Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There has been much discussion about VCs doing seed funding in the past year. I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. Short summary of my posts: 1.

Seed Funding 298

Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 25, 2011

Mark Suster is a 2x entrepreneur who has gone to the Dark Side of VC. He joined GRP Partners in 2007 as a General Partner after selling his company to Salesforce.com. He focuses on early-stage technology companies. Mark is a UCSD graduate and writes one of the best startup blogs on the Internet.

GRP Partners 100

GRP Partners UCSD SoCal Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

I wrote a blog post on how to work with lawyers at a startup nearly two-and-a-half years ago. He knows every startup & VC in town.” This was 2005 when I had no exits under my belt, no blogs … nobody was looking. They scooped up none other than David Hernand who will join the practice as managing partner.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Startup Los Angeles GRP Partners 299

socalTECH

JUNE 3, 2010

The deal comes shortly after Twitter said it would not be allowing other companies to automatically insert ads into its service, which looked to most direclty impact Ad.ly. squarely into a multi-way intersection of who's who in Southern California's blog and technology world. According to MySpace, it will use Ad.ly READ MORE>>.

Advertising 168

Advertising Userplane GRP Partners Mahalo 168

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. You could just outspend. Tesla is not. Stay Tuned.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA. We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer development, etc.

Startup 279

Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

But trust me when I say that my observations across many startups (and other companies, frankly) is that not enough time goes into thinking. If you’re not taking this zone-out down time I’ll bet you’re not having enough strategic reflection on your job, your company, your strategy. How can I raise the bar?

Venture Capital 400

Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Working hard together at a big company just isn’t the same. Who came in the office at 2am when the servers crashed – even on the night of the big company party. My other partner, Steven Dietz, was on the board of my second company. Stuart Lander has joined Upfront Ventures to help us run operations.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I’m very excited to be finally be able to announce that this week we’ve added Sam Rosen to our ranks at GRP Partners in the role of entrepreneurs-in-residence – EIR. I became aware of Sam several years ago as I started noticing his name repeated in the comments section of my blog. Come to partner meetings.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

By definition, you read blogs. But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? People often ask me why I started blogging. I know that I have not yet earned these kudos based on investment returns (although my partners have. This post originally ran on TechCrunch.

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 5, 2010

Jason & Tyler brought forward 5 high quality companies and super high quality ones rose to the top and quickly got funded. The San Francisco events will be run by Chris Sacca (of Lowercase Capital ) and Kevin Rose of Digg. There wasn’t a bad company tonight but I had a clear favorite. The second event was in Boulder.

Angel 254

Angel Technical Review Software Review Platform 254

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2013

Venture Capital: Upfront Ventures. Previously known as GRP Partners, Upfront Ventures has focused on early stage investments since 1996. Fun Fact: One of the most prominent figures from their firm, Mark Suster t, runs a blog startups follow religiously. Make sure to check out Both Sides of the Table

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Venice Social Media 111

SoCal Delicious

AUGUST 23, 2010

Southern California companies are second to only Silicon Valley in raising venture capital , there are three major universities to recruit talent – UCLA, Caltech, and USC – and a thriving startup community to mingle with. What are some examples of successful companies that were started here? LowerMyBills, Inc.

Guide 42

Guide Startup Mahalo GRP Partners 42

SoCal CTO

JUNE 14, 2008

I'm blogging from the CalTech Enterprise Forum. The topic is: Betting Your Company On An Internet Platform? VRM - his company - goal is to provide a Level 4 platform. Whether they originate in IM, message board trheads, mail lists or blog posts - conversations can be brought together, made re-enrant and be enhanced with media.

Platform 150

Platform EC2 Java S3 150

SoCal Delicious

MARCH 1, 2010

RSS ); Why You Should Start a Company in. Los Angeles By: Laura Rich February 26, 2010 It used to be, if you were serious about starting a tech company, you went to Silicon Valley. Mark Suster, a partner at GRP Partners in Los Angeles, spoke with Fastcompany.com about what makes L.A.s startup scene so hot.

Los Angeles 50

Los Angeles Company Companies Angel 50

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

On my blog I’ve been hesitant to take the topic head on. But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? In it she observes that only 3% of the comments on this blog are from women. Please watch this.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Blogging 341

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’ve always been a big believer that just a couple of key individuals make all of the difference in a company’s success. Your highest priority right now is hiring the 1 or 2 people that are going to join your company and make a difference. I need to take some VC meetings. The ingredients are all here.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

I had been hanging around Klout for a year and many of my friends had angel funded the company and were champions. He was an early investor in Klout and was the most compelling voice I had heard on why the company would become hugely relevant. Don’t be surprised if you see me bagsie that idea for GRP Partners.

Cornerstone OnDemand 303

Cornerstone OnDemand Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup 303

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

He invested $8 million in a company in the computer networking space. Presumably they are talented if they created a company worth $80 million. In 2006, Steven Dietz, a partner at my firm, GRP Partners, had given me $500,000 in a seed in convertible debt when I started my second company, Koral.

Entrepreneur 321

Entrepreneur GRP Partners Venture Capital Invest 321

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. And better yet, the company has a product that will turn the stream into a lake. What does that mean?

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307