Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. I had to laugh a bit reading it.

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Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

And sometimes I feel happy to help somebody even when we’re just getting to know each other. It feels much better to be helpful than to be indebted. One of the most common questions I hear from first-time entrepreneurs is, “How do I meet angels?” Be helpful. “I’ve never been a VC before.

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Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

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

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.

Zag 248

Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

He knows every startup & VC in town.” ” He was generous with his time with me and helpful. They scooped up none other than David Hernand who will join the practice as managing partner. I told David, “Look at the changes we’ve seen in the VC / funding market. He was a mensch.

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Venture Capital Startup Los Angeles GRP Partners 299

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

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. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. In many of them I get asked similar questions, including the inevitable “what makes a great entrepreneur?” Tesla is not. It's a great talk.

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Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

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. Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. How do VCs break out of group think when they are shuttling from one board meeting to the next, from one conference to the other and talking with all the same people?

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Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

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. I’ve been to similar events with First Round Capital and True Ventures. Entrepreneurs always walk away with new relationships, knowledge, deal discussions and enthusiasm.

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Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279

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

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2010

We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. Earlier today, we talked with Greg Martin at Archer Venture Capital. It's been really gratifying. READ MORE>>.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Southern California Cloud Computing Venture Capital 160

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

million led by GRP Partners, with participation from Baroda Ventures, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), Daher Capital, Double M Capital, Karlin Ventures, Clark Landry, Andy Rankin, and Launchpad LA. Less Neglect helps companies reduce churn, upsell users, and increase customer acquisition rates.

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GRP Partners Startup Tech Coast Angels Bertelsmann 96

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Stuart Lander has joined Upfront Ventures to help us run operations. Stuart is well worth following on Twitter & now that’s he’s a VC he is likely to share his wisdom more freely. We all trust each other and play to our respective strengths and weaknesses. Writing a book will be fun. Back together.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

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. Allen Morgan , Mayfield Ventures. Mark Suster , GRP Partners.

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Venture Capital Mixergy Orange County Tech Coast Angels 58

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 14, 2014

On Innovation Crush , Hamet Watt helps shed some light on the intricacies of successes – and failures – in the start-up community. His new post comes on the tail end of the company changing their name from GRP Partners, and announcing a new, $200 million fund which allows them to now take the reigns as LA’s largest venture fund.

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GRP Partners Startup Incubator Venture Capital 87

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.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

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. Funding is different – In Silicon Valley you have mega venture capital funds and many of them. my firm, GRP Partners, was an investor). I’m sure others have, too.

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Company Companies Technology Startup 290

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. These trends have put pressure on traditional VCs. .&# Surprisinly, this strategy works well with many entrepreneurs. Or at least venture-style returns.

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Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

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

OCTOBER 3, 2011

I’m often asked the question about why there aren’t more women who are entrepreneurs. 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? She has a quote from literally every major VC from whom you’d want to hear.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Blogging 341

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

My firm, GRP Partners, invested in the company that innovated this entire category – Overture (formerly known as GoTo.com). We have an analytics platform that helps advertisers discover information about the demographics of the follower base and the effectiveness of their campaigns.

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Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Leading advertising networks like Commission Junction, LinkShare, Google Affiliate Network, ShareASale and many others license our platform to help their advertisers and publishers easily create, manage, track, and optimize call-based advertising campaigns.”. Our platform helps them do that. Our partners put a lot of trust in us.

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Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

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. The CitizenNet platform helps you measure, analyze, and automate social media marketing and engagement.

Guide 42

Guide Startup Mahalo GRP Partners 42

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

In attendance we had startups galore with VC's and Angle's mixing and mingling all through the night. TechZulu captured the entire VC/Angle panel and we also had a chance to interview every StartupDemo startup company that participated. VC/Angel Panel. Allen Morgan , Mayfield Ventures. Mark Suster , GRP Partners.

Social Media 60

Social Media Technical Review Tech Coast Angels Venture Capital 60

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.&#. Who’s going to help you with improving your marketing / positioning to become a clear platform category leader like Twilio?

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

I’m very pleased today to announce that I invested, on behalf of GRP Partners, in Burstly alongside Rincon Venture Partners , an early stage VC in Southern California whith whom we love to work (and were our co-investors on RingRevenue ). He knows the ad management and ad network businesses.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

We will be bringing you some of the hottest startups around to give you a quick rundown about their companies and get to know the entrepreneur behind those companies. For those of you who may not know about StartupDemo, it is an event that TechZulu and Schmoozd have partnered up to bring you some of the hottest startups around.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. I know that I have not yet earned these kudos based on investment returns (although my partners have. By definition, you read blogs.

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Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Last year I was on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley meeting with one of the most prominent venture capital firms in the country. The VC partner, somebody I greatly respect said, “Yeah, we like Gil and what they’re doing. I’m just not sure you can build a great technology firm outside of Bay Area.&#.

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Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. You’ve got to be able to come out of unsuccessful VC meetings, pull your socks up, and go into the next pitch. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners Venture Capital 298

SoCal Delicious

MARCH 1, 2010

Surprisingly, Hollywood hasnt played a major role in the formation of new companies, which have tended to be in less glamorous though more lucrative areas like lead-generation and service (with obvious exceptions like JibJab and Hulu, a joint venture of Fox and NBC). before which is second-time entrepreneurs. startup scene so hot.

Los Angeles 50

Los Angeles Company Companies Angel 50

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

I call it the entrepreneur thesis. I’m not talk about the age old debate amongst investors whether you back entrepreneurs, markets or products (or as people like to hedge – product / market fit). It’s entrepreneurs I back. It’s what I call the “entrepreneur thesis.” So what is the “entrepreneur thesis?”

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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. You’re simply an @message away from my reaching out and asking for your help in putting pressure on our local congressman.

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Platform News Startup Invest 307