Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. I believe these VC funds have suffered some amount of reputation fall out. Let me explain: 1.

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MARCH 12, 2013

GRP Partners , the Los Angeles venture capital investment firm, said Tuesday morning that it has added former HauteLook CMO Greg Bettinelli as a Partner at the firm. Bettinelli was Chief Marketing Officer at HauteLook, having taken it form startup to its acquisition by Nordstrom for $270M.

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GRP Partners Venture Capital Los Angeles Acquisition 147

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “what’s it like being a VC?&# I’ve been a VC for nearly 3 years now. I always start my answer to this question with, “you’d have to be a pretty big baby to complain about being a VC.&# And the VC job has plenty of admin and minutiae.

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JUNE 27, 2013

Los Angeles-based venture capital investor GRP Partners announced this morning that it has raised a fourth fund, worth $200M, and also renamed the firm Upfront Ventures. GRP has been quite active in the local technology industry, having founded accelerator LaunchpadLA. READ MORE>>.

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DECEMBER 1, 2011

Los Angeles-based GRP Partners is one of the lead investors in a developer of social media analytics software, Awe.sm , Awe.sm has raised $4M in a round which was led by Foundry Group and GRP Partners, and which also included Neu Venture Capital and kps+p Ventures. said Thursday.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. To provide an opportunity for VCs and senior executives to engage with the community by giving back rather than just attending more cocktail parties.

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Los Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners has just chalked up an IPO for its portfolio, with the IPO this morning of Redwood City-based Qualys. GRP Partners owns 8.3% GRP's investment in Qualys is overseen by Yves Sisteron. Qualys priced its IPO last night at $12.00 READ MORE>>.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. I had to laugh a bit reading it.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. 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.

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DECEMBER 22, 2010

Today, we spoke with Mark Suster , a venture capitalist at GRP Partners. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. Yesterday, we heard from Scott Painter of TrueCar.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2011

Mark Suster of GRP Partners has ranked number two on a list of "Most Respected Venture Capitalists". The rankings came out Thursday from Seeking Omega, which said it used technology from Lithium, review of entrepreneurs on TheFunded, and individual surveys to rank the VCs. READ MORE>>.

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JULY 13, 2009

This morning's interview is with Mark Suster , a venture capitalist at GRP Partners (www.grpvc.com). GRP has just recently closed on a new $200M fund, and Mark has been one of the more active venture capitalists in the Los Angeles area in recent months. What's your thoughts on the local venture market?

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JULY 19, 2011

Southern California companies raised $739M in venture capital in Q2 of 2011, according to the latest numbers from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) based on data from Thomson Reuters. According to the MoneyTree report, released last night, Orange County led fundraising, with $319.3M

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APRIL 15, 2010

Southern California venture capital investments totaled $686.5M in 29 venture capital deals for Q1. Tags: venture capital financing investment quarterly moneytree nvca. According to the report, released today, Southern California investments totaled $686.5M received in the region in Q1 of 2009.

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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. This is exactly the brand that GRP Partners wants to embody. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence. Watch this space.

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Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There has been much discussion about VCs doing seed funding in the past year. I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. Short summary of my posts: 1.

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JANUARY 21, 2011

Mark Suster , a venture capitalist at GRP Partners , has made the top 10 in an annual ranking of venture capitalist bloggers, the only Southern California venture capitalist to make the listing.

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Venture Capital GRP Partners Southern California Blogging 145

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Closing a VC fund in 2009/10 is a major achievement in and of itself.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

It’s why I talk about building VC relationships early – Lines, Not Dots. Fill your VC good will, build relationships, be helpful to them not just asking for things. When I joined GRP Partners in 2007 I was offered a role as a General Partner. “I’ve never been a VC before. Be helpful.

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Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

From this debate about Klout John and I have had a series of in person meetings and debates about our industry (both VC & tech) and what is changing. Including ff Venture Capital’s unique approach to finding deals and the services they provide to their startups. 2:00 Why don’t you like the term VC?

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Cornerstone OnDemand Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup 303

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. 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. What’s up with that?

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Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

He eventually applied his lessons learned in these experiences when he founded Zag, a company that helps consumers buy cars over the Internet at pre-negotiated prices with nearly 4,000 dealers across the country [disclosure: my firm GRP Partners is an investor in Zag]. Tags: This Week in Venture Capital.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2011

I am a big believer in VC pitches that the bio slide should come up front. The short answer is that by knowing the key members of the management team the VC firm can quickly identify strengths on your time and know whether you have some competitive advantage in your chose field relative to other people with whom you will compete.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 4, 2010

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 -- LAVA's Annual VC Breakfast. Meet the top VCs who are investing in Southern California. Find out what does it take to secure Venture Capital for your company. Moderators: Stephen Hughes, Senior Relationship Manager, Silicon Valley Bank; Scott Alderton, Partner, Stubbs Alderton, and Markiles LLP.

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LAVA Venture Capital Palomar GRP Partners 100

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JANUARY 22, 2010

The latest numbers from the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data from Thomson Reuters, were released this morning, finding that there was $587.8M Tags: venture capital investment quarterly moneytree thomson reuters. was invested in the region.

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Southern California Venture Capital Invest Orange County 154

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? She has a quote from literally every major VC from whom you’d want to hear. ” [it's short, you should read it]. Please watch this. Every single one.

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Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Blogging 341

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JANUARY 17, 2013

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report were released today, finding that a total of $683.7M billion in venture capital. Karlin Ventures and Siemer Ventures both made five investments each. was invested across Southern California in Q4 of 2012.

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Southern California Orange County GRP Partners San Diego 237

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OCTOBER 18, 2012

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report finds that companies here in Southern California raised $695.4M billion has been invested in the region via venture capital. Nationally, venture capitalists invested $6.5 was raised.

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Southern California GRP Partners Funding Orange County 210

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

Having street smarts with no inspirational ability to build teams can yield a great small business but will be difficult to scale into a large VC-backed business. So we as VCs search for entrepreneurs/founders who have the whole package or as much of it as possible. In the book they profile how VC worked in the early days (60s / 70s).

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OCTOBER 11, 2010

Los Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners --which has been very active in the local technology startup market--has made its latest investment, in an interesting industry: mortgage lending. GRP is the lead investor in Skyline Financial , a Calabasas-based provider of mortgage banking and lending.

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GRP Partners Calabasas Venture Capital Invest 160

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

He knows every startup & VC in town.” They scooped up none other than David Hernand who will join the practice as managing partner. When I first arrived in LA my good friend Matt Pillar (a long-term veteran of tech, media & VC) who had been in LA for some time told me, “in LA there’s none better than David.”

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Venture Capital Startup Los Angeles GRP Partners 299

SoCal CTO

MAY 17, 2011

Venture Capital As long as I'm pulling this together, here are some venture capital firms in Los Angeles that can help get you wired in. I'd also recommend you subscribe to So Cal Tech Central. It brings together events and content for Los Angeles.

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AUGUST 24, 2010

Bass & Associates and Allegis Capital participated in this funding round, and continue to have representatives on the firm's board; the firm has also raised funding in the past from GRP Partners, and Fort Washington Capital. Tags: emn8 venture capital kiosk retail.

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Allegis GRP Partners San Diego Venture Capital 174

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JANUARY 9, 2014

ChowNow has previously raised funding from Daher Capital, Double M Partners, GRP Partners, Karlin Ventures and Velos Partners, and was part of LaunchpadLA. chownow venture capital food ordering launchpadla mobile tablet' Details on the funding have not yet been announced by the company.

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GRP Partners Venture Capital Mobile Los Angeles 170

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JUNE 11, 2013

ChowNow is venture backed by Daher Capital, Double M Partners, GRP Partners, Karlin Ventures and Velos Partners. chownow venture capital mobile restaurant ordering solomo food facebook' The round is targeted at $2M. Chownow lets users order food via their mobile phone or Facebook.

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MAY 24, 2013

more in funding, from GRP Partners and Siemer Ventures. adly celebrity advertising partners venture capital social media twitter' Los Angeles-based celebrity advertising firm Ad.ly disclosed Thursday that it has raised $2.0M helps match up celebrities with social media advertisers. READ MORE>>.

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GRP Partners Social Media Advertising Venture Capital 159

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MAY 29, 2013

Los Angeles-based social, celebrity advertising startup Adly confirmed the company''s recent $2M funding round today, officially announcing the funding from GRP Partners and Siemer Ventures. adly venture capital funding social celebrity advertising' The firm disclosed the funding last week. READ MORE>>.

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