socalTECH

JUNE 10, 2009

The firm, which develops technology that allows consumers to fully configure and price autos from affinity groups like credit unions, AAAs, and other groups, claimed that the firm has saved its buyers over $83.5M Zag has received funding from USAA, Capricorn Investment Group, LLC, GRP Partners and Anthem Venture Partners.

Zag 100

Zag GRP Partners Anthem Santa Monica 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. Rational people can disagree and some may argue that today’s prices are rational and under-pinned by economic drivers. All of that might be true, but the 2006 price might still be over-valued. That’s fine.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

Perhaps the biggest piece of new news is that after 17 years of operations we’ve changed our name from GRP Partners to Upfront Ventures. Like many modern VCs, we’re committed to investing in the community and in our portfolio companies. What’s up with that? See what we did there? That seems pretty superficial!”.

Funding 343

Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

Because it is a “series&# I plan to get into some of the deeper complexities of funds such as “cross over funds&# and “why VC’s hate to price their own deals&# at a later stage. First, if the VC does 15-20 of these under one partner then it is certain he can’t spend any time with these investments.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). Let me not bury the lede. In industry this is known as “yield management” and of course it needs to exist.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

VC’s don’t invest 100% of their own money. They raise money from institutions who want to have some allocation of their investment dollars in a category known as “alternatives,&# which is supposed to mean higher risk, higher returns. And funds also have investments from the partners of the firm.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. So the people who invest in VC funds have two problems.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 1, 2010

StartupDemo partners Mixergy & AsAble.com have just announced their VC/Angel investor panel for the event. This Panel is filled with investing super stars who will be going over amazing content for all the startups and entrepreneurs out there. Mark Suster , GRP Partners. Price: FREE. Adrenaline Fueled Angel.

Venture Capital 58

Venture Capital Mixergy Orange County Tech Coast Angels 58

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

He eventually applied his lessons learned in these experiences when he founded Zag, a company that helps consumers buy cars over the Internet at pre-negotiated prices with nearly 4,000 dealers across the country [disclosure: my firm GRP Partners is an investor in Zag]. Current round: $11mm Series-B led by Accel.

Zag 248

Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. I tell people regularly that I only invest in companies where the DNA is software. If you want to go into investment banking above a certain level you’ll need one. I had to laugh a bit reading it. So back to MBAs.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 29, 2010

I didn’t understand why she wanted to do this if she already had lined up such A-list investors but it was in a segment where GRP Partners is very strong so I it sort of made sense to me. We rallied the troops to do a 6-8pm session the next day. It was very compelling. This competitive streak paid off.

Competition 296

Competition Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners 296

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

This Panel is filled with investing super stars who will be going over must have content for all the startups and entrepreneurs out there. Mark Suster , GRP Partners. Investment trends in startups that are about or related to social media. Price: FREE. Be sure to tune in at 5:30pm PT. Adrenaline Fueled Angel.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. The magic that is Silicon Valley is that every tech entrepreneur who has made a bit of money chooses to “recycle&# it by investing back into the startup community. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). I plowed it back into 9 deals.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

Today’s post is about my investment thesis. My investment philosophy is to back the best possible entrepreneurs I can. But when I’m looking to invest the dollars that my Limited Partners have entrusted my firm with I’m going with my view. He invested $8 million in a company in the computer networking space.

Entrepreneur 321

Entrepreneur GRP Partners Venture Capital Invest 321

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

I had been trading emails & Tweets with venture capitalist John Frankel and we were to meet in person in March 2011 at SxSW to talk about Klout and other investments he had made. We met at a private party hosted by his venture partner Mike Yavonditte and I outlined my concerns for the lack of precision of the algorithm.

Cornerstone OnDemand 303

Cornerstone OnDemand Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup 303

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Today I’m announcing that GRP Partners is doubling down on the Twitter ecosystem by investing in DataSift , a company who provides a real-time data platform and tools to third-party developers and corporations. Some will cite my investment two years ago in social-media advertising company Ad.ly

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307