Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2013

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report were released today, finding that a total of $683.7M was invested across Southern California in Q4 of 2012. The funding brings Southern California's total 2012 investments to $3.2 billion in venture capital.

Southern California 237

Southern California Orange County GRP Partners San Diego 237

socalTECH

OCTOBER 18, 2012

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report finds that companies here in Southern California raised $695.4M billion has been invested in the region via venture capital. billion in investments; followed by New England, with $826.1M in investments.

Southern California 210

Southern California GRP Partners Funding Orange County 210

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “what’s it like being a VC?&# I’ve been a VC for nearly 3 years now. I always start my answer to this question with, “you’d have to be a pretty big baby to complain about being a VC.&# And the VC job has plenty of admin and minutiae.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2012

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report finds that companies here in Southern California raised $695.4M billion has been invested in the region via venture capital. billion in investments; followed by New England, with $826.1M in investments.

Southern California 180

Southern California GRP Partners Funding Orange County 180

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. After that you could tell that Greg was really “all in” on the LA technology community. This is exactly the brand that GRP Partners wants to embody. You won’t regret it.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2012

Los Angeles-based venture capital investor GRP Partners has re-upped its investment in social data analytics firm DataSift , in a Series A follow-on announced this morning. DataSift said that existing investors GRP Partners and IA Ventures invested $7.2M

GRP Partners 145

GRP Partners Venture Capital Los Angeles Invest 145

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Los Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners --which has been very active in the local technology startup market--has made its latest investment, in an interesting industry: mortgage lending. GRP is the lead investor in Skyline Financial , a Calabasas-based provider of mortgage banking and lending.

GRP Partners 160

GRP Partners Calabasas Venture Capital Invest 160

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Los Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners has scored an exit at one of its portfolio firms, Las Vegas-based HealthDataInsights. GRP Partners owned 30% of HealthDataInsights. GRP's investment in HealthDataInsights was overseen by Yves Sisteron. READ MORE>>.

GRP Partners 133

GRP Partners Venture Capital Los Angeles Capital 133

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

I had been trading emails & Tweets with venture capitalist John Frankel and we were to meet in person in March 2011 at SxSW to talk about Klout and other investments he had made. We met at a private party hosted by his venture partner Mike Yavonditte and I outlined my concerns for the lack of precision of the algorithm.

Cornerstone OnDemand 303

Cornerstone OnDemand Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup 303

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. So back to MBAs.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

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

socalTECH

JUNE 27, 2013

Despite the increase in startup activity in Southern California, local venture capital funds are still few and far between, and a large chunk of the funding here is still from Sand Hill Road. It''s good news for us, but it''s also good news for Los Angeles technology. All of our partners are based here. READ MORE>>.

Funding 196

Funding Venture Capital Los Angeles Social Media 196

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. 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. Our portfolio companies value us as sparring partners. What’s up with that?

Funding 343

Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

socalTECH

JANUARY 10, 2013

in funding, which was led by GRP Partners, and also included Baroda Ventures , Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments , Daher Capital , Double M Capital , Karlin Ventures , Launchpad LA, as well as angels. Online advertising firm YieldMetrics said Thursday morning that it has raised $1.7M

Bertelsmann 174

Bertelsmann GRP Partners Advertising Tool 174

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

He knows every startup & VC in town.” I told him that our market was absolutely booming and was worthy of a commensurate investment. Invest they have. They scooped up none other than David Hernand who will join the practice as managing partner. And he’ll be heading the Business & Technology Group.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Startup Los Angeles GRP Partners 299

socalTECH

JULY 15, 2010

Investments by venture capitalists in Southern California were up, both in terms of deals and dollars in Q2, according to the latest numbers from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). in 91 investments, up significantly from the $451.8M Nationally, venture deals in the U.S.

Southern California 174

Southern California Orange County Rustic Canyon SoCal 174

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

And we’re left with a city with idyllic weather, major commerce, the media center of the world, and a great emerging technology scene. But we have a great city for building technology companies. Funding is different – In Silicon Valley you have mega venture capital funds and many of them.

Company 290

Company Companies Technology Startup 290

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. Come hear him talk about about SoCal startups, entrepreneurship and the investment scene.

GRP Partners 100

GRP Partners UCSD SoCal Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

But less as a complaint and more as advice to younger networkers, the more you invest in relationships the more you will get when you need. It’s why I talk about building VC relationships early – Lines, Not Dots. Fill your VC good will, build relationships, be helpful to them not just asking for things. Be helpful.

Venture Capital 407

Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

socalTECH

JANUARY 19, 2012

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture capital Association MoneyTree survey, which is based on data from Thomson Reuters, tallies $738.34M invested in Southern California in Q4 of 2011. raised in Q4 of 2010, and up from the $652M invested in the region last quarter. in venture funding.

Southern California 157

Southern California Orange County San Diego GRP Partners 157

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

He eventually applied his lessons learned in these experiences when he founded Zag, a company that helps consumers buy cars over the Internet at pre-negotiated prices with nearly 4,000 dealers across the country [disclosure: my firm GRP Partners is an investor in Zag]. Investing much of new cash to build presence in Android platform.

Zag 248

Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

The round comes from GRP Partners, Greycroft Ventures, and Matt Coffin, the founder of LowerMyBills. Singh was most recently EVP of Product, Technology, and Operations at News Corp.'s Mark Suster led GRP's investment in the company, with Dana Settle leading Greycroft's involvement. s Fox Audience Network.

GRP Partners 154

GRP Partners SoCalTech Advertising Venture Capital 154

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

One of the investment themes I’ve been focused on in the past 3 years has been Performance-Based Marketing. When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. We can technology enable offline advertising. Thus, we click!

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

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. When I’m on a VC panel, I’m always amused by the answers from my co-panelists as they are usually the same set of “VC cliches” which makes it even more fun when I blurt out my answer.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

socalTECH

JUNE 3, 2010

helps celebrities, musicians, and other social influencers monetize their Twitter and other activity streams with advertising; the firm is backed by GRP Partners, Greycroft Partners, and LowerMyBills' Matt Coffin. squarely into a multi-way intersection of who's who in Southern California's blog and technology world.

Advertising 168

Advertising Userplane GRP Partners Mahalo 168

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. I'll list three, not necessarily in order. (1) 1) Mobile web.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Southern California Cloud Computing Venture Capital 160

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. At the time of that investment I had exchanged notes with Dave McClure who also invested. Come to partner meetings. Jordan Hudson.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 14, 2014

Last year, the humbly brilliant and veteran entrepreneur (I totally signed up for www.MoviePass.com the second I saw it), joined Upfront, as a venture partner. The post Innovation Crush | How an Investor Thinks Through Innovation appeared first on TechZulu.

GRP Partners 87

GRP Partners Startup Incubator Venture Capital 87

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. My action item – I will soon announce the GRP Partners CEO Summit. And awesome to get to spend time with Ian Sigalow “comparing notes” (VC speak ).

Startup 279

Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279

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.&#.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. I need to take some VC meetings. And I think about the “Seattle issue&# as a metaphor for startups and business in general.

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 ). Optimization technology is not new.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. I said that I felt that Micro-VCs were the most important change in our industry. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

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. An ad:tech Innovation Award-winning company, SteelHouse is the technology industry’s real-time marketing solution for online retailers.

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Venice Social Media 111

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. Some will cite my investment two years ago in social-media advertising company Ad.ly

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

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