Sand Hill Road Pilgrimage

I took my first Sand Hill Road pilgrimage last week and left with an overwhelming sense of clarity as a number of my profession’s mysteries were explained during my trip.  There is something to be said for being able to visit with a half dozen or more of the “top tier” funds by simply walking door-to-door.  For example, some of these funds literally share bathroom facilities and parking lots.  I realize how hard this may be for some of you to fathom given the dearth of active venture capital funds in southern California and just how spread out we all are.  It’s strange, I lived in Silicon Valley for almost five years, but somehow my visit to the hallowed halls of venture capital was somewhat different this time around.

I spent the day discussing the state of affairs in the Tech Coast with respect to which venture funds are actively investing, what local sectors seem the most promising, and general similarities and differences from Silicon Valley.  The general sentiment seems to be that the analog / mixed-signal semiconductor and digital media sectors are of particular interest to the Sand Hill Road gang (I only met with technology and media investors), but most seemed willing to look at other deals if they met their valley standards.  I explained my background, the background of my fund, and the types of deals I’m seeing and doing.  While I think I understand how this happened, I found it somewhat odd that a vast number of the GPs I met with truly couldn’t empathize with my fund-raising experiences.  I guess that’s just what happens when you join one of the venerable top-tier funds that have been around for awhile.  In any event, I enjoyed the visit immensely and look forward to continuing a number of the dialogs that I’ve established there and the new relationships to come.  I’m off to the Future in Review conference so until next time, safe travels.