This is going to be BIG.

JULY 16, 2014

That also means that I need to act in a way that ensures my ability to get future opportunities to invest their capital in attractive deals. I believe that ethics and opportunity for investors will go hand in hand over the long term--and opportunity drives returns. Venture Capital & Technology'

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Both Sides of the Table

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.

venture capital 363

venture capital capital ventures VC 363

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” That’s a shame because many of these people missed out on what will be a few great VC vintages. Thus is a key point.

venture capital 362

venture capital capital ventures VC 362

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Brooklyn Bridge Ventures , the pre-seed and seed stage VC fund I run in NYC, has invested in 64 companies in the last six and a half years. The diversity is the direct result of our mission—to build the most accessible venture capital fund in NY. Twenty-five of them have at least one female co-founder. Five have LGBTQ+ founders.

venture capital 413

venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 413

Both Sides of the Table

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. They are unique to you and not to each other situation that VC has faced. ” I responded. Your decisions are unknowable.

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VC advice consulting frameworks 353

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JUNE 1, 2021

When I look at all of the opportunities we are currently considering plus all of the investments we have made this year to date, what stands out most to me is the location of the founders and teams. I believe the pandemic changed that equation dramatically and USV’s “deal log” is a great example of that.

venture capital 279

venture capital capital investment investing 279

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 21, 2025

I cant tell you how many times I got announced as a successful VC when I was introduced on a panel or sat across the room from a potential limited partner telling them I was. What changed for me? And yes, I still have my no cavity streak going all these years later.* *In In the 28 teeth now remaining in my mouth.

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VC consulting health enablement 289

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 3, 2020

The partner at the fund, the VC, gets to do the fun part—the meeting with founders, vetting deals, negotiating, helping, etc. Having a better overall portfolio of venture capital by adding funds into the mix. This creates a source of deal flow for investors who aren’t out there full time creating opportunities.

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VC angel investing mix-use opportunity 258

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2015

It's a story that just hit a milestone--a $4mm round of venture funding that I'm ecstatic to say Brooklyn Bridge Ventures just led. But just because you could see them everywhere doesn't make them an obvious venture bet--nor does it tell the story of how the round even came to be.

venture capital 362

venture capital ventures capital consumer retail 362

Both Sides of the Table

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?

ventures 361

ventures leadership mentorship venture capital 361

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2015

So I asked a few founders that I've worked with and they mentioned a word that struck me--because I've never heard any of the hordes of people in my inbox asking for internships, VC job recommendations and advice, etc. I think of venture capital as a service business. mention about themselves. Generosity.

venture capital 379

venture capital capital pitching ventures 379

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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venture capital capital ventures VC 370

Both Sides of the Table

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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VC venture capital energy culture 334

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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VC pitching board construction 419

Both Sides of the Table

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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VC SaaS strategy ventures 309

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 1, 2014

We all have our inherent biases and what I am not arguing here is that the venture capital world is a fair playing field for anyone. I repeat: I AM NOT ARGUING THAT VENTURE CAPITAL IS FAIR TO ANYONE. billion went to women-led ventures.". I AM NOT ARGUING THAT WOMEN AREN''T SEEKING VENTURE CAPITAL. Sounds awful, right?

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venture capital capital ventures founder 304

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. Increasingly local entrepreneurs are finding they don’t have to “take the trip up North” quite as often because on a weekly basis venture firms are down in LA — it’s only an hour’s flight.

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ventures venture capital VC capital 287

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. What do you do with a $650 million platform?

ventures 408

ventures startup peer-to-peer venture capital 408

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

I’ve heard a lot of people question whether there is too much money in venture capital chasing too few great deals. Others believe that new business models are emerging that could replace venture capital all together. We’re in a new tech bubble!” some have pronounced. Valuations are out of control” is the mantra of others.

venture capital 292

venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 292

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 15, 2020

There have been a lot of calls for VC firms to make more hires from the Black and Brown community, as well as to hire more women. In venture, it’s all about getting an opportunity to make partner and being included in the carry—the economic upside of a fund. Not all hires, however, are made equally.

venture capital 312

venture capital ventures capital mentorship 312

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 23, 2014

When I turn down the opportunity to invest in a startup, I really turn it down. If I don''t have clarity on something, it means that I don''t think the space and the opportunity size is big enough to get clarity. You''d rather know exactly why I didn''t do a deal than scratch your head over some opaque "VC speak".

pitching 367

pitching VC venture capital opportunity 367

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

I got to work with Brett for two years while I was investing at First Round, before I started Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. While most people trying to get into venture will tell you how much they know, their experience, or their instincts, Brett kept listening and learning.

VC 273

VC angel investing startup venture capital 273

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

I saw a few friends politely suggesting that “now was a great stock buying opportunity” meaning that given the stock market is off by 10% it was a great chance to buy and lock in presumably low prices before the market rises again. But I do have some insight into how this will affect venture markets. I’m not so sure.

finance 344

finance financing ventures real estate 344

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. Over the past 2.5

VC 223

VC venture capital capital investing 223

Both Sides of the Table

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. Some called this “buying logos.” Expect more of this.

venture capital 271

venture capital capital ventures VC 271

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

You run X amount of capital and Y percentage of that is allocated to venture capital. For the VC that means if you're returning money to your institutional investors, that's about all you need to worry about. Either way, VC funds aren't really built around creating much of an experience for their Limited Partners.

venture capital 284

venture capital capital ventures VC 284

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 22, 2020

To a VC, $50,000 a pre-sale isn’t really that much. VCs are less interested that you sold 10 customers, 20, or 100—they want to understand how many you’re selling per week and whether or not that kind of pace would be profitable for your sales & marketing efforts.

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pitching VC peer-to-peer founder 324

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

I believe that the next generation of top companies are far more likely to be founded by people not on VC radars today. Opening up our circle to create and scale genuine engagement for people outside of typical venture networks is how we do business—and we’re getting exceptional deal flow because of that.

venture capital 240

venture capital communities ventures capital 240

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.

venture capital 407

venture capital VC ventures capital 407

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 16, 2024

There are more active VCs alive today than have ever existed in the history of modern human existence—and that dates back 300,000 years! Until then, venture investors—GPs, Principals and junior professionals alike—have a lot of lanes to carve out to try to differentiate from each other. The question is what to focus on.

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VC angel investing networking pitching 243

Revolution

MAY 23, 2023

VC firms are not blameless — over 1.8K VC investors wrote checks into proptech deals over the last five years. The remaining 2.8K+ active investors in proptech are mostly asset managers, family offices, corporate venture capital firms, and real estate executives (let’s call this group “strategic” investors).

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real estate venture capital VC innovation 278

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 5, 2015

Ten years ago, in 2005, I started working for Union Square Ventures as their first analyst. I reiterated the notion of risk taking when giving career advice the other day and how when I joined Union Square Ventures, it wasn''t the USV it was now. Who''s the VC that everyone *isn''t* trying to network with.

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VC startup ecosystem networking venture capital 316

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Go pitch a VC with an idea, and they''ll tell you to build it. In my mind, that creates the opportunity for increasing returns. Venture Capital & Technology' Go to them with a prototype and they''ll tell you to launch it. Launch it, and they''ll tell you to get more users. Get users and they''ll tell you to get paying customers.

venture capital 392

venture capital pitching health VC 392

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 10, 2020

VCs are notorious for kicking tires. VCs take a meeting just to learn about an area. If deal flow is slow, a VC will take a meeting if you and your team seem mildly interesting even if your product isn’t. Some VCs have no money left in their funds, but they still like playing VC. Do you have dry powder for this?

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VC pitching opportunity founder 411

Jason Malki

MARCH 9, 2023

I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Sheffield, the Founder & Managing Partner of Pachamama Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in US early-stage climate tech companies. Then, I stumbled upon PE/VC after chatting with a good college buddy of mine. How did you break into tech investing?

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VC ventures angel investing venture capital 98

Revolution

MAY 11, 2023

Our findings confirmed a significant shift away from the traditional tech hubs of the Bay Area, New York City, and Boston, with the proportion of seed- and early-stage VC dollars funneling into the Bay Area falling below 30% for the first time in more than a decade. marking its highest level since 2017. Seed- and Early-Stage U.S,

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real estate energy innovation VC 296

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I spoke at Michael Kim’s excellent annual Cendana VC/LP conference today. One of the points I tried to make is that as venture capital investors as an industry we seem to have a healthy disdain for public market investors. The truth is that Twitter is an amazing company and still has an amazing opportunity in front of it.

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VC capital culture venture capital 392