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This summer, in between World Cup games, I had the chance to cover the earliest-stage startup I've ever written about for @Inc: an AI scheduling app called Sidekick, which I followed over the entirety of an eight-week accelerator program. (1/8)
The AI health-tech company Suki wants doctors to spend more time working with patients and less time wrangling administrative work--and just locked down $90 million in funding to make that vision a reality. New scoop for @Inc on the medical automation player you should know...
The market for shares in private companies has gotten very weird, very fast.
With massive tech ventures staying private for years on end, retail investors are turning to the wild west of second-hand equity sales in search of exposure to the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX.
I spoke with people on all sides of this issue—from the secondary-equity skeptics at @anduriltech, to the SPV providers at @sydecario, to a corporate governance expert from @BCLAW —about what's gone wrong in this ecosystem and what sorts of changes, if anything, might fix things.
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Check it all out in my latest premium story for @Inc, and subscribe to us for more insightful journalism on the trials and tribulations of modern entrepreneurship: inc.com/brian-contreras/hot-…
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The snack brand MadeGood's parent company is now a unicorn after a successful PE exit that followed a 2.5x boost in sales.
That's despite a PE climate that's seen investors struggling to re-sell portfolio companies; experts say the backlog could take nearly a decade to clear.
Nor is it the only exit that the PE firm in question, Prelude Growth Partners, has scored this year... read more about how they've made it work here: inc.com/brian-contreras/priv…
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Leslie's Poolmart, a decades-old icon of postwar prosperity that's seen its fortunes decline after years of private equity ownership, is reportedly about to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
This should come as little surprise to readers of @Inc, where earlier this year I wrote...
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"It feels like the last day of Lehman for these guys," one pool industry insider told me earlier this year.
Now it seems like the other shoe has, finally, dropped.
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Read more about how we got to this point in my Inc. feature on Leslie's here, from our spring magazine issue: inc.com/brian-contreras/lesl…
And kudos to the WSJ for breaking the bankruptcy news here: wsj.com/pro/bankruptcy/lesli…
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Very excited to be getting this year's Inc. 5000 list live after months of work from everyone on the @Inc team! These are the fastest-growing private businesses in America: a network of small and mid-sized companies, most of which you've probably never heard of ... (1/6)
The world of business is changing rapidly. But the companies on this year’s #Inc5000 list withstood and even maximized these changes, generating a cumulative $385 billion in revenue in 2025. These companies scaling in an era of innovation. Full list: trib.al/s6l1sjD
Meanwhile, Sherman's story is an important look at what it means to run a family business in the modern day and how important an entrepreneur's parents can be in setting them up for success: inc.com/brian-contreras/my-c… (5/6)
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Check out those two profiles, and then look at the rest of our Inc. 5000 package to learn more about the most exciting businesses in America right now -- including the crazy story behind the No. 1 fastest-growing venture! inc.com/inc5000 (6/6)
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