Stephanie Linnartz

**Navigating AI Acquisitions: A Strategic Move** Anthropic's acquisition of Vercept highlights a critical trend in the AI landscape—strategic consolidations that bolster competitive capabilities. With Vercept’s innovative tools designed for enhancing user experience in application processing, this acquisition speaks volumes about the value of building diverse AI ecosystems. At ElevenX Capital, we believe such strategic moves are vital as they reflect an evolving market where agility in technology development is key. How do you foresee these acquisitions shaping the future of AI? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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CMOs: What really happens when private equity enters the picture? Recently, 🌱Dean Waye interviewed Erica Seidel and Alan Gonsenhauser on #CMOs in Private Equity environments. Erica from #TheConnectiveGood is known for recruiting what she calls the "make money" CMOs in the B2B SaaS world, often into private equity–backed companies. Between Erica's experience placing hundreds of CMOs into PE portfolios and my background as an 11-time CMO, coach to 150+ CMOs and working with many Private Equity portfolio companies, we've both seen what happens when private equity enters the picture, the opportunities, and the pitfalls. Here's some of what came up: The timelines for marketing impact shrink. On paper, PE firms may hold a company for five to seven years. But as I said during the discussion, "the first year of an engagement, they have some very serious growth targets to show success," and "It's going to be like boot camp, but it'll be the best learning you've ever had." By the time you're through your first couple of quarters, they expect marketing to be contributing to growth and margins. The scrutiny sharpens. Erica put it well: "You can also feel like there's somebody in your shorts, so to speak." Suddenly, you're not just answering to the CEO; you've got PE sponsors watching every report, every dashboard, every board deck. And they're looking through a financial lens. If you're only speaking in brand or marcom terms, you'll feel the pressure quickly. And the expectations don't let up. PE isn't betting on moonshots. They want disciplined, profitable growth they can measure right now. As I told Dean: "it's not just pipeline, but it's retention, upsell, cross-sell, and lifetime value (LTV) versus customer acquisition costs. Moreover, what buttons you can push as an executive to make improvements in your go-to market growth engine." Marketing has to plug into the value creation plan immediately. We also talked about why some CMOs flourish while others flounder. The ones who make it know how to educate the board, set expectations with the CEO, and act like business leaders, aligning across sales, product, and customer success. The ones who struggle are often the ones who stay in marcom mode, ask for more budget without a financial case, or avoid the conversations investors expect them to lead. I've seen this play out again and again. Some CMOs get tapped for new portfolio roles because they deliver and speak the language. Others don't make it through the first year. If you're considering a PE-backed role, or already in one, I think you'll find this conversation useful. 👉 Watch the full discussion here: https://lnkd.in/eyzNh38R #CMO #PrivateEquity #Recruiters #SaaS Drew Neisser Latané Conant (she/her) Matt Heinz Sham Sao Sangram Vajre Bryan Brown Don Drury

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I recently joined Alex Shevelenko, CEO of RELAYTO AI, on the podcast to discuss how leaders can navigate the intersection of AI and shifting business landscapes. We discussed the challenges CEOs face with two jobs: running the current business model and designing the next one. If you aren’t auditing your business model with the same rigor as your financial statements, you’re at risk. And the biggest hurdle to innovation isn't technical; it's a culture that fears failure. To succeed with AI, organizations must move away from "gut feelings" and toward a structured, mathematical process of experimentation. Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gBfTNRY3 #AI #BusinessModels #Innovation The Wharton School #Amazon #Leadership #FutureOfWork

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What’s old is new. Funny to watch VCs flood back to out-of-favor business models—hardware-enabled software, marketplaces, consumer tech—which are now viewed as more defensible because AI can't easily replicate physical infrastructure, network effects, or brand.

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