We heart Fridays! Giant thanks to our friend Semil who has stepped in numerous times since StrictlyVC’s launch to help with guest interviews and was a tremendous help with StrictlyVC over the last couple of weeks (including authoring today’s column). As we mentioned yesterday, we’re shutting entirely for one week, beginning Monday, but we’ll be […]
Archives for July 2016
Exits and Commitments
By Semil Shah Today wraps up the third summer I’ve had the luxury (and wielded the power!) of being a guest curator for StrictlyVC while Connie takes some well-deserved R&R on the beach with her family. This year, along with the standard Q&A’s with fellow investors, I’ve been reflecting on my few years as a […]
StrictlyVC: July 28, 2016
And it is Thursday! Today’s Q&A brought to you again by the dexterous Semil Shah. Also, an important programming note, or a no-programming note(?): StrictlyVC will not go out to readers next week. We do this about two separate weeks each year to give Connie a full and complete break so she doesn’t lose her […]
VC Kent Goldman on the Changing Dynamics Between Seed-Stage Firms
By Semil Shah Two years ago, Kent Goldman, a former partner with First Round Capital, took the wraps off his own seed-stage venture firm and the novel idea that it incorporates. Specifically, Goldman said that his new firm, Upside Partnership, would give every founding team that it backs a piece of its own carry, effectively […]
StrictlyVC: July 27, 2016
Hi, happy Wednesday, everyone. Today’s Q&A is brought to you again courtesy of investor Semil Shah, as Connie’s off shooting Nerf guns with her sons somewhere. (Thanks, Semil!) —– Top News in the A.M. Twitter reported its earnings yesterday, and the newest number to bother Wall Street centers on its revenue growth, which has fallen dramatically. […]
Quick Chat with Investor Avidan Ross
A year ago, Avidan Ross, an investor with an engineering background, raised a debut, $31.4 million, fund under the brand Root Ventures. The idea was to back early-stage hardware startups — eight to 10 of them each year. StrictlyVC talked with Ross at the time; we more recently caught up with him to ask how things […]
StrictlyVC: July 26, 2016
Happy Tuesday! Today’s column brought to you by the prolific Semil Shah while Connie swelters somewhere under the Heat Dome. —– Top News in the A.M. What you should expect from today’s Apple, Verizon and Twitter earnings reports. —— Chatting with Jenny Lefcourt of Freestyle Capital A little more than two years ago, Jenny Lefcourt, who […]
Chatting with Jenny Lefcourt of Freestyle Capital
By Semil Shah A little more than two years ago, Jenny Lefcourt, who cofounded the wedding registry startup WeddingChannel.com and a short-lived e-commerce company called Marrkit, made the leap into venture capital. Specifically, the Stanford MBA joined Freestyle Capital founders Josh Felser and Dave Samuel at their small but growing seed-stage fund, and she’s been […]
StrictlyVC: July 25, 2016
Hi, happy Monday, everyone! Some quick notes before we get started. Our September event is now sold out, though feel free to join our waitlist and we’ll happily squeeze you in if we have any cancellations. We’re also very excited to announce that author, entrepreneur, and former Google exec Kim Malone Scott and investor Hunter Walk […]
CrunchFund Has a New Partner in Susan Hobbs
CrunchFund has a new partner, and it didn’t need to look far for her, either. Last week, Susan Hobbs joined the five-year-old, seed-stage outfit from Y Combinator, where she spent the last 15 months as Y Combinator’s director of programming and events. But as readers may recall, Hobbs had spent the previous four years as director of […]