VentureRise Mastermind Recap - Oct 8, 2025

Today’s call brought together venture-backed CEOs who’ve collectively raised $87M. The energy was high — real conversations about M&A before a Series B, government contracts, AI integration, and growth strategy. Come join us next week at 10am PT on Zoom on our next live mastermind call.

Here’s the quick pulse of what we covered today:

🧭Mastermind Flow & Kickoff
We kicked off with intros and a talking through how we help each other. Each founder shared where they’re at and what’s keeping them up at night. The goal here is simple: venture-backed founders helping each other win by sharing what’s actually working (and what’s not).

💰Topic 1: Government Contracting & Pre–Series B Acquisitions
Challenge: One AI logistics founder is sitting on a massive opportunity — a $50B+ federal procurement ecosystem — and trying to decide whether to buy a key distributor now or after their Series B.

Takeaway: Get the price from the target firm and then go raise the capital to get the deal done. There’s a sweet valuation arbitrage play: buy these boring firms at 1× Revenue, raise at 8× Revenue. Finance it through current investors, integrate fast, and end up scaling your revenue faster, continuing to roll-up the space.

🌎Topic 2: Expanding Internationally
Challenge: Another founder running a e-commerce ops platform is eyeing the U.S. market. Their challenge: product modernization and AI automation.Advice: Lead with product. Automate what you can, go composable, and consider an acqui-tech play — acquiring a small U.S. company for instant credibility and local presence.

🔗Topic 3: Channel Partnerships That Actually Scale

Challenge: One SaaS automation company has crushed it with AWS, but growth outside that channel is flat.

Advice that hit:

• Deepen AWS relationships by targeting sales leaders chasing quota relief.
• Use warm intros to key PDMs (Partner Development Managers).
• Prove ROI in one partnership before spreading bandwidth thin across new ones.
• Build up channel partnerships through a cold outbound campaign on Instantly to sales people at AWS, Azure, Oracle, Google Cloud, etc.

🧠Topic 4: Managing Tech Teams Without Losing Your Mind

Classic startup tension — technical refactors vs. business urgency.

Takeaway: No open-ended “we’ll figure it out” projects. Every major build needs specs, timelines, cost, and risk upfront. Founders shouldn’t approve black-box initiatives.

🤖Topic 5: Practical AI for Business Ops
Conversation turned to AI agents — not sci-fi stuff, but real automations: handling negotiations, managing vendor interactions, and cutting repetitive ops tasks.Insight: Founders are shifting from “AI in our product” to “AI running our company.”

⚙️Tools & Tech Mentioned

• Automated SaaS Modernization Platforms: Upgrade legacy systems to “SaaS 2.0” in weeks — no code rewrite needed.
• Composable Architectures: Build with macro-services and pre-built AWS/Azure components instead of reinventing the wheel.
• AI Business Agents: Automate ops, follow-ups, and even early-stage deal flow.
• Channel Growth Tools: AWS Marketplace listings, partner enablement programs, and co-op funding.
• GovTech Forecasting Tools: AI systems predicting procurement demand better than the agencies themselves.

🔥Final Thought
This call was packed with insights — from valuation hacks to AI integration to global expansion playbooks. VentureRise continues to prove that when VC-backed founders swap real playbooks instead of theory, everybody levels up. Come join us next week at 10am PT on Zoom for our next live call.