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Good First Conversation
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by rocketmike72 on 2008-10-15
I pitched to Mark Suster, who I guess is new there. He was a great person to speak with. Really supportive, dug into the heart of our business even though I know other partners at GRP know our industry better. I could just tell this guy was an entrepreneur who knew what it was truly like day in and day out.
PRIVATE: Members OnlySERVICES: Inventure
Software development you can trust. We help start-ups every day develop great software. Learn how...Good Process, Good Outcome
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by endicott on 2008-05-01
GRP came into our company at the seed round stage, with Steven Dietz joining our board. Very direct, very intelligent, very helpful. From the beginning, he has been a source of excellent advice. He guided me through a gnarly issue with a potential seed round investor who had unrealistic expecations of board participation. He gave excellent advice in the area of early-stage cap table management, aligning management team incentives with the desired outcome (a solid A round pre-money valuation). He wisely encouraged me to slow down the pace of product extensions so as not to get too far ahead of ourselves.
At the A round, Steven was a tireless advocate on our behalf, starting with his support within GRP and helping us find a second syndicate partner to join in the $7M A. By the time the process was over, we had 4 VC's chasing that second spot-- in large part because of GRP's active support.
Others within GRP have also helped, especially Mark Suster, who made some key VC introductions.
The GRP team has proven extremely helpful on a number of fronts, and I look forward to his guidance as we progress.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyInteresting Kind Of "Retail Smart"
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by scottdunlap on 2008-03-31
I hadn't heard of GRP before pitching them our Series C. They all came to the first meeting and dug in deep. They are an interesting mix of skills - the Stephens understand broader retail trends, while Mark Suster went right into bounce rates, visit times, and details. They low-balled the valuation (the lowest of 12 VC's we talked to), and cited that as the reason they didn't want to invest.
PRIVATE: Members Only (421 Characters)SERVICES: Inventure
Sitewide NewsCount Your Fingers
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-12-19
Mark Suster Should Add A Lot Of Value
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by jasonlk on 2007-10-04
Know Mark reasonably well from Koral and Salesforce. No idea how he'll be during a deal, but afterwards, he should be great. He knows firsthand all the phases of start-up success -- and challenges. And he knows SaaS and on-demand from all perspectives, and he knows most everyone in the space. His intros and insights for us have always been spot-on and highly valuable. He's not afraid to push hard for a company or a partner that he feels strongly about.
PRIVATE: Members OnlySERVICES: Inventure
Software development you can trust. We help start-ups every day develop great software. Learn how...Contacts & Capital
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by seanyin on 2007-08-14
They will offer their contacts to help you even you may not get funded by them.
PRIVATE: Members Only (324 Characters)Arrogant
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by Farlington on 2007-08-07
Stephen Dietz was arrogant, rude and unprepared. His only reason to take the meeting was to perform competitive diligence.
PRIVATE: Members Only (297 Characters)Businesslike
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by anonymous on 2007-07-30
A query email with a thumbnail description elicited a long-ish email response explaining why this particular project was not their cup of tea.
PRIVATE: Members Only (147 Characters)Savvy, Stand Out From The Crowd
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by anon on 2007-06-29
I have worked with this team for six years. I have dealt with three of the partners on a regular basis. These folks are not typical venture guys -- they are very savvy, have strong operational and finance experience and extremely comfortable dealing with the complexity of growing a business. As an entrepenuer I was incredibly well served by them. They are extremely well connected in the banking and retail sectors and they did not just open up their address books they drove the meetings with customers and potential business partners. Lots of common sense, lots of experience and lots of good down to earth advice. The partners arent guys who worked their way up through the venture business. They all have practical hands on experience in finance, banking and operations. I would invest in thier funds and I would gladly work with them again.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyProfessional, Intelligent, Engaged
Fund: GRP Partners
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-06-27
Pitched these guys a few months ago. They liked the concept. After a 3 hour initial meeting, we spent the next several weeks refining our financial model at their request. Ultimately, they didn't buy in to the size of our potential market/exit value, so the deal didn't happen. But they were helpful, relatively responsive, professional and courteous at all times. I can't tell you what they'd be like after closing, but I would have liked to find out as I believe that they would have brought valuable operational experience in addition to their money. On the whole, I'm very positive about these guys. One negative - their initial response was so enthusiastic that it seemed we were much closer to a deal than we actually were. I'm used to the standard VC bluff and bluster, but this was beyond that, which made it all the more disappointing when they passed. But all in all, the two partners I met were good guys, smart, and insightful.
PRIVATE: Members Only (157 Characters)SERVICES: Inventure
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