Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. In 2010 somebody posed the question on Quora, “Is Mark Suster a Successful Venture Capitalist?” “Ok, so this guy can write a blog and source deals but can he make any money?”

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2017

I am so proud and humbled to be able to formally announce that Upfront Ventures has raised its 6th venture capital fund in the past 21 years. A huge thank you to all of the Limited Partners who have entrusted us with your capital, time and reputations. Overall we write about $100 million of investment checks every year.

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Funding Venture Capital Santa Monica Invest 287

socalTECH

JUNE 27, 2013

Despite the increase in startup activity in Southern California, local venture capital funds are still few and far between, and a large chunk of the funding here is still from Sand Hill Road. It''s good news for us, but it''s also good news for Los Angeles technology. Tell us about the new fund?

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Funding Venture Capital Los Angeles Social Media 196

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” My job as a VC isn’t to beat myself up or any other partner up for the one deal we didn’t do. Mostly kidding.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

There’s no straightforward road for Meta to follow, they have to blaze a trail where others are actively failing and keep the rest of their company together while they do so. I’ve been writing quite a bit about crypto lately, and this week I dug into a particularly interesting facet of the industry called DAOs.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). I'm a bit of an anti-VC, as you know. It's all about leverage. bkuo READ MORE>>.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. When should a VC invest? Start writing down predictions about people, companies, and markets. Between TechCrunch today and my former roles in venture capital, I’ve had the opportunity to practice timing a lot.

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Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2013

What I love about writing is that you inadvertently say what many others are thinking and just knowing that somebody else is thinking something similar can be reassuring. Example: Fred Wilson writing his end of 2012 post wrote. “I’ve wanted to write a year end post for days. ” I felt that way exactly.

Writing 313

Writing Venture Capital Blogging Startup 313

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

63 Los Angeles Entrepreneurs To Be Proud Of By mario on May 2, 2012 in Features , grid. Features like this, as well as our daily interviews wouldn’t be possible without the amazing support of our sponsor eMinutes – a law firm here in Los Angeles that focuses on helping entrepreneurs structure their companies.

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

Earlier this week, Derek Norton , a long time advisor to the media, Internet, and technology industry in Los Angeles, announced a brand new venture capital fund called Watertower Ventures (www.watertowerventures.com). What I am trying to do, is to build a new type of venture capital firm.

Invest 145

Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2018

What's the best way to build a strong portfolio of technology companies, which tap into the broadest markets and avoids the "bubble" group-think of many venture firms? For this morning's interview, we sat down with Marlon Nichols , co-founder and Managing Partner of Los Angeles-based Cross Culture Ventures (crossculturevc.com).

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Venture Capital Invest Capital Startup 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Last year I was on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley meeting with one of the most prominent venture capital firms in the country. The VC partner, somebody I greatly respect said, “Yeah, we like Gil and what they’re doing. Los Angeles. There are no $600 million funds in Los Angeles.

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Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

Finally for startups there’s a $31 billion available for programs that give small businesses access to credit, venture capital, and R&D dollars. Wander is one-such service providing high speed wireless internet in Los Angeles. ” Climate resiliency . Sick of your ISP?

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I need to take some VC meetings. But it did take Brad as a public spokesman, consummate networker and successful VC to help create legitimacy to let David’s ideas flourish. When you think about the success that is Silicon Valley, the unfair advantage is not just the huge amounts of available venture capital.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. He is very pleasant when he calls and writes.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

Redpoint Ventures is one of the venture capital firms which has straddled both Northern California and Southern California, with offices in both locations. It would be interesting to hear about where your interests are nowdays, there was a rumor Redpoint had backed off activity here lately.

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Redpoint Southern California Cornerstone OnDemand Invest 154

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

There seems to a perpetual shortage of local venture capital investors in the region, despite the huge growth in startup activity here, particularly along Silicon Beach. Gerard Casale: We''ve been agnostic to the kinds of deals we''ve been making over the last five or six years we''ve been angel investors. READ MORE>>.

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Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Let me start with the obvious baseline that most people probably know instinctively: Los Angeles is the 3rd largest technology startup ecosystem in the US. billion in venture capital to LA’s technology startups and 2014 will shatter that figure. billion (Upfront Ventures was an early Overture backer).

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

The dinner parties now are filled with self-righteous angel investors bragging about how many deals they are in on. They have marked-up paper gains propped up by an over excited venture capital market that has validated their investments. Logic tells me the following: It is hard to make money angel investing.

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Our profile this morning is with Network Automation , a Los Angeles company competing in the IT automation market. It's nice chatting with you again about your company--you're here in Los Angeles, aren't you? The traditional way to handle that is to write code. You are self funded too, we recall.

Networking 214

Networking IBM IBM Pacific Palisades 214

Jason Nazar

MARCH 22, 2011

I asked the panelists ( David Travers , Brian Norgard , Fouad ElNaggar , & Demian Sellfors ) about the specific challenges that we face down here in Los Angeles as opposed to Silicon Valley. That’s typically not the case in Los Angeles. It’s a chicken and egg problem.

Company 111

Company Companies Startup Twiistup 111

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

I grew up in Los Angeles and went to undergrad at UC Santa Barbara, graduating in 2003 with Honors in Economics. You are writing about the essentials of business. I am planning right not to write a post about how startups often get SEO wrong. Los Angeles is a great place for startups. That's great.

Startup 150

Startup SEO Pepperdine Blogging 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

I regularly do wine tastings here in Los Angeles with some interesting folks I know. Where I use the Discussion Group: * Ive not been very active in the discussion group on particular topics. I am in the middle of writing up some of my thoughts on this and will post about it and let you know. event I did last fall.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Part 1: Inside the mind of an angel investor and how it differs from professional seed investors and VC. As an angel, do you reserve money for follow-on investments? A typical VC (A round) will reserve at least 100-200% of initial investment. Companies on the west coast ideally located in Los Angeles or San Francisco.

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Angel Startup Ideas .Net 302

socalTECH

JULY 13, 2009

This morning's interview is with Mark Suster , a venture capitalist at GRP Partners (www.grpvc.com). GRP has just recently closed on a new $200M fund, and Mark has been one of the more active venture capitalists in the Los Angeles area in recent months. What's your thoughts on the local venture market?

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GRP Partners Southern California Santa Barbara Rustic Canyon 157

socalTECH

AUGUST 3, 2009

Sean is looking to locate his startup in the area, so we sat down with Sean to learn more about the company's software, as well as what brought him to the Los Angeles area. The simple version is you want to meet someone at a specific venture capital firm, you can figure out who you know who would know that person.

Networking 113

Networking Startup Social Network Software 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

If you have a team of 10 people then by definition 90% of the time spent on activities is not put in by you and on a team of 100 it’s 99%. We’re a national venture capital investment firm but with our roots firmly in Los Angeles. Many tech execs (and VCs) I know have “bunker mentality.”

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

If you were to run an analysis on me you’d find that I tend to follow a number of people in the VC industry as well as tech professionals. If I Tweet about the Wynn Hotel while I’m in Las Vegas that Tweet has a different value to local business than if I Tweet it from my office in Los Angeles. Let’s look again at Adly.

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 30, 2012

We write and create our own content for the game. Start Engine is a rapid accelerator focused on helping Los Angeles-based technology startups build a solid foundation for success in 90 days. We leverage our network in the Los Angeles community to provide members with access to potential employees, mentors and investors.

CalTech 91

CalTech Company Companies Idealab 91

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2012

There are so many activities and events that have sprouted this year to support the thriving tech scene in Southern California. With all these many activities and so many people coming together it becomes inevitable that situations may arise that can interfere with the community’s best interest.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas San Diego Mentor 100

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

► August (1) Invest in Transparency & Active Communication ► July (1) The Fear of Success ► May (2) Optimized for Speed = 30% Waste Happy 1st Birthday Rubicon Project! ► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? Venture Capital Funding 7. ► October (1) New Video!

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40