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- The Good Times Are Back in PE & VC: How to Navigate Venture and £30K Cap Table Course Giveaway!
The Good Times Are Back in PE & VC: How to Navigate Venture and £30K Cap Table Course Giveaway!
From secondaries and DPI to cap tables and deeptech—how founders and investors can make the most of a shifting market.
Alex Leigh
March 27, 2025
Welcome
Private markets are heating up again—and fast. From bullish forecasts in the secondaries market to a renewed focus on smart exits, this week’s edition covers why the outlook for venture and private equity is looking brighter than ever.
If you're a founder, now’s the time to sharpen your edge. If you're an investor, now’s the time to lean in.
🔦 Weekly Spotlight
The Good Times in PE/VC Are Back
Top takeaways from the BVCA Secondaries Conference 2025:
💹 Valuations bounced back in 2024—sensible, sustainable, not frothy.
💼 $216bn in dry powder = major confidence for the next 5 years.
🔁 Secondaries hit record highs, with LP-led deals dominating.
🧠 AI & ML now assist with deal screening and forecasting.
🪙 Tokenisation is coming—promising a more seamless, digitised private market.
The secondaries market is evolving rapidly—and may be one of the best risk-adjusted asset classes of the last 25 years.
🎯 Retail capital could be the next major wave.
Your move: Get informed or get left behind.
🎥 LinkedIn video
@thetippytopblog The good times in PE/VC are back! Key insights from the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) Secondaries Conference... See more
🎬 VC Perspective
The Biggest Currency in VC? Dealflow.
It’s not your fancy models or your pitch deck. It’s your ability to find, win, and get into the best deals.
That’s what makes you valuable to a fund—and credible to LPs if you ever raise your own.
Master dealflow. Master venture.
🎥 Watch the video
💰 VC Lesson: Take the Exit
In PE, exits are expected. In VC, they’re optional—but they shouldn’t be.
Too many VCs hold out for unicorns and end up with nothing. Meanwhile, those with DPI unlock real credibility:
✔️ More employable
✔️ Easier to raise future funds
✔️ Proven returner of capital
From this last week’s BVCA Foundation course—taught with Malika Arshad—this was one of the key takeaways.
Thanks to Kostadinka Malzarkova for having us!
🎥 Watch the video
🧑🤝🧑 Startups Are About People
If a founder’s mission and appetite don’t align with the journey ahead, that’s a red flag.
People move on—and that’s why leaver provisions matter. Without them:
⚠️ You risk cap table bloat.
⚠️ Dead equity accumulates.
⚠️ Value creators make others rich while they chill on a beach.
Sort it early. Your investors (and future self) will thank you.
🎥 Watch the video
💡 Entrepreneur Corner
🎓 £30K Cap Table Course Giveaway!
🚀 I’m giving away 1,000 FREE licenses to my Cap Table course (normally £30).
📅 Officially Launching Today, Thursday 27 March 2025.
This course gives you:
💼 The tools to build a cap table from scratch
⚖️ A clear understanding of dilution, options, and exits
🧠 Real-world skills for negotiations
🎯 First 1,000 get in free.
This FREE discount code link 🔗 is only valid for 4 days - sign-up before it's too late!
Reviews appreciated!
🎥 Watch the LinkedIn video to learn more
@thetippytopblog Master Cap Tables – £30K Giveaway! I’m giving away 1,000 FREE licenses to my Cap Table course (normally £30). That’s £30,000 of value — la... See more
⚖️ Smart Growth or Ego Trap?
VC money looks great on TechCrunch.
But ask yourself:
Are you ready for a high-burn, high-pressure, investor-dependent path?
Or are you chasing VC to feed your ego?
Bootstrapping might be slower, but for some—it’s more profitable and far less stressful.
Think before you raise.
🎥 Watch the video
🌍 Common Ground / Industry Trends
The Future of Deeptech Is Bright
At DBT’s Deeptech Showcase March 2025, three of UKI2S’ portfolio companies pitched:
1️⃣ Vector Photonics – semiconductors
2️⃣ Luffy AI – ultra-efficient AI
3️⃣ Quantum Dice – quantum randomness for security
Key takeaways:
🚀 Tech is accelerating faster than ever
🧠 Quantum + AI = enormous future potential
🏛️ Entrepreneurs in government can supercharge innovation
Massive thanks to the brilliant DBT team: Aekta, Toby, Meredith, Jonathan, Paul, and more.
@thetippytopblog The future of deeptech shines bright 🌟 Inspirational session at DBT’s Deeptech Showcase March 2025. The investor calendar event of the yea... See more
💬 Ask Alex
Why do founders hide things from their board?
😨 Usually out of fear—of being judged, losing trust, or seeming weak.
But hiding problems stops your board from helping. And help is why they’re there.
The best VCs understand that value creation happens in the messy middle.
Let’s do it better, together.
📉 Detours
1 million views a day 🔥 for 30 days = 30M views.
Here’s how I did it.
🎥 Watch here and see how people are noticing here.
P.s. I think I broke the algo though. It can’t handle 3 videos a day in periods of high content posting or low user engagement so things from weeks ago are still popping up so my new videos are stuck in a long queue. So I’m back to one post a day or so. DM if you want to know more.
🚀 Closing Thoughts
From secondaries coming back and DPI increasing to deeptech booming and valuations on the rise, the momentum is real—but so are the risks of getting it wrong.
Founders: be intentional. Investors: be bold.
This is your moment—make it count.
Here’s to reaching the Tippy Top—together!
Alex
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