This is going to be BIG.

JULY 16, 2014

Rather than using my investors as an excuse to be short-sighted and screw over the first entrepreneur that works in the door, I need to balance their need for return with the long term viability and reputation of the fund and the firm. Here''s what I am not: I am not necessarily an entrepreneur''s friend.

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Dream It

JANUARY 13, 2021

The venture capital screening call is an important step to get right in due diligence. Learn how to pass a VC associate screen in under 10 minutes! We understand that as an entrepreneur you’ve got a lot on your plate. By Elliot Levy , Healthtech Associate at Dreamit Ventures Book Office Hours with me.

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OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. It’s easy to think the role of a VC is to have strong opinions about markets, trends, tech dynamics and so forth. The role of VC is sparring partner.

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APRIL 27, 2013

And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venture capital. It’s a goal to help you understand the life of a VC. Ask SuperCell.

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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. I was recently contacted by an entrepreneur who was consider a few different business models for his company.

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OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. ” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” LA By The Numbers.

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JUNE 16, 2014

How long does it take from first meeting a VC to getting cash in the bank? I went back across the 21 investments I''ve made both at First Round and at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures --a period that dates back to January 28, 2010, when I closed on Backupify. Venture Capital & Technology' That''s an interesting question.

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MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. It goes something like this … VC: “How much money are you raising?” Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” A VC is looking for reasonableness.

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MARCH 31, 2014

3) Talk to entrepreneurs they''ve backed before to see who really adds value. VC is a service industry and the best investors are always looking for ways to help. Venture Capital & Technology' Phone calls were no substitute for in person and when it came to hiring, my network simply wasn''t as big up there as it was here.

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APRIL 6, 2020

We have been advising a lot of entrepreneurs so I thought I’d “open source” some of the advice I have been sharing. But I have been in close contact with the NVCA, many of the major law firms and many of the major VC firms. Am I ineligible since I’m VC-backed? The NVCA (National Venture Capital Association) Guidelines are below.

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MARCH 6, 2015

*. If you are a 20-something tech entrepreneur you could be forgiven for thinking that seed-stage investors, Angellist Syndicates and widely available angel money always existed. Some quick highlights include: The Role of a Seed Stage VC. Jeff and his peer group have done an excellent job at creating a new category of seed-stage VC.

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SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Viewing the article through the lens of a venture capitalist there’s much to agree with under the mantra of “growth!” He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. So I like that bit, too.

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This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 3, 2016

That was a question posed to me by a new analyst at a venture capital fund. While there are lots and lots of really kind, generous people working in venture capital--the recently retired Howard Morgan, Hunter Walk, Brad Feld, and Karin Klein for example--it's really tough to argue that there isn't widespread jerkery. So what gives?

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JUNE 11, 2015

This morning it was announced that Matt Murphy had left his role as a partner Kleiner Perkins to join as a partner in Menlo Ventures. It’s even more rare for VCs to talk publicly about other VCs, so I thought it would be fun to break rank and tell you about Matt. He’s committed. NextPlus is in LA.

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OCTOBER 26, 2020

Today we’re announcing that my partner Kara Nortman is becoming Co-Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to welcome her to her new role. She worked for 5 years as a VC at Battery Ventures and co-headed M&A at IAC working with Barry Diller. She had all of the skills and traits we sought?

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This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 7, 2015

After checking out The Information's "open dataset" on diversity in venture capital , I felt pretty disappointed. I went back and calculated the number of companies in the first Brooklyn Bridge Ventures portfolio who have at least one founder who is female, from an underrepresented minority group, or LGBT.

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MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. The typical VC process is as follows: They say there are three rules in property: Location, location, location. Of course there’s no exact number of VCs you should meet?—?these Same with VC. these are simply guidelines.

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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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This is going to be BIG.

MAY 11, 2015

That's one thing you have to realize about venture capital. Softball is also networking, though, because we have some entrepreneurs, another investor, and a left-handed female infielder who works at a venture bank and turns a double play as well as anyone in the league. I have no idea. Every single firm is different.

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AUGUST 24, 2015

But I do have some insight into how this will affect venture markets. When many venture investors are seeing their personal public portfolios tank it creeps into their business lives and creates an emotion that is less risk tolerant whether they’re aware of it or not. I caution people from thinking this is necessarily a bottom.

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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. This brings our combined funds under management to nearly $2 billion.

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JUNE 24, 2015

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 In many ways I wanted to focus on Matt because to those of us in the LA Venture community Matt really has become the public face of Lowercase Capital over the past several years.

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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.” Must be doing something right!

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JULY 27, 2014

What you’ll see if you watch the video is an unscripted and unfiltered look into how Scott Kupor & I see some of the changes and challenges of the venture industry. The only point we didn’t seem totally aligned on was what we happening to the “middle of the VC market.” tl;dr version.

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

I recently read a blog post by Beezer Clarkson, Managing Director of Sapphire Ventures about why entrepreneurs should care about from whom their VC funds raise their capital. I spent a bunch of time thinking about this position — especially since Beezer is an investor in Upfront Ventures. I could go on for a long time.

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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.

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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. What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. Portfolio community building.

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investing investment VC board 365

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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. VCs can afford to get a few decisions wrong.

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This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 28, 2013

However, in this moment, I think one''s career in venture capital depends on changing your perspective. The biggest question I think VC''s face right now is whether or not, in the future, the best founders will look and act like the best founders of the past. It was exactly how you''d imagine a venture firm to throw a party.

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 23, 2014

Sugarcoating isn''t helpful to entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are sending me back notes saying "They turned it down, but I''m not sure why." It just feels like the VC wasn''t that interested in the first place and so they''re not sure what the interest was in the first place. Venture Capital & Technology'

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JUNE 23, 2016

Kobie Fuller, Partner at Upfront Ventures We set out to build a venture capital firm that would not only be a beacon for the rapidly growing LA tech ecosystem but also one that would compete and collaborate nationally with the best firms in the country. Kobie scored highly on all fronts.

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FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I often talk about what I’m looking for when I meet with an entrepreneur. Above all else I’m looking for a genuine passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. You can sense when it is a “mission” for this entrepreneur to succeed and she will continue the journey even if success isn’t easy or immediate.

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peer-to-peer VC pitching entrepreneurs 373

American Entrepreneurship

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

Startups, early-stage and growth-stage companies present their models to a gathering of angel investors and venture capital firms The Venture Atlanta Conference, set to take place on October 8-9, 2024, at The Woodruff Arts Center and Atlanta Symphony Hall, is one of the most anticipated entrepreneurial events in the southeast U.S.

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entrepreneurs ventures pitching mentorship 98

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 14, 2014

Brooklyn Bridge Ventures came in first, with a whopping 61%. Lerer Ventures was second, with just under 20%. Take the most widely used number--that way fewer women are getting venture funding than guys. Most companies don''t ever raise venture capital and they do just fine. Well, it''s gotta mean something, right?

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

By now you will likely have read Andy Dunn’s scathing post about Venture Capitalists in which he decries the industry’s masses. After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. But VC is like congress.

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Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

During our recent Dreamit Kickoff week, Bullpen Capital Founder and General Partner Paul Martino ( @ahpah ) spoke with our Spring 2020 cohort about the state of the VC ecosystem in the current economic crisis. Will a financial crisis affect how venture funds deploy capital? Startups should know how VCs work.

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MARCH 8, 2018

Upfront Ventures has a deep-seated commitment to equality in funding & building diverse teams across all ethnicities, nationalities and genders. If you’re an entrepreneur who would like to see this clause in more startups please ask your VC to include it in future term sheets and link to it from their home page. “We

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