Skip to content

True Ventures

News

Category Archive for Fund

True Ventures’ First Annual Meeting

May 3, 2007

Our first annual meeting was held at our San Francisco offices at Pier 38 on Wednesday, May 2, 2007. The True Ventures’ team was joined by our Limited Partners and our portfolio company Founders and teams. After an informative morning meeting, 80 of us sat down for lunch and conversation.

The day was great, and we wanted to thank a few people whose invaluable help made it the success that it was.

• Catering: Jessica Lasky, Jessica Lasky Catering (510) 339-7157 jlasky@mindspring.com
• Event Space: Linda Marshall, The Art of Navigation Store Front (415) 546-6020 artofnavigationsf@sbcglobal.net
• IT Support: Steve Rusmantijo, MacNet Consulting (408) 202-1112 srusmantijo@mac.com

These are the folks to call if you have an important event and need reliable, dependable, and quality assistance.

Thanks again, Jessica, Linda & Steve!

True Growth

April 10, 2007

It is with great pleasure that we announce the additition of Tony Conrad to the True team. Tony has been a very close friend of the firm since our inception, and he has been a valued friend and trusted advisor to all of us at True and to many of our portfolio company Founders.

Tony joins us as a Venture Partner, and he brings a wealth of consumer marketing and entrepreneurial experience to our team. Tony is currently the CEO of Sphere, a True investment, and a leading company connecting traditional media with the blogosphere. Prior to Sphere, Tony was an EIR with Phil Black and John Burke at Blacksmith Capital, and, before that, he was a Partner at VSP. While at VSP, Tony led the firm’s investment in Oddpost, where he backed CEO Toni Schneider (also now with True) and co-invested with Phil Black. Tony is also on the Board of Automattic, a True investment. Prior to starting his VC career, Tony was Director of Mergers and Acquisitions with Groupe Danone, a leading global consumer packaged goods company.

Those who spend time with Tony quickly appreciate his deep product understanding, clear vision for the future of social media, and creativity. We love Tony because of his empathy for the entrepreneur (he is one, after all), his uncanny ability to connect interesting people together, and his upbeat, can-do view of the world. He also has an unforgetable laugh and sharp sense of humor.

We’ve known TC for a long time, and we’re thrilled to officially add him the True team.

See his official bio here.

Nothing ventured . . . .

November 16, 2006

This post is derived from an article that I was asked to write for my high school alumni magazine (print, not online). The article discusses part of the founding of True, so we thought it might be of interest more broadly to entrepreneurs.

—————–

The Northern California afternoon was hot and sunny. I walked to the railing and saw Silicon Valley stretched out before me. As I considered the power of entrepreneurship and innovation in the valley below, the weight of my decision hit me. Just a few minutes earlier I notified my employer that I was leaving to start my own firm. There was no turning back. It was June 2005, and one of my career’s most significant transitions had just begun.

Though I envisioned this moment many times, I was shocked by the strength of my conflicting emotions. I was exhilarated, uncertain and yes, afraid. The challenge I was about to undertake would risk my savings, entail a year of non-stop travel and require a rigorous audit on the entirety of my professional life. The odds were against me. Starting a new Venture Capital firm is hard to do, and most new efforts fail. Investors think new firms are at a disadvantage, so they are reluctant to invest in all but the biggest firms. The big get bigger, and the perception is that bigger is better. I believed small firms had many advantages.

(more…)

John Burke back in action

October 6, 2006

John Burke, True’s partner in Northern Virginia, is looking for the best in tech.

Venture Capital Vet Returns To Action With $155M, Washington Business Journal, October 6, 2006

True Ventures I

October 1, 2006

True Ventures has closed its inaugural fund with $155 million, beating $125 million target.

True Ventures keeps it real, beats target, Venture Capital Journal, October 1, 2006

It’s official!

August 28, 2006

After 9 months of fundraising we have officially closed our first fund: True Ventures I. We had an initial closing a few months ago and have started to make investments. The final close has brought our fund size to $155. At the upper end of our original target range, but still true to our aim of creating a fund that is small enough to invest in very early stage deals and big enough to provide follow on financings. There’s some coverage at PE Week, Paid Content and Silicon Beat.