Inspired Capital

Everyone's asking what AI is going to replace. We've been asking what it can't for years. It can't automate real human connection. The experiences we share. The memories that come from them. That's why we bet on the experiential consumer, businesses built around real spaces and real people. Swipe through to see what we mean, and why we're backing companies like Arketa and Buywander because of it. Read the full thesis: ordnl.link/3YrGn0F

Every morning, 1 in 8 Americans put their teeth in. Today, our founders, Daniel Hanover and Toni Oloko, wrote to them. A full-page ad in The New York Times on why we built Dandy Fusion™ Dentures. If you wear dentures, love someone who does, or fit them for a living, this letter is for you. meetdandy.com/nyt

When should startups invest in brand? Here's my honest answer. As an early-stage investor at Inspired Capital, the most important factor in an investment decision is the founder, not the brand. In the early innings of a business, I'd rather see a founder spend their energy getting in front of customers and nailing down product-market fit than perfecting a visual identity. Your logo will not save a product nobody wants. Your customers will tell you far more about your business than any brand deck ever could. But I don't think that means brand doesn't matter. It means timing matters. As AI makes it easier to start a company and lowers the barriers to entry, brand is becoming one of the few things that can actually help a company stand out. When anyone can ship a product quickly, the story you tell, the identity you build, and the trust you earn become real competitive advantages, not decoration. So here's my advice: don't confuse brand with credibility. Credibility comes first, from your product and your customers, and ideally your customers obsessing over your product. Brand comes next, and it should tell the truth about what you've already built, not paper over what you haven't. The founders I admire most treat their brand as a reflection of real traction, not a substitute for it. Get the fundamentals right. The rest can, and should, evolve. Thanks to Sarah Wood González for including my thoughts in your Inc. Magazine piece! https://lnkd.in/g8fpE_q9

Payroll 🤝 401(k) Huge day for systems finally speaking to each other. Niural now integrates directly with Basic Capital, so employee contributions, employer match, and payroll deductions automatically stay in sync. An employee changes their contribution? Payroll knows. A new match tier gets added? Payroll knows. No spreadsheets to shuttle back and forth. No manual reconciliation. The systems handle the handoff and your team gets its time back.

We've been heads-down building at Axion, and we're excited to share that we're growing. If you've been following along, you know what we're focused on: using agentic AI to help manufacturers solve product quality issues faster, across industries where quality really matters (aerospace, medical devices, heavy equipment, and more). As we grow, we're looking for people to join us across teams. Open roles include Head of Customer Success, a Strategic Account Director, and a Senior Content Marketing Manager, among others. If you're excited about working on a problem with real, tangible stakes, and want to build something meaningful with a team that takes it seriously, we'd love to hear from you. Check out our open roles below. Link in comments. #Axion #Hiring #WeAreHiring

The world is obsessed right now with what AI can automate, optimize, and predict — and rightly so, given how much is changing. But in all that focus on artificial intelligence, it's easy to lose sight of something simpler: real joy, in real life, for real people. Not every great business is trying to replace a human task. Some of the best ones are just trying to make an ordinary day a little more fun. That’s where Buywander comes in. Buywander is an auction-based marketplace connecting value-seeking buyers with returned and overstocked goods from vetted retailers, including Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Home Depot - and the best part is that every auction starts at $1. We're thrilled to announce that Inspired and Madrona Ventures co-led Buywander's $21M Series A. We've been impressed by Jordan and Brock's leadership since we first started talking with them over a year ago, and it shows in how far they've taken this. Buywander started as one warehouse in Spokane and has now grown to eight cities nationwide, with recent launches in Denver and Chicago and an upcoming opening in Minneapolis. Excited to welcome Jordan Allen, Brock Kowalchuk, and the Buywander team to the portfolio! Read why we invested here: ordnl.link/waTg2MW Read more in Axios here: ordnl.link/JztOEnR

Today marks a major expansion for ACS as we rapidly scale production of our Bullfrog autonomous weapon station with a new 191,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. The expansion reflects ACS's continued investment in building the domestic industrial capacity and skilled workforce required to produce next-generation defense systems at scale.