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Ex-USVP Partner Tim Connors Raises $35M for New FundMicro fund PivotNorth raises $35M to make initial bets of $100K to $3M
Why the Line for the Women's Bathroom Is Significant, and Other Observations from the NVCA's Annual MeetingVenture capitalists are characteristically an upbeat bunch. It’s sort of a requirement for anyone who makes a living funneling millions of dollars to money-losing companies in the hopes of making enormous profits from the few that succeed. This year, however -- with the industry coming out of a multi-year period of sluggish fundraising and under-performing returns in the wake of the financial crisis -- optimism seems to be on overdrive. As I made the rounds at this year’s National Venture Capital Association Conference in Boston, virtually every venture industry I spoke with said he or she sees see current conditions as more favorable than a year ago. IPOs are back. M&A is picking up. And the closing of several outsized follow-on funds indicates that LPs are dipping their toes back in venture waters. Contrarians might take that as a risky sign. After all, there’s a lot more upside from the bottom of a cycle than near the top. But for now, judging by the vibe at the NVCA conference, VCs are feeling pretty good. Following are some snippets from the panels, events, conversations, and bathroom lines:
- NVCA Elects Paul Maeder Chairman
The National Venture Capital Association has elected Paul Maeder, a co-founder and general partner of Highland Capital Partners, chairman of its board of directors for 2011-2012. Paul Maeder was preceded by Kate Mitchell, managing general partner of Scale Venture Partners. The NVCA also announced that the chairman-elect for 2012-2013 term is Ray Rothrock, general partner of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Venrock. NVCA also added six new members to four-year terms on its board: Jon Callaghan of True Ventures; David Douglass of Delphi Ventures; Bob Goodman of Bessemer Venture Partners; Ray Leach of JumpStart Inc.; Jonathan Leff of Warburg Pincus; and David Lincoln of Element Partners.
- Another Ray of Sunshine for VC Fundraising: Ex-USVP Partner Raises $35M for New Fund
After 12 years at Sequoia Capital and U.S. Venture Partners, Tim Connors hung his own name on the door Monday as managing partner of a $35 million micro VC fund called PivotNorth Capital. The fund took Connors two quarters and “25,000 miles of planes, trains, and automobiles” to raise, Connors wrote in a blog post http://timdotvc.tumblr.com/ Connors told peHUB in an interview that the micro model reminds him of the venture business 20 or so years ago, when the Sequoias and KPs were smaller shops with fewer partners and staff. “I’m kind of going back to the tried and true business model,” he said. “There’s more than one way to be successful” in venture.
StumbleUpon's Garrett Camp: The Anti-RenegadeCamp, co-founder of the discovery engine StumbleUpon, doesn’t do much angel investing, but offers sound advice anyway
- Vurve Closes $4.5M Series A
Mountain View, Calif.-based advertising start-up Vurve has closed on $4.5 million in Series A financing. Spark Capital led the round, which included participation from Dave McClure and True Ventures. The company’s technology is designed to help small businesses manage online advertising across search, display, social media and shopping engines.
Creating Options is FundamentalInvestor Tony Conrad, who remains CEO of About.me, says it’s important to keep ties to VC and entrepreneurs