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It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venturecapital is not an asset class” or “venturecapital has performed terribly.” That’s a shame because many of these people missed out on what will be a few great VC vintages.
— @jasonlk How the Long Game Has Benefitted Upfront I was thinking about it this morning in particular and thinking about my own personal investment history. sold to Disney for $670 million and since our first investment was at < $10 million valuation we did quite well. Entrada Ventures? —?that
I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venturecapital and a bit about what I’ve learned. I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). They worry too much about missing out on a deal.
I’ve heard a lot of people question whether there is too much money in venturecapital chasing too few great deals. Others believe that new business models are emerging that could replace venturecapital all together. We’re in a new tech bubble!” some have pronounced. More on that later.
The partners at MaC VentureCapital , the Los Angeles-based investment firm that has just closed on $103 million for its inaugural fund, have spent the bulk of their careers breaking barriers. MaC VentureCapital co-founders Marlon Nichols, Michael Palank, Charles King, and Adrian Fenty.
At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venturecapital and the startup ecosystem looked like. Even then private market investors can paper over valuation changes by investing at the same price but with more structure so it’s hard to understand the “headline valuation.”
New research has found that San Francisco and London have become two of the world’s leading hubs for VCinvestment into tech solutions that address one or more of the 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), more commonly referred to as “Impact Tech” They are followed by Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing.
And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venturecapital. Thus, a desire to invest more locally where I think I have a competitive advantage.
Seed investments are down by any measure (funds, deals, dollars) over the past 3 years in deals < $1 million AND in deals between $1–5 million. Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venturecapital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses.
Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.
Often, that money is worth more than the cash invested, because the investors who often become members of the board bring a wealth of experience, insight, relationships and deeper pockets to the table. In a number of cases, these VC partners have made the difference between success and failure or at least growth vs. stagnation.
VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. What was the post money on your last round (and how much capital have you raised)? So why does a VC ask you? In the first place they’re looking for “fit” with their firm.
This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest. I had been thinking a lot about this recently because I’m often asked the question of “what I look for in an entrepreneur when I want to invest?” I had invested in myself for years.
And there’s none that makes me happier than to announce that Jordan Hudson has been promoted to a Principal at Upfront Ventures. What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. Portfolio community building.
I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. This is a big news day at Upfront Ventures. But as sweet as that success has been (we invested pre-revenue in a small team) today my even more important news was the further expansion of our partner ranks. He will be a venture partner.
If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. If you don’t believe in your bones that you’re amazing then it’s no wonder you don’t want to sell them on making the investment.”
Often, that money is worth more than the cash invested, because the investors who often become members of the board, bring a wealth of experience, insight, relationships and deeper pockets to the table. In a number of cases, these VC partners have made the difference between success and failure or at least growth vs. stagnation.
Newport Beach-based Ankona Capital, a new, venturecapital company founded by Josh Harmsen, Brian Mesic, Newth Morris, and Jared Smith, has raised $66M in its first, venturecapital fund.
But I have been in close contact with the NVCA, many of the major law firms and many of the major VC firms. Am I ineligible since I’m VC-backed? There is nothing in the rules that state that VC-backed businesses are ineligible. The NVCA (National VentureCapital Association) Guidelines are below. shouldn’t I?
As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting.
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.
As a result I didn’t write my first venturecapital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. At the time I pointed out: “If I had realized exits almost certainly it would be because I invested in a company that failed. “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs.
Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). People often ask me what VCs look for when we hire partners and many have asked how to become VCs themselves one day. I can’t speak for other VCs but it may interest you to at least know our thought process at Upfront.
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.
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. We not only have our Series A funds that can write $500k?—?$15
If you track the venturecapital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” Bowery Capital).
If you’re an entrepreneur who would like to see this clause in more startups please ask your VC to include it in future term sheets and link to it from their home page. “We We strive to invest in companies that are consciously working to create a diverse leadership team?—?one Ours is: upfront.com/inclusion.
I had dinner this week with a top new customer at one of our enterprise software investments. I wish I did more enterprise software investing because when I attend meetings like this I realize that this is my core DNA – rolling out business software solutions to customers. Contrast that with a VC conversation I had.
Because my role as a VC requires me to take and endless stream of meetings I long ago decided I need to learn as much as I can from the meetings I attend so I often just ask tons of questions and assimilate knowledge. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence.
They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. would you want to give up the right to invest in subsequent rounds?
One of the least understood parts of the venturecapital industry and venturecapital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. For anything that would be considered a normal investment for the partnership most firms try to make sure every partner has seen the deal and has a chance to weigh in.
Generally speaking in venturecapital financings the legal documents will specify that only “major investors” (a threshold set in the agreement – which can be $500,000 investor or more). We led an investment round in a company a while ago in which we wrote a seven-figure check and have taken a board seat.
Los Angeles is becoming one of the more interesting destinations for startups and the investors that provide money for venturecapital firms to place bets on young companies are increasingly starting to take notice. New funds are launching in Los Angeles at a pretty feverish clip, and the latest to plant its flag in the […].
Los Angeles is becoming one of the more interesting destinations for startups and the investors that provide money for venturecapital firms to place bets on young companies are increasingly starting to take notice.
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. The answer is: not much.
With a focus on female venture capitalists and founders, All Raise hosts an annual conference, several in-person and virtual fundraising workshops and networking sessions and, recently, the group began creating curated peer groups for investors. Male VCs have always had cross-firm relationships that facilitate deal-making.
I am so proud and humbled to be able to formally announce that Upfront Ventures has raised its 6th venturecapital fund in the past 21 years. Upfront VI is our latest core fund and is $400 million to invest in early stage entrepreneurs. We’ll invest in about 15 new companies every year or just over 2 per partner.
I only say that because after years as a VC I can always tell when my peer group invested in something because “it seemed like it would make money” versus when they invested out of passion. On reflection of the role that I want to play as a VC it is clearly in the camp of passion. I’m a VC.
Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. VentureCapital. We spoke about the disruption of VC through crowd funding. Some money out of every investment.
Changes in the Software World & in VentureCapital. But notably you had the following changes: Horizontally scalable computing & storage systems, which meant you required less capital up front for hardware. We have invested $17.3 VentureCapital. And then the world changed. Welcome to the future.
Scott Kupor of A16Z responded with a comprehensive overview of valuation methodology in a post that while accurate feels more targeted at sophisticated Limited Partners (LPs) who invest in funds. VCs strangely never seem to weigh in on other VC funds. As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data.
She worked for 5 years as a VC at Battery Ventures and co-headed M&A at IAC working with Barry Diller. Venturecapital is about backing the leaders of tomorrow who imagine the world as it should be and aren’t constrained by what it is today. I promise you, he really said this out loud.) So What Does All This Mean?
Upfront Ventures , a Los Angeles-based venturecapital firm, has filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise its third growth-stage investment fund. Though the firm typically invests at the seed and Series A, capital from Upfront Growth III will be used for follow-on or late-stage deals.
Los Angeles-based Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health , the ventureinvestment fund focused on healthcare, which is led by John Nackel, Jay Goss, Eric Marton and Kwame Ulmer, says it has just completed its 25th investment--all made in the last 18 months. READ MORE>>.
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