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. I could tell you what’s next but then I’d have to kill you.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire GRP Partners 359

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

Idealab, led by Bill Gross, who founded Overture, CitySearch and MANY other business [Pasadena]. You could argue that choosing the name “first round” paints them into a corner in case they want to ever do a late stage fund, but I suspect they named it FRC precisely because they wanted to excel at early-stage investing.

Startup 304

Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles Santa Monica 304

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2011

So, I wrote the business plan and get investment behind it. Really, what it does is it allows a small venue--anyone with less than 500 seats--to handle everything from admissions, to reporting, to reporting, to accounting, to marketing, and customer relationships. How did you get into the technology business?

Ticketmaster 140

Ticketmaster CTO Hire Tech Coast Angels Social Media 140

socalTECH

JULY 13, 2009

Mark has also been quite active mentoring entrepreneurs, We caught up with Mark to hear about what kinds of investments GRP is looking at nowadays, his view on the software-as-a-service market, and how best to approach him with a pitch. We invested in Overture, which was sold for $1.2

GRP Partners 157

GRP Partners Southern California Santa Barbara Rustic Canyon 157

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2013

Previously known as GRP Partners, Upfront Ventures has focused on early stage investments since 1996. Their roster of success includes numerous pioneering tech companies, many of which continue to be industry leaders today — Overture, BillMeLater, CitySearch, and more. Venture Capital: Upfront Ventures. E-Commerce: Nasty Gal.

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Social Media Venice 111

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2009

Idealab has invested in the fund, and is a great partner, and has been introducing us to their companies, as well as lots of companies that aren't in the Idealab structure but where they know the founders and executives. We've got lots of contacts. He recently became CEO of X1, an Idealab company. Mike and John found me through Idealab.

Venture Capital 165

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Technical Review 165

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

LA generally doesn’t have an appetite for this kind of investment at early stages. We were also an investor in the early local listing company, CitySearch – an LA company. LA investors are more pragmatic. We tend to do more $3 million “A&# rounds and we look for companies that have an early monetization strategy.

Company 290

Company Companies Technology Startup 290

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2011

Yelp and CitySearch have been around for awhile, but Foursquare is really built on local businesses, Groupon, LivingSocial, and other deal sites are built on the backs of local businesses. That has allowed more creative people to get into video, without having to make such a huge investment it.

Networking 150

Networking Search Engine Optimization Startup Product 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

When I work with community leaders I often encourage them to “pool capital” together from many angels into a fund structure run by a small investment committee that can make more rapid funding decisions, take more risks (it is pooled capital so goes across more investments), and standardize investment terms.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Tech startup accelerators dot the landscape, feeding investments into the waiting arms of the nation’s most intelligent and driven entrepreneurs. is a good monthly investment? Coffin has personally invested in Machinima, Mahalo.com, Demand Media, Rubicon, Docstoc, ShoeDazzle, Deal Quad (sold to Beachmint), and many others.

Technical Review 75

Technical Review Entrepreneur Riot Games Southern California 75

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

So he founded … wait … CitySearch. Some IdeaLab successes / brand names aside from Overture & CitySearch? Bill doesn’t think you should over invest in them but he does believe in protecting ideas when you have a true invention and many of his companies have done so. Shopping.com. The Wedding Channel.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product Ideas 350

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

JANUARY 16, 2012

Partners make investment decisions. ” In VC terms that means the key questions you need to answer are, is this investor: Geographically focused and have they invested in my geography before? Already invested in one of my key competitors? Do they have money to invest? Meet in person. They’re buying you.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

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