Full Width [alt+shift+f] FOCUS MODE Shortcuts [alt+shift+k]
Sign Up [alt+shift+s] Log In [alt+shift+l]
24
As part of UCLA's MBA program, I've had the opportunity to sit in on some VC pitches. It's been a while since I've stepped back and looked at the broader startup ecosystem. My head has been in the micro saas space for
a year ago

Comments

Improve your reading experience

Logged in users get linked directly to articles resulting in a better reading experience. Please login for free, it takes less than 1 minute.

More from XO Capital - Field Notes

Everything I've learned about buying small software businesses over the past 4 years

💡 We started out buying 1 business for $25k in 2020. Our deals are now around $1M - $2M purchase price. So my notes below relate to a mostly linear path from $25k to ~$2M. XO has been a tough ride. We had some wins, some losses and overall haven&

8 months ago 87 votes
Getting Smaller To Get Bigger

💡 We have another fresh round of capital to deploy into 1 business at up to $1.8M purchase price. Must be b2b SaaS, low customer concentration, 80%+ gross margins, 50k+ MRR. If you have a tip, pass it along! We're underway with xo 2.0. That means,

10 months ago 53 votes
How to 10x an acquisition

I'm going to break down how we more than 10x-ed ScreenshotAPI and why this acquisition worked when others didn't. Not everything here is generalizable, but I'll pull out what worked well from our first interactions with the seller to the deal closing a few

11 months ago 60 votes
We 10x-ed screenshotapi.net and sold it

Before we jump in, I was on a pod talking through content, acquisitions, etc: This exit is bitter sweet. Screenshot was our first ever acquisition. We 10x-ed it, and it is really the reason XO exists today. If this first acquisition hadn't gone well, I think I would

12 months ago 54 votes
Acquisition #12 - Onsched

We've been a little quiet over here as we start rolling out XO 2.0, using outside capital instead of our own cash to acquire larger businesses. It's taken a bit of time from deal #11 to #12. We didn't buy anything for 9

a year ago 52 votes

More in startups

AI robots are helping South Korea’s seniors feel less alone

A ChatGPT-powered robotic companion called Hyodol is taking over some work from overburdened caregivers, much to the delight of seniors who treat them like grandchildren.

12 hours ago 3 votes
The richest third-world country

How long before America's dysfunctional politics start hurting its economy?

12 hours ago 3 votes
AI Bubble 2027

Soundtrack: The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer An MIT study found that 95% of organizations are getting "zero return" from generative AI, seemingly every major outlet is now writing an "are we in a bubble?" story, and now Meta has frozen

8 hours ago 2 votes
Inside India’s billion-dollar e-waste empire

The informal recycling economy is turning global e-waste into profit — at a steep human and environmental cost.

yesterday 4 votes
How To Argue With An AI Booster

Editor's Note: For those of you reading via email, I recommend opening this in a browser so you can use the Table of Contents. This is my longest newsletter - a 16,000-word-long opus - and if you like it, please subscribe to my premium newsletter. Thanks for

2 days ago 9 votes