A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JUNE 1, 2021

When I look at all of the opportunities we are currently considering plus all of the investments we have made this year to date, what stands out most to me is the location of the founders and teams. And very little of it is in western Europe where most of our non-US investing has been for the last decade.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. There is one source that was always problematic for me – intros from investment bankers. This is no criticism of the investment banking industry (although I’m sure some will read it this way) for which there are very useful purposes.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

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.” Same with VC.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

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

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This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 4, 2018

When you get an investment from Brooklyn Bridge Ventures—you get me. My investment thesis is shaped by the sum of my personal experience and so are my values. My goal is to make Brooklyn Bridge Ventures the most accessible VC firm not just because I think it’s good business, but because I think it’s a based on good values.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

With our 2020 Robotics + AI sessions event on the horizon in early March, we’re diving back into the sector to learn about the attributes of construction attracting robotics VCs the most and which types of startups VCs are actually writing checks for in 2020. How much time are you spending on construction robotics right now?

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Internet giant Google announced today that it has made the first investment from its Africa Investment Fund in Ugandan super app SafeBoda. The accelerator program has supported more than 80 startups in seed to Series A stages with equity-free mentorship and resources. Google sets up $50M fund to invest in African startups.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

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. International Women’s Day?—?which

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This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

In late 2018, the company raised $75 million Series C from Sequoia, arguably the top VC firm in the world. After being largely ignored by Valley investors (the biggest checks in her seed, Series A, and Series B came from men on the East Coast), she finally found support from the VC elite. VC David Sacks tweeted “??

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This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 11, 2021

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Charlie O'Donnell - VC (@ceonyc) She’s the best. I’d like to invest in enterprise companies that make the experience of working better for all—from benefits and professional development to company culture. These are solutions I want to invest in. This is my daughter, Mirren.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

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.

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David Teten VC

AUGUST 30, 2021

Our proposal: governments systematically support funding for their diaspora founders, not just the local founders. I co-wrote this essay with Prabhat Gusain , currently the Chief of Staff at Caffeinated Capital; formerly an intern with Versatile VC ; and a 2021 MBA from UVA Darden. VC firms looking for fundable founders.

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investment investing founder VC 119

AsiaTechDaily

JUNE 14, 2023

Kaya Founders, a venture capital firm based in the Philippines , has introduced two new funds to support startups at different stages of their growth. With a focus on nurturing startups, Kaya Founders is particularly interested in supporting home-grown ventures in the Philippines.

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Hunter Walk

FEBRUARY 22, 2025

Ok, back to the VC content marketing. A few years back I helped start Screendoor , a fund that backs new venture firms by hopefully being one of their earliest and largest supporters. As a result I’ve seen hundreds of VC decks, all certain they will be among the top performers. This post is about ‘seeing.’

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David Teten VC

MARCH 1, 2022

The easiest way to work with and for VC funds is to become a part-time scout, getting paid for sourcing investments. How to win consulting, board, operating, and investment roles with private equity and venture capital funds (video). How to find a job as a VC scout. VC recruiters list and compensation data.

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Revolution

AUGUST 2, 2022

is core to our investment thesis. Rise of the Rest also hosted a Northwest Arkansas Startup Community Roundtable to help connect individuals within the regional innovation ecosystem with those visiting for the Heartland Summit to share experiences, challenges, and best practices for supporting entrepreneurs.

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economic growth innovation communities startup ecosystem 344

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2014

How many more investments could I do? These are things that other VCs think about, but founders who come to pitch don''t think about too much. as a VC, sometimes your own website becomes an afterthought. Was the fund enough to keep me going? How where things going? When you blog, tweet , Instagram , etc., So there ya go.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Think USV is only invested around Union Square in NYC? And in many communities that are new to building tech startups I’ve found that a lot of angel money is not very sophisticated at investing in startup companies. Actually, there is tons of wealth in San Diego but it isn’t organized well to support them.

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communities startup venture capital capital 378

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

If you are a super young, well-connected, Stanford CS or EE, worked at Facebook early, have a bit o’ dosh and have VCs chasing you … you are exempt. My VC told me that if we monetize too early we will scare away our nascent marketplace and not grow as fast. Your VC is right. But I’ll support you either way.”

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Revolution

MAY 23, 2023

This is largely driven by large investment flows from strategic and tourist investors. VC firms are not blameless — over 1.8K VC investors wrote checks into proptech deals over the last five years. Strategics in this space typically have a portfolio of hard assets (i.e.,

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I remain a huge supporter and am very proud of our accomplishments and hugely optimistic about our future. 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. 5 years ago.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” The story is Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy and the amazing team that supports them.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital 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.

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Hunter Walk

APRIL 21, 2025

But I’ve also seen a few change quite dramatically based upon the progressing ‘game on the field’ and my own VC experiences. One example is whether it’s assumed that seed VCs maximize outcomes by religiously holding their shares until the company itself exits. I mean, we’re investors, not traders, right?

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venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 103

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

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.

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Dream It

DECEMBER 19, 2019

NeuroFlow ( Healthtech - Fall 2019 ) is a platform for getting patients with behavioral health issues better by supporting clinical teams with collaborative and measurement-based tools in all care settings. million Series A financing round led by San Francisco-based Builders VC. This week, the company announced a $7.5

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

We also are dependent on money, advice and support of many of our friends & colleagues in the venture industry who co-invest with us in nearly every deal we do. Up next I’ll publish all of the LP (people who invest in VCs) data we gathered and what we believe this signifies. VC survey data 2016 from Mark Suster.

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peer-to-peer VC advice ventures 277

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Sopoong , a social impact-focused VC, intends to support environmentally minded tech founders in South Korea and Southeast Asia, while building a bridge between Korean conglomerates and startups in the sector. Sopoong has closed on around $8 million (10.3 Sopoong has closed on around $8 million (10.3

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JANUARY 1, 2024

That is good news for the innovation economy because healthy capital markets are a necessary support system. The AI “stack” has emerged with Large Language Models and other important models (like audio, imagery, video, etc) operating in the cloud with well-documented and supported APIs that are available to developers to build on.

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AsiaTechDaily

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Register Asia Pacific-based early-stage VC Investible has announced the appointment of Charlie Ill to the newly-created role of group Chief Investment Officer, as well as the promotions of Jayden Basha to Principal and Ben Lindsay to Investment Manager. In the past three months, Investible has deployed A$9.8m

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

I have been investing in developer tools since the earliest days of my VC career. The first investment I led in the late 80s was a financing that provided the funds to acquire a programming editor called Brief. That investment worked out but we didn’t make a lot of money on it. It was a text-based editor for PCs.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

As business owners, we often have a huge amount of wealth tied up within our businesses, but don’t form the habit of creating other income streams and forms of wealth, such as investments outside our businesses. The best advice she ever gave me, though, was to join the EO to build my leadership skills and my support network.

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Jason Malki

MARCH 9, 2023

I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Sheffield, the Founder & Managing Partner of Pachamama Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in US early-stage climate tech companies. How did you break into tech investing? I was already investing in public stocks, bonds, and preparing to make my 1st home purchase.

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AsiaTechDaily

DECEMBER 27, 2022

Register TradeDog Group, the parent company of TD VC that is based in Dubai in the UAE, has announced the launch of their $100M Web3 “special situation” fund that will be allocated in projects with good products and businesses with struggling token markets. No account yet?

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 23, 2023

Beyond that, the big tech news this week is Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar, multi-year investment in Open AI. As always, you can support me by following me on Twitter and Instagram. All that VC dry powder is damper than you think by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch Equity drops at 10:00 a.m.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

2021 saw phenomenal returns for our industry and it topped off more than a decade of unprecedented VC growth. And while over the past few years we have been laser-focused on cash returns, we are equally planting seeds for our next 10–15 years of returns by actively investing in today’s market. The answer is: not much.

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This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

These are people that didn’t make their money through a tech startup or startup investing. They might have a more flexible time horizon than a VC because the money doesn’t come from a fund with a limited lifespan. I’m not talking about active angels. I’m talking about what someone I know recently referred to as “dentists”.

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