Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture.

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Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

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.

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Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

San Diego-based Dexcom, which develops equipment for continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, has launched its own venture capital fund, Dexcom Ventures. The company said its venture capital arm will be led by Steve Pacelli.

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Venture Capital Capital Funding San Diego 124

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 7, 2018

The Fabric, an early-stage investment company developing new infrastructure technologies, has raised $15 million for its third investment vehicle. the new financing came from Verizon Ventures (the investment arm of TechCrunch’s parent company’s parent company) and March Capital Partners a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm.

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Santa Monica Technology Venture Capital Los Angeles 213

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. In 2010 somebody posed the question on Quora, “Is Mark Suster a Successful Venture Capitalist?” “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs. 5 years ago.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. You’d be surprised how many firms are “dictator VCs” – even those that don’t formally acknowledge it internally. ” Some firms are collegiate.

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Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 150

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2021

Los Angeles- and Palo Alto-based MaC Venture Capital has launched a new, $103M seed stage investment fund today, saying it plans to invest in technology startups across the fintech, e-commerce and marketplaces, interactive media, connectivity, enterprise SaaS, space and aerospace, logistics, and other sectors.

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Venture Capital Seed Funding Capital Funding 124

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

He talked about how for centuries education had “no technological core” (meaning it was bound by physical locations) and thus disruption was very difficult. Internationalization of Technology. We spoke about what succeeds early in technology market evolutions. Venture Capital. Disruption of Education.

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Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

socalTECH

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Here, we have Greg Martin, Founder and Managing Partner of Archer Venture Capital (www.archervc.com). What are you most looking forward to in the technology/startup world in 2021? From a technology perspective, the digital transformation that had been happening slowly over time, has totally accelerated in 2020.

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Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Brentwood 124

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

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. Todd Gitlin is one of the best executive recruiters the technology & startup market in Los Angeles. “I’ve never been a VC before.

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Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

socalTECH

JULY 7, 2021

Ventura-based advertising technology developer The Trade Desk is launching its own venture capital arm, and has made its first investment, the company said this morning. The company said that the new investment fund, TD7, will invest in open Internet startups.

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Venture Capital Invest Capital Ventura 113

L.A. Business Journal

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Timothy Draper has a history of funding some of the technology sector’s most prolific startups and now the venture capitalist is bringing his money to Los Angeles.

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Draper Venture Capital Los Angeles Funding 182

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.

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Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I only say that because after years as a VC I can always tell when my peer group invested in something because “it seemed like it would make money” versus when they invested out of passion. On reflection of the role that I want to play as a VC it is clearly in the camp of passion. I’m a VC.

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Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

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. After that you could tell that Greg was really “all in” on the LA technology community. Watch this space.

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Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. I believe I was one of the first to point this out publicly.

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Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

Photo by Scott Clark for Upfront Ventures (no, Evan is not standing on a box) Last year marked the 25th anniversary for Upfront Ventures and what a year it was. 2021 saw phenomenal returns for our industry and it topped off more than a decade of unprecedented VC growth. How do we plan to do it?

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Startup Venture Capital Writing Invest 408

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Do you imagine eventually raising VC and trying to build a faster growing company?” ” Because of the circles I run in I tend to meet many people who eventually do want to build large companies and therefore do want to eventually raise VC and “go big.” They raised $5 million in venture capital to fund growth.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

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. What stage?

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Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

For 1991 I was very technical and also had a lot of practical business implementation experience in technology. I asked him if I could join his practice as the guy who could help him bridge technology & business. I talked with a few VCs and batted around the idea of becoming a VC. My starting salary was $27,000.

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Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

During the days when Snapchat’s popularity was booming, investors thought the company would become the anchor for a new Los Angeles technology scene. 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.

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SpaceX Venture Capital Help Snapchat 173

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

She worked for 5 years as a VC at Battery Ventures and co-headed M&A at IAC working with Barry Diller. Venture capital is about backing the leaders of tomorrow who imagine the world as it should be and aren’t constrained by what it is today. I promise you, he really said this out loud.)

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Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. I am a VC. They are an investment bank that targets the technology & media sectors. I hand out money. Think about Luma Partners.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

The frantic pace of technology cycles, the amount of tech news, the blogs, the conferences, the demo days, the announcements, the fundings, the IPOs. It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. But in today’s fast-paced world my observation is that as VCs we don’t control the ball as much as we should.

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Startup Technical Review Venture Capital Email 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I know all of this because every VC knows this because we’ve all either funded companies that have marketing technology or we’ve seen a pitch with a company that does this. If you haven’t read the other VC fund-raising posts I’ve done as part of this series you can find the whole outline and this first in the series here.]

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Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2014

LA has a serious technology scene. Last week displayed the best of LA last week for a gala event of all of Upfront’s portfolio companies + the CEOs of many of LA’s top technology companies + 75 VC firms from LA, SF, NY & Boston + 25 LP Funds + the Chairman of Yahoo! And I’m proud of that, too.

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Startup Santa Monica Snapchat Yahoo 318

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management. How Much Capital You Have Raised / Your Runway In general I recommend that in early-stage startups you try to raise at least 15-18 months of runway.

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Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

TechCrunch LA

JULY 2, 2020

When it comes to venture capital, Los Angeles is a city on the rise. In the past year, it’s seen one of the most profitable venture-backed exits of any tech ecosystem (with the $4 billion sale of Honey to PayPal) and investors are minting billion-dollar companies in the region at a torrid pace.

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Los Angeles Venture Capital Capital Invest 277

socalTECH

OCTOBER 8, 2019

According to Fyke, Thin Line Capital is looking to capitalize on the "second wave" of cleantech investing, taking advantage of much of the progress in clean tech investments which--unlike the first wave--are a better fit for venture capital investors.

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Capital Funding Idealab Venture Capital 213

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 2, 2021

We are pleased to be supporting the continued development of Maestro as part of our ongoing investment in new technologies that provide artists with cutting-edge tools and solutions for growing their careers. “The third piece is a developer ecosystem,” Evans said.

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Tool Commerce .Net Entertainment 315

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

I got three calls from another big name, big check VC. He wanted to know what I thought of his technology deal. For all the things he’s likely known for, he probably hasn’t yet built a strong relationship as an early stage venture investor (he invests often in later-stage deals where he is very respected).

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Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 30, 2022

To figure out those 50 washes, embedded near-field communication (NFC) technology in the garments are tracked in real time and healthcare practitioners are informed via a mobile app how many times a gown has been washed. She explained that the decision to go after venture capital was to gain partners that would help the company grow.

Develop 257

Develop Development Venture Capital Startup 257

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

Recognizing the tens of billions of dollars that the Southern Californian region leaves on the table, because it hasn’t taken its rightful place in the American technology industry, a new group called the Alliance for Southern California Innovation has just released a report to analyze how SoCal can work to assume its pole position.

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Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Elect 1-2 representatives and even invite a local VC to invest personally and sit on the investment committee or be an advisor.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Press San Diego 378

socalTECH

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Newport Beach-based OnSite Waste Technologies has raised $3.5M The funding round was led by Mark IV Capital, which also is based in Newport Beach. The startup says it is developing technology for immediate sterilization of medical waste. in a Series A funding round, according to the company.

Technology 124

Technology Report Funding Capital 124

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 24, 2019

March Capital Partners , the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has raised $300 million for its latest fund. Montgomery believes there’s no business that won’t require information technology services, and he and his partners are building a portfolio that he thinks is designed to provide them.

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Artificial Inteligence Capital Los Angeles Incubator 225

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

According to a recent Forbes article , UC Santa Barbara''s Technology Management Program offers students a superior startup education over the University of Pennsylvania (home of Wharton), as well Harvard, Northwestern and even its acclaimed southern neighbor, the University of Southern California. Organic Academia.

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Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258