Our (refocused) investment thesis
Over the years, we have invested in almost every category out there: from ad tech and content, to gaming, hardware, marketplaces, e-commerce, and SaaS. We’re constantly revisiting the types of businesses we should be investing in and refining our investment thesis driven by three key questions: Which markets/business types do we understand the best? Where can […]
V1’s latest investment: Booster Fuels – on-demand delivery of gas for vehicles
Last year, we quietly invested in the seed round of Booster Fuels, a then-stealth on-demand gas delivery service. Today, we’re excited to officially announce our investment as they raise their Series A financing from Maveron, Madrona, and RRE, and other invests, as well as expand into Silicon Valley. Much has been written about the Uberification of the economy […]
The rise of the vertical reputation graph
When’s the last time you sent out or requested a CV? Chances are it was quite awhile ago. In today’s reputation economy, we evaluate one another based on what people have done and how we’re connected. What you’ve built is becoming more important than where you’ve worked and the school you attended. If you’re a […]
Moving from the niche to the masses
If you’re building a software/social/ecommerce startup, then at one point or another, you have been advised to start in a niche market and expand into the masses. This is solid advice: when your product is focused on a slice of the market, it’s much easier to customize your solution for the specific needs of those […]
What’s your data strategy? Defining the data hierarchy
Over the past decade, startups and enterprises have devoted hefty resources to collecting and analyzing huge volumes of big data. For some, data is used to fine-tune a product; in other cases, data forms the foundation of the product itself. When it comes to building a startup around data, the more unique that data, the […]