Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

It is with great pleasure that I can finally announce that we have added Greg Bettinelli as a partner at GRP Partners. This is exactly the brand that GRP Partners wants to embody. We knew he had to be an investment partner. We settled on Venture Partner as is now being reported and also picked up here.

Partner 360

Partner Las Vegas Los Angeles San Francisco 360

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

I am super excited to announce that today is a day of lots of new things for my partners & me: A new fund, a new office and a new brand. 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. Let’s start with the fund. So what changed?

Los Angeles 343

Los Angeles Las Vegas San Francisco Baltimore 343

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

The functions of an early-stage board are pretty obvious and well understood: Providing introductions to customers, biz dev partners, recruits, the press, other investors, etc. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions. Reviewing financial & operational performance. Mentorship.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. That role as sparring partner can be useful if for nothing else than to test your resolve. What Rob wrote in his post is right.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

We help founders through difficult moments, we help coach, we act as sparring partners, we help them resolve conflicts when they’re fighting with co-founders and we help them deal with adversity as well as successes. The role of VC is sparring partner. That’s why I often say The role of VC is “chief psychologist.” Nothing fancier.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

Some people can skip first base My partner Greg Bettinelli has a sports metaphor that I’ve become fond of which is “skipping first base.” There are some great funds that operate this way and I see some merits. Knowing the style and reputation of the firm and of the partner may guide you towards the right number.

Pre-Money Valuation 292

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Early Stage Startup 292

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

So that we’re speaking the same language I would define “exclusive” as a period in which your company is prohibited from doing business with certain customers or business partners, which is why many incorrectly assume this is necessarily bad. Why Exclusivity Matters to Your Customers or Business Development Partners.

PR 150

PR Early Stage Software Naming 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 23, 2012

But did you also know that they are a large cable operator? They are also very active as an early-stage tech investor, partner and acquirer. 27:45 Thank you to Detroit Venture Partners for their support of the show! And thank you to Detroit Venture Partners and to Walker Corporate Law. That they own Reddit?

Detroit 285

Detroit Partner Media Early Stage 285

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Of partner? Industry or Operating Experience? I know many VCs who don’t have operating experience and frankly some of them are fantastic. Summary: Team Leadership skills, operating knowhow and industry knowledge are all tremendously important. Picking a VC is hard. Reputation of firm? Deals done in your industry?

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Sales Incubator 364

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had really positive experiences such as working with Greg Gretsch at Sigma Partners where he championed us to a partners’ meeting where we sort of got crucified. We made changes and Greg was a gentleman throughout the process rather than berating us for our performance (it was our first partners’ meeting).

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

recently wrote a post talking about how some VCs meddle in operating company decisions or some executive teams are too reliant on VCs to jump in and make hard calls for them. So operating at a higher level, helping to set the framework for decision making and then sitting down and watching the game be played, is certainly the way to go.”

Startup 150

Startup CTO Hire Sales Leadership 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2010

GRP Partners is looking to hire two analysts (maybe even three) to join our practice in Los Angeles. And none of our partners actually worked for any of these firms. I’m already 2 weeks late in writing this blog post as my partners keep reminding me. It’s often a combination of luck, relationships & timing.

Los Angeles 290

Los Angeles Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 290

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

I had come from a world where I was nearly a partner at Accenture before starting my first company. million and we seemed likely to raise another $40 million within the first 18 months of operations. Even better if he/she can double as a VP Operations & HR. Our first big institutional round of VC was $16.5

Warrant 333

Warrant Germany France Cost 333

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2012

He was a recovering lawyer and has now become a startup operator extraordinaire. We were meeting with a potential business partner and Stuart had drafted an agreement between the two companies. And within four he ran global operations across 5 countries including the United States. I wonder if they’ve ever forgiven me ?

United States 322

United States Software Developers Software Development Developer 322

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

This week I sat down with Chris Dixon, co-founder / CEO of Hunch and Partner at Founder Collective in the most recent installment of This Week in Venture Capital. 5. We then went back to talking about how to choose the space in which your startup is operating. be the guy that provides them quotes”).

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Cofounder API 281

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

My job doesn’t involve the daily grind of customer complaints, product outages, business partner / channel problems, hiring / firing, etc. That means you’re always operating on the client’s schedule. There is less team camaraderie – I really get along with my partners well. We travel together.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Due Diligence Spain Warrant 312

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Since selling Matt has gone on to become one of the smartest angels I have seen operate. Called Tim Spicer (c-companies partner) and he told him matt, they only want one thing, more warrant coverage!!! He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. And he said ok got it.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

As a starting point the board is intended to have legal and financial responsibilities to a few key constituencies: shareholders, debt holders, creditors, employees, government and major parties with whom the business operates. Executives run the day-to-day so often the board is more involved as a sparring partner at key intervals.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

A good piece covering the contracting VC market is by Bill Gurley So partners at many firms are racing around to the limited number of pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, family offices, etc. VC’s fund their salaries and operations through management fees, which typically equal 2% per year. I put my money on the latter.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2010

They are tasked with “getting deals done&# so they race around talking to tons of potential partners inking anything from channel sale deals , product integration, international distribution agreements, co-marketing arrangements, M&A discussions, etc. Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people.

Development Team Review 323

Development Team Review SEM Channel Social Media 323

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

You can ask them to come and watch your videos at your owned & operated websites (O&O) where you can make higher margins as well as ask directly for more meaningful customer information such as Facebook connections, Twitter oAuths, email addresses and the like. MSN & AOL. One of the best I have seen in the market is Epoxy.TV.

Video 339

Video Technical Review Distribution Aggregator 339

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

” We explained what we felt the core values of a firm of the future needed to uphold: Provide real operational insights to entrepreneurs (the days of being “money men” are gone). Expand our partnership, bringing in and nurturing next-generation talent who bring operational experience and different points-of-view.

Ireland 324

Ireland Jordan Portfolio Flash 324

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

Howard Morgan earned a PhD in Operations Research/Computer Science in 1968. Office Hours – Two or three partners post a sign-up sheet to meet with entrepreneurs. These partners travel to a city and take ten minute pitches from the entrepreneurs. Through his research he helped bring ARPANET to Philadelphia in 1973.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

” I want to do the best deals wherever they are, but I thought, most VCs I met didn’t have very good operational experience, so I thought, “Well, what if I created a blog called Both Sides of the Table and could emphasize the fact that I used to sit on your side of the table? .” ” I thought, “Nah.”

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder San Diego Startup 337

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros. So the partner who spends 50+% of the time managing wasn’t for us (although truthfully this probably does take 25% of my time).

Portfolio 150

Portfolio PR Partner Early Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

One of the first boards that I ever got involved with where I wasn’t the CEO was with a company in which I hadn’t invested but was brought on board to look deeper into operational issues. I spent a ton of time with the CEO and VP Finance understanding the businesses, its customers and its operational challenges.

CTO Hire 308

CTO Hire Management Technical Review Part-Time VPE 308

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

The constraint between good ideas and growth operates in both directions. Our partners have invested in more than dozen companies that became worth more than a billion dollars and that has disproportionately drive returns. “Why do founders want to take the VCs’ money? Growth, again. It is VC math, like it or not.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

I’m not even talking about your 12-page Powerpoint presentation that you need to raise venture capital or to talk with potential biz dev partners. 66% Net Operating Margins? That died with waterfall software development. I’m talking about your financial spreadsheet. This stuff is ‘zero gravity.’

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

My partner Greg Bettinelli (worth following on Twitter) was recently named by The LA Business Journal as the “ Top deal maker in Los Angeles in Venture Capital.” I joined Upfront Ventures in 2007 and took over as co-Managing Partner in 2011 along with the founder, Yves Sisteron. ” Numero uno.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Early Stage LP Partner 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2013

My observation is that many entrepreneurs have a strong relationship with the partner at the VC who invested in his or her company. Don’t just assume that if you keep you lead partner updated that everything will be good. Just as with sales, if you have a strong champion as a partner you will likely be OK.

Management 309

Management Venture Capital Partner Boston 309

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Focus on the partner you would be working with. I always try operate on the “Fixed Fee +&# arrangement. One issue he talked about was working with partners. I also like to work with partners. But I also know it’s not realistic for the partners to do all of the work. Good people and evil people.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

If you are going to do the tour up and down Sandhill Road to try and raise your 1st round of financing you need a pitch deck because the vast majority of those meetings you are going to be sitting around a table and you will be presenting to one or more partners and that is going to be your first engagement.”. Is that when it became big?

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2015

A general counsel at your customer or biz dev partner or acquirer won’t easily give in on items like “limitations on liabilities” because they’re GCs. And it will make you a significantly better negotiator and operator. The sooner I realized that and didn’t take it personally the better.

Oauth 150

Oauth Software Review Technical Review IPO 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

Six months ago Upfront Ventures announced its first Partner hire since 2007 – Greg Bettinelli. It’s been a really exciting time for me personally to be able to see a partner come in with the energy, enthusiasm and new ideas that remind me of myself 6 years ago. Congrats to my partner Greg and the entire team at Deliv.

B2B 331

B2B eCommerce B2C Differentiation 331

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Recently the firms two founding partners (and also Managing Partners) —  Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham  — decided to transition management of the firm to Andy Weissman (who joined in 2012) and Albert Wenger (joined in 2008 and writes one of the most thoughtful blogs in our industry ). Maybe that’s USV, too.

Leadership 161

Leadership LP Venture Capital Silicon Valley 161

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 26, 2011

And so things operate on a CYA basis. Delaying the inevitable is not going to make things smoother with your investors, biz dev partners, customers or employees. Good enough isn’t. That doesn’t work in a startup. There’s a certain cadence that you can feel when you spend time hanging any well-run startup company.

Hiring 335

Hiring Technical Review Startup Framework 335

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2017

As a starting point the more you’re on their mind the more likely they’re out advocating on your behalf when they are out talking with senior executives at potential customers, future potential investors, potential employees, biz dev partners, journalists and all of the other constituencies where investors should be helping you.

Early Stage 212

Early Stage Technical Review Email Valuation 212