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2023 was a tumultuous year for the venture capital industry. This year, Business Insider asked the most important VCs across the US to name the most promising VCs in their cities. Business Insider also asked the general public and last year's rising stars who they thought should make the cut. And just like last year, more of this year's rising stars are women than men, indicating that more women are being brought into the pipeline of the traditionally male-dominated venture capital industry. Scroll to see 2023's rising stars of venture capital, organized alphabetically by the investor's name.
Organizations: Silicon Valley Bank, Tech, Business
Allbirds was one of the last startups to go public in 2021's IPO biltz. "You need to be a great company, you need to be profitable," says Allbirds cofounder Tim Brown. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Going public before turning profitable is a thing of the past, according to Allbirds cofounder and chief innovation officer Tim Brown. "You need to be a great company, you need to be profitable," he told Business Insider.
Persons: Allbirds, Tim Brown, , Klaviyo, Lerer, confidentially, PwC, Spencer Platt, Champagne, Brown, Joanna Glasner, Didi, Rivian Organizations: Service, Time Magazine, Maveron, Tiger Global, Casper Locations: Instacart, Silicon, Americas, Allbirds, Ukraine
Ruzwana Bashir Is Quietly Connecting the Tech World
  + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +18 min
Story by Melia RussellPhotography by Lelanie FosterRuzwana Bashir is ransacking her kitchen cabinet for just the right tea. Bashir wears an Erdem floral-printed bra top, Erdem skirt, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, Old Jewelry earrings along with her own bracelet and ring. "Part of building a business was going out and sharing what you were doing with the world," Bashir says. For years Bashir's startup had been building muscle around these capabilities; now it had an eager audience. Eating at acclaimed restaurants is fine, but Bashir prefers the more-intimate affairs at tech executives' homes because, she says, "you can stay longer."
Persons: Melia Russell, Lelanie Foster Ruzwana Bashir, Peek, She's, she's, Andy Warhol, Picasso, Bashir, I'm, Andreessen Horowitz, Jack Dorsey, Eric Schmidt, Goldman Sachs, Giuseppe Zanotti, Lelanie Foster, Bashir isn't, Elon Musk, Ronan Farrow, Roelof Botha, Mustafa Suleyman, we've, Bennett Miller, Capote, " Miller, , doesn't, didn't, Madeleine Albright, Tom Ford, Jared Cohen, Oskar Bruening, Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg, I've, Bashir wasn't, Travis Kalanick, Adam Neumann, Ty, Emily Weiss, Bashir refashioned, Donald Trump, Bruening, Laurence Tosi's, Miller, Beyoncé, shrugs, Anna Wintour, Anna, we're, Taylor Swift, Katie Haun, Marc Benioff, Reid Hoffman, Marissa Mayer, Dick Costolo —, Cohen, Katherine Maher, Maher, Daniel Kahneman, It's, Radel, Becky Akinyode, Elaine Winter, Tiffany Bloomfield, Dela, Chad Hilliard, Enmi, Kenny Aquiles Ulloa, Cyrenae, Madison Perez, Aidan Lapp, Bashira Webb, Bryan Erickson, Jinyoung Chang, Rodriguez, Rebecca Zisser, Claire Landsbaum, Emma LeGault, Joi, Marie McKenzie, Conner Blake, Kyle Desiderio, Victoria Gracie, Nicole Forero, Virginia Alves Organizations: Google, Museum of, Business, Elon, Vogue, Roelof, Oxford University, Oxford Union, Blackstone Group, Harvard Business School, Studios, Web, Young, Organization, Dela Revoluciøn, Enmi Yang Digital Tech Locations: Manhattan, SoHo, Bahamas, United States, Balthazar, England, Israel, Petra, Istanbul, Elle, Utah, COVID, Salt Lake City, Costa Rica, Atlanta, WestCap
Confessions of a startup founder's wife
  + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +20 min
I wished I had told Kyle that I would understand if he wanted to quit. That's as apt a description of Kyle's startup as it is of our relationship. I'm not sure Kyle has found as many perks to being a startup founder married to a startup reporter. Now Kyle's startup has pivoted a third time. The truth is, I don't know if Kyle's startup will make it.
Persons: Kyle, Kyle shrugged, pang, I'd, hadn't, Scott Belsky, It's, messier, I've, he'd, Jillian, Chris Dixon, Andreessen Horowitz, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, Schulze, TikTok, Josh Cochran, Marc Andreessen, I'm, He'd, Eric Paley, Steve Jobs, , Playbyte, he's, Rohan Seth, Paul Davison, Steve Huffman, hasn't, Instagram, it's, Zelda, That's, cradling, Melia Russell Organizations: Apple Watch, Steam, Francisco's Mission, University of California, TechCrunch, White House, YouTube, Labor Locations: Champagne, Francisco's, Berkeley, San Francisco, New York, America, Playbyte, Kyle, Boston, Bay, sobs
In today's big story, a Business Insider reporter gives her unique perspective on navigating life as a startup founder's wife. The big storyA founder's other backerJosh Cochran for InsiderThe startup world is not for the faint of heart. Melia's account of her relationship with Kyle and his startup is equal parts entertaining, heartwrenching, and informative. AdvertisementJosh Cochran for InsiderAs if being a founder spouse wasn't difficult enough, Melia has the bonus of covering the space as a reporter. And while that's true of any relationship, it's especially pertinent in the volatile startup ecosystem.
Persons: , Josh Cochran, it's, Insider's Melia Russell, Kyle, Melia, takeaways Melia, Lennihan, Alexander Spatari, Pete Weir, Weir, — it's, HENRY, Steve Irwin, Satya Nadella, Bolton Clarke, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, Brandon Bell, Getty, Associated Press, Apple, Google, US, York City, Discovery Education, Australia, Microsoft, Cisco Locations: Brandon, York, New York City, San Diego, London, New York
Andreessen Horowitz is reshuffling parts of its investment organization to sharpen its focus on artificial intelligence, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The changes will center the venture capital firm on two main themes: AI applications and AI infrastructure, the people said. The AI applications group is being headed by general partner Alex Rampell, according to the sources. General partner Martin Casado, who focuses on enterprise deals, will oversee another group investing in AI infrastructure, the people said. Do you have information about A16z or another venture firm?
Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Alex Rampell, Rampell, Martin Casado, Margit Wennmachers, Casado, Jeff Jordan, Databricks, A16z, Pretzels, Vinod Khosla, Khosla, Ben Bergman, Melia Russell, mrussell@insider.com Organizations: US, A16z, VMware Locations: Silicon Valley, Airbnb, bbergman@insider.com
The firm has raised $95 million for its fifth and largest fund, Founder Collective tells Insider exclusively. While it's not the splashiest shop, those in the know know Founder Collective has quietly built one of the most successful venture-capital franchises on the East Coast. Founder CollectiveFounded in 2009, Founder Collective started as a bloc of founders and investors pooling their money to invest in startups. Founder Collective has always been ruthlessly focused on the seed stage, where investors take the biggest risk in pursuit of the highest returns. "We have been fastidious and we've screamed it to anyone who will listen: capital efficiency, capital efficiency, capital efficiency," Frankel said.
Persons: Eric Paley, Collective's, it's, Beezer Clarkson, Sapphire, Clarkson, Paley, David Frankel, Frankel, Amanda Herson, Herson, we've Organizations: Sapphire Partners, Cendana, Foundry Group, Forbes, Felicis Ventures Locations: Cambridge , Massachusetts, East, Coupang, Susa
Jennifer Campbell left Coinbase to become a partner at Founders Fund. Before Founders Fund, Campbell built and sold a crypto prime brokerage startup. Before Campbell invested at Founders Fund, she got funded by them. Before long, she caught the attention of several funds, including her former backers at Founders Fund, circling the same deals. AdvertisementAdvertisement"I felt like I always knew I wanted to come back to Founders Fund," Campbell said.
Persons: Jennifer Campbell, Coinbase, Campbell, , let's, Fund's, Erin Gleason Organizations: Founders Fund, Fund, Service, SpaceX, Quiet Locations: San Francisco's Presidio, Coinbase, OpenAI
VC Marc Andreessen wrote a lengthy missive this week, titled "The Techno-Optimist Manifesto." AdvertisementAdvertisementIt wouldn't be a Marc Andreessen essay if the internet didn't lose its mind over it. Rather, technology, he wrote, can solve for "any material problem" under the sun and herald a new era of "abundance for everyone." The backlash to Andreessen's essay was swift. He runs one of the biggest venture capital firms by assets and perceived importance.
Persons: Marc Andreessen, , Kara Swisher, Andreessen, Ben Collins, Andreessen's missive, Dorothea Baur, Cameron Moll, he's, Gary Marcus, Marcus, what's, Aravind Srinivas, A16z, Collins, Andreessen Horowitz, Del, Johnson Organizations: Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook, Backstage Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Venture Locations: Silicon Valley, Del Johnson, Silicon
Ackman, in his initial tweet about Harvard, said that "a number of CEOs" shared his desire to publicly out the Harvard students who condemned Israel. Other business leaders were quick to echo his calls, winning plaudits on social media. In a visit to Harvard, Insider spoke with a range of students about the backlash to the statement on Israel. It's ironic, of course, to accuse students of silencing dissent when Ackman and other business leaders are seeking to do exactly that. But now, some Harvard students fear that the backlash from the business community will have a chilling effect on student speech.
Persons: Bill Ackman, they've, Israel, Marc Rowan, Meyer Davidoff, Kalita, Eden Mendelsohn, what's, " Melia Russell, Tim Paradis Organizations: Harvard, Wall, Big Law, University of Pennsylvania, Invictus Pharmacy, LinkedIn, Birkoa Capital Management, Penn, Twitter Locations: Gaza, Silicon, Israel, Silicon Valley
Those who raised their first venture capital funds in the pandemic-era boom times are now struggling with their sophomore efforts. Despite the tailwinds, some emerging managers are defying the slump and raising new funds. He told Insider exclusively that he's now closed on $15 million for fund two from investors including Cendana Capital, Invesco Private Capital, and two dozen startup founders. And so in 2019, he reached into his network of founders and raised a $2 million fund to invest in software companies. Now, he's already gearing up for fund three, which Wan said he plans to launch in 2024.
Persons: Insider's Callum Burroughs, Jordan Wan, Wan, Zocdoc, Oliver Kharraz, it's, Alan Ni, Jake Cooper, Manoj Kanagaraj, Blackstone, Cooper didn't, Cooper, they've, Wolf Organizations: Sequoia, Partners, Cendana, Invesco, Capital, Oscar Insurance, Garner Health Locations: London, Denver , Colorado, Wan
In September, one of Boston's own homegrown companies, Klaviyo, was among the first tech startups to pry open the IPO market, which had been closed for a two-year stretch. According to research by Carta, Boston has a healthy lead on other cities for total capital raised across biotech, health-tech, medical devices, and energy companies so far this year. It's also worth mentioning that funding to Boston startups has cooled from the peak in 2021, as has funding everywhere. In celebration of this vibrant scene, Insider is recognizing the most important venture capitalists in the greater Boston area. We asked VCs from across the country about the Boston investors to know, and we also referred to our past reporting on the top seed investors to find more picks.
Persons: Andrew Bialecki, It's, VCs Organizations: Boston, Carta Locations: Boston, Austin, Seattle, Los Angeles
In the midst of a funding crapshoot for young startups, The Grand, a four-year-old startup that provides career coaching as a service, has raised $4.7 million in a round of seed funding led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six. You could say founders Anita Hossain Choudhry and Rei Wang had a leg up on creating the pitch deck they used to convince venture capitalists to back their startup. The goliath of coaching startups is BetterUp, a startup that offers individual and group coaching and has raised $600 million in funding so far. The Grand is now walking in lockstep with roughly 1,000 members, including Googlers, founders, and pro athletes. Check out the pitch deck that The Grand used to raise $4.7 million in seed funding.
Persons: Alexis Ohanian's Seven, Anita Hossain Choudhry, Rei Wang, Hossain Choudhry, Wang, Oscar, it's Organizations: Google, Intuit, Angel City Football Club, NBA, Carta Locations: Ohanian, lockstep
Each year, droves of tech founders, funders, and dreamers descend on TechCrunch Disrupt. And for years the event was regarded as a kind of fashion wasteland. Back in 2015, GQ felt compelled to write an entire tribute to the "one well-dressed man" at the conference. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut as the curtains rose on the startup world's big tent at the Moscone Center in San Francisco last week, the fashion transformation was undeniable. Well-heeled venture capitalists shed their puffy vests for tailored suits and cashmere, and stilettos were almost as commonplace as sneakers.
Persons: GQ Organizations: TechCrunch, Moscone Center Locations: San Francisco
CEO Andrew Bialecki told Insider that being a "disciplined company" was key to its success. Jeff Bussgang, a general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston, told The Boston Globe in an interview, "I'm seeing green shoots — it's definitely back on the agenda for boards." KlaviyoBialecki told Insider he tried to run a "disciplined company," one of two ingredients to its success. "There's a false choice here between being high growth and doing things efficiently," Bialecki told Insider. Are you a Klaviyo insider with insight to share?
Persons: Klaviyo, Andrew Bialecki, Bialecki, Tomasz Tunguz, Jason Lemkin, Jeff Bussgang, — it's, Ed Hallen, it's, Hallen, Klaviyo Bialecki, That's, Klaviyo Bootstrapping, Jon Karlen, Karlen, Melia Russell Organizations: Service, Klaviyo, New York Stock Exchange, Flybridge Capital Partners, Boston Globe, Securities and Exchange Commission, Boston Locations: Wall, Silicon, Instacart, Boston, BostInno, Massachusetts, mrussell@insider.com
Klaviyo went public after raising $576 million in its IPO. The opening price gives cofounder and CEO Andrew Bialecki a stake worth roughly $3.6 billion. Venture capital firms including Summit Partners, Accomplice, and Accel also made out handsomely. Klaviyo went public at a market cap of $11.3 billion on Wednesday, as it becomes the latest company trying to stir the initial public offering market from a deep slumber. This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers.
Persons: Klaviyo, Andrew Bialecki Organizations: Venture, Summit Partners, Accel, MIT's Sloan School of Management
There were 441 seed rounds recorded on Carta in the second quarter of this year, the slowest quarter for deal activity since early 2019. Funding for early-stage startups leveled off in the second quarter of this year. That has to do in part with a greater number of seed startups trying to raise extension rounds, multiple investors said. Carta data shows the median seed valuation hit $13.7 million in the second quarter, which is significantly higher than any quarter prior to 2021. "The founders that are raising seed rounds are raising them for decent cash and at decent valuations — healthy on both fronts," said Peter Walker at Carta.
Persons: That's, Jenny Fielding, Fielding, Carta, Andreessen Horowitz, they're, Marlon Nichols, Lily Lyman, , it's, Brian Sugar, Sugar, Peter Walker Organizations: Carta, Ventures, New, Sequoia, Greylock Partners, MaC Venture Capital, Fund, Sugar Capital Locations: New York, Boston, Carta
Founders say VCs are increasingly demanding detailed data and visibility into their startups before considering a deal. But some in the industry say that for early stage startups, a reliance on data can create an illusion of certainty. Half a dozen early stage startup founders tell Insider that gone are the days when a good idea and flashy pitch deck were enough to close a deal. He described it as looking for "the golden playbook for investing in early stage startups." For his part Hasan says that when speaking to potential investors, he views an obsession with financials and data as a red flag.
Persons: Miguel Guerrero, Guerrero, He's, Fahad Hassan, Hasan, Keyvan Firouzi, Firouzi, Jason Calacanis, it's, Dorothee Grant, Avante Price, James Cham, Cham, Hassan Organizations: IRL, Activant, Stanford, Carta, Investors, Bloomberg Beta Locations: New York
Andrew Bialecki is preparing to take Boston startup Klaviyo public eleven years after founding it. Bialecki, who cofounded the marketing tech company in 2012, owns more than a third of Klaviyo, according to the company's recent S-1 filing. In the last eleven years, the 37-year-old has quietly built the hottest Boston startup you've never heard of. For comparison, HubSpot's Brian Halligan and Toast's Chris Comparato reported salaries of roughly $240,000 before taking their Boston startups public. Bialecki has also sold few shares of Klaviyo in inside rounds, according to two people familiar with the company's financials.
Persons: Andrew Bialecki, Jason Lemkin, Peter Walker, Klaviyo, Yankee frugality, Barry Chin, Ed Hallen, Hallen, Bialecki, Alexa von, TJ Mahony, he's, Elias Torres, Bootstrapping, Jon Karlen, Karlen, Mahony, Alex Clayton, frugality, HubSpot's Brian Halligan, Toast's Chris Comparato Organizations: Boston Globe, Getty, MIT's Sloan School of Management, Capital, Harvard University, Predictive Technologies, Fortune, Red Sox, Meritech Capital, Boston, Black, Patriots Locations: Boston, Coast, Bialecki, Washington, DC, Klaviyo, Braze, Miami
Adept: a machine learning research labNiki Pezeshki is a general partner at Felicis Ventures. FelicisStartup: AdeptRecommended by: Niki Pezeshki, FelicisRelationship: No financial interestTotal funding: $415 million, according to the companyWhat it does: Adept is a machine-learning research and product lab aiming to build AI technology that can automate human tasks as varied as running software and browsing the web. Why it's on the list: "Fresh off a massive round of funding, Adept is poised to deliver artificial general intelligence that truly benefits working people," Pezeshki said. "So much software is repetitive tasks, and Adept is creating an AI that will enable workers to increase productivity and focus on more creative tasks."
Persons: Niki Pezeshki, Pezeshki Organizations: Felicis Ventures, Felicis
There are more than 50,000 US VC-backed startups, and many will be looking for capital soon. Some startups will be looking for funding in Q4 or be forced to look for a sale or shut down. The startup has followed the typical survival strategy of a desperate startup this year by first cutting costs with layoffs. We all know venture capital funding is tough to come by these days. Venture capital funding was overly abundant in the latter half of 2020 and all of 2021.
Persons: Melia Russell, Rob Price, It's cratered, Kyle Stanford, PitchBook, , they've, it's, aren't, Stanford Organizations: Morning, US VC, Venture, Stanford, Tiger
Captain, a startup that aimed to quicken home repairs after natural disasters, is winding down. The Louisville-based company had previously raised $107 million across venture and debt equity. CartaMany early-stage startups such as Captain, which had raised $107 million across equity and debt capital, have struggled to raise new funding as a drought in venture capital spreads through Silicon Valley. Liabilities pile upThe company relies on debt financing to pay contractors upfront for materials, supplies, and labor costs. In his email, Gray said prospective buyers were aware of the outstanding liabilities and the sale price would be used to satisfy those liabilities, "with wages being the most paramount," he said.
Persons: Demetrius Gray, Gray, Captain, Red Swan, Pete Flint, Flint, PATRICK T, FALLON, Talent, Melia Russell, Rob Price Organizations: quicken, Carta, TechCrunch, GGV, fintech, Munich Re, San Francisco Superior Court Locations: The Louisville, Silicon Valley, Carta, Louisville , Kentucky, NFX, CoVenture, Munich, Maui
Tech startups Instacart and Klaviyo filed to go public, marking the return of the tech IPO. Instacart and others going public are profitable, a bar others may have to meet to be successful. That's when software company HashiCorp and cloud tech company Samsara went public. Instacart revealed profits of $428 million in 2022 and $242 million for the first six months of 2023. AdvertisementAdvertisementThat Instacart and Klaviyo are profitable could make them attractive to investors who became skittish in the downturn.
Persons: Klaviyo, Instacart, Tom Loverro, Loverro, IPOs, hasn't, Joe Kaiser, Kaiser, Cava Organizations: Morning, IPOs, P, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Summit Partners, Mercato Partners, Nasdaq, Enterprise Locations: Cava
MaC Venture Capital has hired Jennifer Randle as its first COO. In less than three years, MaC Venture Capital has become a presence in the tech ecosystem that cannot be ignored. Jennifer Randle, a finance and operations veteran, has joined MaC as its first chief operating officer — a sign of a maturing firm with more personnel and funds to manage. In this role, Randall will support firm operations from finance and accounting to investor relations and IT. In April of 2023, according to data gathered by Venture Forward, Deloitte, and the National Venture Capital Association, Black investors made up only 4% of investment partners with decision-making responsibilities.
Persons: Jennifer Randle, Randle, MaC, , Randall, Peter Chernin, That's, Marlon Nichols, Nichols Organizations: MaC Venture Capital, Chernin, nab, MaC, Capital Partners, KPMG, Venture, Deloitte, National Venture Capital Association Locations: America, Mansa
The Rocky Mountains are luring venture capitalists from tech hubs like Silicon Valley and New York. In 2022, according to data gathered by Carta, Denver was the 11th-busiest metropolitan area for venture investment in the country, with more than $2 billion in capital raised on Carta. Startups in Salt Lake City collected another $900 million in funding last year. In 2022, Denver and Boulder, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, ranked among the top 20 metropolitan statistical areas by venture investment. CartaOur list includes both seasoned venture capitalists who have been elevating Rocky Mountain tech for years and ambitious newcomers looking to strike gold in an overlooked territory.
Persons: Chris Sacca Organizations: Carta, Rockies, Rocky, Foundry Group Locations: Silicon, New York, Denver, Boulder , Colorado, Salt Lake City , Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Carta, Salt Lake City, Boulder
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