Stony Hill Advisors

🎉🎄Fabulous Festive Friday!🎄🎉 What a week it's been! Across the 🇺🇸 our Stony Hill Advisors, Inc. team has been celebrating the year's achievements in a whirlwind of good cheer and camaraderie. 🥂 From festive holiday parties 🎄 and touching base with clients, vendors, partners and associations, we understand the importance of the face to face connection. (Here's Geoff Miller and I leaving an event.) Now, as the dust settles it's time to spend the quality time with friends and family. Then after NYE and the last of the confetti is swept away, it's time to shift gears and go head first into the exciting journey of 2025. ➡️ Here's to a fantastic Friday and an even better year to come! ➡️ What are your plans for the weekend? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 👇

Sahasra Boga welcome to the team!

🎁 Holiday travel is here, with it delays and crowded airports.😫 Instead of frustration and stress, why not use this time to your advantage 🤔, with a smile and being human? 😁 Remember when networking on planes was a thing? Now, everyone seems to be in their own little world. 🙈 But think about it: you have hours of potential connection time just waiting to be tapped into! 💡 I've personally made some game-changing connections on planes – deals closed, friendships formed, and stories for days! 🤯 So ditch the noise-canceling headphones, put on a friendly face, and see what happens. ✨ Here are a few tips to make the most of your in-flight networking: ✈️ Start with a simple hello: A warm greeting can work wonders. 🗺️ Find common ground: Maybe it's a shared destination or a book you both love. 🧳 Be respectful of their time: Not everyone is up for a chat, and that's okay. 🤝 Exchange info strategically: If the conversation flows, connect on LinkedIn, electronically, or old school swap business cards. You never know who you might meet at 30,000 feet! 😉

Happy to share that I'll be joining Stony Hill Advisors as a Financial Analyst Intern in January. I’m thrilled to contribute to the team and dive into meaningful work in M&A. A special thank you to Dave Dickens for introducing me to the firm and guiding me through the process. Excited for this next chapter!

🎄 Monday Motivation! Get it Done! 🎄 🔮 2025 Scheduling 🚀 Are you planning yet for 2025? 🗓️ If not, you are way behind! 😲 You should be thinking at least a quarter ahead at all times, especially when it comes to year-end. ⏰ It's even more important to stay ahead of the game at year end- best to jump into the new year with strength 💪 and momentum. If you are behind, here are some tips to help you get started: ➡️ Review your 2024 performance. Analyze your successes and areas for improvement. 🤔 ➡️ Set realistic goals for 2025. What do you want to achieve? 🎯 ➡️ Develop a detailed plan. Break down your goals into smaller, more manageable steps. 👣 ➡️ Start scheduling now. Don't wait until the last minute. 📅 ➡️ Be flexible. Things change, so be prepared to adjust your schedule as needed. 🤸 Remember, as much as we get hit with the unexpected, having a plan is crucial and simply makes it easier to navigate the challenges, and to better enjoy the rewards.

SATURDAY SHOWCASE 📺: 🛢️ Landman 🛢️ on Paramount+ Forget the holiday rush 🛍️ and dive into this gritty, oil-soaked 🛢️ drama, the latest from hot-hand Taylor Sheridan. As his massive hit Yellowstone finishes this weekend (finally), Landman has people talking. If streaming didn't exist, this is the show people would be talking about in break rooms (if people still congregated there). Landman throws you headfirst into the world of Texas roughnecks and wildcat billionaires 🤠💰 in the heart of the Permian Basin. starring Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris, a crisis manager for an independent oil company navigating booms, busts, and cutthroat deals in the Lone Star State 🌟. As his style, Sheridan throws it all in: feuds, corporate backstabbing and litigation, the drug trade infiltrating the oil fields ⛽️, raising young adults and marital issues, and the high-stakes struggle for power and wealth in the oil industry. Beyond the drama, Landman explores the complex realities of our dependence on the oil industry and petroleum-based products, the dangers inherent in this line of work, and the challenges of transitioning to renewable energy sources 🤔🌎. This show is a must-watch for: ➡️ Fans of Taylor Sheridan's universe gotta give the guy massive props from a struggling writer and actor, and hitting it big at a time later than most who find Hollywood success. And, how he is wisely parlaying it to the next level. When you are hot, don't slow down. 🤠 ➡️ Business enthusiasts: See how fortunes are made and lost in the volatile world of oil and gas. 📈📉 ➡️ Anyone fascinated by Texas culture: Experience the unique blend of grit, ambition, and family ties that define life in the Lone Star State. 🏜️ ➡️ Those who love a good drama: powerful performances, shocking twists, and a captivating exploration of human nature under pressure. 🔥 ➡️ Anyone interested in energy and the environment: "Landman" offers a thought-provoking look at our reliance on fossil fuels 🛢️ and the complexities of transitioning to a more sustainable future. 🌱 So grab your cowboy hat 🤠 and settle in for a wild ride with "Landman"! 🐎 👇-------------------👇 And if you want to know how accurate the show is in its depiction of the oil industry in Texas, look in the comments for a link to a great article. 

🚨 Founders & Startups: Wake Up Call! 🚨 Look at this chart.There is a fallacy, and a prevailing belief that may give you hope, but is really your enemy. What is it? It is the dream model of taking a startup from nothing to a massive exit provided by VC's. You might have advisors, be part of an incubator/accelerator, or part of an ecosystem that still pushes this model. You may think (and you may have) a disruptive idea/service/product. Just as tech can change a market fast, so has the VC landscape. With more cash, power and influence than ever, it is a different model now. Here's the reality: ▶️ VC Power is Concentrated: In 2024, a mere 30 firms gobbled up 74% of ALL VC capital in the US. 😲 ▶️ Andreessen Horowitz ALONE snagged 11%! 🤯 ▶️ Mega-Funds Rule: Forget VC's battling for the scrappy startups. It's a game of giants now, with elite firms dictating the rules. They are just a different version of an investment bank or private equity firm. 👑 ▶️ Think about scalability, to get that big, you have to have infrastructure. That means, the days of sitting with a principal at a coffee shop, signing a deal on a napkin, getting their mentorship all the way through to your massive exit, NOPE. ▶️ You want in to bump into the power players? Better have floor seats for the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, or the Miami HEAT. If you do not have a true route into one of the big dogs, you are not getting in. ▶️ Know that the term "startup" has different meanings now. What does this mean to all the founders and entrepreneurs with something real? It means: if you want the best chance to survive, and thrive, you HAVE to be open to paths beyond what you hear and are aware of. If you open your eyes 👀 and mind 🧠 you will see there are so many routes to success. How you position yourself to get there, and being open to it, is the start. Otherwise, good luck. Here's the article from PitchBook: https://lnkd.in/e2RVF4J4 👇-------------------👇 Are you ready to look beyond? Reach out to discus our capital formation strategies. Stony Hill Advisors, Inc. Small Business Development Group, Inc. (Stock Symbol: SBDG)

Last year, I wrote a post about the massive merger between Albertsons and Kroger, and why it needed 3rd party C&S Wholesale Grocers to avoid Antitrust Laws as a monopoly. NOPE, said a US judge in Portland, and a WA judge in Seattle in two separate cases. Result- here come the lawsuits! This would have been the biggest grocery store merger in history- but the FTC disagreed, saying it would raise prices and lower workers’ wages, and that C&S wouldn't be able to handle more stores. Here's the problem with their argument regarding the elimination of competition = higher prices and lower wages. The FTC doesn't consider Walmart, Amazon, Costco Wholesale competitors because they are not considered grocery stores. But they are competition, and they are crushing it. And C&S? I bet they had a plan to find the capital needed to handle the growth. Let the markets happen, the FTC did not protect consumers or workers here. Prices are already up, both Albertsons and Kroger will just close stores down, there go the jobs anyways, and consumers in many areas get stuck having to shop for groceries at Walmart. To me, that sounds like fewer choices, doesn't it?

Small IPO’s The future of small IPOs in the $20 million to $59 million range shows signs of improvement, but challenges persist. The first half of 2024 witnessed a significant uptick in IPO activity, with 94 offerings raising $18.5 billion, marking an 80% increase from the same period in 2023. This resurgence suggests a gradual recovery in the IPO market, potentially benefiting smaller offerings. A shift towards smaller deals is anticipated, particularly for mature companies with robust balance sheets, which could favor IPOs in the $20-59 million range. The JOBS Act has played a crucial role in enhancing small companies' access to capital markets, though further regulatory adjustments may be necessary to revitalize public markets for smaller entities. Despite these positive trends, small IPOs continue to face significant hurdles. They bear disproportionate regulatory burdens, such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, compared to larger corporations. Additionally, these smaller offerings often struggle to attract analyst coverage, impacting their visibility and appeal to investors. The rise of private equity and alternative funding sources has provided smaller companies with options beyond going public, potentially limiting the number of small IPOs. However, anticipated improvements in inflation and interest rates could benefit small-cap companies and potentially boost small IPO activity. Sector-specific trends, particularly in technology and healthcare, continue to dominate IPO activity, which may influence the size and frequency of smaller IPOs in these industries. While positive indicators exist for small IPOs, their success in the $20-59 million range will likely hinge on ongoing regulatory support, improved market conditions, and companies' ability to navigate the unique challenges associated with smaller public offerings.

Reading the Greens ($$$) in Sales Leadership ⛳ Success in sales is a lot like reading a tough green on the golf course. It’s about understanding the lay of the land—your market, your team, your competitors—and making deliberate strokes toward your goal. A misread, just like a misstep in strategy, can leave you further from the hole. As a fractional sales leader and business advisor, I help businesses read their greens better. Together, we analyze conditions, adjust for the slopes, and align our shot with the hole. Whether you’re struggling with alignment or just need help reading the terrain, or maybe you need some new talent on the team, let’s tee it up in 2025. Literally and figuratively! Reading the greens can help you earn some green. Are you ready to sink that putt? Stony Hill Advisors, Inc.