Building Trust In Investments

What I Look for Before I Invest In A Business Having sat on both sides of the table, as a founder seeking funds and as an angel investor (and Shark 🦈) deploying funds: I’ve realized that when I invest in a startup, I’m evaluating far more than just the pitch deck numbers. Here’s what I really look for when a founder pitches to me: ☑️ Passion & Resilience: I know, everyone says “I’m passionate,” so how do I gauge it? By the sparkle in their eyes when they talk about their product and the honesty when discussing hurdles. I often ask, “What will you do if things don’t go as planned?” – a well-thought answer here shows me they’re in it for the long haul, not just the glory days. ☑️ Understanding of Customers: You’d be surprised how many pitches focus on market size but gloss over the actual customer. I love hearing a founder say, “I spoke to 100 potential users and here’s what they said.” It shows me they’re grounded and customer-obsessed. If you know your users deeply, you can pivot and iterate intelligently. ☑️ Coachability: No one has all the answers, and that’s okay. I actually appreciate when a founder says “I don’t know” and follows up with “…but I’m eager to learn or get help.” It tells me they’re open to mentorship and collaboration. An investee-investor relationship is like a partnership – I don’t want to just write a check; I want to add value. It’s easiest to help someone who’s receptive to feedback and new ideas. ☑️ Alignment of Values: This one is more intangible, but crucial. I check – does this founder’s ethos align with mine? For example, if a founder is willing to compromise on product safety or ethics for a quick buck, we’re probably not a fit. But if they demonstrate integrity (even in small anecdotes, like how they handled a customer complaint), that builds trust. I invested in one startup mainly because the founder said their first big purchase order was delayed and they chose to be transparent with clients rather than cover it up. That honesty won me over. In short, I invest in the person as much as the business. The right investor-founder fit is like finding a co-founder. So if you’re pitching (to me or anyone), remember: beyond the TAMs and P&Ls, we’re listening for your story, character, and vision. And as always, if you have a pitch that fits my areas (D2C, sustainability, etc.), I’m all ears. What qualities do you value most in a founder or an investor? #Leadership #StartupFunding #AngelInvestor #Entrepreneurship

How to Do Financial Due Diligence Before Selecting Stocks? Stock picking isn’t just about looking at charts and following trends—it’s about understanding the financial health of a company. Before investing, a structured Financial Due Diligence (FDD) process can help you avoid bad bets and spot strong opportunities. Here’s a framework to follow: 1. Understand the Business Model & Industry - What does the company do? - Who are its competitors? - Is it in a growing or declining industry? 2. Analyze the Financial Statements - Income Statement (Profit & Loss) – Revenue growth, profitability (Gross, Operating, Net Margins), EPS trends - Balance Sheet – Debt levels, cash reserves, working capital position - Cash Flow Statement – Operating cash flow vs. net income, free cash flow trends 3. Check Key Financial Ratios - Profitability: ROE, ROA, Gross & Operating Margins - Liquidity: Current Ratio, Quick Ratio - Leverage: Debt-to-Equity, Interest Coverage - Valuation: P/E Ratio, P/B Ratio, EV/EBITDA 4. Assess Management & Governance - Background & track record of leadership - Insider buying/selling trends - Transparency in disclosures & corporate governance 5. Review Competitive Position & Moat - Does the company have a sustainable competitive advantage (brand, network effect, patents, cost advantage)? 6. Industry Trends & Macroeconomic Factors - Economic cycles, inflation, interest rates - Global supply chain, geopolitical risks - Market trends affecting revenue streams 7. Cross-Check with Analyst Reports & News - Read Equity Research Reports, Investor Presentations, Credit Reports - Stay updated on company news, regulatory changes 8. Look at Historical Performance & Future Guidance - Compare past financials vs. projections - Evaluate management’s growth expectations 9. Risk Assessment & Downside Protection - What’s the worst-case scenario? - How resilient is the business in a downturn? 10. Compare with Peers & Make an Informed Decision No company operates in isolation—compare financials and valuations with competitors before buying. Smart investing is about discipline, not hype. By doing thorough due diligence, you increase your chances of picking winners while avoiding pitfalls. What’s your go-to method for analyzing stocks? Let’s discuss.

Private equity has discovered a new miracle cure for its cash drought: more financial engineering! 🥴 A revealing article on Bloomberg a few days ago caught my attention. On the latest financial engineering shenanigans of an industry under siege from disillusioned investors. With exits stalled and cash distributions to investors dropping from 29% of NAV a decade ago to just 11% last year (Bain & Company), firms are turning to increasingly complex tactics to keep capital flowing. ▶️ Borrowing against commitments to continuation funds — a way to "generate more favorable returns for would-be buyers," even if it adds risk. ▶️ Subscription lines and NAV loans — where "you have to think about adding leverage on a portfolio of levered deals," as Jeffrey Miller, CFA of Pantheon Ventures put it. ▶️ Collateralized fund obligations — slicing and selling fund stakes, with GPs keeping the riskiest pieces. ▶️ "Quick-turn" financing pitches — Goldman Sachs offers structures that move fund stakes into special-purpose vehicles to "avoid crystallizing losses." As Andrea Auerbach of Cambridge Associates summed up: "All sides of the industry are looking for liquidity in different ways. The hunt is on." But the hunt comes with consequences. Highly concentrated continuation vehicles mean little margin for error. And have you heard about the newfangled CV-squared concoctions? (A blast 💥 from the past for me, personally, as a former $2bn CDO-squared manager.) Rising interest costs already exceed hurdle rates in some cases, forcing more "fractious negotiations" between managers and investors. Some boards reject these deals outright — not for lack of creativity, but because they’re too complex to explain and too expensive to justify (interest rates can soar to 2️⃣0️⃣% on less-liquid portfolios). Private equity was once a "buy/improve/sell" business. Increasingly, it’s a "buy/hold/leverage-engineer" business. 🖐️ Is it just me who is wondering whether today’s liquidity solutions are truly protecting capital — or simply postponing the reckoning? Based on reporting by Preeti Singh, Allison McNeely, Marion Halftermeyer and Laura Benitez (+++Opinions are my own. Not investment advice. Do your own research.+++) Enjoying my posts? Tap the 🔔 next to my photo and set it to 'All' and you'll be notified when I post. 💸

Selling to leadership is tough. Learn to speak finance, and everything changes. (This works for both B2B sales and internal pitches.) Speak the language of financial metrics and business impact, and you’ll earn buy-in. Whether you’re pitching a product, service, or internal idea, this skill makes you a trusted partner to decision-makers. Want to dive deeper? Download my free guide “10 Levels of Profitability” here: https://bit.ly/40pY3CQ Here’s why: Executives don’t want fluff. They need to know *how* your solution or proposal will impact their business financially. Here’s how to make your pitch resonate: 1️⃣ Talk Margins, Not Just Savings ↳ Show how your solution improves gross, operating, or net profit margins. Make it clear how it improves topline or streamlines processes to ultimately add value to the bottom line. 2️⃣ Connect to Cash Flow ↳ Highlight how your solution will boost cash flow, not just the bottom-line. Smart executives prioritize cash flow over simple revenue increases or cost savings because it keeps the business stable and flexible. 3️⃣ Show ROI and Payback Period ↳ Present clear numbers on return on investment (ROI) and how quickly they’ll see a payback. Executives need to know when their investment will yield results. 4️⃣ Impact Key Financial Ratios ↳ Explain how your proposal enhances key metrics like ROE (Return on Equity), ROA (Return on Assets), or EBITDA. This demonstrates that you understand their financial framework and how your solution strengthens it. 5️⃣ Talk Risk Management ↳ Show that you’ve considered potential downsides. Demonstrate how your proposal mitigates financial risk and supports long-term stability—not just quick gains. Why this matters: 1️⃣ You Stand Out ↳ Most sales pitches and internal proposals focus on benefits. When you speak in terms of financial strategy and impact, you differentiate yourself. 2️⃣ You Build Trust ↳ Speaking their language shows you understand their challenges, priorities, and goals. 3️⃣ You Become Indispensable ↳ When you can prove your solution impacts key business metrics, you shift from being just another vendor or team member to a trusted advisor. If you want to learn finance strategy to elevate your pitch and proposals, join 3,000 learning with me here: https://bit.ly/famcol Remember: Learn to speak finance, and you’ll open doors that most can’t. ♻️ 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 to help someone else. And follow Oana Labes, MBA, CPA for more  

India is facing a silent but massive supply crunch in wealth advisory. There are 10m+ affluent households with clear intent to grow capital. However, they are serviced by only 1,500 private wealth managers, 2 lakh IFAs/MFDs, 1k RIAs.   The result? In their place, informal advisors have emerged: finfluencers, CAs, or DIY crowd. But most finfluencers aren’t experts - they make money by being loud, short term oriented, not wise. It’s a market with strong demand, weak supply, high noise - perfect setup for inefficiency.   Complexity has outpaced advice India’s investment landscape has exploded - 2500 mutual funds, 7k+ stocks, plenty of AIFs, bonds/ unlisted. Yet, financial literacy hasn’t kept pace. Greed is at an all time high; expertise is at an all time low. When you mix FOMO + complexity + limited guidance, the outcome is predictable: poor portfolio construction, bad timing, heavy emotional decisions   Case for an AI wealth manager We’re entering a rare moment where AI can solve a deeply human scarcity - the lack of credible, affordable, personalized advice. An AI wealth manager could: 1) Evaluate investments fundamentally: parsing earnings transcripts, investor presentations, analyst reports, macro trendlines, price mismatches 2) Understand individual’s risk appetite, time horizon. Build diversified, tax-efficient portfolio & expenses 3) Manage dynamically - adjusting allocations as markets/ goals evolve   But here’s the nuance most people miss: Real job of a wealth manager isn’t portfolio optimization. It’s emotional regulation. During moments of chaos (Covid crashes, US tariffs, geopolitics), advisor’s true value is in managing fear/ greed. Retention is built on resilience, not just returns. It's about always being present during moments of extremities and having an opinion.   Building trust at scale Traditionally, economics of serving masses have historically never made sense - low AUMs, high servicing costs. AI changes that. It can democratize high-quality advice at near-zero marginal cost. But trust manufacturing will be the moat. Early AI advisors can win trust through: 1) Short-term wins: quick portfolio audits, tax optimization, bad stock / MF detection, risk profiling. 2) Deep specialization: start with verticals like micro-cap curation, selecting top 10 MFs, perfecting expenses/ budgeting. Be the best in that niche.   Wealth mgmt has been a gate-kept industry: designed for the top 1%. AI breaks this. It can serve the 99% with sharper insight, faster response, 0 bias. It will turn “mass affluents” from emotionally driven to financially disciplined. Real disruption won’t be in asset selection. It’ll be in trust creation at scale.   Devil's advocate argument is that given trust is so central, replacing a human won't work. It will be about augmenting them - providing productivity boost to existing WMs to service even more customers that was humanly possible. Let's see which one plays out. 

Don't blindly run (obvious) spreadsheet prompts. Here are 30 prompts to make sheets board-ready: Setup & foundation: "Build me a [TYPE] spreadsheet from this data." "List your top 10 assumptions before executing." "Use named ranges so formulas read like English." "Keep all inputs on an Assumptions tab." "Format for board projection: clean palette, frozen rows." Building the structure: "Add a Dashboard tab with KPI tiles." "Add Base / Bull / Bear scenario toggle." "Add a P&L tab linked to the Revenue tab." "Build a 12-month forecast by service line." "Add a Funnel tab: audience → leads → deals." Analysis without formulas: "What trends stand out in 2026 vs 2025?" "Compare actuals to budget, explain 3 variances." "Categorize these transactions into expense types." "Which line items grow faster than revenue?" "Find the deals that closed fastest - what's in common?" Editing in Google Sheets: "Visualize @Revenue as a stacked bar." "Summarize @Funnel in 5 bullets." "Add conditional formatting on margin %." "Translate @Dashboard into French." "In @Assumptions, push Bull more optimistic — stay realistic." Debugging and cleanup: "Explain what the formula in [CELL] does in English" "Trace [CELL] back to its source inputs." "Why is [CELL] showing # REF / # VALUE / # DIV/0?" "Find any hardcoded numbers inside formulas." "Show me how [CELL] connects to the Assumptions tab." Advanced moves: "Add a data table for revenue at diff growth rates." "Add a Monte Carlo simulation on key drivers." "Convert this monthly model to weekly granularity." "Stress-test the model — what breaks first?" "Reconcile @Revenue tab with @P&L tab — find mismatches." These prompts are everywhere now. Board decks. Investor models. Monthly reviews. Even messy bank exports. The formula bar used to be the bottleneck. Now it's knowing what to ask. They sound simple. But they do an analyst's work. Here's how to actually build board-ready sheets: 1. Force the AI to expose its logic. Before anything, ask "list your top 10 assumptions." Non-negotiable. 2. Separate inputs from logic. Keep every assumption on its own tab. Pull hardcoded numbers inside formulas out where you can see them. 3. Make it readable. Not "=B4C71.12." But named ranges that read like English. If a board member can't follow it, it's not board-ready. 4. Audit before you send. Ask "trace this cell back to its source inputs" & "reconcile the Revenue tab with the P&L tab." 5. Stress-test it. "What breaks first?" Find the edge case in the model, not in the meeting. Don't trust a spreadsheet you can't explain. Read the full Excel guide: https://lnkd.in/d6rM-GSm. Send it to your finance team. Thank me later.

If you want to be rich, learn sales. I used to think sales was sleazy until I realized the world revolves around it. Sadly, most people don’t have the skillset. Here’s the sales framework that’s helped me sell $100M+ in products & services: Contrary to popular belief, sales isn’t about convincing people. It’s about reflection, not manipulation. Then buying becomes their idea, not yours. The TRUST framework helps you do that in five steps: 1. Tune In Most people think they're good listeners - they're not. Real listening means shutting up and taking notes. It means starting a conversation with questions like: • What made you reach out? • What's your #1 goal right now? • What's broken in your world? Your only job here is to understand their pain better than they do. 2. Reflect Now mirror back what you heard. "So it sounds like you're struggling with X and Y. Is that right?" When they say "Yes, exactly", you just earned trust. They've admitted their pain in their own words. The pitch should come after you’ve confirmed you understand their problem, not before. 3. Uncover This is where you dig deeper. Assume other people have already tried to fix their problem. So ask things like: • Am I the first person you've spoken to? • What have you tried already? • Why do you think it didn't work? Your goal is to help them realize they can't solve this alone AND surface why past solutions failed. This sets up the next step. 4. Share Stories beat a sales pitch any day. Use the pain points they just admitted to craft a story about someone exactly like them who got results: "We had a client with the same problem. Tried everything, felt stuck. Then we implemented one system that doubled their conversions in 60 days." Stories let them picture themselves in the solution. 5. Trade Lastly, frame your offer as the missing piece of the puzzle: "Your goal is X. The problem is Y. You've tried Z. The missing piece is [solution]. Here's how we'll do it in [timeframe]." Then finish up with a "Does that sound like what you need?" This makes you as a collaborator in their eyes. To them, you're not selling - you're solving. Ultimately, sales isn't about being slick. It's about being human. Listen more than you talk. Make them feel heard. And don’t forget the money is in the follow up. ↓ ↓ ↓ P.S. If sales is one of the bottlenecks in your biz, you might benefit from this... Me & my team are hosting an in-person Growth Accelerator in September. It's in Austin. 2.5 days. Sep 26–28. • Who it’s for: founders & operators moving fast, on the way to $1M-$10M revenue, ready for real-time laser coaching • Who it’s not for: pre-revenue owners, wantrepreneurs, consultants, or anyone looking for a traditional passive conference We helps owners scale and remove their bottlenecks. Not for everyone, but maybe for you: https://lnkd.in/eeS4zw-f

There’s a painful gap between a VC saying “this is interesting” during an initial meeting and actually wiring the money. Founders who close rounds in this climate know that a great story is just the beginning - the real test comes later during due diligence. From where I sit as an investor, I see it happen every week: a fantastic pitch earns a follow-up meeting, but the momentum dies during the diligence process. That’s because in a cautious market, investors aren't just betting on your vision / pitch / charisma / top-line metrics. They're betting on your execution engine. How you respond to their digging reveals more than any slide ever could. Here's a few operational habits I see from founders who navigate diligence successfully and close their round efficiently: ✔️ They Run a "Glass Box" Operation. Instead of scrambling to assemble a data room, they simply invite investors into their existing company 'brain' - usually a clean, continuously updated space in Notion, Coda or DocSend. It holds their live metrics, customer notes, and experiment results. This sends a clear signal: data isn't something you prepare for a pitch; it's the language you speak every day. ✔️ They Lead with Candor. The old way was to have a curated list of your happiest customers ready for reference calls. The new way is to get ahead of the request entirely. The most confident founders proactively share not just their wins, but their learnings from customers that didn't convert or churned. This confidence in your own process turns an interrogation into a partnership. ✔️ The Team's Cohesion Shines Under Pressure. Every question from an investor, no matter how small, is a test of your team's alignment. When you're asked for a specific data cut, a fast and collaborative response from your team is incredibly powerful. It demonstrates a level of operational harmony that no amount of pitching can fake. Nailing your pitch and articulating your vision are extremely important but your process is ultimately what gets investors to write the check. The fundraising game today is won in the trenches of the details. 🙌🏼 #startups #fundraising #everywhereVC

In order to survive beyond the next five years, Professional Services firms will need to productize their offerings. They need to operate, not just advise. This isn’t about buying a few ChatGPT licenses or bolting on small product acquisitions. It’s about rebuilding the entire architecture of the firm, how it sells, how it delivers, and how it creates value. The firms that succeed will build dedicated go-to-market teams led by people with genuine product and platform experience, operators who understand pricing, renewals, customer success, and value realization. The Partner role will evolve from relationship-holder to architect and platform builder: people who know how expertise, data, and technology combine to deliver continuous outcomes. We’ll see an influx of seasoned industry executives into senior positions, leaders who bring operating discipline, commercial intensity and the scars of scaling real businesses. This shift will also require a new economic and delivery backbone. Firms must create internal “studios” that incubate and codify repeatable offerings, not one off projects. They’ll need to invest in enterprise IP, workflow automation and AI governance, so that innovation is built into delivery, not layered on top of it, which is what most firms are doing right now. The sales motion will move toward total-cost-of-ownership conversations, outcome-based contracts and annuity models that reward sustained performance over billable hours. And it will demand a complete retraining of the workforce. Every professional will need to know how to orchestrate workflows, analyse data, and integrate technology into client work. AI fluency will become as fundamental as financial literacy. Those who can combine judgment, process design, and automation will form the backbone of the next generation of firms. You can’t move to impact-based pricing when your economics still depend on utilisation. You can’t run annuity models when your people disappear the moment an engagement ends. To evolve, firms must turn what they know into something they can own and deliver continuously. The winners will become platforms of trust, technology, and performance, compounding impact rather than selling time.

I don’t actually work in finance. I work in trust. Without it, capital markets collapse. Clients walk away. Careers end in minutes. I've watched brilliant finance professionals destroy their careers in minutes.   Not because they lacked technical skills, but because they crossed ethical lines they didn't fully understand.   The CFA Institute Code of Ethics stopped me cold when I first read Standard III.A:   "Members must act for the benefit of their clients and place their clients' interests before their employer's or their own interests."   Before your employer. Before yourself. Always.   In an industry built on conflicts of interest, this isn't just radical. It's revolutionary.   The standards create crystal-clear boundaries: → Market manipulation? Prohibited. → Client suitability? Mandatory assessment. → Conflicts of interest? Full disclosure required. → Material nonpublic information? Can't touch it.   But what really struck me was Standard V.B.5: "Distinguish between fact and opinion."   In a world drowning in financial noise, this simple requirement changes everything.   200,000+ CFA charterholders worldwide have sworn to uphold these standards. Not suggestions. Requirements.   When everyone else chases commissions, you're bound to put clients first.   When others blur the lines, you maintain clear boundaries.   When the industry rewards complexity, you're required to communicate clearly.   Finance without ethics is just sophisticated gambling with other people's money.   But finance with a moral compass? That's how you build trust that compounds over decades.   The Code doesn't make you rich overnight. It makes you trustworthy for life.   And in finance, trust is the only currency that never depreciates.   Every time you're tempted to cut corners, remember: Your reputation takes decades to build and seconds to destroy.   The real edge in finance isn't finding the next alpha. It's earning trust and keeping it. Now, since we are on LinkedIn, I have a question for you: Are today’s finfluencers held to the same ethical standards as CFA charterholders? Should they be?   PS. If you made it this far, ♻️ share this with your network and 🔔 follow my profile!