As dozens of Teslas baked in the sprawling Palo Alto parking lot of a local law firm yesterday, 100 top investors packed into a high-ceilinged meeting room. There, they listened as 13 startups deliver four-minute presentations about why they’re worth watching. The companies — all of them roughly six months old or younger, and all led by current college students […]
Pejman Mar
The Kingmaker in the Background: Kathryn Gould
Most venture capitalists don’t curse like sailors. Most can’t boast a 90 percent internal rate of return over the course of their investing careers, either. Kathryn Gould — the inimitable founder of Foundation Capital, who today spends much of her time today on her vineyard in the foothills of California’s Sierra mountain range — is […]
On the Bias Toward Writing About Bias
The last two years have seen countless articles about why there aren’t more successful women in tech. First, a story is published about the dearth of female entrepreneurs or female investors (or both), then people either applaud the piece or enumerate why its wrong-headed (or both). Finally, someone else is legitimately wronged by some knucklehead, […]
In Palo Alto, a Micro Community in the Making
On Tuesday, in leafy Palo Alto, Ca., tucked away in a nondescript office enlivened by bright, computer-themed art, the 1.5-year-old early-stage firm Pejman Mar Ventures welcomed journalists and investors to watch half a dozen startups explain what it is that they’re doing. Four of the teams were comprised of Stanford students who had tinkered on their […]
StrictlyVC: June 17, 2014
Good Tuesday morning, everyone! We’re so sorry to those of you who tried and couldn’t click through yesterday’s assortment of links. Our ESP was doing some closed-curtain emergency maintenance until around noon PST. (We’re just relieved that we didn’t find a digital dust pile when we were allowed back into the system.) —– Top News […]
True Seed Investors
In recent years, the bar has been steadily rising for funding rounds of all sizes, including seed rounds. Indeed, last week, early-stage investor Jeff Clavier told us that “there are way more seed [stage] VCs investing at the same time – when there are proof points – than those who just go with their gut instincts.” Clavier […]
Silicon Valley’s Most Famous Rug Dealer Forms a New Fund
Pejman Nozad, Silicon Valley’s best-known rug dealer, has launched a new, low-flying venture firm. According to SEC filings, Nozad began raising $20 million for the new firm, Pejman Mar, a couple of months ago; his cofounder in the venture is serial entrepreneur Mar Hershenson. The new effort isn’t exactly top secret. Nozad has himself mentioned it […]