Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. Partners leave the industry. VC will shrink. Oh yes it will.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

The previous post described how China built its science and technology infrastructure. This post is about the how the Chinese government engineered technology clusters. Of all the Chinese government programs, the Torch Program is the one program that kick-started Chinese high-tech innovation and startups. Innovation Clusters.

Programming 287

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 287

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

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Most firms have “associates” and “partners” and some have an additional role called a “principal.” Usually there roles are a combination of: Deal sourcing for partners. Deal support / analysis / quant / legal for deals a partner is seriously considering. Portfolio community building.

Jordan 365

Jordan Technical Review Portfolio Partner 365

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. And Seriously.

Technical Review 373

Technical Review North America Los Angeles Cofounder 373

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

Version One Ventures

JANUARY 4, 2021

For a second consecutive year , Jobber was named one of the fastest-growing companies in North America on Deloitte’s 2020 Technology Fast 500. . And, as featured in The Wall Street Journal, Scanwell’s at-home Covid-19 antibody and antigen tests are now in the final stages of review by the FDA. . Product news.

Portfolio 148

Portfolio Technical Review Securities and Exchange Commission North America 148

View from Seed

JULY 31, 2014

Two weeks ago, my partners and I here at NextView Ventures announced our second fund. And since we will continue to look proactively at new seed-stage tech startups over the next few years, the question becomes: What, then, will these companies look like? Step-Function Ad Tech. Recent Investment Themes.

Seed Stage 272

Seed Stage B2C Technical Review Disintermediation 272

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on. Similarly I liked to keep myself apprised of the technical decisions we were making. I then did a pipeline review with the VP of Sales.

CTO Hire 308

CTO Hire Management Technical Review Part-Time VPE 308

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

Our last fund was $200 million but as you may already know since we raised that fund we added new partners Greg Bettinelli and Kara Nortman and Venture Partner Hamet Watt – all of whom are busy looking at new deals for the firm in addition to Yves Sisteron (the founder), Steven Dietz (also part of founding team) and myself.

Las Vegas 396

Las Vegas St. Louis Southern California San Diego 396

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

This vast pool of talent showcases a wide range of experience and portfolios, quality of work, and inquisitiveness. Given this diversity, it's important to be selective in the development services company with whom you choose to partner. Are specific technologies or platforms involved in your project? How do they handle testing?

Software Developers 295

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Software 295

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Every potential early-stage Venture Capitalist should take a year and do it before he or she makes partner. Over time Venture firms realized that the partners in the firms needs a variety of skills: People skills (ability to recognize patterns of success in individuals and teams). we have a partner-track associates program.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 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

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I had lost a previous deal where the team said they liked me but didn’t know my partners well enough so I promised myself never to let that happen again. So I organized a team dinner with all four of my partners and all three of their founders. China is indelibly an important part of the future of the global technology system.

China 333

China Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review 333

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2010

GRP Partners is looking to hire two analysts (maybe even three) to join our practice in Los Angeles. If this isn’t you, we’d probably still have a look if you did something truly exception – probably at startup or tech firm. And none of our partners actually worked for any of these firms. Are we elitist?

Los Angeles 290

Los Angeles Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 290

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I had lost a previous deal where the team said they liked me but didn’t know my partners well enough so I promised myself never to let that happen again. So I organized a team dinner with all four of my partners and all three of their founders. China is indelibly an important part of the future of the global technology system.

China 328

China Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review 328

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began. But the biggest changes in our industry have been driven by technical changes themselves to which we are just observers and fortunate beneficiaries.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

VC Cafe

JANUARY 22, 2021

A few months ago, VC Cafe launched a series on startup engagement and outreach programs of large tech companies. Amazon Corporate Development – Notable acquisitions include Whole Foods ($13.7B), smart doorbell system Ring ($1.2B, 2018) and autonomous mobility technology Zoox ($1.2bn). AI startups in the Alexa Fund portfolio.

Technical Review 174

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Incubator 174

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

On the other side of the spectrum, the idea of finding a unicorn has attracted many investors toward the much riskier venture capital and emerging technologies. Over the past decade, advancing technologies and social consciousness have been causing unprecedented and exciting shifts in every sector of the economy, not just the tertiary.

Private Equity 161

Private Equity Equity Technical Review Software Review 161

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. Brad on blogging. How did you start blogging? “My Is that when it became big?

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

Traction can simply mean showing that you’re making progress with customers, product development, channel partners, initial revenue as a proof point, attracting well-known angel investors, winning industry awards / recognition. They get positive product reviews on TechCrunch, GigaOm or Paidcontent.org. They hire key staff.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

portfolios. I’m not even talking about your 12-page Powerpoint presentation that you need to raise venture capital or to talk with potential biz dev partners. Usually in a tech / software startup 70-80% of your costs will be people. Each quarter you should review your model. This is where I spend most of my time.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2021

Covid-19 accelerated the adoption of entertainment tech, gaming and commerce. The move to remote work forced quick adoption of cloud technology and tools that were once having difficulties selling to large corporates, saw explosive growth – from Zoom to Hopin, new unicorns were born in record time. 2020… where to start?

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Audio Forecast Social Media 207

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

If I’m interested I get to spend more time with them, if I’m not I don’t have to – A few companies per month come in that have fascinating business ideas that warrant my spending more time trying to understand their people, company, technology and market. I work hard, don’t get me wrong. We travel together.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Due Diligence Spain Warrant 312

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. Today with every city, state and country trying to build out a technology cluster, following Dino’s progress can provide others with a roadmap of what’s worked and what has not. Tech investing is risky.

Early Stage 295

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 295

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. You are actively engaged in the NYC or Boston tech ecosystem. What Will The Job Be Like.

Operations 227

Operations Hiring Seed Stage Software Review 227

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

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

One example is that they introduced a program where their founders can pool together shares from their company and exchange them for a small portfolio of other First Round Capital companies. In the early 80’s he left academia to work on venture capital investing with Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies. and Half.com.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

David Teten

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

By contrast, as a venture capitalist, I can report that almost all of our portfolio companies are desperate to hire talented software engineers, and eager to hire in a range of other roles. I’ve recently met with several universities, nonprofits, and government employees who’ve all asked the same question: how can we promote entrepreneurship?

Government 146

Government Technical Review New York Offshore 146

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. So What Impact Did the Drop in Tech Founding Costs Have on VC?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

But in the grand scheme of things, 10 years is a blip, and one that had a continuous bull market in tech. Today, multiple rounds are often raised, due to the atomization of the seed space. First, the winners in most portfolios don’t often have a true recap round. In some ways, this feels like an eternity.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

For the past 10 years, with interest rates near zero, VC investors plowed record amounts into tech startups and enjoyed a seemingly ‘easy’ investing environment. Essentially, show that you can build a great portfolio and deploy all capital pre series A.”

Venture Capital 215

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Institutional Investors 215

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer development, etc. My action item – I will soon announce the GRP Partners CEO Summit. The Greycroft event was a 10 out of 10 so I’ve diligently taken notes.

PR 279

PR Technical Review Portfolio Customer Development 279

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

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

The previous post described how China built its science and technology infrastructure. This post is about the how the Chinese government engineered technology clusters. Of all the Chinese government programs, the Torch Program is the one program that kick-started Chinese high-tech innovation and startups. Innovation Clusters.

Programming 179

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 179

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 22, 2009

I myself recently covered the topic when I spoke about why GRP Partners invested in Ad.ly. I know that advertising is important to inform consumers of offers – the same reason many tech companies use SEM. GRP Partners invested in GoTo.com which rebranded as Overture. John Batelle profiles this well in his book The Search.

Advertising 277

Advertising Technical Review Affiliate SEM 277

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Posted on September 14, 2009 by steveblank Over the last 30 years Wall Street’s appetite for technology stocks have changed radically – swinging between unbridled enthusiasm to believing they’re all toxic. Each VC firm/partner has a different spin on what to weigh more.) Tech acquisitions went crazy at the same time the IPO market did.

Silicon Valley 237

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 237