Genuine VC

JULY 19, 2010

Initial investment in a company is among the first non-founder capital raised. Portfolio construction favors early-round capital allocation vs. company life-cycle allocation. The capital deployment velocity is notably higher than a traditional 1-2 investment per partner per year.

Seed Stage 175

Seed Stage Technical Review Dilution Offshore 175

Genuine VC

AUGUST 3, 2012

For us, the investment is certainly fresh and newest in our portfolio, but it also feels familiar. Her co-founder and CTO Yee Lee worked with both my partner Lee Hower and myself (at PayPal and Venrock, respectively). And Board Member James Reinhart is already part of the NextView family, as CEO of portfolio company, thredUP.

Seed Stage 199

Seed Stage Cofounder Portfolio Curation 199

Genuine VC

MAY 5, 2015

Today, I’m thrilled to publicly announce NextView’s Talent Exchange, a program helping both top talent and NextView-backed startups connect with each other more easily, beginning with Boston companies (which make up just over half our portfolio). Below, I’ll quickly explain the genesis of this initiative and share a few more key details.

Portfolio 100

Portfolio Startup Boston Seed Stage 100

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Go outside the business school to meet co-founders. Recruit” your co-founders there; it’s more difficult, but that’s the point. Business schools are very insular islands, but they’re surrounded by an ocean of students in all disciplines. Find yourself.

Cofounder 256

Cofounder Portfolio Venture Capital Reputation 256

Genuine VC

MARCH 25, 2014

This is a major step forward for NextView as we continue to focus on helping our existing portfolio, as well as proactively contribute to the larger Boston (and New York) entrepreneurial community. At the core of this shift is the need for firms to add real value to portfolio companies beyond just capital and boardroom advice.

Boston 123

Boston Early Stage Portfolio Cofounder 123

Genuine VC

JANUARY 23, 2012

At NextView Ventures, we have a number of companies in our portfolio which are “marketplace” businesses, where buyers and sellers meet to exchange a good or service. And along the way we’ve met with or observed a larger number of seed-stage startups attempting to start them.

Engineer 201

Engineer Vertical Portfolio Seed Stage 201

Genuine VC

APRIL 12, 2012

People ask us at NextView all of the time: “What is the typical profile of an entrepreneur in your portfolio?” Subtly behind that question is often one about the experience-level of the founders. The answer, however, doesn’t fit into a neat soundbite.

Vertical 144

Vertical Portfolio Search Internet 144

Genuine VC

MARCH 24, 2014

In the past four years since we’ve been investing together at NextView, 70%+ of those companies in our portfolio which have made attempts at raising full-fledged multi-million dollar Series A after their Seed round have been able to successfully do so (with another additional cohort raising new capital subsequent to seed but not bona fide Series A).

Seed Capital 212

Seed Capital Metrics Cofounder Revenue 212

Genuine VC

APRIL 12, 2012

People ask us at NextView all of the time: “What is the typical profile of an entrepreneur in your portfolio?” Subtly behind that question is often one about the experience-level of the founders. The answer, however, doesn’t fit into a neat soundbite.

Vertical 109

Vertical Portfolio Search Internet 109

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

That means that even when an investment decision itself is contentious, once a company becomes part of our portfolio, all of us act in 110% support of it regardless of how we felt about the original selection. We are instead a Tribe with equal common interest of striving to help make each one of our portfolio companies a success.

Portfolio 114

Portfolio Seed Stage Venture Capital Partner 114

Genuine VC

JUNE 18, 2013

For us at NextView Ventures , we see this transitioning happening first-hand in our portfolio. In addition to demos from two great Main Dish startups, Flightcar and Sold , I am excited that we have two absolutely great keynote speakers: Wayne Chang , Founder of Crashlytics , recently acquired by Twitter for $100M+. And more analysts.

Mobile 131

Mobile Web Boston Distribution 131

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

That means that even when an investment decision itself is contentious, once a company becomes part of our portfolio, all of us act in 110% support of it regardless of how we felt about the original selection. We are instead a Tribe with equal common interest of striving to help make each one of our portfolio companies a success.

Portfolio 100

Portfolio Seed Stage Venture Capital Partner 100

Genuine VC

JANUARY 15, 2015

Of key importance, which we emphasize with our NextView portfolio companies when they’re out raising their Series A, is to run the conversations in parallel rather than serially. But reality doesn’t always play out as neatly. Really interested. The post The “Come-from-Behind” Lead Investor appeared first on GenuineVC.'

Lead Investor 100

Lead Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital Portfolio 100

Genuine VC

JULY 8, 2010

I am excited to remain on the Board of Directors for Venrock’s portfolio company BlogHer. The three of us believe that there is a compelling market opportunity on the east coast for a new seed-stage venture capital firm for founders starting internet-enabled businesses.

Silicon Valley 154

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Cofounder Venture Capital 154

Genuine VC

MARCH 8, 2012

So I always try to share at a detail-level of feedback with a founder who pitches us to invest in their seed round commensurate with the amount of time we spent together. At NextView, we’re looking to invest in the truly great entrepreneurs. And if that feedback opens the door for a long-term dialog, then that’s just an additional benefit.

Venture Capital 167

Venture Capital Portfolio Conversion Partner 167

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

On the early side, it's repeat founders coming together again or early runaway traction in an early beta that generates buzz. DON’Ts : Don’t ask a venture capitalist “are there any job openings in your portfolio?” Don’t waste too much time looking through VC’s endless portfolio pages.

Startup 148

Startup Portfolio Later Stage Hiring 148

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

We’ve observed it repeatedly in our portfolio as Founder/CEOs seek additional rounds of financing: the engaged skeptics just never quite get there, but the entrepreneurs who cast the nets wide enough find someone who believes.

Search 143

Search Seed Stage Forecast .Net 143

Genuine VC

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Continuing this thesis, yesterday it was announced that we at NextView made an investment in Cambridge-based CustomMade along with Google Ventures, First Round Capital, Founder Collective, Launch Capital, and angels.

Web 134

Web Portfolio Security Engineer 134

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Along those lines, our portfolio companies GrabCAD, SalesCrunch, and even CustomMade empower individuals to create and offer services regardless of their location.) Of course with technology-enabled startups, the goal s of a company are not to add employees. In fact, hiring is only done when it’s out of necessity.

Estonia 130

Estonia Startup Distribution Chicago 130

Genuine VC

MARCH 8, 2012

So I always try to share at a detail-level of feedback with a founder who pitches us to invest in their seed round commensurate with the amount of time we spent together. At NextView, we’re looking to invest in the truly great entrepreneurs. And if that feedback opens the door for a long-term dialog, then that’s just an additional benefit.

Venture Capital 103

Venture Capital Portfolio Conversion Partner 103

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Along those lines, our portfolio companies GrabCAD, SalesCrunch, and even CustomMade empower individuals to create and offer services regardless of their location.) Of course with technology-enabled startups, the goal s of a company are not to add employees. In fact, hiring is only done when it’s out of necessity.

Estonia 100

Estonia Startup Distribution Chicago 100

Genuine VC

JULY 1, 2014

In every single venture investment I’m involved with here at NextView Ventures, I learn a lot from the Founders of their company. Of course, the kudos go to the Founders and entire TapCommerce team , plus our syndicate coinvestors Bain Capital Ventures, RRE, ENIAC, and Metamorphic. Prioritize the right customers.

Founder 142

Founder Syndicate Syndication Mobile 142

Genuine VC

MAY 20, 2013

Otherwise, what I’d call a “credible introduction” is sufficient provided there’s also an additional piece of information (key founder background, specific space, etc.) To make money, VCs should aim to have meaningful target ownership in their portfolio investments, but 20% is by no means some kind of magic number.

Venture Capital 244

Venture Capital Cap Table Portfolio Early Stage 244

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 9, 2011

Plus, VCs often will have met the Founder/CEOs of many of a particular startup’s competitors, so they’ll have an even richer understand of the market landscape.

Startup 146

Startup Burn Rate Technical Review Down Round 146

Genuine VC

MARCH 18, 2014

We use it to describe the bold and ambitious nature of the founders we hope to work with. That is not to say that gunning towards cash-flow breakeven (CFBE) isn’t a stated short-term goal of some of our portfolio companies, even those just having raised a Seed financing round.

Seed Stage 202

Seed Stage Dividend Finance Portfolio 202

Genuine VC

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Founders benefit of having more funding options is certainly preferable, but there is a substantial onus on entrepreneurs to navigate an increasingly crowded and clouded landscape. They’ll certainly know the ecosystem and be able to share learnings and network across the portfolio.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Seed Stage Entrepreneur LP 150