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. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. They are venture bankers not investment bankers.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

“Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator. .

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

We are in phase three of the influencer economy,” Bain Capital Ventures senior principal Jamison Hill, who led the firm’s investment in the influencer shoutout marketplace Cameo , tells TechCrunch. 2020 will be a watershed year for investment in businesses around the creator economy,” Neil Robertson tells TechCrunch.

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. Brad on blogging.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

It’s the first EIR that we’ve had in the years that I’ve been with the firm and I hope will be the start of our investment in this program. We’re excited to continue to grow our investment professional staff and will continue to do so over the course of 2013 & 2014 with our new fund. Sam had different plans.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

At night I had a group dinner where I met 6 new entrepreneurs and hung out with some old friends from law firms, banks and other VC funds. I fly home Friday night, weekend on the soccer field with the kids and head into a Monday partner meeting that will be contentious because there are two controversial investment decisions to make.

Software Review 381

Software Review Startup Email Conference 381

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Only naive people believe that but for inexperienced entrepreneurs you can be fooled into the narrative by the press who sometimes write stories without the actual data. PHONE CALLS.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

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 ). Naturally I’m excited about this investment or I wouldn’t have done it.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

You’re writing a freaking blog post! I had a pre breakfast with a CEO of a company in which I invested talking about his next fund raising round. Separately, in the morning I called a seed-stage investor in NY and talked to him about investing in one of my companies. Can you please intro me to XYZ VC? Operations.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

Kind of like a law firm (or VC firm) with four partners but shortened to just two, people dropped off his second two words. I’ve wanted to write a blog post called “Mobile Second” for a long time to make this point more forcefully. The power of large screen real estate. The power of a keyboard.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

And yes, VC’s, too. They’re also good at screening candidates. Negotiate directly with your VC or acquirer with lawyers present in the room. VCs : VCs are often on your side and usually act in an ethical manner. You can sometimes leverage your VC in a “bad cop&# negotiation with a buyer.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

One of the great joys of doing the web series This Week in VC every week is that I get to spend time with great people debating the issues of our day including how our industry is evolving as well as insights into how companies got started, got their initial traction and dealt with adversities. Oh, yeah. And when there is a spark, go for it.

Startup 286

Startup Venture Capital Web Ideas 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

On Losing in VC. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. Write things down. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. The one that you thought you had. The one you were counting on.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

On Losing in VC. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. Write things down. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. The one that you thought you had. The one you were counting on.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Steve Reich

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

They have to be aggressive, and they have to be willing to write a check. He is a long-time Angel, a former Chairman at TCA, and has invested in more startups that most of us will see in 2 lifetimes. Dave advocated tirelessly for LeisureLink, created enthusiasm among the other Angels, and invested personally.

Tech Coast Angels 40

Tech Coast Angels Angel Pasadena Angels Startup 40

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. We’ll invest in about 15 new companies every year or just over 2 per partner.

Funding 287

Funding Venture Capital Santa Monica Invest 287

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

We helped the write out their requirements for a system. Something happened and it was clear to me that this IE issues was just a smoke screen. You are most vulnerable right after it has been announced that you won (I will write a separate post on this). Write things down. We met everybody in the organization.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

Jody--an experienced entrepreneur who was most recently co-founder of a firm he sold to the Virgin Group, and has been involved with such firms as Lycos, Buydirect.com, and Xoom--told us the story of EcoMom, plus how he connected with McClure on the investment. So, I reached out to this VC I mentioned, who sent him an email.

Software Review 200

Software Review Commerce Startup Sites 200

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

If I were writing about the most important attributes of a VC (hmmm) one of the things that would make my list is “ability to spot patterns.&# I see the same things over-and-over again and being able to spot things and compartmentalize them is important – it helps with short-handing analysis and learning.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306

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. In my LA I often see computer screens open with entrepreneurs talking about digital media.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

So I thought I’d write a post about how I drive my personal creativity. (A The key is channeling what you learn when you drive onto paper for retention purposes so you have to write it down soon afterward. When I write a blog post I often see the words before I write them. These are all creative processes.

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

When I described to people why I initially invested my calls went something like this, “He’s taken kicks to the face for nearly 2 years and is still standing. I was sick of hyperbole articles pronouncing that VCs were “scared or AngelList&# or “it was disrupting VC&# or some other BS exaggeration like that.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2009

One of the questions I’m most often asked as a VC is what I’m looking for in an investment. For me I’ve stated publicly that 70% of my investment decision is the team and most of this is skewed toward the founders. This post covers the first out of 10 that I’ll write about. Yeah, right.

Entrepreneur 338

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Google 338

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

So I thought I’d write a piece on how to not suck when you give a presentation. I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences. Nobody wants to read your text on a big screen. I can then change my focus based on the results.

Startup 362

Startup Twiistup Slides Screening 362

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 22, 2010

This week I was preparing for my weekly This Week in Venture Capital web show and was researching some of the deals that were announced for the week. If Skype continues its growth eBay should at least see a return on its investment. Yes, with a “B.&# And soon that will include screen sharing.

Screening 266

Screening Screencast Web Yammer 266

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My original thinking from Oct ’09 was, while I didn’t (and still don’t) have a crystal ball I worried that: consumers were over-stretched with debt (and make up 77% of the economy), unemployment would continue to rise, which in turn would drive the stock market south and cut the rate of M&A activity and VC investment even further.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298