June, 2025

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Resilience in Entrepreneurship is the X Factor for Success

American Entrepreneurship

Successful entrepreneurs have a mindset that enables them to move past failure. Hear from those who have overcome common challenges, how they have persevered to build their startups and how you can build an entrepreneurship mindset of resilience. Why Resilience and Perseverance Are the Cornerstones of Startup Success Successful entrepreneurs overcome failure because they have developed entrepreneurial resilience—the mental toughness to weather uncertainty, recover from setbacks, and are able to

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Views on the Ground: Scenes from Our Chicago Founder Fly-In

Revolution

Portfolio company leaders from across the country touched down in the Windy City to connect with fellow Rise of the Rest-backed founders on tactical tools for turbulent times. VP of Platform and Portfolio Success, Amira Ouji, and Head of Community, Liz Westhouse, recap the event below. If you’re building a company in 2025, the headlines are loud: market whiplash, trade realignments, AI acceleration, geopolitical shockwaves.

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15 Innovative Pitch Deck Designs That Drove Investor Engagement

StartupNation

Discover the secrets to transforming pitch decks into compelling investor magnets, courtesy of seasoned industry professionals. This article breaks down the essentials of innovative design techniques that have a proven track record for engaging investors. Learn from the best as expert insights illuminate the path to creating presentations that resonate and drive engagement.

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i2E Showcases Startup Innovation at Bridge2 Cohort 3 Demo Day

Innovation 2 Enterprise

Earlier this month, ten dynamic Oklahoma startups took the stage at Bridge2 Demo Day, marking the conclusion of the third cohort of i2E’s Bridge2 Pre-Accelerator. Held at Gradient, Tulsa’s Innovation Hub, the event spotlighted founders who have spent the past 16 weeks refining their ventures through tailored curriculum, expert mentorship, and strategic preparation for the next stage of investment and growth.

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From Curiosity to Competitive Edge: How Mid-Market CEOs Are Using AI to Scale Smarter

Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage

This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.

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Fueling Founders, Scaling Impact: Inside Keshia Theobald-van Gent’s Investment Philosophy

Jason Malki

Keshia Theobald-van Gent I had the pleasure of interviewing Keshia Theobald-van Gent , an accomplished executive with deep experience in innovation, strategy, and stakeholder engagement. Proven ability to lead high-performing teams, drive operational excellence, and improve startup outcomes across sectors and regions. As VP of Investment at BDev Ventures , Keshia leads sourcing and portfolio operations, managing both strategic and operational aspects of the fund.

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Extend Raises $17M to Transform Document Processing with AI-Powered Cloud Platform

American Entrepreneurship

Co-founders Kushal Byatnal and Eli Badgio lead Extend’s mission to revolutionize unstructured data workflows with precision and scale. Extend, the AI-native document processing startup, announced the closing of $17 million in combined seed and Series A funding to accelerate its mission of turning complex, unstructured documents into accurate, production-ready data.

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Moonnox Raises $2M

HPA

HPA is excited to announce its investment in Moonnox’s $2 million Seed Round alongside M25, with participation from Early Light Ventures and Service Provider Capital. This investment leverages HPA’s operating expertise in AI to support Moonnox. Moonnox is an AI-native platform designed for professional services firms to streamline their delivery processes by enabling the creation of custom AI agents.

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8 Must-Have Tips to Protect Your Startup

StartupNation

Launching a startup is an adventure filled with uncertainty, excitement, and plenty of unexpected challenges. As you set out on this journey, protecting your business means more than just securing your data or drafting airtight contracts. It means building a resilient, adaptable, and innovative company. We’ve put together eight ways to safeguard your startup—from how you build your team to managing your finances, and choosing the right tech. 1.

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From AI-friendly to AI-first: How Zapier is transforming hiring and onboarding

The Zapier Blog

At Zapier, we believe the future of work is AI-powered—and that future is already here. Recently, we shared our AI adoption playbook , which showed that 89% of the Zapier team is already using AI in their daily work. But to make AI transformation truly sustainable, we have to start at the beginning: how we hire and onboard people into Zapier to build this future with us.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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Redefining Recruitment: How LatAm Talent Partners Is Building Agile, Borderless Teams for the…

Jason Malki

Redefining Recruitment: How LatAm Talent Partners Is Building Agile, Borderless Teams for the Future of Work Mark Mancebo I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Mancebo , the founder & CEO of LatAm Talent Partners , a recruitment firm dedicated to helping top-tier talent across Latin America land impactful roles with innovative U.S.-based startups.

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The unusual story of an unusual company – Melanie Langlotz and Geo AR Games 

NZ Entrepreneur

This is the story of an unusual games company making unusual games, built by a woman who followed an unusual career path. Melanie (Mel) Langlotz is the founder and CEO of Geo AR Games , a game design studio that utilises augmented reality for “creating digital experiences that positively impact the world, fostering education and empowerment with simulations and serious games.

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Lioncrest Ventures Launches $100M Equity and Credit Fund Platform for Growth-Stage Tech Startups

American Entrepreneurship

New multi-strategy venture fund addresses capital alignment challenges with equity and credit options tailored for scaling companies in regulated industries. Lioncrest Ventures has officially launched with the debut of a $100 million multi-strategy investment platform designed to support growth-stage technology companies. With an initial close of $30 million, Lioncrest is positioning itself as a next-generation venture firm, offering both equity and credit capital to meet the evolving needs of f

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Lesson #373: When to Fire Yourself as CEO?

Red Rocket

Most CEOs don’t usually think about putting themselves up on the firing block, but there any many instances where you as the CEO of the business may be holding your business back. You need to be honest in your assessment of yourself as CEO, to make sure you are in fact the right person for the job. This post will help you identify certain scenarios where a CEO change may be necessary, even if it means you firing yourself from the job.

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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From Burnout to Breakthrough: How Founders Can Reignite Their Passion

StartupNation

You didn’t launch your startup to feel like a shell of yourself. However, somewhere between the endless pitching, tight cash flow and back-to-back 14-hour days, your spark started fading. You’re not lazy. You’re not failing. You’re burned out. And you’re not alone — research shows that burnout is common among high achievers, including founders, who are juggling constant uncertainty and responsibility.

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The 8 best vibe coding tools in 2025

The Zapier Blog

Decades ago, building the Facebooks and Twitters was reserved for a small elite. Those who speak in functions, methods, who know what lint and boilerplate are. People into obscure memes, who love to watch sorting algorithms compete against each other on TikTok. No-code was the first opening of that group to mere mortals like us. But now the gate is wide open: vibe coding tools, as coined by Andrej Karpathy , are here to make you forget the code even exists.

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Empowering Nonprofits with AI: Ron Rivers on Innovation and Impact

Jason Malki

Ron Rivers I had the pleasure of interviewing Ron Rivers. Ron is a co-founding member of Nonprofit Navigator , an experienced nonprofit Executive Director, former web2 entrepreneur with a successful exit, and best-selling author exploring the intersection of spiritual renaissance and systemic reformation. As a frequent speaker at industry conferences, Ron currently champions the equitable use of artificial intelligence for impactful socialchange.

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CRM setup for success – Part 2

NZ Entrepreneur

Part two of this series explores seven ways to improve CRM adoption and deliver maximum value. You’ve got a new CRM to support sales success. Why won’t your team use it? Part one of this series dealt with the practical steps to set up your CRM (customer relationship management system) for success. In Part two, the focus is bringing your whole sales team on the journey to deliver the full return on investment from your CRM implementation.

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How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

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David Secures $75 Million Series A to Redefine Functional Nutrition with High-Protein, Zero-Sugar Products

American Entrepreneurship

The company’s rapid scale to over 3,000 retail locations in just one year places it on the path to become the platform of choice for science-backed nutrition. David, the rapidly growing health and nutrition startup, raised $75 million in Series A funding, led by Greenoaks with participation from Valor Equity Partners. The round follows David’s meteoric rise since its launch in late 2024 and positions the brand for continued growth as a leader in the functional food category.

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President Lee’s Innovation Agenda: What It Means for Startups in South Korea and Beyond

AsiaTechDaily

When Lee Jae-myung took office as South Korea’s new president in June 2025, he inherited not just a polarized electorate, but also an economy grappling with slowing growth, deep tech […]

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7 Proven Inbound Marketing Tips to Grow Your Startup

StartupNation

Why should you learn inbound marketing tips for growing startups? Well, because inbound marketing is a more affordable and sustainable model than other marketing approaches. And building awareness around your startup can be a tough task. Starting a business today is easier thanks to the internet. However, there’s a challenge: The competition for customers is high given the low entry barrier.

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21 Facebook ad examples (and why they work)

The Zapier Blog

I have a bad habit of screenshotting Facebook ads and sending them to friends completely unprompted. They don't ask for ad breakdowns, but I send them anyway. Chalk it up to occupational hazard: as a marketer and consumer of ads, I can't help but take note of ads that nail the hook, the message, and the execution. Get your leads where you need them Automate Facebook Lead Ads Here, I've rounded up standout Facebook ad examples that do just that.

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Your Fractional Finance and Accounting Team

Mighty Financial specializes in supporting the financial aspirations of small businesses and entrepreneurs. With our comprehensive bookkeeping and precise accounting expertise with decades of experience across diverse financial roles, our team offers tailor-made services ranging from essential bookkeeping to strategic fractional CFO support, catered specifically to the unique challenges of technology companies, startups, and SMEs.

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RFQ | Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Project Management

Forward Cities

Overview Forward Cities, a national nonprofit committed to inclusive economic growth through entrepreneurship, seeks a strategic consulting partner to co-design and implement a set of field-informed solutions that advance Durham’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. E3 Durham (E3D) is a place-based, inclusive entrepreneurs initiative supported by Durham County’s ARPA funding.

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Rising Tide: The Business of Climate Innovation

Revolution

We kicked off the morning in Baltimore with an engaged room, strong coffee, and a simple premise: climate innovation is urgent, accelerating, and will pay dividends. As part of our Beyond Silicon Valley Speaker Series, we collaborated with the Pava Center , Conscious Venture Partners , and J.P. Morgan to bring together founders, investors, and local leaders for a conversation about the business of climate tech, and what it will take to scale solutions that make both environmental and economic se

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Seven Stars Launches $40M Fund Backing Founders Shaping the Future of AI Applications

American Entrepreneurship

The newly launched fund will focus on pre-seed and seed stage startups developing AI applications. In a major boost for the artificial intelligence startup ecosystem, Seven Stars, a new venture capital firm founded by former SV Angel Partner Steven Lee, has officially launched its $40 million inaugural fund to support early-stage AI startups. The fund, which was oversubscribed in just five weeks, will focus on pre-seed and seed-stage investments in AI application companies across both the consum

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Bootstrapped CPC rule of thumb: ARPU/25

A Smart Bear: Longform

A Smart Bear » Bootstrapped CPC rule of thumb: ARPU/25 All Articles Topics Author Moon Sun All Articles Topics Author Subscribe By Jason Cohen on April 29, 2013 Reading time: 7 min Simple eReader (Kindle) Rich eReader (Apple) Printable PDF Bootstrapped CPC rule of thumb: ARPU/25 by Jason Cohen on April 29, 2013 source In the first year of business, you have no data for decision-making.

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Digitalization: 5 Tech Updates That Will Help You Survive The Recession & Thrive

Lack of digitalization decreases business competitiveness. To thrive, embracing modern solutions becomes essential. The approach to digitalization often aligns with a company's business model. This shift not only boosts productivity but also automates processes and improves security. The tech market offers a wealth of technologies tailored for management, planning, and forecasting, replacing outdated pen-and-paper methods.