Why new Carta data shows bridge rounds might be worse than you think. | Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta

A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

Carta just released their report for Q4 2024. Peter is Head of Insights at Carta, and the person who owns their data practice. We sit down to talk about the largest trends he saw across fundraising, industries, graduation rates and even hiring practices.

Carta data shows that graduation rates from Seed to A are much lower for companies that have raised a bridge round. We analyze why that might be and what that could mean for early-stage founders.

VCs read and understand all this data. If you want to operate on equal footing— you should too.

Why you should listen:

• The role of AI in the venture capital landscape.
• Why there are a trend of larger funding rounds going to fewer companies.
• Why so much capital is being allocated to AI companies.
• Valuations for seed and early-stage companies are on the rise.
• Why bridges and extensions have become so popular.
• Why bridge rounds have lower graduation rates to Series A.
• What the data shows about how hiring practices are changing.

Keywords
venture capital, AI, fundraising, market trends, valuations, startup ecosystem, early stage, late stage, investment, venture capital, bridge rounds, seed extensions, startup growth, hiring practices, AI impact, early stage funding, market trends, valuations, exits

Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Chapters

1. Why new Carta data shows bridge rounds might be worse than you think. | Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta (00:00:00)

2. Thoughts on Q4 (00:02:00)

3. Valuations (00:07:32)

4. Hiring (00:17:45)

5. Why the Winds Are Shifting (00:25:58)

6. Top Trends (00:28:47)