Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

Non VC Growth Rounds. The other major trend of 2012–2015 was the entrance of “non VCs” into late-stages of venture capital , which mostly consisted of hedge funds, mutual funds, corporate investors, sovereign wealth funds and even LPs doing direct deals. VC Infighting. It helps control bad instincts / behavior.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

*. What is the role of a VC for entrepreneurs? I suppose it can be different for every founder and for different VCs but I’d like to offer you some context on what I think it is and it isn’t. In my view the best VCs are merely your guides. They are unique to you and not to each other situation that VC has faced.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

And there’s none that makes me happier than to announce that Jordan Hudson has been promoted to a Principal at Upfront Ventures. Please help me congratulate him by Re/Tweeting this post (and following him if you don’t already). What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures?

Help

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. What was the post money on your last round (and how much capital have you raised)? So why does a VC ask you? In the first place they’re looking for “fit” with their firm.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages? ” That is a problem for the founder and the VC. And the VC isn’t happy because he or she owns 17.4%

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

If you want to understand the software trend that drove the creation of the seed-stage VC phenomenon I wrote about it that linked blog post but in short: cloud computing drove down the cost to create startups enabling a new category of investor. Some quick highlights include: The Role of a Seed Stage VC. Startup Lessons'

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. You have to decide how hard to help with downstream marketing for your deals.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. Of course there’s no exact number of VCs you should meet?—?these

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2020

But I have been in close contact with the NVCA, many of the major law firms and many of the major VC firms. Along with my partner Stuart Lander, who runs operations at Upfront and is a former lawyer, we have scoured through, debated and helped scores of companies make this determination. Am I ineligible since I’m VC-backed?

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

So part of seeing you with a team is to get a read on team dynamics and believe me all VCs discuss the team dynamics after you leave as in. Here are some guidelines for you – particularly for VC pitch meetings. Help them prepare and practice. Weave in their pitch to an overall pitch narrative.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. They are venture bankers not investment bankers. ” I love businesses that don’t lend themselves well to VC Panels at conferences or Demo Days.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 24, 2015

I recently interviewed Matt Mazzeo of Lowercase Capital. 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.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). Operating experience (Helped run parts of CitySearch & UrbanSpoon, tons of product management experience, Board of Hatch Labs which helped spawn Tinder). She rolls up her sleeves and helps get tasks done rather than just directing people.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). I helps me be even longer in the positions I am still in.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” Bowery Capital).

Venture Capital

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. — Tyler Babin (@Tyler_Babin) March 11, 2019.

Van Nuys

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

The entire dinner was a discussion of what it would take for our software to help this customer be successful, what he liked about it and where we needed to improve. Contrast that with a VC conversation I had. I even once met with one very, very well known VC who told me, “I don’t attend LP meetings.

Customer

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. Be helpful. It’s why I talk about building VC relationships early – Lines, Not Dots. It becomes easier to ask when you need help or money.

Venture Capital

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 16, 2019

With a focus on female venture capitalists and founders, All Raise hosts an annual conference, several in-person and virtual fundraising workshops and networking sessions and, recently, the group began creating curated peer groups for investors. Currently, All Raise manages 14 active cohorts made up of 175 women. It’s highly concentrated.

Venture Capital

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Instead, several former SpaceX employees have launched a raft of new companies, capturing the imagination and dollars of some of the biggest names in venture capital. “ It was a company in LA more than it was an LA company.” ” .

SpaceX

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

I’ve talked before about the need to get rid of “ that negative chip on your shoulder ” as it won’t help you in business. I once went to a startup event where a VC told the audience that if a VC doesn’t respond to your email to move on to the next VC – that VC is clearly not interested.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. Some of the most helpful people to me personally have been people not being directly compensated for doing so. VENTURE CAPITAL. And finally that brings me to obvious topic of venture capital. It’s a great read. EXECUTIVE COACHES.

Startup

socalTECH

JUNE 17, 2021

The Alliance said the program came about, because SoCal founders continue to struggle to raise growth capital despite "a wealth of talent and potential".

Southern California

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Generally speaking in venture capital financings the legal documents will specify that only “major investors” (a threshold set in the agreement – which can be $500,000 investor or more). Does he blog about venture capital and try to advise entrepreneurs? Has written a book on venture capital.

Venture Capital

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. Well, the venture capital industry has changed a lot in the past 20 years … and we have too.

Funding

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

Because my role as a VC requires me to take and endless stream of meetings I long ago decided I need to learn as much as I can from the meetings I attend so I often just ask tons of questions and assimilate knowledge. The feedback was always universal, “that was the most helpful marketing meeting I’ve every had.”

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. Hamet came up with this idea after 3 years consulting for Nielsen Media helping them to figure out the value of branded integration and trying to define ways to measure efficacy of the unit. Please help me welcome him to our firm.

Invest

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

It’s a great one about entrepreneurship, friendship and the collaborative economy that is helping families in need across the world. And there are a ton of dog sitters in Sacramento so I’m sure we’ll be able to help.” We proceeded to get one photo every day and it helped calm all nerves. The Background.

Venture Capital

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. This is a message we have been delivering to our portfolio privately so we figured it made sense to make it more public broadly in case its of any help to others.

Funding

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. She worked for 5 years as a VC at Battery Ventures and co-headed M&A at IAC working with Barry Diller. She took an operating role helping run Citysearch and Urbanspoon.

Venture Capital

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 15, 2021

million Series A round of financing led by Palo Alto-based Playground Global that included participation from XYZ Venture Capital and proptech-focused Wilshire Lane Partners in addition to existing backers Village Global and MetaProp. The company plans to use its new capital primarily to expand into new markets.

Commerce

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

I’m often asked about the differences between being at a VC and being an entrepreneur and whether I prefer one or the other. The biggest difference I cite is that Venture Capital often feels like an “individual sport” while startups are a “team sport.” It was more hedge fund than venture capital.

Rancho Palos Verdes

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Plus, many VC rounds traditionally didn’t guarantee angels prorata rights unless they were “major investors” which often means they wrote large checks in the angel round. A day after I published this Changing Structure of VC article I noticed at least one “Angel Prorata Fund” on AngelList.

Guide

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

Every year we try to write up and publish our thoughts publicly both to help other investors & entrepreneurs and also to test our thoughts in the public market of ideas. Up next I’ll publish all of the LP (people who invest in VCs) data we gathered and what we believe this signifies. VC survey data 2016 from Mark Suster.

Funding

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

Cincinnati, like many startup communities in the US over the past 5 years, has revitalized important regions in its urban core, created accelerators, built co-working facilities, pooled together angel capital, attracted VCs, involved educational institutions and solicited the help of important corporations in a more cohesive ecosystem.

Startup