A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

AUGUST 17, 2020

I woke up to a dream this morning where I was playing a game that was very similar to Turntable.fm , a failed effort to create a social music experience that had a moment back in 2011 and that I had invested in via USV. Investments that don’t work haunt me. I met the founders and was happy for them. Then I woke up.

investing 205

investing investment VC venture capital 205

Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 8, 2020

Invest in Yourself. We all invest our time and money in people and things. The best investment for entrepreneurs is always going to be in themselves. Invest in yourself in both small and big ways. Giving yourself set times to think and focus is a valuable investment. Invest in Your Business.

real estate 235

real estate entrepreneurs investing investment 235

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Because of the interest in the 2010 survey, I decided to survey a larger number of North American angel groups this summer (2011). 2011 Angel Group Valuation Survey. Bill Payne October 2011. Here is a summary comparison of the 2011 results to last year’s survey of only 13 groups: The average valuation increased from $1.7

investment 125

investment investing networking ventures 125

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Note: I led First Round's investment in Docracy in 2011, but I do not have any financial ties to the company and will not benefit or suffer, other than emotionally, based on the outcome of that investment. That’s a very powerful notion and it’s why I’m excited about what this company can do in the long term.

collaboration 331

collaboration frameworks communities construction 331

Dream It

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

Via TechCrunch by Arman Tabatabai: Venture capital has been flooding the various subverticals under the robotics umbrella in recent years, and the construction space is one of the largest beneficiaries. Matt Murphy and Grace Ge, Menlo Ventures Which trends are you most excited about in construction robotics from an investing perspective?

construction 259

construction investing investment opportunity 259

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

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. As an industry we’re not always as good as we could be about our own “creative destruction” to create the tomorrow of venture capital. So What Does All This Mean? And all the platform stuff.

ventures 361

ventures leadership mentorship venture capital 361

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

In 2011 the company was sold to Nordstrom for $270 million in a deal that has been widely seen as a success for both buyer and seller. We both wanted to build a practice that would make Los Angeles proud but where we would travel tirelessly to other locations to make investments in the best entrepreneurs wherever they were.

VC 360

VC communities investment investing 360

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on my background. I should say that I agree that naive optimism in entrepreneurs can produce higher beta (upside or flops) and that’s good from an investment standpoint if you’re looking for big returns.

angel investing 152

angel investing investing investment VC 152

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. By 2011 the market had started to change dramatically. We announced Fund I in 2011. And Jim & I went on to raise several more venture capital funds in our day jobs. We had a specific goal in mind.

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

A Smart Bear

JANUARY 4, 2018

Of course a nice chunk is primary capital, i.e. for the company balance sheet, to invest in growth initiatives, security and quality, and advancing our existing strategic priorities through acceleration and de-risking. This week we closed $250M in financing from Silver Lake , the premier technology private equity firm.

investing 175

investing investment leadership culture 175

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Matt was one of my inspirations behind Launchpad LA (yes, we’re going to have a program in 2011 – news very, very soon). What better than to have capital from somebody who has actually done it in the trenches? Backstopping is when banks feel they are protected by VC’s investing in the company. And he said ok got it.

startup 304

startup entrepreneurship mix-use ventures 304

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

If you invested in the first angel round of a startup company it is usually very hard to sell your stock – usually for many years if ever at all. The earlier you invest the higher the chances the company won’t work out and thus you pay a lower price than later-stage investors. Private markets for stocks are the opposite.

startup 336

startup advice pitching investing 336

American Entrepreneurship

JUNE 13, 2024

Successful track record of investment spurs latest fund supporting biotech innovation Foresite Capital, a multi-stage healthcare and life sciences investment firm continues to do what they do best—investing in companies that leverage biology and big data to transform healthcare. With over $3.5

capital 99

capital startup entrepreneurship support 99

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 16, 2016

There aren't many people who get the chance to analyze venture capital fund return data. The average company of a 2009 fund was funded in 2011, just five years ago, and half the companies in that fund are less than five years old. or be an institution big enough to see a ton of different funds over time. The only really way to know?

venture capital 181

venture capital ventures capital VC 181

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I guess that makes USV, Spark Capital, Foundry Group, Accel, Benchmark, Revolution (along with several others) pretty happy right now. million pre-money valuation is now raising $1 million at a $12 million valuation the next investor has nowhere to go but up (or sit out the investment). source: Capital IQ. source: Capital IQ.

real estate 309

real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. I believe that over capitalizing companies too early often favors the VC.

entrepreneurs 374

entrepreneurs incubation board VC 374

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 1, 2013

In 2012, I started my second company--a venture capital firm called B rooklyn Bridge Ventures. In the middle of 2011, I started following the Four Hour Body diet and exercise routine. More sleep in 2013 will have mental health effects beyond the time investment. 3) Invest in your real friends. 1) Run faster.

sustainability 318

sustainability innovation entrepreneurs investing 318

Gust

DECEMBER 13, 2011

Here are the trends in venture capital financings from 2006 through 2010 – the number of seed stage deals funded and total investment by region in millions of dollars. . VCs in NYC invested, on average, only $2.4 Will that trend hold in 2011? US Angel Investment – All Regions. Investment. All Seed-VC.

entrepreneurs 162

entrepreneurs angel investing VC venture capital 162

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2012

It took almost two years for the company to raise their first outside capital from RTP and Greycroft--and honestly, my bad for not staying close to the company. It would be over two years until he took his first round of capital earlier in 2012. In March of 2011, I asked Pat from GroupMe to introduce me to Linden Tibbets of IFTTT.

VC 252

VC education entrepreneurs development 252

Gust

DECEMBER 6, 2011

An experienced software engineer, for example, can develop a new mobile app with his or her own resources and market the product on the web with very little capital. There are several important sources of capital for entrepreneurs starting their businesses, depending on the stage of development of the company. Venture Capital. $20

angel investing 179

angel investing entrepreneurs venture capital investing 179

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

I obviously don’t have a crystal ball so the economy could fare better than my gut, but here’s why I’m cautious for some time in 2010 or early 2011: Why is the future still so unpredictable? This has a tangible impact on the valuation of start-ups and the pace of investment.

VC 269

VC startup advice innovation 269

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). We feature a prominent speaker at every event.

VC 241

VC venture capital ventures capital 241

Gust

DECEMBER 1, 2011

For years there has been a pervasive opinion across the entrepreneurial landscape that the US has a shortage of capital required to startup and grow new ventures. But, what evidence do we have of this shortage of capital? Let’s take a closer look at trends in government grants, angel investment and venture capital financings.

capital 120

capital startup angel capital VC 120

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off. Have easy access to capital by investors who are committed to building businesses at Interent scale. Internet scale.

startup 418

startup VC venture capital investing 418

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2011

If you want a very quick primer on all the stuff nobody ever tells you about raising venture capital check out this video where Mark Jeffrey & I break it down on This Week in VC. In the video I describe how to best play this meeting and why, without a champion going into the meeting, you’re unlikely to get an investment.

VC 340

VC venture capital leadership pitching 340

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. If you are talented, of course, you can get funded in any region with enough venture capital and obviously in markets outside of the Valley it is easier to get noticed and get access.

VC 313

VC venture capital media culture 313

Innovation 2 Enterprise

APRIL 1, 2020

(iMCI), recently led an $11.535 million go-to-market investment in Oklahoma City-based Linear Health Sciences. The investment comes on the heels of continued successes for the Orchid SRV, the company’s flagship medical device designed to reduce accidental IV catheter dislodgement in a novel way. million Seed round in 2016 and a $1.54

health 96

health investing investment accelerator 96

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

After going over four years without raising any capital, coding class platform Codecademy has raised a new tranche of money: a $40 million Series D round led by Owl Ventures, with participation from Prosus and Union Square Ventures. Two-thirds of today’s capital is going straight to the bank, Sims says.

capital 102

capital education consulting sustainability 102

Gust

OCTOBER 16, 2012

Access to our 2010 and 2011 surveys can be found at 2011 Valuation Survey of North American Angel Investor Groups. BELLE Capital (Michigan). It is not surprising that the average is higher than the mean for the capital intensive business sectors. 2012 Valuation Survey. pre-money valuation in US$ millions). Organization.

energy 169

energy data collection angel capital networking 169

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

My partner Greg Bettinelli (worth following on Twitter) was recently named by The LA Business Journal as the “ Top deal maker in Los Angeles in Venture Capital.” I joined Upfront Ventures in 2007 and took over as co-Managing Partner in 2011 along with the founder, Yves Sisteron. Invest more heavily in platform services.

disruption 226

disruption VC communities ventures 226

Andreessen Horowitz

APRIL 16, 2024

When Marc and I started the firm in 2009, the conventional wisdom in Venture Capital was that in any given year, only 15 companies would ever generate $100M in revenue and those 15 companies would drive almost all of VC returns. Venture Capital firms configured themselves to address a market of 15 important companies.

venture capital 144

venture capital networking health VC 144

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 5, 2011

Just as we launched a 2010 site they go all 2011 on us! I wanted to be whimsical and have a blog as cool as Spark Capital. We wanted to emphasize the number of truly big wins that have been created by the partners at GRP in their 20+ years of investing. We also invest in the UK as you’ll soon find out. That’s here.

real estate 260

real estate investing investment entrepreneurs 260

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Cloudbolt , a Bethesda, MD startup that helps companies manage hybrid cloud environments, announced a $35 million Series B investment today. It was split between $15 million in equity investment and $20 Million in debt. Kumolus, which was founded in 2011 and raised $1.7 We also recruit with with those ideas in mind.

investing 94

investing investment frameworks education 94

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

with $15 million to Prove It The venture capital world has started firing up a few cylinders again and looking for businesses that it believes will help us all succeed in ways that resonate with new ways of working as we begin to return to work. Ryan Smith, the founder of Qualtrics, also invested and has joined the board of directors.

communities 234

communities peer-to-peer venture capital enablement 234

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. CEO hinted to WSJ that it may go public in early 2011. Jelli - I went on record saying that I wanted to invest and that I think this company will create a big success. Go Boulder!

VC 240

VC peer-to-peer advice ventures 240

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

This is part of my series on Understanding Venture Capital. VC’s don’t invest 100% of their own money. They raise money from institutions who want to have some allocation of their investment dollars in a category known as “alternatives,&# which is supposed to mean higher risk, higher returns.

VC 269

VC venture capital investment investing 269

TechCrunch

AUGUST 17, 2022

Mack Kolarich is the VP of analytics at Assure and has extensive expertise in private capital and startup investing. The Angel Capital Association reports 278 angel groups as members , with dozens more North American groups operating outside of the association (that’s over double the number of angel groups a decade ago).

investing 84

investing investment angel capital financing 84