Great Advice and Introduced US to Many VC's
Fund: Focus Ventures
Posted by SFtechpreneur on 2010-01-23
I met with Associate Martin Gedalin at Focus Ventures a few months ago. We haven't raised yet, so we were too early for Focus which is a late-stage fund. That said, he was extremely helpful and insightful. He provided feedback on our deck, and business model. Our meeting was scheduled for 1 hour but we were talking for at least a half hour extra.
Perhaps equally as important, he immediately fired off e-mails to some great VC firms after our meeting. We had over 5 meetings with solid VC / angel groups after that. Though we didn't close a round, it was clear that we would've had far less meetings if it wasn't for Martin.
PRIVATE: Members OnlySharp, Honest Later Stage Guys
Fund: Focus Ventures
Posted by esilver on 2009-06-16
I have spoken with Focus several times now; I can say they are definitely a late-stage follow-on fund and aren't going to be in any early-stage deals. They have a few deep ties into Asia which is one of their value-adds if you are expanding that way. In my conversations I talked with Shadi, their associate. She's sharp, aggressive, and part of the rarefied group of women in venture capital. I disagree with the anonymous comments above; it sounds like he was at an early stage (not the Focus of focus :-) and that neither party was very interested. I found her advice helpful and honest.
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Fund: Focus Ventures
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-12-15
Had a call, these guys focus on late stage investments and are followers of other tier 1 & 2 VC's. Call was with one of their associates, Shadi, and I didn't get the feeling that she knew how to think for herself. Questions were pretty high level and basic. We decided not to move pursue further, no value add.
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Fund: Focus Ventures
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-04-10
We closed a late stage deal with Focus. We were impressed with the team but more importantly we were impressed with the terms. Late stage investors appear more concerned with mitigating risk and are willing to pay a higher price for later stage, lower risk opportunities.
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Fund: Focus Ventures
Posted by semiguy on 2007-03-28
Based on discussions with Focus, they are clearly looking for later stage deals.
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