This Venture Capitalist Thinks E-Commerce Startups Shouldn’t Fear AmazonKirsten Green formed Forerunner Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on commerce, in 2010 when she noticed a shift in commerce. “The commerce market was really up for imagination,” Green told Term Sheet. “The access to information had changed everything from what consumers were buying to where they were buying it to how they expected to buy it.” [ Fortune ] Varsity Tutors lands $50 million in Series C fundingVarsity Tutors, the learning platform founded in 2011, today announced the close of a $50 million Series C funding round led by Learn Capital. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and existing investor TCV also participated in the round. Varsity Tutors started as an offline service, connecting the best tutors on campus with those who needed help for IRL study sessions. Fast forward seven years and the company now offers a full-fledged online platform for learning, including free on-demand content via Varsity Learning Tools. [ Tech Crunch ] Tradeshift raising $200M at unicorn valuationBusiness commerce platform Tradeshift is in the process of raising $200 million at a unicorn valuation, PitchBook has learned. Tradeshift CEO Christian Lanng declined to comment on the news. THIS is why you don’t build $30 billion companies aimed at just one generationI have been #longLA since before it was a hashtag, and definitely since before LA had its own consumer Internet decacorn. One of Pando’s first hires was Michael Carney to focus on the LA ecosystem. And he was so good at it, he got poached away to be a VC. I was also long Snapchat way back when everyone else was dismissing it as a sexting app. And yet, I’m not sure the relationship between Snap and LA’s tech cred is as Hollywood ending as it may seem. [ Pando ] Norwest Venture Partners raises $1.5 billion fundNorwest Venture Partners has closed a $1.5 billion fund, bringing the total under management to $7.5 billion. The firm will be using the money to invest primarily in the consumer, enterprise and healthcare categories. And they are looking for opportunities at all stages, from seed stage to growth. [ Tech Crunch ] Why Silicon Valley singles are giving up on the algorithms of loveKate Chan, a 30-year-old digital marketer in Silicon Valley, first approached dating apps with a blend of curiosity and hope that they’d help her find a great guy. But after six months of dead-end mismatches with guys she thought were boring or work-obsessed, she has gone back to what she called “meeting the old-fashioned way”: without a screen. She now meets guys at do-it-yourself crafting meetups and her rock-climbing gym. “I didn’t want to rely on the algorithms anymore,” she said. “When it comes down to it, I really have to see that person face to face, to get that intuition, that you don’t get in a digital way.” [ The Washington Post ] Lawsuit: Silicon Valley venture capitalist allegedly sexually assaulted female startup founder on red-eye flightA female technology startup founder filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist for alleged sexual assault on an overnight flight from San Francisco to Minneapolis. Rachel Danae Vachata, a 29-year-old co-founder of technology companies, alleges that 73-year-old venture capitalist Lucio Lanza “preyed on” Vachata by threatening to use his position to make or break her companies and then repeatedly groped and attempted to kiss her during the flight last July, according to the complaint filed with the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Lanza is the founder and managing director of Lanza techVentures, based in Palo Alto. He said through his spokesperson Wednesday afternoon that he “has no idea of what he is being accused of.” [ Mercury News] Silicon Valley’s favorite anonymous chat app just launched a #MeToo channelBlind, the anonymous chat app of choice for tech workers, has created a dedicated #MeToo section. In keeping with its mission to “bring transparency to the workplace,” Blind hopes the new channel will encourage women in tech to come forward with their stories. If anything, I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner since many such conversations were already taking place on Blind. [ FastCompany ] Very famous VC Bill Gurley says startup boardrooms are now just filled with *clapping hand noise*Fresh off a public spat between Uber investor Benchmark Capital and former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Benchmark general partner Bill Gurley took the stage in front of a large room of bankerfolk at the Goldman Sachs Internet and Technology Conference to talk about how startup boardrooms are now filled with a lot of cheerleaders that aren’t holding founders accountable. “There’s a systematic problem in Silicon Valley, the venture capitalist board members are finding harder and harder to speak up and hold entrepreneurs responsible for financial performance,” Gurley said. “Our business has gotten super competitive. What the venture capitalist is afraid of is losing the next big one. If they get a reputation — years ago [some of the best venture capitalists] were known for storming into board rooms [to demand fiduciary responsibility] — if you get a reputation like that you won’t win the next deal.” [ TechCrunch ] Meet Lumi, the Los Angeles startup that just raised $9 million for a packaging businessWant to be a founder? Go get a job, says venture capitalist Joe Kraus of GVRony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap, and Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner | Full interview | Code MediaActivant Capital closed $129 million growth-stage fundGreenwich, Connecticut-based Activant Capital has closed a $129 million late-stage venture fund. The firm was founded in 2013 by Steve Sarracino and has seen six liquidity events so far, a sizeable chunk of the 18 companies it’s invested in. One of those was Hybris, an e-commerce software business that sold to SAP for $1.4 billion. They also invested in Upland Software, which went public. And Sarracino, who invests alongside partner Peter McCoy, is expecting many more “exits” over the next 15 years, the life cycle for its funds. This compares to the standard fund length of 10 years and allows Activant to be “very very long-term focused,” said Sarracino. [ TechCrunch ] Research: What Happens to a Startup When Venture Capitalists Replace the FounderEntrepreneurs often seek external capital to accelerate their growth. This is especially true in hotly contested markets where fast growth can be the difference between success or failure. And yet this outside funding may come with strings attached, which can (and perhaps should) give entrepreneurs pause. Founders will likely find their influence diluted, in terms of both financial equity and their control over the board of directors. They may even find themselves out of a job if their investors decide to fire them and find a replacement. [ HBR ] Navigating Investments from Cryptocurrencies to BlockchainUber could be profitable if it wants to, says CEOForbes Fintech 50 2018: The Future Of Personal FinanceGlobal Tech Forum at Sonoma State UniversityCalifornians trust tech companies but want regulations to rein them inSilicon Valley’s ‘secret sauce’ to be revealed in Science Channel documentary featuring Apple’s Woz, JobsAnnouncing Startup Battlefield Europe at VivaTech this May30 women in venture capital to watch in 2018A partner at Alphabet's venture capital arm says 'flying cars' are starting to look inevitableCupid On Demand: 50+ Dating Apps To Help You Make Your Valentine’s Day Love Connection |