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 […]
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 […]
Data, not algorithms, is key to machine learning success
There has been an explosion in machine learning activity, and Shivon Zilis recently mapped out the current machine intelligence ecosystem as we enter 2016. This is one of the key areas that we’ll be following this year. While the opportunities here are tremendous, the exuberance surrounding machine learning distracts startups from a key hurdle: it’s […]
The data we use to evaluate marketplace traction
At Version One, we love marketplaces and platforms. Over 50% of our portfolio companies fall into this category including our recent investments in Headout (a mobile-first marketplace for last-minute travel experiences) and VarageSale (a mobile-first community-driven Craigslist). We’re often asked what we look for in a marketplace. While there are many factors to consider (Bill […]
How to start making sense of your data
Now more than ever, companies are collecting large amounts of data at a high frequency. This is thanks to cheap storage and a multitude of tools available to automate the process (i.e. Google Analytics, Flurry, Mixpanel, etc.). While collecting data is one thing, finding meaning or actionable insights is another task altogether. Over the past […]