Mike Supeck

The first Vanta Frameworks for Growth interview just launched! Garry Tan from Y Combinator and I talked through lots of things, including: •  founders, how they've changed, and what YC looks for today •  vibe coding •  tractor sales in Iowa •  the age of AI, and how that's accelerating startups •  a mission to create more billionaires •  where he'd channel his intensity if he were just starting out today I'm excited for this one. Please let me know what you think!

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Is Louisville Ready for a Search Fund Ecosystem? To close a small business acquisition, you need three things: ✅ A willing seller ✅ A capable operator ✅ And funding to make it happen Louisville has no shortage of the first two. Our ecosystem is full of profitable small businesses, many with aging owners who don’t have a succession plan.  We also have a growing pool of sharp, gritty operators who want to own and grow a business. I saw this first hand as UofL launched their ETA Elective program this summer.  Every seat was full.  But the last mile — funding and mentorship — is missing. What if we built that here? A Louisville-based platform that not only provides capital but also coaches future CEOs, simplifies the M&A process, and offers owners a trusted place to start succession conversations.  This is not a brokerage.  This is not a non-profit.  This is an entrepreneurial and capitalistic endeavor with a North Star to keep our great local companies local.  Lower the friction between buyers and sellers by sharing deals, enabling acquisitions with funding and offering a place to connect those dots through a vehicle of trust. Search funds and ETA (entrepreneurship through acquisition) are growing across the country — but we haven’t really built the infrastructure for it locally. Let’s change that. If you’re an investor, operator, business owner, or just curious about bringing a search fund model to Louisville — I’d love to connect.

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Fundraising rules are shifting — quietly, but meaningfully. Between the INVEST Act moving in Congress and potential SEC changes to who can invest in startups, early-stage fundraising may look different in the near future — especially for founders outside major tech hubs. Here’s what matters for Kentucky founders: • You may be able to pitch in more rooms without triggering solicitation rules • Local micro-funds may have more capacity to invest • More professionals may qualify as accredited investors • Early rounds could move faster — with more scrutiny This creates real opportunity. It also raises the bar on preparation. Before changing your fundraising strategy: 👉 Talk to your attorney. At Amplify, we’re not legal counsel — we’re translators and connectors. We help founders understand what’s changing, pressure-test their approach, and connect with trusted legal and VC partners across Kentucky. We put together a short, practical field guide with next steps as the rules evolve. 👉 Download it here: https://bit.ly/4oWyZvZ Build carefully. Ask good questions. Good luck out there. #startuplou #KentuckyStartups #FounderEducation #AngelInvesting #AmplifyEverywhere Amplify Startups

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Plaid is built to make it easier for businesses to build and scale financial products that people trust. That trust starts with knowing who you’re working with. As Plaid helps platforms onboard and support millions of businesses, verifying business identity accurately and efficiently is foundational. That’s why Plaid partners with Middesk to automate business verification during onboarding — confirming core business details, reducing manual review, and helping teams make confident risk decisions without slowing down the customer experience. Together, we help Plaid deliver faster onboarding, stronger compliance, and a more durable foundation for growth across the financial ecosystem they power. We’re proud to support Plaid as they help teams move fast while maintaining trust at scale. #KYB #KYC #AML #BEV #businessverification #financialservices #onboarding #compliance #smallbusiness #SMBs

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Founders are often optimistic about growth. Sometimes, that confidence leads to funding ideas that don't fully pan out. Royalty-based growth capital is structured to limit downside risk compared to traditional venture-backed paths. Vik Thapar of Cypress Growth Capital explains that, even if outcomes fall short of early expectations, founders often still exit with meaningful results because they retain the majority of ownership. 🎙️ Tune into the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gxkEsH3Z 👇🏽 Find Us Here https://lnkd.in/gTdPMk8P #privateequity #privateequitypodcast #privateequityvaluecreation

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🚀 Stop chasing investors blindly. Here's the 5-step system that gets startups funded: Define financial needs (12-18 months) Research aligned investors Build a killer pitch deck Systematize outreach Prep due diligence docs Most founders skip steps 1 & 5. Don't be like most founders.

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Fundraising Is a Sales Funnel Takeaway: Treat investors like prospects. Context: Too many founders pitch randomly. Fundraising works when you build structure. Advice: Create a lightweight investor CRM (Airtable, Notion, HubSpot). Track stage: intro, 1st call, due diligence, soft commit. Follow up weekly—investors invest in the founders who stay top of mind. Closing thought: Your investor funnel is just like your customer funnel—build it, track it, close it. At SKIN STUDIOS, we help founders cut through the noise, launch scrappy, and evolve fast. Because in the startup game, speed of learning is your greatest edge. → sitg.studio | dom@sitg.studio | DMs open #foundertips #fundraising #venturecapital #startupadvice #skinstudios

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Last week, I was at Good Ol’ Kentucky to attend the ASUG Tech Connect 2025. Here’s everything I learned: 👉 Lift and shift doesn’t work: Even though this is the most popular way to migrate, most firms who have done this are worried that they never got the full Return on Investment of the new capabilities of S/4 HANA. 👉 The future of IT is about intent not syntax: This is a popular theme I have heard across conferences and SoRs. Commodization of Codegen is leading to consensus that the future of IT is about the intent from the Business user and not the syntax to achieve it. 👉 Lean Core is the new Clean Core: A lot of RISE with SAP paths are now following the approach of lean core - 80% clean core and 20% custom on the things that are absolutely essential. Dodge AI's roadshow is already beginning to show results, in the last 2 weeks, I have been to 11 states. More on this soon :) #ASUGTechConnect2025

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Y Combinator just dropped their Request for Startups for Fall 2025 💥 It’s a blueprint of what YC wants to fund right now. The ideas they believe could become billion dollar companies. Some are no-brainers. Others are wild 👇

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You can turn $100,000 into a $50 million business through acquisitions. This is closer to capital allocation than traditional entrepreneurship. Here's the deal structure. First, the capital stack. You buy a business the same way you buy a house. Equity in, bank covers the rest. With SBA loans: 90% loan, 10% equity. A million dollar business might require $100K to $200K down. Target companies with $1 to $3 million in earnings. Go to sellers that are NOT at market. Brokered deals are competitive and sellers want cash at close. This only works off-market. Here's what you propose: Seller keeps 20% equity in a new entity. Asset sale, their company moves into newco, they keep running it at fair market salary. You write them a check for 60% via bank loan. Remaining 20% is a seller's note: 10% straight note, 10% performance earnout. From the bank's perspective, you created 40% equity. The truth? It's really only 20%, and it's the seller's. Your money in? Approaching zero. But you own 80% of Enterprise Value. Why would a seller agree? Tell them: my goal is to make your 20% as valuable as the 80% we're giving you today. What are the odds you double the value on your own in 3 to 5 years? Now stack earnings. $2 million average per company. Buy 10 just like this. $20 million combined earnings under one entity. Centralize marketing, accounting, HR, governance at HQ. You bought each at 4 to 4.5x. A $20 million earnings business sells for 7 to 7.5x or more. That's multiple expansion, just by combining them. Close the first one. Negotiate the next $100K for the next business. Then newco sells to PE for 7, 8, 9x your $20 million in earnings. That's the path from $100K to $50 million. If you're considering buying a business in the next 12 to 24 months, we built Acquisition Lab for exactly this. walkerdeibel.com

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I interviewed the man behind 60 VC funds. Chris Rizik has backed 800+ startups and built the Midwest startup ecosystem. Here are 10 lessons that can save you years ↓ 1 - Back the learner Chris invests in GPs who: learn fast and own their mistakes. 2 - Democratize to outperform More voices = better deal flow. Broad networks find top 1% founders. 3 - Know when to walk If trust slips, end it early. Protect your time and LP capital. 4 - Specialize to win In the AI era, specific focus beats broad ideas. Niche expertise compounds. 5 - Be founder-first Help with intros, hiring, and strategy. Service earns allocation. 6 - Play long games Great returns come from patience not impatience. 7 - Make your story investable Simple thesis. Clear edge. Evidence of repeatability. 8 - Treat LPs like customers Communicate early. Report clearly. Show how your fund works. 9 - Build local, scale global Strong regions create repeat founders and faster cycles. 10 - Do the unglamorous work Reference calls. Post-mortems. Portfolio help. This is the job. If you’re a founder, GP, or investor, this episode is a field guide. Want the link? DM me for the Spotify episode.

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ESOPs are a retention tool that most startups design too loosely at the start. Vesting schedules, cliff periods, exercise prices, pool size relative to the cap table each of these decisions has downstream implications for hiring, fundraising, and eventual exits. Founders who build their ESOP policy before they need it rarely have to undo a bad one mid-round. The best time to get the structure right is before the first grant goes out. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gKcsbPNM #ESOPStructuring #StartupEquity #EmployeeStock #AbhijithPremanAndCo #APCALLP

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Example Stripe scenario: $300K processed $8K in fees Payment mix: 82% cards 13% ACH 5% wallets Shifting just 20% of card volume to ACH could save $14K+ per year. Most founders never see these opportunities.