I recently read a blog post that really got under my skin and it didn’t take long to realize why it got me so riled up. So many startups today have created ‘governance debt’, and have added more risk as a result. We believe that good governance starts at the Seed stage, and that investors … Read more
When you have a $50mm fund with a ‘Seed-stage mandate’ and you’re out there searching for opportunities to deploy capital visibly and quickly, it’s easy to rely upon shortcut ways of finding fundable opportunities. After all, we think that’s a pretty big fund for Seed-stage investing. Some of those short-cuts come through accelerator demo days … Read more
A few weeks ago, Bhavin Parikh, cofounder and CEO of Magoosh, penned a great note that cautioned Founders about what they should know beforethey raise money from a VC. Bhavin is in a unique position to opine on the subject, as his company raised a small Seed round and hasn’t since raised another dime from outside investors. In a … Read more
We are pleased to formally announce our investment in Phonio. Imagine if a global charity, financial advisor, or musician could pick up a phone and call all of their followers, all around the world, at a moment’s notice – this is what Phonio has created. By facilitating large-scale communication with voice, through actual mobile phone calls, … Read more
Founders, I’m with you on this one. Solidifying the Founder/Investor relationship is hard and I get excited about wanting to immediately see your new company’s logo on our website or mentioned the news. I get fired up about seeing a big name on another firm’s website. I recently asked Michael about the topic relative to … Read more
We oftentimes boast that the companies we support at Bee Partners rarely ‘pivot’. We like to say this because a pivot implies that the Founders’ original Deep Market Insight perhaps was never so ‘deep’. But sometimes, that Deep Market Insight yearns for an optimal use case, and needs a second element to blossom. When I … Read more
After working with Garrett Goldberg every day now for over a year, we are thrilled to finally introduce him to the Bee Partners family. His bio and LinkedIn profile are here. Read on to learn why we enjoy working with this guy! What were your expectations when you joined Bee Partners? Coming back to the Bay Area from … Read more
Today, TubeMogul priced on the NASDAQ, listed under the ticker: TUBE! I feel honored to have been invited to the celebration, and nearly choked up when Brett & John invited me to the podium for a group shot. Brett Wilson (co-founder & CEO), Michael Berolzheimer (1st investor) & John Hughes (co-founder & President of Products) By going public, … Read more
Yep, I personally reply to every email I get from a founder. While I’m not quite ready to pledge a response time to those emails, I will take responsibility for having a public email address. The quality and thoughtfulness of a response will vary, for sure, but here are some ideas for you as … Read more
Today, Bee Partners lost a friend and partner. After a year+ long battle with cancer, Hansoo Lee died today. I knew Hansoo as a founder first, and a friend second. We met in early 2009 while he was a student at Haas, sharing an affiliation with the Haas Venture Fellows, a group of students eager … Read more