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In this edition, we'll delve into AI's transformative impact on sales strategies, the mechanics behind beehiiv's acquisition of Swapstack, the power of pattern interrupt marketing, and a comprehensive mental health stack for founders.

Here’s a bird's eye view of what's on the docket:

• My Take: Move Fast or Get Buried

• Cirrus Updates

• What's Happening

• New Resources

• Fresh Fundings (Equity Rounds, Credit Transactions, Term Sheets, M&A, Businesses for Sale)

Our mission: every other week, we “gain Altitude” with the founders, operators, dealmakers, and technologists shaping tomorrow. All aboard!

Move Fast or Get Buried (The brutal truth about execution)

Every market shift creates winners and losers, but speed is what decides who lands where.

Some founders see a downturn and cut costs aggressively.

Others hesitate, debating their options while the best talent gets hired elsewhere.

Some brands use pattern interrupts - something we'll explore more below - to stand out.

Others play it safe, blending into the noise.

Some operators act first, refine later.

Others wait for perfect conditions that never come...

And while they’re still “evaluating,” their competitors are out-executing them in real time - grabbing customers, locking in capital, and hiring A+ talent while it’s still cheap.

This how the fastest-growing companies operate.
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Sometimes the most successful operators aren’t the most experienced, but they've already tested, iterated, and executed before anyone else even reacts.

It’s why AI-native startups are eating legacy players alive before regulations can even catch up.
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It’s why companies that launch fast and adjust in-market outperform those stuck in endless planning cycles.
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It’s why bold bets on category creation win, while incremental “safe” moves get ignored.

🐦 CLICK TO TWEET​

This edition of Altitude breaks down how founders are using pattern interrupts to dominate attention, why fast execution is the ultimate competitive edge, and where capital is flowing right now. Let’s do it.
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- Ryan

Cirrus Updates: Capital in Motion 📌 A couple big wins for our clients... here’s what just closed: • $9M ABL Revolver secured for a top facilities management company in the Northeast, fueling their working capital and expansion. • $2.5M Bridge Term Loan closed for a multinational geospatial tech company pushing the boundaries of mapping and AI-driven data. Big capital moves, strategic growth—Cirrus is making it happen. Congrats to all involved. 💰🔥

What's Happening

Founder Rules for Moving Fast & Winning Big FOUNDER HACKS ​ Dan Martell just dropped 20 lessons he’d tell his younger self about getting rich faster: Success isn’t final, failure isn’t fatal. Move fast, learn, and keep going. The results you’re looking for are in the work you’ve been avoiding. Stop dodging the hard stuff. Nobody cares about your story until you win. So win.

AI's Role in Eliminating "Contact Me" Forms LEAD GEN ​ B2B sales have been stuck in the stone age of lead gen—forcing prospects to fill out a form, wait days, then maybe, just maybe, hear back. That era is over. AI is making "Contact Me" pages obsolete. ​Jason Lemkin of SaaStr calls it: By 2025, the best companies won’t force you to wait—they’ll qualify, engage, and convert in real time.

Beehiiv Just Pulled an Alpha Move—Here’s Why It Matters M&A LESSONS ​ Beehiiv just swallowed Swapstack. And if you think this is just another small-time newsletter acquisition, you’re missing the bigger picture. This is vertical integration at its finest. Swapstack was the ad network that plugged into newsletters. Now, Beehiiv controls the entire pipeline—creators, distribution, and monetization.

Are Pattern Interrupts the Only Way to Get People to Give a S**t? BRANDING ​ Most marketing is invisible because it looks and sounds exactly like everything else. The same CTA buttons. The same LinkedIn thought leadership. The same "value-packed" emails. Pattern interrupt marketing slaps people out of autopilot (note my meta example in the header for this section 😉). It forces attention. It forces your audience perk up instead of glazing over your content. ​ We hear a lot about “being different” with your marketing. But true pattern-interrupt marketing breaks expectations in a way that forces engagement—whether that’s through a wildly unexpected visual, an unconventional sales approach, or saying the thing no one else will. Boring brands play it safe. Great brands make you stop scrolling. ​ 🔗 Pattern Interrupt Marketing, What Is It? »​

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Mental Health Stack: Burnout is NOT a Flex PRODUCTIVITY ​ Tech Twitter glorifies 100-hour workweeks. The grindset crowd says sleep when you’re dead. But if you’re running on fumes, so is your company. The sharpest founders treat mental health like a KPI: Lift heavy → stress lives in your body, not just your head. Schedule time off → or burnout will schedule itself. Find your people → loneliness at the top will eat you alive. Success at the cost of sanity isn’t success. Protect your mind, or watch your business crumble with it. ​ 🔗 Read Bill's take​ »​

New Resources

These are resources that may be worth checking out. (Not an endorsement, just a “hey, you might like this”).

Podcast: "Rolex – The Most Paradoxical Brand in Business" (Acquired, Feb 24, 2025)

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Rolex sells outdated mechanical watches for 100x better digital ones—and demand has never been stronger. They manufacture scarcity, operate as a charity, and have waitlists longer than Tesla’s.

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This episode unpacks how Rolex bends the rules of brand power, pricing, and status. If you want to make people beg to buy, don’t skip this one.

Documentary: "End of the Road: How Money Became Worthless"

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This gripping documentary delves into the history of fiat currency and the implications of abandoning the gold standard. It explores how these decisions have led to economic instability and questions the sustainability of our current financial system.

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A must-watch for anyone interested in understanding the roots of monetary policy and its impact on today's economy.

Fresh Fundings 🥧

Recent Equity Rounds

💰 Anthropic Secures $3.5B – AI startup Anthropic raised $3.5B, pushing its valuation to $61.5B. Backed by Lightspeed, General Catalyst, and Bessemer, the funds will fuel next-gen AI systems and global expansion.

💰 Saronic Raises $600M for Autonomous Ships – Autonomous vessel maker Saronic closed a $600M Series C, led by Elad Gil, valuing it at $4B. The funding will expand its shipyard, Port Alpha, to scale autonomous vessel production.

💰 Together AI Lands $305M – San Francisco-based Together AI secured $305M in Series B at a $3.3B valuation. The investment will enhance its AI cloud platform, leveraging NVIDIA GPUs.

Recent Credit Transactions

💳 $10M Revolver – CIBC Asset-Based Lending – CIBC provided a $10M credit line to a Midwest metal manufacturer to boost working capital.

💳 $17M ABL Package – CIBC Asset-Based Lending – A $12M revolver + $5M term loan went to a distributor of educational & recreational products.

💳 $8M ABL Facilities – Rosenthal & Rosenthal – Financing secured for a corporate uniform maker and a gift sets distributor.

Recent Transactions & Term Sheets through Cirrus Capital Partners​

💳 $2.5M Bridge Term Loan – Geospatial Data & Modeling Firm
A $2.5M bridge loan facilitated by Cirrus Capital Partners for a tech company pushing geospatial innovation.

💳 $9M Asset-Based Revolver – Facilities Management Company (PA)
Cirrus Capital Partners secured a $9M asset-based revolver to help a facilities management firm expand key enterprise relationships.

Recent M&A Activity

♟️ Stagwell Goes on an M&A Spree – Ad giant Stagwell plans to double revenue to $5B via aggressive global acquisitions, targeting Asia and the Middle East.

♟️ CICC & Galaxy Securities to Merge – China’s CICC is merging with Galaxy Securities, forming the country’s third-largest brokerage with $193B in assets.

♟️ Telefónica Offloads Argentina for $1.2B – Under new leadership, Telefónica is selling its Argentina unit and repositioning to take on U.S. tech giants.

New Businesses for Sale

💼 Ringless Voicemail and SMS Marketing Platform​
A Nevada-based business offering a platform for efficient customer engagement through ringless voicemail drops and SMS marketing.This turnkey operation is ideal for entrepreneurs seeking a scalable marketing solution. Asking price: $125,000. See it here.

💼 DTC Health & Beauty Brand – $226K Profit, 42% Margins​
A fast-growing e-commerce brand in the health and beauty space, NOHA sells seven high-margin products, with a DTC model powered by Shopify. With $537K in annual revenue, it runs lean with no physical storefront and minimal owner involvement. Asking price: $610,000. See on Flippa.

We’re working hard to make Altitude the #1 newsletter for founders, operators, dealmakers, capital allocators, marketers, and technologists shaping tomorrow. We can only do that if we spread the word.
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My only ask if you found this valuable: ⏩ forward it to someone at your company who might also find it useful.

To your growth,

Ryan Ridgway, Founder & Managing Partner

​Cirrus Capital Partners​