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If You Don’t Respect Your Customers You Won’t Be Successful

Both Sides of the Table

Contrast that with a VC conversation I had. We were talking about raising money from LPs. He was lamenting how much he hated LP meetings and how little he wanted to interact with LPs going forward. I even once met with one very, very well known VC who told me, “I don’t attend LP meetings.

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What’s Really Going on in the VC Industry? What Does it Mean for Startups?

Both Sides of the Table

Consumers pulled their money out of these risky investments, but when LPs make commitments to VC funds they make 10-year, legally binding commitments. So as of 2008 total LP commitments were still at nearly $250 billion. I was at dinner with a large LP and mentioned that I had heard the industry would shrink by 50%.

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How I Got the Monkey Off My Back – Today Was a Good Day

Both Sides of the Table

Getting Exits / Driving LP Returns: This was always the knock on me. And in an industry measured by a decade rather than a year it’s hard to refute so you mostly just move on in the conversation. The monkey on my back. “Ok, so this guy can write a blog and source deals but can he make any money?” ” Yup.

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Kara Nortman Was Just Promoted to Co-Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures. Here’s What it All Means

Both Sides of the Table

I called an (ex) LP to tell him about her and my goals for her. Here’s What it All Means was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. She has an amazing ethical compass with heart, compassion and drive.

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What Makes an Entrepreneur? Cojones (7/11)

Both Sides of the Table

Through comment conversations with many of you I tried to emphasize that it isn’t enough to just have one attribute. If your idea is so amazing that it warrants my hard-earned angel money or the money of my LP investors from our fund then why should I take a risk on you if you won’t take a risk on yourself? You need the whole package.

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Why Hearing “No” in a Fund-Raising Process is Actually Healthy

Both Sides of the Table

What I’m looking for in the conversation is: Whom at the firm are you meeting with? I once had a potential LP back in 2010 (when fund-raising as a VC was harder for me) tell me that he thought he was a better fit to look at our next fund rather than this one. He also has gone on to become one of my closer LP advisors.

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What Do LPs Think of the Venture Capital Markets for 2016?

Both Sides of the Table

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. LPs See The Over-Valuations and Don’t Like It. All isn’t completely rosy in the LP views of the venture industry.