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

MARCH 17, 2010

LA generally doesn’t have an appetite for this kind of investment at early stages. Never say never – GRP Partners is actually looking very closely at a company in its A round that is raising a large sum of money. my firm, GRP Partners, was an investor). LA investors are more pragmatic.

Company 290

Company Companies Technology Startup 290

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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

million pre-money valuation is now raising $1 million at a $12 million valuation the next investor has nowhere to go but up (or sit out the investment). Just because the valuation in absolute terms isn’t a big difference does not mean that people aren’t paying higher than intrinsic value for these investments.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

” Who cut you in on their bonus because even though you’re “just an sales engineer” they know you really deserved more credit for this deal. I started working with David when I was an entrepreneur and he was an associate with a VC firmed called … wait for it … GRP Partners (now Upfront Ventures)!

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

We were founded in 2009 by Mark Suster from GRP Partners. We're not investing in ideas and trying to turn them into companies. We're investing in incredible teams that have built minimum viable product and need our help with game changing, bizdev deals, fundraising connections, or mentorships. So when is the next class?

Class 261

Class Mentor Startup Santa Monica 261

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Through advertising or direct sales, these sites harvest intent. Instead of making a few dollars per sale and hoping for thousands of sales, you sell to only a few customers, and charge much higher rates. friend of mine asked me to chat with a startup he’d invested in. they have purchasing intent ).*. Here’s why.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

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]. Investing much of new cash to build presence in Android platform.

Zag 248

Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

socalTECH

APRIL 1, 2010

in a venture round from GRP Partners and Rincon Ventures, for the firm's mobile ad management platform. Mark Suster lead GRP's investment in the firm, and Jim Andelman led Rincon's investment. Earlier this week, Los Angeles-based Burstly (www.burstly.com) announced that it had raised $1.8M

Startup 164

Startup Platform Advertising GRP Partners 164

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

I had one of the biggest mental breakthroughs about what I want to do differently at GRP Partners in 2013. I’ve written about these sales mavericks before. and it forced me to spend some serious time thinking about what I really look for when I make investments. I don’t want to be on autopilot.

Venture Capital 400

Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Value Prop Twitter Style : “Ringrevenue’s call performance marketing platform enables ad networks, agencies, advertisers & publishers to generate more inbound sales calls.”. For businesses like this, finding new ways to drive more of these high-value inbound sales calls is key. Rincon Venture Partners and GRP Partners ).

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

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. Sales is the lifeblood of every organization.

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. Everybody these days is fascinated by the “private sale&# concept offered by companies like Gilt, Ruelala and HauteLook.

Competition 296

Competition Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners 296

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

I’m not saying I don’t spend time trying to help entrepreneurs that I am not planning to invest it – anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I do. Don’t get me wrong – I still feel the pressure to ensure that the companies I’ve invested in perform well. Not any more for me.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2013

We spoke with Christopher Webb, the firm's CEO, to hear about how ChowNow's goal is to make mobile, social orders something any restaurant can afford and implement--and how a new $3M funding round from GRP Partners, Double M Capital, Daher Capital, Karlin Ventures, and Velos Partners is helping it to deliver on its mission.

Mobile 197

Mobile Startup Platform GRP Partners 197

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

The “private sale” market phenomenon was started in France by Vente-Privee (literally means “private sale”) and was replicated in Germany by BrandsforFriends. Gilt Group is currently the largest private sale web site in US. To be fair to Ben Horowitz – I think he thinks this as well. Time will tell. Total raised: $16.5mm.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

socalTECH

JUNE 19, 2013

Burstly is headed by Evan Rifkin, and backed by GRP Partners, Rincon Venture Partners, SoftBank Capital, and Founder Collective. I told him how we were looking to track people who were looking at Hiphop events in a city, and do direct sales to them and present them to brands to highlight that matched their interests.

Startup 262

Startup Mobile Outsource Development Tool 262

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2009

We brought together Peter Cowen of Groundwork Equity , Mark Suster of GRP Partners , Rick Smith of Crosscut Ventures , and Richard Yen of Saban Ventures -- all of who will be on the judging panel for the Tech Coast Angel's Fast Pitch on February 24th, to give us a their hints and tips about pitching to venture capitalists.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Ideas Entrepreneur Invest 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

When you’re one fund and have $600 million to invest it’s easier to take that kind of risk. LA generally doesn’t have an appetite for this kind of ‘swing-for-the-fences’ investment at early stages – and neither does your town. There are no $600 million funds in Los Angeles.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

I know that I have not yet earned these kudos based on investment returns (although my partners have. GRP Partners last fund is the single best performing VC fund in the US (prequin data) for its vintage year). Do you have sales productivity software? I chose for my blog to be independent of my firm, GRP Partners.

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

That next round of investment is proving difficult. But then I got a call from my lead investor (coincidentally it was GRP Partners where I now am a partner) and they told me not to lose confidence. I jumped on a plane and immediately flew to New York for just 1 day to meet with the Chief Investment Officer of ETF.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners Venture Capital 298

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