A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Here are some of the takeaways: Some readers interpreted the post as arguing for only investing in high gross margin businesses. Bill Gurley tweeted his blog post from 2011 that “ all revenue is not created equal.” One of the best things about writing is all of the feedback you get.

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Feedough

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Today, disruption is rather slow-paced. Startups are known to disrupt the markets, and this disruption usually ends up in developing totally new demand for its offerings. Such demand and other metrics of a disruptive startup, when represented in the form of a graph, form a shape of a hockey stick.

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disruption sustainability entrepreneurs energy 111

TechCrunch

JUNE 6, 2022

Vayyar , a company developing radar-imaging sensor technologies, today announced that it raised $108 million in a Series E round led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, with participation from GLy Capital Management, Atreides Management LP, KDT, Battery Ventures, Bessemer Ventures, More VC, Regal Four and Claltech.

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startup construction disruption technology 89

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

The company, which was founded in 2011 and is led by CEO Dan Preston, said it has reached a merger agreement with special purpose acquisition company INSU Acquisition Corp. Metromile is credited for disrupting some of the inefficiencies of the auto insurance business model, notably how consumers are charged.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 13, 2021

In Latin America, the business of trolling threatens Twitter’s disruptive power. Business writer Gordon Pitts pinpoints 2011 as the game-changing year for the Atlantic startup scene. Each province tends to have a godfather/cheerleader who has championed local startups through investment, advice and connections.

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venture capital capital culture advice 137

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Note: I led First Round's investment in Docracy in 2011, but I do not have any financial ties to the company and will not benefit or suffer, other than emotionally, based on the outcome of that investment.

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collaboration frameworks communities construction 307

TechCrunch

JULY 21, 2021

Sequoia Capital India’s Surge invests $2M in sales engagement platform Outplay. The previous outbound sales tech disruption happened in 2011 when Outreach and Salesloft were founded. Outplay was founded in 2019 by brothers Ram and Lax Papineni.

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capital pitching enablement SaaS 98

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

He left for business school at Harvard University intending to make a career switch to investment banking. Moeller had spent half of that summer filming the reality TV show and the other half interning at an investment banking firm. The company launched at TechCrunch Disrupt 2011 and became a finalist in the competition.

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technology disruption entrepreneurship development 91

Gust

MARCH 23, 2014

In fact, damage to reputation and brand has moved up to #4 from #6 in the Top 10 risks identified in Aon’s 2013 Global Risk Management Risk Ranking , moving ahead of business interruption and failure to innovate to meet customer needs in 2011. The Internet has been a powerful and disruptive technology. Take heed, and take action.

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disruption networking entrepreneurs innovation 178

Dream It

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

Matt Murphy and Grace Ge, Menlo Ventures Which trends are you most excited about in construction robotics from an investing perspective? We are active in construction with investments such as HOVER and Fieldwire and believe the entire sector is right for a digital and automation overhaul. Finishing is the ripest for disruption.

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construction investing investment opportunity 259

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Many readers know that at Upfront Ventures that’s precisely what happened at our own firm in 2011 when our founding partner and my co-Managing Partner, Yves Sisteron, asked me to lead the daily management of our firm. The great firms transition day-to-day leadership and often those who don’t fail to protect their “franchise value.”

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leadership VC venture capital ventures 161

Gust

JUNE 19, 2012

And in January I saw that digital music overtook physical media for the first time in 2011, something I expected since 1998. Investment and startups problem : we all want disruptive and game-changing businesses. Last weekend I caught Mashable announcing that Ebook Sales Surpass Hardcover in the U.S.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 7, 2021

Mambu has been seeing 100% growth year-on-year, but notably, Mambu covered 50 markets when it last raised money, €30 million in 2019 , so you can argue it has some investing and expanding to do on that front. Spryker raises $130M at a $500M+ valuation to provide B2Bs with agile e-commerce tools. That could lead to consolidation, too.

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SaaS incumbents opportunity disruption 126

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 24, 2023

7 investors explain why they’re all in Pitch Deck Teardown: Uber’s $200K pre-seed deck from 2008 Image Credits: Uber (opens in a new window) The word “disruptive” gets thrown around so much, it’s lost much of its impact.

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pitching frameworks transportation ventures 75

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

million pre-money valuation is now raising $1 million at a $12 million valuation the next investor has nowhere to go but up (or sit out the investment). Just because the valuation in absolute terms isn’t a big difference does not mean that people aren’t paying higher than intrinsic value for these investments. That may be.

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real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

It’s the whole basis of my investment philosophy, which I call “ The Entrepreneur Thesis.&#. It’s interesting to me that two of the most talented tech leaders of our era – Bill Gross & Paul Graham – have both opted for a model of incubation to encourage young tech entrepreneurs to build disruptive businesses.

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entrepreneurs incubation board VC 374

Gust

JUNE 19, 2012

Invested Interests. And in January I saw that digital music overtook physical media for the first time in 2011, something I expected since 1998. Investment and startups problem : we all want disruptive and game-changing businesses. Invested Interests. Invested Interests. Invested Interests.

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 22, 2020

Ultimately, Atrium’s failure shows how difficult and unprofitable it could be to disrupt a traditional and complicated system. Before giving up, Microsoft made some big investments in Mixer’s success, most notably signing streaming superstars Ninja and Shroud to exclusive deals. Trover (2011-2020). Total Raised: $2.5

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startup media venture capital ventures 145

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022

Today, it’s announcing some funding to capitalize on that, a reminder of how disruption is always around the corner. Athos is a repeat backer: It also invested in an earlier $2.6 The company, based out of Madrid, has picked up $8 million in a round led by Decibel out of the U.S.,

collaboration 23

collaboration mix-use creativity communities 23

OurCrowd

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

The week’s top investment deals from OurCrowd. Green light for cleantech investment. Ripple: Disrupting the non-dairy milk market – Forbes. Green light for cleantech investment. Annual investment in cleantech increased tenfold from about $400 million a year to peak at $4.3 billion in 2011.

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investing investment hospitality disruption 69

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Looking ahead at the next decade I am excited by what I believe will be viewed as one of the best and most rational investment periods for venture capital due to seven discrete factors: 1. By 2010-2011 this had shrunk by half again, averaging under $15 billion. By the end of 2011 the Internet population was estimated at 2.3

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venture capital capital ventures VC 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

Competitors can leapfrog you on features or outspend you on customer acquisitions but communities are very hard to disrupt. they could invest in entrepreneurial communities and the best founders would then bring in new founders. Ryan Smith, the founder of Qualtrics, also invested and has joined the board of directors.

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communities peer-to-peer venture capital enablement 234

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2013

The timing of the announcement of this investment couldn’t have been timed more perfectly if we tried. I started announcing my Twitter thesis back in 2011 (still serves as a useful read today). And before that you might enjoy this longer analysis on why I invested in DataSift in the first place , which was written 2.5

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board disruption media SaaS 358

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

The interview was wide ranging and discussed everything from USVs investment thesis over the past 10 years to what some emerging themes are around blockchain and artificial intelligence. And honestly it was the single biggest roadblock at Upfront when we raised out fourth fund in 2011. We as an industry have seen this.

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VC peer-to-peer board disruption 176

Andreessen Horowitz

APRIL 9, 2024

The data revolution in partnerships Sarah Wang: That’s incredibly exciting and definitely part of our investment thesis in investing in Crossbeam. Then by 2011 or 2012, some of the tech components of the Great Recession had started wearing off and the market started waking up. Sarah Wang: Absolutely.

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SaaS strategy disruption energy 125

Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 1, 2016

In 2011, we launched the first primary school chain in Africa that employs a blended learning model. We’re making a mark through disruptive change, but we realize we can’t compete with the 25,000 schools throughout South Africa alone. SB/ “Education is a long-term investment; it’s not a quick fix.? And we ask all families?to

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entrepreneurship education peer-to-peer culture 130

Feedough

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

In India , SMEs are identified on the basis of the investment. In the case of small enterprises: The manufacturing sector’s investment in plant & machinery should be more than 25 lakh rupees and less than 5 crore rupees. In Singapore , the Ministry of Trade and Industry re-defined the definition of SMEs in 2011. Come on!

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health real estate entrepreneurs innovation 98

Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 22, 2016

In 2011, we launched the first primary school chain in Africa that employs a blended learning model. We’re making a mark through disruptive change, but we realize we can’t compete with the 25,000 schools throughout South Africa alone. SB/ “Education is a long-term investment; it’s not a quick fix.

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peer-to-peer education entrepreneurship culture 130

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

He thinks the market opportunity for his company, an in-stealth remote HQ, is in the trillions because it has the potential to disrupt real estate, transportation and, in a macro sense, urban cities. “I Lavingia invested in Branch’s seed round. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin. Huddle’s Florent Crivello disagrees.

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transportation culture mix-use real estate 142

GCUC

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

In 2011, I called Adam Neumann of WeWork and invited him to come to Austin for the very first GCUC conference. The real estate industry was ripe for a disruption that put the people’s needs before the landlords. Coworking is that disruption. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR INVESTMENT? Only time will tell.

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coworking real estate coworking spaces disruption 48

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 3, 2012

Not only that, but there's a "Series A Crunch" that we've been talking about since October of 2011 where good companies can't seem to get to their next round of funding. Venture capital is just equity--and it's equity that isn't widely available to everyone and it gets invested in by a wide variety of investor types with different strategies.

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real estate venture capital entrepreneurship creativity 282

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 17, 2013

As an example, eBay’s 2011 marketplace revenues were approximately $6.6B When evaluating new marketplace investments, we are naturally biased towards entrepreneurs who understand the strategic rationale behind the argument for a lower rake. The 30% rake basically launched a nasty competitor with a disruptive pricing model.

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strategy networking disruption sustainability 101

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

We are also seeing the growth of social networks around topics of interest like StockTwits for people interested in investing in the stock market. For this reason one of the most important companies for me at TC Disrupt was Datasift. If you look at the power of Bit.ly provides you. They’re based in London.

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networking mix-use innovation development 318

TechCrunch

MARCH 2, 2021

Simultaneously , they announced that the fund had invested $1.5 The idea for a syndicate fund would come in the following months as the pandemic disrupted investment activities worldwide. During the onset of the pandemic, Aboyeji, via his blog post , said Future Africa Fund was looking to raise institutional investment.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

By 2008 I had gotten more serious about championing companies through our investment process. I started showing my partners more deals that I found interesting and doing loads of analysis on the future of markets I thought were ripe for disruption. I have always believed that TV was ripe for disruption. It was September 2008.

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TechCrunch

JULY 7, 2022

The winning team will receive a coveted spot in TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200, free exhibition space at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 and the chance to win $100,000 in equity-free prize money. At DCVC, she led investments including Agility Robotics, Fulfil.ai, SafelyYou, SmarTex, and Brimstone.

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pitching education entrepreneurship creativity 77

Entrepreneur's Handbook

JULY 22, 2022

( Any views expressed in the below are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions. Its investments in services such as roads, schools, courts, hospitals, etc. Remember?—?Japan

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energy peer-to-peer culture real estate 135