Read more about how we’re thinking and where we’re investing here.
Recent Posts
Entrepreneurship, Marketplaces / Social / Collaboration / Network Effects
Last week I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Andrew Chen for a fireside chat on growth strategies as part of the Version One marketplace meetup. More than 75 marketplace founders and investors attended the event – coming from as far as South Africa and Nova Scotia. As an investor and former founder, […]
Entrepreneurship, Marketplaces / Social / Collaboration / Network Effects
Last Thursday, we hosted a private marketplace-themed event in San Francisco, The Holy Grail of the Marketplace: The Virtuous Cycle. More than 75 marketplace founders and investors attended the event – coming from as far as South Africa and Nova Scotia. We initially started bringing the marketplace community together when we published our Guide to Marketplaces. […]
Entrepreneurship
I’ve been wanting to write on the topic of gender for a long time now, but haven’t been able to find the words. And admittedly, I’m still trying to find my position in all this. It’s a tricky subject for me to navigate: on one hand, sharing challenges might paint me as weak, a victim, […]
Portfolio
We’re enjoying the first few weeks of Fall and before we know it, 2017 will be upon us. It has been a busy summer for our portfolio companies – here’s a quick recap of some of the highlights from Q3. Portfolio companies in the news Several V1 portfolio companies were recognized for their growth. Top […]
Portfolio
As the global economy shifts from analog to digital, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can help others thrive in this digital world and make the transition a success. There are several ways one can help build a strong tech ecosystem, be it in your city, local region, or country. First, you can […]
Entrepreneurship
Very often, start-ups fail at the earliest stages. They might get the wrong advice at a critical point, or they can’t raise the first hundreds of thousands of dollars required to move from prototype to initial product. This problem is relatively minor in large, vibrant ecosystems like Silicon Valley, but can be more pervasive in smaller […]
Entrepreneurship
I recently tweeted… Getting this sense of inevitability from a founder is incredibly powerful. I instantly start believing that their vision is going to happen. As an investor, I want to get on board and help propel the team to their destination. So, what exactly do I mean by this? What are some of the […]
Marketplaces / Social / Collaboration / Network Effects, Portfolio
We’re excited to add another great marketplace to the V1 portfolio and announce an investment we made last November. Umi Kitchen is home cooking delivered. The platform connects talented home cooks with families and individuals who crave a home-cooked meal but don’t have the skills or time to spend in the kitchen. The platform empowers […]
Version One
It’s hard to believe that it has been three years since my first day at Version One. As I look back, I realize how much I’ve learned and grown in this short time. In this post, I’m going to share three important lessons that have not only made me a better investor, but a better […]
Entrepreneurship
There’s a lot of debate surrounding the right time to bring executive level hires into your start-up. But one thing is clear: how you build your team over the first few years can determine the trajectory of your company more than any other decision you make. There are no right answers here. Every start-up is […]
Portfolio
A few weeks ago, we quietly launched a really cool bot on the Version One website. Its goal is to help you navigate our content in a more interactive, and hopefully, faster way. Look for and click the red help button in the bottom right corner and a chat panel pops out. What can you do […]
Health / Biology, Marketplaces / Social / Collaboration / Network Effects
It’s been a year since we published our series on digital healthcare which I co-wrote with Jonathan Libov of Union Square Ventures. The reception was overwhelmingly positive (we’re thankful to all of you who gave us feedback) and opened up the floodgates to patients, medical professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors who still reach out to us with their pains, […]
Entrepreneurship, Marketplaces / Social / Collaboration / Network Effects
We are often asked what we look for when evaluating marketplaces. Typically, we list out five main factors: High fragmentation: a lot of suppliers and buyers A “playing the field” relationship between buyer and seller, as opposed to monogamy where the seller doesn’t have any need to visit the marketplace after the first time High […]
Entrepreneurship
Didi Chuxing, the largest ride-hailing service is China, confirmed today that it will acquire Uber China. According to reports, the two companies will keep distinct brands, apps, and business operations, but the backends will be merged. The deal ends a long, costly battle between the two rivals: Uber had been spending $1B + a year […]
Entrepreneurship, Marketplaces / Social / Collaboration / Network Effects
A question we’re often asked during conversations with early-stage entrepreneurs is “What do investors look for when considering a Seed or Series A startup?” At some point, this question might be followed by “What does it take to get to Series B?” The expected trajectory takes a startup from Seed to Series A, Series A […]
Portfolio
Last week, in our blog post “Is Social Dead?”, we wrote about the excitement surrounding messaging as a platform/conversational commerce. But, we also cautioned that messaging isn’t always the optimal way to get things done. One of the big unknowns is if the command line (or chat bubble) of a chat app is going to offer […]
Marketplaces / Social / Collaboration / Network Effects
At Version One, we’ve centered our investment thesis around companies that leverage network effects. We have talked at great lengths about them in marketplaces and in artificial intelligence and machine learning startups. Social platforms can have incredibly strong network effects, but we’ve been relatively quiet on the subject. And, we’re not alone. It seems like a long […]
Portfolio
Hope you had a great Canada Day and Fourth of July weekend! Here’s a quick recap of some of this quarter’s news clippings for V1 and our portfolio companies. Keep in mind that these are just the things that have been announced publicly; other equally important and interesting things have been happening behind the scenes […]
Entrepreneurship
About two to three years post launch, companies typically undergo an interesting transition: they’ve made it through the survival phase and are maturing. It’s time to focus on building a company long term. For most companies, this is a hard transition to make. In the early days, the goals were crystal clear: Survive! Find product-market-fit! […]
Data / AI / ML
At Version One, we take a thematic approach to investing and are very focused on start-ups with strong network effects, like marketplaces and social platforms. This year, we’ve been writing about the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and the potential for strong data network effects to emerge with these companies – particularly when start-ups […]