11/18/2023 0 Comments Benchmark venture capitalSure, plenty of venture funds haven’t raised a mega-late stage fund. The difference is that Gurley and Cohler are still saying it at a time when many of their peers seem to have swung back to we-can-do-it-all extremes. Everyone said them back in 2002 or so, when nearly every $1 billion fund was “right-sized,” management fees were returned to investors and general partners sheepishly admitted that the venture business was a boutique industry that just doesn’t scale. This is hardly the first time a top Sand Hill Road firm has uttered these sentiments. Adds general partner Matt Cohler, “Our aim is to be the entrepreneur’s first phone call. Those other things– late stage, seed stage, cleantech, international– all distract from that.” The kind of masters-of-the-universe swagger documented by Randall Stross in his bubble era book about Benchmark? Never again, says Gurley. What we took away from the past is what it is we do well, and that’s classic early stage investing, taking board seats and adding value to each company on a high-service level. “Where we’ve been has played a big role in who we are today. “We are making a very conscious bet here,” said general partner Bill Gurley in an exclusive sit-down interview with TechCrunch. There was no press release, and it was for the exact same amount of money as the last: $425 million. It quietly closed its new fund in January. It refused to compete with the Ron Conways and Mike Maples of the world it would wait its turn and invest later.Īnd now – as Benchmark’s early stage peers are raising $1 billion growth funds and throwing huge sums of money at established companies like Facebook, Zynga and Groupon – once again, Benchmark Capital is refusing to follow suit. In fact, while the firm retained its Israel fund (for now?), it spun off the top performing UK fund Balderton Capital and retrained its focus firmly on the US.Įarlier this year, when early stage investors were losing deals at the hands of the super angels and firm-after-firm launched aggressive seed investing programs, Benchmark Capital did not. In the mid-2000s when nearly every top venture capital firm was expanding to India and China, Benchmark Capital did not share its peers’ worldly ambitions. Registered Office: Broadlands Business Campus, Langhurst Wood Road, Horsham, West Sussex, England, RH12 4QP.Editor’s Note: This is part two in an in-depth series exploring the ramifications of the explosion of late stage capital being raised by the Valley’s elite venture firms. Registered in England and Wales No 08229133įusion Wealth Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the registration number is 541404. Registered office: Broadlands Business Campus, Langhurst Wood Road, Horsham, West Sussex, England, RH12 4QP. Registered in England and Wales No 04490633Įvolution Wealth Network Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the registration number is 591218. Registered Office: Broadlands Business Campus, Langhurst Wood Road, Horsham, West Sussex, England, RH12 4QP. Registered in England and Wales No 09404621īest Practice IFA Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the registration number is 223112. Benchmark Capital Limited, Registered Office: Broadlands Business Campus, Langhurst Wood Road, Horsham, West Sussex, England, RH12 4QP.
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