Lauren Gross — not Peter Thiel — is steering Founders FundLots of folks in Silicon Valley think that Peter Thiel, because of his celebrity and wealth, is the man steering Founders Fund, the investment vehicle he co-founded in 2005. But the real showrunner is Lauren Gross, a 35-year-old who is playing a larger and larger role as the venture firm’s partnership transforms. Several general partners have shuffled in and out of the science-focused fund in recent years, leaving her as one of nine partners. [ Recode ] With the Los Angeles tech scene exploding, CrossCut Ventures raises $125 million to investCrossCut Ventures, a Los Angeles-based seed investment firm has just closed its fourth (and largest) fund with $125 million in new cash. It’s been a long road for the firm’s three co-founders, who have been investing in Los Angeles since 1997. In that time they’ve seen the city’s technology scene evolve in fits and starts, but now, with companies like Snap, Dollar Shave Club and Oculus bringing billions of dollars down from Silicon Valley, a wave of investor interest has followed — and with their new fund they stand to reap the benefits. [ Tech Crunch ] Compass gets $450M from SoftBank; real estate portal now valued at $2.2BLess than a month after raising $100 million led by Fidelity, real-estate startup Compass is striking while the iron is hot. The company has now picked up an even bigger investment of $450 million, this time from the SoftBank Vision Fund, plus another $50M in secondary deals, to fill out a vision of its own: taking its real estate rental and sales platform global. New York-based Compass is now valued at $2.2 billion post-money, up from $1.8 billion just four weeks ago, with $775 million raised to date. [ Tech Crunch ] SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son is about to make either himself or you look like a foolMasayoshi Son is one of the few people in Silicon Valley who is able to satisfy two utterly contradictory stereotypes at the same time — and still maintain the ability to destroy your deal. To snickering venture capitalists, the 5’5” SoftBank chief executive is the definition of hubris, an egotistical investor who will chase any deal, pay any price, rush any diligence and ignore any warning, all so he can acquire the tiniest sliver of the sexiest companies in the
world and drain himself clean of his $100 billion technology fund. Sarah Tavel is seen as the future of one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture firmsGiven that Benchmark — one of Silicon Valley’s most famous venture capital firms —only had five general partners, the addition of any sixth partner would instantly catapult that selection into the upper echelon of tech investors. That the selection was Sarah Tavel, Benchmark’s first female partner during a year of reckoning in gender equality, made her elevation all the more head-turning. [ Recode ] As The App Economy Booms, Mobile-Focused Funding SlipsThe app economy is booming. So why aren’t mobile-focused companies raising huge numbers of new rounds? Yesterday, we reported on a recent industry discussion regarding the decline in early-stage fundraising. It’s a topic that Crunchbase News has written about quite often, and we’re bringing it back up again. (We’re nearly done; we promise. But you should also read this). This morning, a new App Annie report detailing the size of the app economy, in terms of revenue, drove coverage. TechCrunch’s coverage of the report noted that “[c]onsumer spending on all mobile app stores will surpass $110 billion in 2018” and that the expected revenue result is “a 30 percent increase from the year prior.” Those are obviously big numbers. That the app economy is soon to crest the $100 billion mark (estimated, to be sure) while growing at a 30 percent year-over-year clip is astounding. It implies that that particular market has quite a bit of legs left to carry it forward, and it’s going to end up closer to $200 billion than $100 billion when it levels off. [ CrunchBase ] There's an Art to Getting Brilliant People to Surprise Themselves - Kevin Slavin of The ShedNearly 80 percent of female tech founders have experienced sexual harassment at work or know someone who hasMore than three-quarters of female tech founders, or 78 percent, have either been sexually harassed or have known someone who’s been sexually harassed in the workplace, according to a new survey of tech founders by seed-stage venture firm First Round Capital. About half of male founders — 48 percent — have had the same experience. The survey provides context for a slew of sexual harassment incidents in tech that have come to light in recent months. Like this one, this one and this one. And the story is far from over. [ Re/Code ] An accused harasser “applauded” the #MeToo movement. It did not end wellEarlier this morning, Justin Caldbeck, a venture capitalist who left his job over alleged sexual harassment, took a moment to reflect on Twitter. “I applaud all the women who had the courage to speak out and ignite the #MeToo movement, including my accusers,” he wrote. “And props to @timemagazine for giving the movement and the women the recognition they so rightfully deserve. #silencebreakers #time.” The Recode 100Preston Silverman on Building out a Marketplace in Education - at YC Edtech NightVCs go head to head at PreMoney over healthcare investingE782: Founder.University Startup Tuneup: Jason & Brian Alvey dissect& perfect pitches in 7 verticalsLyft’s self-driving pilot with nuTonomy begins rolling out in BostonState of Startups 2017Viola FinTech is a new $100M Israel-based VC fund targeting fintech startups around the worldMatt Rissell Sells TSheets, A Time-Sheet Tracker For Small Businesses, To Intuit For $340 Million |