Today I am excited to announce that Energize co-led the latest growth round into DroneDeploy, alongside AirTree Ventures. This is the first announced investment from Energize Growth. A link to DroneDeploy’s press release can be found here. And a link to Energize’s announcement covering the deal can be found here. (VentureBeat here) Energize first led …
The VC market has a lot of nooks and crannies. Why? Big businesses usually start out as niche ideas that serve an impassioned, small cohort. After winning over the existing cohort, the best executives learn to expand into other verticals and compound into larger businesses over time. But sometimes the best investments are the most …
Energize won the lottery earlier this winter when Eileen Waris agreed to join our firm as an Associate. She comes to us after spending nearly three years in getting dual graduate degrees at Stanford. At Stanford she earned both her MBA at GSB and a Masters in Environmental Science. Her elite academic talent is matched …
In the summer of 2014, Kevin Stevens joined the Choose Energy team to help us develop our go-to-market for the commercial business. He came to us with a hunger and intensity that immediately delivered results. Over time his responsibilities and knowledge-seeking grew. After the sale of Choose Energy he partnered up with Jonathan Crowder (also …
I saw this tweet come across my feed this morning from the @EnegizeVC twitter handle, run by Kelly on our team. 4 years at Energize. Wild ride. I joined as the third member, after Amy and Juan. It took us a few months to get to the first close of the fund and within the …
The best of breed don’t grow on thinly sliced salami! Eugene Kleiner Eugene Kleiner made this statement in reference to negotiating fair deals and ensuring companies are adequately capitalized without onerous terms. Today there are standard terms in VC: invest $ for preferred equity. But 4-5 decades ago that was an innovative structure compared to …
When I first joined KPCB, I got a detailed history of the firm and how a small group of pioneers became technology-first VC investors. The ‘K’ in KPCB stands for Eugene Kleiner. Beyond being an incredible investor, he had a knack for catchy statements and frameworks that are still applicable today. Joe Lonsdale, now of …
“Price is what the market pays” In business school the phrase was a reference to Eugene Fama’s “Efficient Market Theory”. But in today’s market it feels like this statement is now the valuation expert’s way of throwing their hand in the area and saying “who knows!?!” I am not going to comment on Gamestop. Instead …
Tyler Lancaster is a Principal at Energize Ventures. In this Point 01 episode he covers his background, our portfolio approach… and a BUNCH of great details about some companies in our portfolio. A few themes: 1- Our renewable industries are already way bigger than most people expect… and a huge job growth engine 2- Digital …
The best part of my job is getting to meet with entrepreneurs who share with me their vision of the future. At Energize we meet around 500 qualified companies every year. We look for a CEOs storytelling ability and his or her conviction around what will be different and new in the coming years. Through …