Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. there is a nascent industry to try and help you with this, too. Don’t get my wrong – a great looking product can really help support a sale. ” They want technical sales to help with customer objections.

Sales

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 5, 2020

I had originally signed up to talk about the “VC Market Trends” overall but it seemed inauthentic to speak about VC funding without addressing the virus in the room. So I wrote a brand new deck outlining some Upfront views on what we may see in the funding markets ahead. I welcome any feedback.

Funding

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2019

According to Business Insider , it has worked with Uber in the past to help deep-pocketed Coachella attendees fly to and from the Van Nuys Airport to Palm Springs, renting out six-seat helicopters for more than $4,000 a pop. Called UberAIR, Uber will offer short-term shareable flights to commuters as soon as 2023.

Van Nuys

socalTECH

APRIL 4, 2019

Los Angeles-based eTailPet , a new startup which helps pet store owners create online e-commerce sites, has received a round of seed funding, the company said this week. The seed funding was worth $800K, and led by Moonshots Capital, and also included individual angels from the pet industry.

Seed Funding

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2017

I am so proud and humbled to be able to formally announce that Upfront Ventures has raised its 6th venture capital fund in the past 21 years. Upfront VI is our latest core fund and is $400 million to invest in early stage entrepreneurs. This brings our combined funds under management to nearly $2 billion.

Funding

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Keeping it to 8–10 helps you manage the public information flow that will be broader if you see 20 firms and also help you prioritize resources.

Venture Capital

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 15, 2021

These partners are acquiring assets and in most cases, are funding the entirety of capital improvements by entering into management or revenue share agreements to operate those properties,” Scriven said. The company secures its properties with a mix of buying and leasing by partnering with institutional real estate investors.

Commerce

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

So, to help other female entrepreneurs, they founded TuesdayNights (www.tuesdaynights.org), a group in LA which helps female entrepreneurs connect with capital and each other to improve their access to capital. That person you network with might be the person who is going to introduce you to the person who is going to fund you.

Help

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 24, 2015

By now most of you know that Chris Sacca invested in what is now thought to be one of the best performing VC funds of all time having invested an $8.4 million fund in: Uber, Instagram, Docker and Twitter, amongst others. I recently interviewed Matt Mazzeo of Lowercase Capital.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

Fund raising. But it’s critical for your business, for you as a leader and people who excel at fund raising have an extreme advantage over those who do not. As a VC I also have to fund raise every three years and these posts 100% apply to VCs raising money, too. It definitely has a “d” in it, as in it’s really not fun, raising.

Funding

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2018

I was recently with an entrepreneur and talking with him about his fund raising process. She had emailed with a partner at a big VC fund and he had passed the request to a junior associate. it’s just respecting your personal time and your fund-raising process as much as you’d respect the VCs time. This isn’t rude?—?it’s

Funding

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 27, 2020

The 29 year-old CEO has, indeed, built a decentralized ghost kitchen — and managed to convince Softbank’s latest Vision Fund to invest in a $120 million round for that the company announced today. “Nextbite is a portfolio of delivery-only restaurant brands that exist only on UberEats, DoorDash, and Postmates.”

Funding

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

A new program, run by the Alliance for Southern California Innovation, is looking to connect startups with Series A funding, according to the group. According to the two, the program recruits and selects top SoCal-based startups that have demonstrated clear market traction and provides introductions to leading venture funds.

Southern California

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 28, 2020

Soros Fund Management, the financial investment vehicle led by famed investor George Soros, is placing a small, $13.2 Despite slowdowns, Shao said that his business is relatively recession proof, because of its availability to government funds and the status of public transportation as a vital part of a city’s infrastructure.

Funding

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 9, 2022

The funding, a Series C, will be used to continue expanding Boulevard’s product and engineering teams and to build out more tools targeting an ever-wider set of users in the bigger wellness and beauty sector (those product additions are typically big — it most recently added a whole new payments feature). Focusing on the U.S.

Help

TechCrunch LA

MAY 23, 2019

The Los Angeles ecosystem is $76 million stronger today as Fika Ventures , a seed-stage venture capital firm, announces its sophomore investment fund. The pair raised $41 million for the debut effort, opting to nearly double that number the second time around as a means to participate in more follow-on fundings.

Funding

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 16, 2021

Squarespace has raised $300 million in a round of funding that values the company at a staggering $10 billion valuation. New backers include Dragoneer, Tiger Global, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and Spruce House.

SEM

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

If you need funding for these early stage activities, I have some suggestions on better strategies to follow. Funding sources for this stage extend from grants to large private fund incubators, such as the IBM Watson initiative a while back. Thus the best entrepreneur strategy for funding is to build solutions, not technology.

Help

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

AOL co-founder and former chief executive officer Steve Case’s venture capital fund, Revolution , deploys capital to companies “outside of the hotbeds.” Today, Washington, DC-based Revolution is announcing its latest fund. Revolution began nearly 15 years ago as Steve Case’s balance sheet fund, in essence.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

We’ve built warehouse software that helps us massively reduce the time it takes to unload inventory and pick, pack & ship back to you when you’re ready. We have built route management software so that drivers have productive routes and can cluster pick-ups and drop-offs.

Technical Review

socalTECH

JUNE 15, 2020

Recently, A new, nonprofit organization, Gift A Plate (www.giftaplate,org), launched effrts in Los Angeles, to allow people to donate to help both restaurants and families in need. The organization said it is looking to help aid restaurants and families who have been greatly impacted by COVID-19 in LA.

Help

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. I’ve become fond of saying “if I had a dollar for every person who told me just how much they loooooved Kara Nortman, I’d have a 10x fund.” She took an operating role helping run Citysearch and Urbanspoon. So What Does All This Mean? Does This Mean You’re Retiring?

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I Know Everybody Told You to Send Your Fund-Raising Decks as a Link. Here’s Why You Should Just Send the Deck I know you have your document sending tool to send your fund-raising deck to VCs and track who read your deck, which pages they read and how much time they spend on each page. A deck is a deck. Just send it.

Funding

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 29, 2021

Salted , a Los Angeles-based startup creating digitally native quick-service restaurant brands, brought in a new round of $16 million in Series A funding to continue its nationwide expansion. Our technology and Salted Analytics product helps us grow at the rate we want to and still maintain customer experience,” Applebaum said. “We

Funding

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

For example, professional investors put great priority on your previous experience in building a business, and they expect to own a portion of the business equity and control for the funds they do provide. Trade equity or services for startup help. This is the primary source of non-personal funds for very early-stage startups.

Funding

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

It had an influence on the people who fund our industry in a negative way as many asset managers who fund our industry read this flawed report. This year an associate from Upfront Ventures – Glenn Poppe – helped me pull together more information about how our industry is changing. Now they are funding & holding.

Venture Capital

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 16, 2020

Milken is taking the plunge into institutional investing, joining Norton as a partner in Watertower Ventures just as the firm prepares to close on a $50 million new fund. With that in mind, the Watertower Ventures group, which launched in 2017 with a small, $5 million fund, is a return to those roots. “I see two things happen.

Funding

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 15, 2020

That early vision resonated so well, that the firm has grown from managing one fund of $212 million to holding roughly $1.2 With that deficit in mind, the firm has set out to raise a new climate-focused investment vehicle with at least a $200 million target, and has brought on a new partner to help invest that capital.

Funding

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 29, 2017

As the firm looks ahead to its own future, Suster and the firm he's helped grow remain committed to the future of Los Angeles. The two are paired, and these days if an investor is #LongLA (to use the hashtag the firm coined), it looks like limited partners are saying that it pays to be long on Upfront, as well. .

Los Angeles

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 29, 2017

As the firm looks ahead to its own future, Suster and the firm he’s helped grow remain committed to the future of Los Angeles. The two are paired and these days if an investor is #LongLA (to use the hashtag the firm coined), it looks like limited partners are saying that it pays to be long on Upfront as well. Read More.

Los Angeles

L.A. Business Journal

JUNE 21, 2021

has raised a total of $108 million in two funding rounds to help develop its industrial solar energy technology, the company announced June 15. Pasadena-based energy technology company Heliogen Inc.

Technology

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 19, 2021

When you move around a city, you often end up farther away from some of your favorite restaurants and bakeries. Locale wants to keep you connected to the food you love, even if you live hours away now.

Help

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2021

Finally, entrepreneurs should never forget that investors really believe that they are there to help (not like “I'm from the IRS and I'm here to help”). Every funding term sheet is followed by a set of milestone commitments, which should not be considered optional suggestions. Progress milestones become management objectives.

Funding

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 11, 2022

Its approach is also drastically different from most fertility service providers — it has savvy, intelligent marketing; a tech-enabled and fully virtual care facility; a focus on compassion; and ample customer education to help patients feel involved and understood. The company today has 12 outlets in 10 cities in the U.S.

Help

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

They don’t realize that according to statistics from Startup.co , almost 60 percent are funded with personal savings and credit, and another 25 percent get their money from friends and family. That leaves only about fifteen percent that actually get their funding from investors, through crowdfunding, banks, angels, and venture capitalists.

Funding

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

At the time almost nobody had heard of the following funds: FirstRound Capital, TrueVentures, Floodgate and SoftTech. By fund II (2007) he was able to raise $15 million (if you watch the video you’ll hear an interesting story of how he did this) and he had a proper fund. I think they were all brand new or just forming.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

That company was Invoca, which just announced a $20 million fund raise led by Accel. Helping companies get to next financing round successfully: I was just beginning this phase in Sept 2010 and said so. So I think it’s now fair to rate me at 9/10 on follow-on fundings. 5 years ago. Since then? The monkey on my back.

Venture Capital