InfoChachkie

MARCH 28, 2011

I had lunch earlier yesterday with Mark Suster, General Partner at GRP Partners, blogger extraordinaire and overall cool dude. I am writing this entry at 4:00 AM. Mark’s kindness and insights moved me to roll out of bed, fire up.

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GRP Partners Writing Entrepreneur 257

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 18, 2012

As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, serial entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist Mark Suster recently shared his advice with a large crowd of emerging entrepreneurs. Mark is a Partner at GRP Partners and authors one of the most widely read startup blogs, BothSidesOfTheTable.

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Entrepreneur Startup Conference Santa Barbara 272

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2013

Los Angeles-based venture firm GRP Partners announced Wednesday that it has hired a new, entrepreneur-in-residence for the company, Sam Rosen, who was formerly the founder of SpeakerGram in New York City, was involved in 500Startups in San Francisco, and also has been involved with ScoreBig. READ MORE>>.

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GRP Partners Blogging Los Angeles Entrepreneur 168

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

We have many seasoned entrepreneurs who have built successful companies here and made a lot of money for investors and themselves. I like to repeat the mantra, “necessity is the mother of all invention,&# meaning that because investors have this expectation you find entrepreneurs that focus on nearer term monetization.

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Company Companies Technology Startup 290

socalTECH

APRIL 15, 2010

Los Angeles-based Launchpad LA , the startup mentoring effort spearheaded by GRP Partners' Mark Suster, is announcing this afternoon that it has selected 10 startups for the second season of the program.

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Class GRP Partners Mentor Incubator 188

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

The round was led by GRP Partners, and also included Michel Daher, a Lebanese entrepreneur. The firm said that Mark Suster of GRP Partners will join the company's board along with the funding. Grubwithus previously raised $1.6M

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GRP Partners Seed Funding Venice Funding 150

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. Wouldn’t we be a bit hypocritical if we talked with entrepreneurs about innovation and change but we weren’t willing to take it on ourselves? What’s up with that?

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Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

It is with great pleasure that I can finally announce that we have added Greg Bettinelli as a partner at GRP Partners. This is exactly the brand that GRP Partners wants to embody. If you don’t already follow him on Twitter please click link and follow. You won’t regret it. The guy has knowledge.

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Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. Pose – Raises $5 million in 2 rounds from GRP Partners, True Ventures, Mousse Partners & Founder Collective. For the past 2.5

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Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

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 thought Sam might know some talented young entrepreneurs to apply. Come to entrepreneur pitches. Come to partner meetings.

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Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Now, I’m pretty on the record that being an entrepreneur is about being great at The Do. I had one of the biggest mental breakthroughs about what I want to do differently at GRP Partners in 2013. If you are a startup entrepreneur already my guess is that you have a heavy bias towards the Do that comes with the territory.

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Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Burstly was venture backed by GRP Partners, Rincon Venture Partners, SoftBank Capital, and Founder Collective, and was led by Evan Rifkin. Rifkin is a serial entrepreneurs, having succesfully sold his prior firm --TagWorld/Social Project--to MTV. Burstly acquired TestFlight back in 2012. READ MORE>>.

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GRP Partners Tool Acquisition Mobile 147

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2011

Mark Suster of GRP Partners has ranked number two on a list of "Most Respected Venture Capitalists". The rankings came out Thursday from Seeking Omega, which said it used technology from Lithium, review of entrepreneurs on TheFunded, and individual surveys to rank the VCs.

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Venture Capital GRP Partners Southern California Technical Review 145

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

One of the most common questions I hear from first-time entrepreneurs is, “How do I meet angels?” When I joined GRP Partners in 2007 I was offered a role as a General Partner. The compensation at the time was much less than what others told me a general partner at a VC firm would get.

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Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

socalTECH

DECEMBER 13, 2012

textPlus, which is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Matrix Partners, GRP Partners and The Raine Group, has been offering free in-network calls to others users anywhere in the world since last year. textPlus is led by Scott Lahman, a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded JAMDAT Mobile.

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Marina Del Rey GRP Partners Mobile Startup 159

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

Entrepreneurs always walk away with new relationships, knowledge, deal discussions and enthusiasm. And it’s his mantra for successful entrepreneurs, “you need to be extremely focused on the details.” My action item – I will soon announce the GRP Partners CEO Summit. Greycroft – Why Accountants Don’t Run Startups.

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Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

I get paid (well) for interesting people to come in and tell me how they want to change the world – Being an entrepreneur is like having blinders on. At least for the best entrepreneurs. Some people do the conference circuit too much, get involved in lots of side projects and attend every entrepreneur dinner. I love it.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

socalTECH

AUGUST 19, 2009

This morning's Insights and Opinions article comes from venture capitalist Mark Suster of GRP Partners , who shares some of the most common mistakes he sees startups making. I often talk with entrepreneurs who are kicking around their next idea. These periods of time can leave a founder very vulnerable in the future.

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GRP Partners Startup Venture Capital Ideas 124

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). We generally have a policy to only fund entrepreneurs once the first version of a product has shipped or it near to shipping.

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CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 4, 2009

-The Scott Sanfilippo Interview Media Optimization Firms Are Red Hot In Southern California in 2009 Proliferate - Aggregate - Integrate Startups Uncensored #4 - “Finding and Working with Partners” SoCal VC’s absent from Forbes Midas List Top Five Best Uses of an Entrepreneur's Legal Dollars What Data Crunchers Did for Obama An Evaluation of Web Strategy (..)

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Layoffs Woodland Hills Southern California Orange County 159

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

What can an entrepreneur do to improve his or her company's chances of raising money in this environment? Mark Suster, Partner, GRP Partners * Quinn Li, Managing Director, Qualcomm Ventures * Ralph Mayer, Past President of Tech Coast Angels * Mike Krenn, Managing Director, DLA Venture Pipeline.

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Capital Tech Coast Angels GRP Partners Southern California 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2012

I had a very enjoyable day in Cincinnati meeting many local entrepreneurs, angels and accelerators. I was here to see one of our LPs (limited partners are the people who invest money in VC funds) called Fort Washington. I went even further when I was an entrepreneur. It’s easy to discount Cincy – it’s a “flyover state.”

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Press Course Startup Email 364

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

For starters, David had once been an entrepreneur himself so it seemed like such a natural fit. At GRP Partners we’re all in on Los Angeles having written about $35 million in early-stage venture capital investments in this market alone in the past six months. We’ll go through more bumps in the road.

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Venture Capital Startup Los Angeles GRP Partners 299

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

We caught up with Sam Teller , who is directing efforts at the accelerator, to help fill entrepreneurs in on where the program fits in the world of technology and startup acceleration. We were founded in 2009 by Mark Suster from GRP Partners. It was really just something built for the community to help support entrepreneurs.

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Class Mentor Startup Santa Monica 261

socalTECH

AUGUST 30, 2011

For today's Insights and Opinions piece, we turn again to prolific blogger and local venture capitalist Mark Suster of GRP Partners , for his insights into how a wider experience--beyond the confines of the startup world--can help you as an entrepreneur. Esther was talking about problems and entrepreneurs as far away as Russia.

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Web 2.0 GRP Partners Blogging Web 124

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

I was meeting regularly with entrepreneurs and offering (for better or for worse) advice on how to run a startup and how to raise venture capital from my experience in doing so at two companies. I know that I have not yet earned these kudos based on investment returns (although my partners have. It really started simply enough.

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Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Driven by success in the sector, accelerators, serial entrepreneurs, and more, there are more startups starting and relocating here than ever. GRP Partners. There's been a lot of talk about the boom in Southern California's startup world. Number of recent deals: 12. Key contacts: Stephen Flaim , Michael Green , Stewart Roberts.

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Dollar Shave Club Report Southern California Funding 170

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. Thursday, March 31, 2011 -- startupSD: Mark Suster from Both Sides of the Table. He focuses on early-stage technology companies.

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GRP Partners UCSD SoCal Southern California 100

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Santa Monica-based Aircam , founded by serial entrepreneurs Evan and Ryan Rifkin, has raised $6.5M Upfront Ventures--formerly known as GRP Partners--was the lead investor in Burstly. in a funding round, to offer up a new service giving attendees at events instant access to pictures taken by professional photographers.

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GRP Partners Santa Monica Services Pricing 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

He didn’t tell it in the video but, ever the entrepreneur, Scott started a business to take couples up on a “mile high club&# flight on airplanes as a way of getting all of his miles logged to get his next class of airplane license that required a certain number of hours logged. It’s part of what makes him so likable.

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Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

We were talking about a company, Factual (disclosure my firm is an investor), which was founded by one of LA’s most talented Internet entrepreneurs, Gil Elbaz , who as co-founder of Applied Semantics (purchased by pre-IPO Google for $102 million and now Google AdSense) is responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s monetization.

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Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

I’m writing this post to explain to entrepreneurs what you should be thinking about in terms of the VC’s you approach and the size and stage of their funds. For example, my firm, GRP Partners, has a $200 million fund that was closed in March 2009 and we have 4 investment partners.

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Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. So here is what I have been telling entrepreneurs privately for the past 6 months. What a bubble means for each entrepreneur. Still, market amnesia by ordinarily rational actors always surprises me. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

SoCal Tech Calendar

DECEMBER 3, 2010

What role do angel fund and incubators like Ycombinator and Techstars play in nurturing entrepreneurs to build better, bigger companies? Moderator: Vince Thompson, Middleshift and author of the business bestseller, Ignited.

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GRP Partners Clearstone Funding Startup 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 2, 2010

What can an entrepreneur do to improve his or her company's chances of raising money in this environment? Mark Suster, Partner, GRP Partners * Ralph Mayer, Past President of Tech Coast Angels * Quinn Li, Managing Director, Qualcomm Ventures * Mike Krenn, Managing Director, DLA Venture Pipeline.

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Tech Coast Angels Capital GRP Partners Southern California 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Brought to you by the team who produces Startonomics and Dealmaker LA, this hands-on "workshop-style" event will allow entrepreneurs to drill down on the key issues we face when laying the foundation to build and fund their company. Tuesday, October 6, 2009 -- The Workshop: Get Funded in One Day (Dealmaker LA). See [link] (more).

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Rustic Canyon MyLife GRP Partners Funding 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. I know it’s not single-handed as he has both fantastic partners at Foundry Group and many other community leaders. Of course I have.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317