Flatiron Partners

My Union Square Ventures post generated some good comments.

The most common one being that our website doesn’t work in Firefox running on Linux.  That’s embarassing and we’ll get it fixed asap.

But another common question was, "What does this mean for Flatiron?"

And since we have a dozen good companies in the Flatiron portflio and many of their employees and managers read this blog from time to time, I thought I should address that question.

Venture capital funds are 10 year propositions.  The first four to five years are when the investments are made and the last five to six years are when the investments are managed and eventually realized.

Most venture capital firms raise a new fund every four or five years.  That means in any ten year period, a typical venture capital firm will have a new fund, a fully invested fund, and a fund that is almost over.

For me, Flatiron is the fully invested fund and Union Square Ventures is the new fund. I am involved with some great companies in the Flatiron fund and I intend to see them through to the right realization opportunity for everyone.

But Flatiron doesn’t take up very much of my time anymore because the portfolio is in good shape and the companies are being managed by great teams.  And it hasn’t been a big time obligation for the past couple years.  That is why Brad and I were able to form Union Square Ventures in the fall of 2003 and spend a lot of 2004 on the road raising our fund.

If you work for a company that’s in the Flatiron portfolio, you should feel confident that we still believe in your business and are committed to see it succeed.

I hope this clarifies any questions people might have on this issue.

#VC & Technology