Friends,In last month’s newsletter, we highlighted how startup‑on‑startup mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is accelerating heading into 2026, driven by artificial intelligence (AI)‑fueled competition, tighter fundraising conditions, and a rising initial public offering (IPO) bar that is pushing founders to pursue scale through strategic consolidation. We also highlighted the shifting power dynamic in dealmaking, with
By Louis LehotKey Takeaways
Friends,In last month’s newsletter, we highlighted how private equity accelerated exits amid rising liquidity pressure and how venture-backed startups leaned into record levels of founder-led mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to compete in an artificial intelligence (AI)‑intensified market. Both trends underscored the need for resilience under compressed timelines, with consolidation and creative liquidity tools becoming
Friends,In last month’s newsletter, we examined how strong venture capital (VC) momentum and artificial intelligence’s (AI) dominance collided with extended liquidity timelines to reshape exit strategies. While funding and deal activity surged, delayed initial public offering (IPO) windows fueled growth in secondary transactions, making direct secondaries and continuation vehicles essential tools for investors navigating
As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about the year the way many of my founder clients do: not as a clean sequence of quarters, but as a series of shocks, reversals, and reinventions that forced all of us to adapt in real time. It was a year that felt like five compressed
https://medium.com/media/56841b21bf228e841d64486001ca986c/hrefLaurie Yoler led a candid discussion with Jessica Denecour, Louis Lehot, Logan McDougal, and Brian M. Wong on how the board evaluation process is evolving, and why board “effectiveness” must now be treated as a strategic priority rather than a procedural requirement.It was clear from the discussion that board evaluations are no longer a
Foley Event Key Takeaways- Ready for Anything: Preparing for IPOs, SPACs, and Unexpected Capital Market ShiftThis article originally appeared on Foley on December 4, 2025: Foley Event Key Takeaways- Ready for Anything: Preparing for IPOs, SPACs, and Unexpected Capital Market ShiftFoley & Lardner, Protiviti and SS&C Intralinks recently hosted an event in Foley’s Silicon Valley office
Friends,In last month’s newsletter, we discussed how Silicon Valley saw venture funding climb to $95.6 billion, marking four straight quarters of growth, with artificial intelligence (AI) dominating more than half of all capital and decacorns attracting nearly a third of funding. Meanwhile, direct venture secondaries surged as General Partner-led (GP) deals lagged, and sovereign
This article by Louis Lehot and Natasha Allen originally appeared on FOLEY on November 6, 2025: Three Trends That Will Define AI in 2026There has been a great deal of discussion surrounding the current artificial intelligence (AI) boom, as well as the potential for a bust reminiscent of the end of the dot com era.
Friends,In last month’s newsletter, we explored two forces reshaping venture capital’s risk-reward calculus: the overwhelming dominance of artificial intelligence (AI) in venture capital (VC) deal flow — now commanding over 63% of invested dollars — and the long-awaited resurgence of the initial public offering (IPO) market, which delivered a dramatic spike in liquidity and exit value for venture