Independent rating of Austin Ventures VC fund
Overall rating:
11 reviews
About Austin Ventures VC fund
Website:
Founded:
1984
Number of funds:
9
Number of investments:
393
Number of exits:
116
Headquarters:
Organization type:
Venture Capital
How Austin Ventures VC fund invests
Rounds:
Average ticket size:
6.34M USD
Smallest investment:
629K USD
Biggest investment:
28.6M USD
Would lead round:
Yes
Would coinvest:
Yes
Countries where invested:
Sectors of interest:
Software, Enterprise Software, Wearables, Venture Capital, Social Media, Semiconductor, Retail Technology, Property Management, Parking, Mobile Payments, Manufacturing, Internet of Things, Internet, Industrial Automation, Financial Services, Finance, FinTech, Enterprise Applications, Energy Efficiency, Developer Tools, Customer Service, Consumer Lending, Consumer Electronics, Collaboration, Business Intelligence
Founders' reviews of Austin Ventures VC fund
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
A Pitch Too Far
Was introduced by a "player" with some heavy influence in Texas.... Had a meeting with John Thornton scheduled; then re-scheduled; then re-scheduled again; then they said they would get back to me when the schedule cleared up. Never happened. I have no comment other to say that I expected better from a group of people that supposedly prides itself on helping Texas entrepreneurs.
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Private Party
Austin and AV's glory days are behind it.
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Large Only
After pitching since October - its readily apparent that AV (and many others) are only investing in what is now termed early stage (with trailing revenues of $1-3 Million)...Boys, this isn't early stage. Time to revamp the web site and other materials that only late stage companies matter. With $900M fund wouldn;t you think this is a great time to invest in early stage ventures knowing that they will grow over 5-7 year horizon. The economy will get better by then and these companies will be the ones to shine.
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Is Austin Ventures Bad for Austin?
Are any other Austin-area entrepreneurs concerned about how AV has sucked the entrepreneurial climate out of Austin"! AV intimidates other/smaller funds and even their own LPs who want to invest in those funds. And, they really don't invest much in early stage anymore. Meanwhile, you look at the national trends (PWC MoneyTree) and Austin is being significantly outpaced by other areas with less conducive environments! This is Austin, Texas -- why do we lag other areas for VC investment"
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Great Experience
I have had a great experience with Austin Ventures, specifically with Chris Pacitti and Tom Ball. I have found them both to be very smart and experienced. They have always looked out for the best interest of my company, and have always taken very good care of me.
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Av Changing Name to "Austin Private Equity" to Reflect Corporate Direction
Venture capital investors are supposed to enjoy and be comfortable with (and, yes, mitigate) risk. But these guys have lost their balls.
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Lots of Meetings, Lots of Good Questions
We dealt with Tom Ball exclusively. Tom will ask lots and lots of questions - some of which seem to be nitpicky, but in the end are not. Be prepared for a numbers driven conversation, but not in a confrontational, ugly way (like some West Coast firms).
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They are Machines
AV is a top fund because they are professional and by the numbers. Don't expect to sweep them off their feet with just a great idea. They might get more involved in your business than you want; but with their savy and resources worse things could happen.
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Good Meeting
I have had one meeting with Tom Ball of AV (not listed above but he's one of the guys who concentrates on online services). I was pleasently surprised - after I had heard how rough AV was, we had a great meeting. He was very interested in the pitch and kept us an hour longer than we expected.
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Quick Answer
The one thing I liked about these guys was that they were quick to say no. No screwing around, just a quick answer. Even though I would have liked a deal with them, it was just as nice to get a straight answer from them.
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The Only Game in Town (In Austin Anyway)
In the late 90's I worked with Ed Olkkola, Venu Shamapant and Blaine Wesner. I really liked working with Ed specifically. AV provided a term sheet to fund our Series A, but the signature line included an addition to my title that I wasn't so excited about: "Interim" CEO