundle Sothebys' and provide better user experiences for cheaper, as compared to the expensive, gated and inefficient generalized incumbents WAG is a technology platform operating at the forefront of intelligent art and collectibles stewardship. They count 30% of the world’s top billionaire art collectors as clients, and have a legacy of appraising over $100 billion in art and have tokenized another $2 billion With new collection management software and a right-to-win in the art-lending space, WAG is just getting started -- read our full piece here: https://lnkd.in/ez4r9Gxc

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🚨NEW EPISODE: Recorded live at FUTURE TITANS 2026 - Jeff Perry of Carta sat down with the iconic Seth Levine, co-founder of Foundry. Seth has been in venture for 25 years, built Foundry from scratch as an emerging manager himself, and has backed about 50 emerging manager funds through his fund of funds. He has genuinely seen every side of this table. They went deep on building Foundry, why VCs are in the influence business, not the decision business, and why the concentration problem in venture is not only bad for LPs, but also for the innovation ecosystem overall. And why Seth's new book, Capital Evolution, is so important for the future of America. 🎧 Links to listen... Apple: https://lnkd.in/ehQUQ2EM Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eU4FExpg

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