A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

MAY 5, 2021

There has been this narrative about investing in VC funds that you have to get into the top quartile (25%) or possibly the top decile (10%) in order to generate good returns. I have heard that for as long as I have been in VC and probably have written it here a few times. As you can see, investing in VC funds can be very profitable.

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VC board investing investment 279

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

This is where VC comes in and why it’s needed in the industry no matter how much populist sentiment exists against the VC industry. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC. If 2011 & 2012 look like 2010 then the current crop of angel investments will look great. So where are we now? It’s hard to say.

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angel investing investing investment VC 284

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

From 2007-2012 I scoured LA constantly. But his challenges only make us a better place, he’s pushed us to make sure we’re building systems to better track our markets and measure performance. He’s pushed us to be out in the community more. He’s even challenged some of our sacred cows on investment philosophy.

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disruption VC communities ventures 226

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. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence.

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Most of USV’s big wins have been in companies where we were the first institutional VC to talk to the company or where we had way more conviction about the opportunity than other investors at the time of our investment. ” He was surprised and said “You are the first VC to say that.”

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. The reason is that no VC wants to see the venture debt provider get burned if you become bankrupt.

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startup VC frameworks capital 383

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

Dan asked Fred about “generational change” at USV and in the VC industry more broadly. And he led what is currently our best performing company out of that 2012 fund – AdoreMe. But there was another element that was very subtle and nicely handled that I’d like to expand upon.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. Sam is the managing director of Launchpad LA and we were about to pick our 2012 class of entrepreneurs. Just not the kind you would initially read about on TechCrunch. That may soon change.

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peer-to-peer entrepreneurs startup entrepreneurship 363

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

I am a VC. But through expressing points-of-view I can raise above the consciousness of my customers (entrepreneurs and limited partners who invest in VC funds) in ways that I couldn’t without breaking through the noise of the hundreds of others of VCs who also have money. I hand out money. How differentiated is that?

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mix-use advice VC technology 389

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Now that he’s become a VC he’s promising me he’ll provide way more public information and discourse so please welcome him by following him on Twitter and better yet welcoming him with a Tweet of your own linking to his Twitter handle or this post. I only wanted one thing in the deal – Hamet. I stayed close.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Recently the firms two founding partners (and also Managing Partners) —  Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham  — decided to transition management of the firm to Andy Weissman (who joined in 2012) and Albert Wenger (joined in 2008 and writes one of the most thoughtful blogs in our industry ). Maybe that’s USV, too.

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leadership VC venture capital ventures 161

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. It’s precisely because you work so closely with your VCs for so many years that it is unbelievably important that you find the good actors from the bad. And that’s why it’s super important to reference check your VC as I wrote in the linked post.

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startup real estate VC venture capital 363

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

While that post resulted in term sheets for Dennis and Naveen from VCs, the original intention was actually to get Yelp to invest in the company. As far as I know, they never reached out, and 200k, pre-VC blitz probably would have been worth over $50 million now.

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VC opportunity investing investment 270

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

In 2012 Upfront Ventures raised its 4th venture capital fund – this one was $200 million. We started investing the fund in April 2012 and by early 2013 had closed our fund to new investors. Here Cincinnati was really creative to its approach to attracting more venture capital to the region – including this author.

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startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

I remember when seed funds first started (they were being incorrectly called “super angels” and then Micro VCs before Seed Funds stuck) and every LP (who invest in VCs) told me they weren’t convinced about Seed Funds (too small, too hard to pick winners, would they be able to follow on?). Non VC Growth Rounds. VC Infighting.

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venture capital capital ventures VC 271

TechCrunch

AUGUST 29, 2022

Andrew Chan is a senior associate at Builders VC , investing in early-stage companies that are transforming pen and paper industries. Gen Z VCs have raised funds, garnered social media followings and profited from the Gen Z mentality. Andrew Chan. Contributor. Share on Twitter. Objectively speaking, and much to my chagrin, I’m a Gen Z.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). Throughout 2012 & 2013 we funded many companies and then pulled together a second fund. But my prediction?

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accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. We are experiencing a frenetic time. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. These days I find myself doing less. Year in, year out.

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advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is where VC comes in and why it’s needed in the industry no matter how much populist sentiment exists agains the industry. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC. If 2011 & 2012 look like 2010 then the current crop of angel investors will look great. So where are we now? It’s hard to say.

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angel investing investing investment VC 152

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2017

Mayor Eric Garcetti at Upfront Summit, February 2017 I first sat down with then councilman Eric Garcetti on the Ides of March 2012 — almost 5 years ago exactly. Snap, Riot Games, Tinder, SpaceX and on and on — these are great things for LA as is every new VC fund launching in LA to create the next big innovation. And this is true.

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energy innovation venture capital capital 191

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

.” I applaud all efforts by people to take on this issue and especially be Adeo who – let’s be honest – was really the first champion of trying to make the VC world more transparent by launching TheFunded, which didn’t exactly endear him to VCs initially. They’ll get priced soon enough by a VC.”

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startup VC entrepreneurs financing 354

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

For me Silicon Beach doesn’t quite encapsulate the wonderful, dynamic, creative, large, thriving community that is the 13 million proud Angelinos any more than Silicon Alley captures the bustling 2012 community of New York City. IA Ventures – Roger Ehrenberg was doing angel investing before he became a VC.

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communities startup creativity VC 304

Entrepreneurs' Organization

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

I’ve learnt how to slice the equity pie for VC investors, and gained so much insight about the still male-dominated tech world from this successful tech business veteran. I have come to see that female leaders carry so much more in their work, in addition to the many juggling home life and family relations.

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founder advice entrepreneurship entrepreneurs 262

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

When Raul Gutierrez was fundraising for Tinybop in the fall of 2012, he didn''t actually finish the round--instead getting about three quarters of the way and then deciding to just get started working on the app. I wasn''t even at a VC fund at the time. Not hot--and it wasn''t a deal that anyone pat me on the back for "getting into".

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venture capital ventures education pitching 286

Dream It

AUGUST 29, 2019

Around 2012, Google made a large number of acquisitions of smaller companies, but years later those companies were shuttered or open-sourced, and the pace of acquisitions fell. Companies like Google are making acquisitions when they need to fill a critical gap in technology and see an opportunity (i.e.

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strategy VC energy disruption 299

Dream It

APRIL 26, 2019

In late-March, the United Kingdom's Huawei Cyber Security Centre Oversight Board reported that the company had not fixed critical security flaws in its products, even after promising to patch specific issues back in 2012. The government body also said that it doesn't believe Huawei has committed to fixing the security problems in the future.

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consulting networking board VC 250

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2013

He became a VC at London-based Benchmark Europe (now Balderton) and then CEO of Endemol, a large multibillion media company best known for creating & owning global franchises for Big Brother, Deal or No Deal and other unscripted television. Ynon & I first discussed Maker in early 2012. billion deal to Disney.

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peer-to-peer media networking board 320

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2022

Over the last several years, VC money has been abundant and relatively cheap. Source: PitchBook data from 2012-2022. Across all stages, companies were seeing higher post-money valuations, anywhere from about 40% at the earliest stages to over 200% in the growth stages in the 2018 to 2022 period, compared to 2012 to 2018.

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VC founder capital ventures 94

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 25, 2013

Three companies from the Studiomates community-- Sherpaa , Tinybop , and Editorially --received VC dollars in 2012. I have a special relationship with Etsy, because I was at Union Square Ventures, the VC firm that backed the company, back in 2006. via Brownstoner.

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communities innovation creativity real estate 296

Gust

JUNE 28, 2012

This was one of the primary subjects for discussion at Venture Forward 2012 ( ventureforwardconference.com ).

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ventures capital VC investing 143

David Teten VC

DECEMBER 20, 2023

I’m pleased to announce a strategic partnership between Coolwater Capital and Versatile VC. Coolwater is an investor in VC funds and runs an accelerator for emerging VC fund managers. Coolwater has built an investment community of 300+ founder VCs and over 5,000 technology companies.

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David Teten VC

JULY 27, 2021

We have collected a wide range of freebies, contests, accelerators, online communities, and VCs designed for student tech founders. I have been researching this both to support Versatile VC ’s portfolio companies and also as part of research for my new book, To University and Beyond: Launch Your Career in High Gear. 1) Your school.

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founder mentorship peer-to-peer pitching 144

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

APRIL 22, 2020

I’m betting on Duolingo (and have been since we made our seed investment in the company in 2012). Both TOEFL and IELTS, after spending a lot of time saying that online tests were no good, now have online options. So now the market is open to competition and the best product can win.

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incumbents education investing investment 192

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

The news this week that HQ Trivia has finally called it quits reminded me of this post I wrote back in 2012 about the difference in sustainability (and thus value) between entertainment and utility apps.

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sustainability founder VC technology 172

TechCrunch

MAY 17, 2023

Venture capital (VC) firm Lifeline Ventures today announced a fresh €150 million ($163 million) fund aimed at early-stage startups across Finland. ” Finnish VC firm Lifeline Ventures closes $163M fund for early-stage startups by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch billion for a majority stake in 2016.

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VC ventures startup investing 88

Tomasz Tunguz

JULY 30, 2021

The time it takes for a dollar to appear in an LP’s pocket, for the LP to wire it to a VC fund, and for the VC fund to invest can be measured in minutes. See that blip in 2012? VC fundraising will achieve a record. A venture dollar’s velocity has never been faster. That was the Facebook IPO.

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VC financing finance ventures 133

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

We knew better than to start funding raising in August, when larger VC firms have a harder time assembling full decision teams – so in August we would plan and September we would commence. Many VC firms expressed interest, nearly every one took a meeting and several called Mark and the team back for meetings.

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