Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

Paul Martino, General Partner at Bullpen Capital. During our recent Dreamit Kickoff week, Bullpen Capital Founder and General Partner Paul Martino ( @ahpah ) spoke with our Spring 2020 cohort about the state of the VC ecosystem in the current economic crisis. Will a financial crisis affect how venture funds deploy capital?

ventures 334

ventures startup capital board 334

TechCrunch

APRIL 18, 2023

Simply put, equity risk premiums (ERPs) have broken down well below the ranges that were established since 2008. For the venture world specifically, this dynamic is compounded by the venture debt markets cooling, which in turn makes equity the most viable option for most. The data tells a clear and extreme story.

ventures 82

ventures VC venture capital capital 82

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

I know that the tone of the title and post will seem a bit aggressive for a post from a venture capitalist on fund raising. If you want to raise venture capital more easily the advice could be quite practical and counter-intuitive. Not so VC. Clean up your own shite. It is 2010. So what happens?

venture capital 289

venture capital capital ventures advice 289

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? billion fund.

VC 466

VC culture sustainability capital 466

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

We have previously raised funds in 1996 ($200 million), 2000 ($400 million) and 2008/9 ($200 million). 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.

ventures 343

ventures venture capital advice VC 343

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

One of things I’ve loved the most about doing now 11 weeks of This Week in VC is a chance to have an hour-long recorded conversation with investors. And in my interviews with many VCs I feel that people can watch these and get to know the VC’s as human beings a bit better. So how did Mike get into VC?

VC 230

VC ventures venture capital capital 230

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Union Square Ventures (USV) has been one of the most successful venture capital firms of the past 10–15 years and continues to be a leader in our industry. Lindel is no stranger to thorny venture capital issues — he was arguably amongst the most successful LPs of his generation. And so it goes.

leadership 161

leadership VC venture capital ventures 161

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

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. He first came to see me in 2008 when we was raising money for his 1st startup – NextMedium. He will be a venture partner. I’ve known Hamet for 5 years. I stayed close.

ventures 340

ventures investing investment board 340

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JULY 27, 2021

The two most used measures of a venture fund’s performance are the “cash on cash” return and the “internal rate of return” (IRR). Our 2008 vintage early-stage fund has generated about 5x cash on cash but only generated a 22.5% Venture capital funds do not take down the entire capital commitment upfront.

opportunity 279

opportunity venture capital strategy investing 279

AsiaTechDaily

JANUARY 22, 2023

Register HYU Holdings has partnered with Singapore’s early-stage fund Farquhar VC to help early-stage university startups scale and thrive in overseas markets. The partnership will allow HYU Holdings, a Hanyang University-based investment-holding company, to work closely with Farquhar VC to help South Korean startups to go global.

VC 52

VC startup accelerator collaboration 52

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

I’ve seen friends (and family members) lose much of their savings that way over the years because “Black Swans” happen and in 1987, 2001, 2003 & 2008 (just to name a few from my memory) huge market gyrations caused much financial distress to people seeking short-term gains. You don’t have a clue. Neither do I.

financing 344

financing finance ventures real estate 344

TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2022

Less than 2% of venture capital funding went to all-female founding teams in 2021, marking a five-year low, new data from Pitchbook shows. So how is it that despite the recent boom in startup funding, the venture capital industry is actually becoming an even tougher place for women to raise money? of overall deal value.

founder 95

founder peer-to-peer venture capital ventures 95

Founders Coop

JANUARY 11, 2023

We started the firm in 2008, on the cusp of the Global Financial Crisis, and it’s somehow fitting to be entering our 15th year as the laws of financial gravity reassert themselves once again. By contrast, venture capital is a craft that defies both speed and scale. Founders’ Co-op turns fifteen this year.

founder 168

founder peer-to-peer VC sustainability 168

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

To see the video of This Week in VC click on this link. What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures).

VC 225

VC social gaming venture capital networking 225

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.

VC 311

VC startup real estate financing 311

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

VC 255

VC venture capital networking innovation 255

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

Had a great chat with Jim Armstrong who is a General Partner at Clearstone Venture Partners today on TWiVC. It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. Segment Three: “VC Deals Funded this Week”.

VC 236

VC venture capital ventures support 236

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. Founded in August 2008 in Palo Alto, CA, by Sam Christiansen and Keith Lee.

VC 240

VC peer-to-peer advice collaboration 240

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.

VC 265

VC venture capital entrepreneurs real estate 265

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. I’m not a doomsday guy, but just believe that we won’t see a V shaped recovery, which could make VC funding more difficult for tech start-ups (don’t shoot the messenger!).

VC 269

VC startup advice innovation 269

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). per year.

VC 241

VC venture capital ventures capital 241

TechCrunch

JULY 19, 2022

Everyone loves an underdog, which is why investors and tech journalists are so fond of discussing startups that launched during the Great Recession of 2008, like Airbnb, Uber, WhatsApp, Mailchimp, Square and Venmo. Once a key driver of global venture activity, fintech investment slows around the world. Walter Thompson. yourprotagonist.

pitching 94

pitching venture capital VC financing 94

TechCrunch

AUGUST 15, 2023

Brett Calhoun Contributor Share on Twitter Brett Calhoun is the managing director and general partner at Redbud VC. Amid these turbulent times, the VC accelerator industry has emerged as a stalwart player. Amid these turbulent times, the VC accelerator industry has emerged as a stalwart player. psychedelics or construction).

accelerator 96

accelerator peer-to-peer startup VC 96

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

Current round: $20.0mm Series-B led by Andreesen Horowitz, with USV and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. led by Altos Ventures and Maverick Capital, with Larry Braitman. Founded in 2008 in Santa Monica by Ron Goldman (former CRO of shopping.com) and Rahul Sonnad. Incubated by Clearstone Ventures in 2008.

VC 248

VC incubation ventures capital 248

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

This is part of my series on Understanding Venture Capital. I’m writing this series because if you better understand how VC firms work you can better target which firms make sense for you to speak with. It in not uncommon to see a VC talk about “total assets under management&# as in “We have $1.5

VC 269

VC venture capital investing investment 269

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I become a venture capitalist in September 2007 – exactly 6.5 I spent my first year developing proprietary deal flow and learning the business and then the Sept 2008 / Lehman Bros collapse / financial meltdown happened. As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago.

VC 387

VC venture capital financing finance 387

Founders Coop

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

I know this is a familiar experience for many of my peers in Venture Capital. Matt, Josh and Shivaas helped me learn early in my VC career what good really looked like. The world of software investing has changed dramatically since we started Founders’ Co-op back in 2008. And I still have so much to learn.

peer-to-peer 132

peer-to-peer VC venture capital startup ecosystem 132

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 11, 2014

I''m super proud of Rob, Ben and the whole Backupify team--and this is particularly special for me because Backupify was the first investment I ever made as a VC, and the first board I ever sat on. Rob messed around with some local video thing in 2008, which everyone but Rob thought was a pretty terrible idea.

board 257

board venture capital entrepreneurship creativity 257

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

Without further ado, here are the five judges who will pick the 2021 Startup Battlefield winner: Kirsten Green is the founder and managing partner of Forerunner Ventures, a San Francisco-based VC firm she formed in 2010. She later assumed the role of chief innovation officer through which she oversaw Northwestern Mutual’s venture arm.

startup 74

startup board venture capital VC 74

Tomasz Tunguz

NOVEMBER 5, 2022

In February 2008, the ARS market seized. VC investment fell 40%, nearly halving another source of oxygen. The point of raising venture capital is to have money when the company needs it. ARS produced a steady stream of interest payments, like savings accounts, with a higher return. The Global Financial Crisis followed.

venture capital 78

venture capital VC investing investment 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. They are, in fact, great news for traditional venture capitalists. This article originally ran on PEHub.

venture capital 347

venture capital capital ventures VC 347

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. You have to be selected to present and it is typically reserved for companies that have already raised early-stage capital and are well into revenue growth. Should you use investment banks to raise venture capital?

VC 242

VC venture capital ventures capital 242

TechCrunch

JANUARY 26, 2022

But the pandemic did not quell investors’ appetites: Last year saw new records set for VC funding, unicorn creation and, in some cases, far less interest in due diligence than in years past. But, as we’ve discussed previously, there is no shortage of venture capital in the markets today.

founder 88

founder startup health venture capital 88

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I spoke at Michael Kim’s excellent annual Cendana VC/LP conference today. One of the points I tried to make is that as venture capital investors as an industry we seem to have a healthy disdain for public market investors. This will be seen as a watershed moment in the wake-up call and rationalization of our industry.

VC 392

VC capital culture venture capital 392

TechCrunch

APRIL 5, 2022

‘The tortoise and the hare’ story is playing out right now in VC. After the last few weeks of geopolitical volatility spilling over to the financial and crypto markets, it seems like all anyone can talk about is what startups and VCs can, should or will do in the anticipated downturn. More posts by this contributor.

SaaS 64

SaaS venture capital capital VC 64

David Teten VC

APRIL 30, 2021

These “VCs for investment management companies” are also known as GP Stake investors or fund platforms. According to DocSend , “About half the VC firms in our survey had an anchor LP for their fund, and the average percentage that an anchor LP took in a first-time fund was 25%. In venture, I haven’t seen many fund platforms.”

VC 98

VC venture capital capital investing 98

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 21, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic might have upended the global economy, but according to Meagan Crawford at Spacefund and Chris Moran with Lockheed Martin Ventures, it didn’t dampen investment in space startups. Crawford and Moran both agreed that interest and investment in space will increase as more startups have successful exits.

incubation 129

incubation startup VC sustainability 129