Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

I am super excited to announce that today is a day of lots of new things for my partners & me: A new fund, a new office and a new brand. Perhaps the biggest piece of new news is that after 17 years of operations we’ve changed our name from GRP Partners to Upfront Ventures. Our portfolio companies value us as sparring partners.

Los Angeles 343

Los Angeles Las Vegas San Francisco Baltimore 343

View from Seed

JULY 31, 2014

Two weeks ago, my partners and I here at NextView Ventures announced our second fund. As my partner Rob Go has written , our goal is to invest half in consumer web and mobile and half in business-focused ventures. More interesting, however, is reflecting on what “rhymes” across multiple investments within our portfolio.

Seed Stage 272

Seed Stage B2C Technical Review Disintermediation 272

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

My other partner, Steven Dietz, was on the board of my second company. Neither is very strategic nor in the best interest of either set of customers that VCs have (portfolio companies & LPs). But he has the added benefit of living in the UK – making him the perfect partner for Nick. Mafias matter a lot to me, as well.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Cofounder San Francisco Silicon Valley 320

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

All were backed based on the sole criteria that they had the potential to make my limited partners a lot of money. Creating this community doesn’t only mean backing diverse founders, but also surrounding yourself with a community of other diverse professionals to help your portfolio. Three teams have African-American founders.

Venture Capital 165

Venture Capital Portfolio Cofounder Seed Stage 165

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

The market was down considerably with public valuations down 53–79% across the four sectors we were reviewing (it is since down even further). ==> Aside, we also have a NEW LA-based partner I’m thrilled to announce: Nick Kim. To that end I’m really excited to share that Nick Kim has joined Upfront as a Partner based out of our LA offices.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

View from Seed

JULY 6, 2020

You will spend the rest of your time working alongside the partners throughout the investment process – analyzing investment opportunities, assisting in market research and diligence, and post-investment portfolio support. . However, you will serve as a co-pilot on deals with all four partners, across the geographies we cover. .

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Software Review Hiring Seed Stage 257

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

The Innovation Portfolio. Companies manage these three types of innovation with an innovation portfolio – they build innovation internally, they buy it or they partner with resources outside their company. What can companies learn from others’ failed efforts to integrate startups into large companies?

Acquisition 334

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 334

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. VCs crave the ability to help portfolio companies. That role as sparring partner can be useful if for nothing else than to test your resolve.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

In case you don’t know – as VCs we have have 2 sets of customers: LPs (limited partners) who invest money in our funds and entrepreneurs (who we in turn give money to and help support them in building businesses we hope will be valuable). Who else is going to tell a VC if he got a bad reference from an entrepreneur or fellow VC?

Software Review 341

Software Review Customer Technical Review LP 341

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

First, the winners in most portfolios don’t often have a true recap round. What will be interesting to see if whether seed funds that have raised their “opportunity funds” will use these dollars to defend their existing portfolio if the market turns really sour. There are a few reasons. I think this is a real issue.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

We are looking to bring on board a versatile new team member to support the varied internal operations of the firm as well as collaborate with the partners on our external programs and communications with the broader entrepreneurial community. We have a high-conviction, hands-on approach to seed investing.

Operations 227

Operations Hiring Seed Stage Software Review 227

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

On August 26th I had an equally effusive intro from Ynon Kreiz, also a friend, trusted source and also the CEO of portfolio company Maker Studios. By September 18th we were ready to bring them to a full partner meeting and as a group we were bought into the vision and the experience of this exact team to pull things off.

Technical Review 373

Technical Review North America Los Angeles Cofounder 373

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

VC Partnerships Start by understanding how many partners are at the firm you are approaching. It’s pretty easy since nearly every VC lists its partners on the website. Some firms are trickier since they artificially call everybody “partner” but they’re not all “investment partners.” How many partners are there?

Technical Review 314

Technical Review Due Diligence Partner Term Sheet 314

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

Hauser Private Equity partnered with the Denver-based private equity firm Revelstoke Capital Partners to make a growth investment in DataLink Fund Solutions, a leading provider of integrated population health management applications. Organic and Inorganic Growth. Digital Transformation.

Private Equity 161

Private Equity Equity Technical Review Software Review 161

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2013

Ron is a managing partner of Schaffer Consulting , and is currently serving as an Executive-in-Residence at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Blank explains that this is why companies need a portfolio of new business start-ups rather than putting all of their eggs into a limited number of baskets.

Business Model 334

Business Model Technical Review Business Plan Search 334

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

And rather than a small group of our partners and associates all thinking it’s a good idea we don’t mind if there is strong internal debate and at Upfront there often is. ” So other partners at the firm might sling mud at your ideas as you go for approval on an investment. As I like to say, “We need to fight.

Technical Review 362

Technical Review America United States Partner 362

View from Seed

APRIL 27, 2020

We can stay busy by expending time and effort supporting the existing portfolio, which is the right thing to do and a good use of time. Like most VC’s, we’ve been engrossed in helping our portfolio company founders navigate these challenging times while thinking through how we will approach this market going forward. Wait and see.

Cofounder 194

Cofounder Software Review Portfolio Technical Review 194

View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2019

One or two of the best companies may continue to appreciate, but most of a VC’s portfolio has probably been realized, written off, or has maxed out its value. The longer the portfolio maintains the same value without distributing back cash, the worse the fund’s ultimate IRR. LP Constraints.

LP 256

LP IRR Distribution Portfolio 256

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

Staying on the topic of sustainability, Deloitte partnered with Inbev to map the 2021 sustainable supply chain startups. Startup Nation Central partnered with DSV on this landscape mapping 150 smart logistics startups including several notable startups: Bringg, Bringoz, ScadaFence, Tipa Corp, Fabric and others. Sports tech.

Israel 210

Israel Technical Review eCommerce Startup 210

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 1, 2024

Jobber is partnering with global small business platform Xero. Uniswap Hook Incubator, which guides devs through every step of launching a hook, is now open for applications for their 3rd cohort. If you know someone who’s interested, the program begins October 10 and the application can be found here.

Portfolio 72

Portfolio Software Review Technical Review Incubator 72

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 23, 2021

Space Force continues to develop, what changes in strategy and/or addition to its portfolio of responsibilities would you recommend? and its partners to mitigate that threat? As the U.S. What is the greatest current threat to U.S. interests in space? What recommendations would you have for the U.S. Class 7 – Guest Speaker.

Technical Review 373

Technical Review Technology Russia United States 373

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 31, 2023

Whether it’s marketing yourself as an expert, writing Shopify-specific content, or partnering with other Shopify Partners, fitting into the Shopify Partners and Ecosystem is one of the crucial steps. The Shopify Experts marketplace operates with the Shopify Partner program — the actual site and community management system.

Curation 140

Curation Portfolio eCommerce Programming 140

Version One Ventures

JANUARY 9, 2024

Patch is partnering with Stripe to accelerate carbon removal by using Climate Orders. With Climate Orders, Patch makes Frontier’s offtake portfolio of permanent carbon removal tech accessible to their customers, adding more options to their broad network of climate action projects. They also crossed 1,000 users!

Portfolio 72

Portfolio Technical Review Cofounder Differentiation 72

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Of partner? I would call their portfolio companies and ask how helpful or not they’ve been. look at their portfolio list. Picking a VC is hard. You don’t really have much to go on to decide who would make a good fit. Reputation of firm? Deals done in your industry? It’s a bit of all of these.

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Sales Incubator 364

VC Cafe

AUGUST 11, 2022

A couple of weeks ago I was did a fireside chat with Alon Grinshpoon, founder and CEO of Echo3D , a CDN and CMS for 3D content in the cloud and a Remagine Ventures portfolio company, as part of an entrepreneurial finance MBA class in Tel Aviv University. Choose a partner, not just a fund. So choose your partner wisely.

Founder 187

Founder Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital 187

VC Cafe

JANUARY 22, 2021

AI startups in the Alexa Fund portfolio. The AWS APN Global Startup Program – for startup AWS Partner Network (APN) select and advanced technology partners looking to grow their products on AWS. Some of the past participants in the AWS Builder Space program in Israel (Disclosure: Novos is a Remagine Ventures portfolio company).

Technical Review 174

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Incubator 174

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

You might like to think that a bunch of savvy venture capitalists saw a market niche for raising smaller funds or perhaps there was a generational shift where disgruntled junior partners spun out of bigger firms to start their own gigs. Well, both of those things happened but they were lagging indicators.

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

Version One Ventures

MARCH 29, 2024

Gencove has partnered with Ferris Genomics to offer end-to-end genomics sequencing services. Shippo announced Addresses API , a fast reliable solution for validating, parsing and storing customer addresses. You can read the announcement here. Fundraising Announcements Ether.fi

Software Review 81

Software Review Portfolio San Francisco API 81

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately. It is rare to find somebody who matches exactly what I’m looking for in a partner so when you find it you act: Academic rigor (Princeton undergrad, Stanford MBA).

Partner 408

Partner Las Vegas Los Angeles Baltimore 408

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 11, 2019

When you complete your nanodegree(s) you have industry-recognized credentials and a portfolio of your completed projects. The portfolio is invaluable because it shows real-world problems you solved during your extensive training course. The whole premise behind them is specialized training that is specific, hands-on and real-world.

Portfolio 153

Portfolio Programming Web Development Technology 153

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

It is with great pleasure that I can finally announce that we have added Greg Bettinelli as a partner at GRP Partners. So I started introducing him to portfolio companies. This is exactly the brand that GRP Partners wants to embody. We knew he had to be an investment partner. You won’t regret it.

Partner 360

Partner Las Vegas Los Angeles San Francisco 360

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

The first is that we are welcoming Stephanie Palmeri as the newest Partner at the firm. Almost all of this increase came from our existing Limited Partners, with a small portion that was made available to new LPs. We make very few investments on a per-partner basis, which is why we are quite top-heavy as a firm.

Cofounder 156

Cofounder San Francisco Portfolio Limited Partner 156

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

It’s why I often advise angel investors to be careful about assuming that being an angel investor is a profitable exercise unless you have the ability to have a wide-enough portfolio to have a few companies doing extraordinarily well plus deep enough pockets to follow your winners. Why prorata rights are now sought out by LPs.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Dino Vendetti a VC at Bay Partners, moved up to Bend, Oregon on a mission to engineer Bend into a regional technology cluster. With a portfolio of at least 20 investments, or you are at risk of the adverse selection problem.) Over the years Dino and I brainstormed about how Lean entrepreneurship would affect regional development.

Early Stage 295

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 295

Steve Blank

JUNE 27, 2017

If they select a business model that targets industry incumbents, they don’t have to worry about upsetting existing customers, partners or distribution channels. But today, as disruption happens faster, and is funded at enterprise scale, companies need to figure how to create a portfolio of innovation.

Startup 306

Startup New York City Valuation Distribution 306

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Since NewTV won’t be making the content, they will be licensing from and partnering with traditional entertainment producers. NewTV will depend on partners like telcos to distribute the content. Massive liquidity awaited the first movers to the IPO’s, and that’s how they managed their portfolios.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335