INSIGHTS
Articles
Research and perspective from the Connetic team.
The Secondary Market Looks Like a Shortcut. It Isn’t.
Clients are asking about pre-IPO shares. Before you answer, understand the structural risks of secondary market investing, and where a better entry point may be.
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The Discount Mirage: A Markdown Is Not a Bargain
Late-stage secondary trades price at 35%–45% discounts to peak rounds, but over 25% of 2021 unicorns are worth under $1B today. Why advertised discounts often mask structural valuation overhangs.
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Private Market Infrastructure for the Digital Era
While public markets standardized digital trading and custody decades ago, private markets historically developed around manual friction. Venture360 is building the cloud operating layer for fund administration, SPV workflows, and secondary transfers.
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AI Owns the Dollars. The Opportunity Set Is Broader.
AI companies captured 86% of first-half 2026 venture deal value while representing 43.2% of deal count. A 42.8-point concentration gap that separates category momentum from deal-level selectivity.
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A Broader Opportunity Set Changes the Conversation
Brad Zapp on what advisors can learn from how sophisticated investors define the opportunity set: the lesson is not an allocation target, it is starting portfolio construction with the full opportunity set and budgeting liquidity deliberately.
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When AI Leaves the Screen
Physical AI moves intelligence into machines that must perceive changing environments, make decisions, and safely perform work. Ottonomy is building at that intersection — across 14 geographies, healthcare workflows, and a remote Australian mining village.
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Talent Is Distributed. Capital Is Not.
The San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland CSA took 52.4% of 2025 U.S. VC deal value but only 22.3% of deal count. What that concentration gap means for where private-market research should look.
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VC Has a Geography Problem
Chris Hjelm and JD Audena on why geographic concentration is a risk factor masquerading as a competitive advantage — and what coastal venture capital systematically misses.
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What Pitch Competitions Measure vs. What Research Says Matters
Pitch competitions reward what is easiest to see in a room. Connetic’s AI and founder-trait research are built to look for the less obvious signals across a much broader data set.
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From Investor Access to Advisor Adoption
Farther’s $150 million Series D, record RIA M&A activity, and advisor technology data all point the same way — wealth management is being rebuilt around advisor workflow, technology infrastructure, and client-ready implementation.
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Company Spotlight: SupportPay
Sheri Atwood built family finance infrastructure for the messy, high-stakes financial layer between households — now expanding into benefits, financial wellness, and advisor workflows.
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Shadow Valuations vs. NAV: What Most Advisors Are Reading Backwards
VCX launched at a $19 NAV, traded as high as $575, and now sits near $120 — while the underlying assets never changed. Brad Zapp on why advisors are reading shadow valuations backwards, and what NAV is actually telling them.
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Coolest Private Company of the Month: Narratize
A Northern Kentucky, female-founded AI company helping enterprises like Delta and Goodyear turn deep technical knowledge into clear, compelling narratives at scale.
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Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
Some of the best-performing funds in the world share one unglamorous trait: time. Venture capital rewards patience, and the data makes the case more clearly than any narrative can.
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