Independent rating of Draper Richards VC fund
Overall rating:
36 reviews
About Draper Richards VC fund
Website:
Founded:
1996
Number of funds:
1
Number of investments:
68
Number of exits:
25
Headquarters:
Organization type:
Venture Capital
How Draper Richards VC fund invests
Rounds:
Average ticket size:
3.19M USD
Smallest investment:
857K USD
Biggest investment:
7.14M USD
Would lead round:
Yes
Would coinvest:
Yes
Countries where invested:
Sectors of interest:
Founders' reviews of Draper Richards VC fund
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
Efficient Meeting, Helpful Follow Up
I met with Bill recently to get his advice on an early stage social network recently. Bill was personable, sharp and when the conversation moved to business, he called in his CFO Cynthia and the two peppered me with sharp, thoughtful questions. Before the meeting was over, Bill made a call to introduce me to another investor. Very helpful and personable all around.
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Over Rated Team. They are 'Ok'
I really wasn't impressed with the quality of the team's questions or their due diligence. Not sure they could grasp the value proposition.
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West Coast Focus
Does not seem interested in deals outside of the bay area.
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Pitched, Turned Down, and Love Howard
Yup, he turned us down, but then kept helping us.
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Asks a Lot of Questions, Some of Them Good!
My experience with HH is that he asks more questions during a meeting than other VCs, really listens to your answer about as often as other VCs and figures things out pretty quickly. Some of the things he figures out are actually correct.
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Thoughtful and Open Minded
We pitched Howard on our consumer product business. Our market is outside their stated focus on technology, yet Howard was open to learning about out company, and immediately able to give good feedback. Rhonda Stinson also contributed to the conversation, and was great to have involved. If she's available, I recommend having her join your meeting. She's very smart and is influential within the team. Bill stepped into the meeting as well, and seemed to be very personable, and similarly open-minded. I have not had the opportunity to meet Robin.
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Howard and Bill Care
Our experience with Bill and Howard was extremely positive. They were highly engaged during the pitch and provided thoughtful feedback. Bill focused on the team and Howard on the business model. Although they did not invest they went out of their way to help by providing introductions to potential investors. They followed up immediately; Bill even called one investor while we were meeting.
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Howard is Human
Howard Hartenbaum likes entrepreneurs, treats them with respect, and does what he does very well. He is a pleasure to pitch, and a supportive and productive board participant. One of the good guys.
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Very Refreshing!
I recently reached out to Howard and Robin regarding funding a venture in Florida. Although they are not making investments in Florida, they responded quickly and provided a direct referral to a Florida-based VC, with whom they have co-investing experience. This is how pros behave. Very refreshing!
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A Pleasure
I met with Bill and Howard in late 2003 to pitch my business (at Buck's in Woodside no less!) and I was impressed with their enthusiasm and energy.
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Very Impressed with Howard
I've met with Howard both to collaborate on investment projects as well as to solicit feedback on my own company and have been extremely impressed each time. He always adds great insight and goes to great lengths to solicit others to help. And rare in the Bay Area, he is always prompt and attentive.
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Howard is the Best.....
Ok, I have known Howard for 4 years, and in all that time Howard has always been supportive, honest, insightful and a great guy to get along with. He doesn't have time to coddle you, but he returns calls promptly, gives you well thought out and reasoned advice, and is just about the only guy in the valley I really trust to look out for me as an entrepreneur.
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Bill and Howard are Fantastic
while i have never pitched Bill or Howard, plenty of the companies i have been an angel investor in have. Bill and Howard are both great guys and they are the "good guys" in the venture world. they have both been extremely helpful to me over the years with lots of helpful advice, contacts, and insights. they are definitely a go-to stop for an entrepreneur.
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Howard is Great
I think that Howard is very insightful and very straight forward. Some people may be put off by this approach but it helps, in my opinion, to cut to the chase and through the b/s
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Howard and Bill
I met Howard Hartenbaum and Bill Draper 3 weeks ago through a referral from another VC. We had just 2 days earlier closed a small seed round with a small VC and a group of angels. They gave great feedback, asked great questions, and followed through with an investment exactly as promised.
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Bill and Howard
I've worked with Draper Richards twice now. Each time I've found them to be good investors and partners. They have a unique approach to VC, but it works well for them and they've had some great wins. Bill and Howard use different approaches, but both bring a lot to the table. Bill is the epitome of old school VC - he's a gentleman that invests in people first and technology second. Howard is the new school - smart and aggressive. He likely understands your market better than you do. It's his job to find and/or qualify deals - and he's good at this. However this requires a certain amount of pessimism and critical thinking. I can see how some folks might have trouble with this - everyone wants (needs) to believe that their idea is extraordinary. It's Howard's job to make sure that it really is - and that it will be a successful investment. Once you're past this process and these guys invest in your company, Howard will be an ardent supporter and do everything possible to help you succeed.
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Howard's the Man!
Raising capital is quite the experience - and a different one at that for each investor you speak to. Meeting with a diverse group of venture investors, I've found that no one is exactly quite like Howard. At a period when he wasn't really interested in our business, he still took the time to provide us with real guidance and feedback on how we could improve our business model and product. Not like many VC's, which simply want you to hear their point of view and break down your whole business model before you are even out of the gate. Howard is experienced, logical, and responsive.
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My Experiences
I've met Howard a few times over the last 6 months and continue to have contact with him over email. I am at a loss to understand some of the negative feedback that people have about him. My experience with him has been very pleasant, educational, and fruitful.
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CEO
Howard and Bill are a unique team. Bill has been in the VC game since the beginning and brings the kind of insight and advice and wisdom that is rare. Bill's advice is valuable even on those rare times when he is not 100% on target. He is the kind of mentor and board member that every board and CEO would be blessed to find.
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Howard is Different
I had a meeting with DFJ people and, to my surprise, Howard had "invited himself" (as he said) to the meeting. I must confess that I didn't know much about him or Draper Richards beforehand, but it turned out that he had experimented with our service, got our story immediately, and gave direct, but constructive feedback that sometimes was opposite to the views of all the other investors we have met.
A first meeting with a VC could not have been much better or nicer.
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Try to Get Howard
if you can get a meeting with howard, take it. it's different from the standard pitch and grin meetings in the valley. he brainstorms with you and tries to engage in debate and solve problems. and don't mistake this for someone telling you how to run your biz - he's giving you a frank glimpse into what a working relationship would be like. that's both rare and valuable. we didn't get funded, but we left HH and DR impressed.
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Howard Get's It; He's Direct, Helpful,
* Howard took just one meeting to decide that he was going to back us.
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CEO
Bill is a very nice and helpful person. He's a VC because he likes being around entrepreneurs, not because he's driven by making more money (though I'm sure he enjoys it--though I think he gives most of it to the Symphony and other places). Howard is a sharp guy and a straight-shooter. I've seen him really keep the interests of entrepreneurs in mind.
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Sharp as a Tack
We had some interesting meetings with Draper Richards, most of them worthwhile and enlightening. Howard is smart and he knows it, but the BS factor is substantially less than in most other firms, which I appreciated. I'm definitely one of those entrepreneurs who likes direct feedback. He was open with us about his concerns, but also was open about the fact the he liked our space, our product, and our management team. Bill Draper was a bit of a wild card in the meetings --- you can never predict what kind of question he's going to ask (relevant or not), or even if he'll attend the entire meeting. That said, he's a stand-up guy, and I felt much better about his involvement after meeting him at his home to finalize terms. During negotiations, there's a bit of a good cop/bad cop routine going on between Howard and Bill, but in general I appreciated the fact that they pushed it toward closing, though with more legal back and forth than I would have liked. Overall, we're extremely fired up to be working with Bill and Howard, and Draper Richards is highly recommended.
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Draper Richards Pros Across the Board
I've been working with Haward and Bill for a over two years and I've been constantly impressed with their professionalism and support. They know everyone and are more than happy to open their network and have made some great introductions.
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CEO
Howard is definitely an entrepreneur's VC. I have worked with Howard for over two years. He was great to work with prior to the investement and after. He gives great advice, he listens and he knows from first hand experience what it is like to be a CEO. I consider him a friend and a partner.
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A Straight Shooter
Our start-up recently had the pleasure of pitching our company to Howard Hartenbaum at Draper Richards.
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Had a Great Meeting with Howard
Had a great meeting with Howard some time ago after an intro from another Angel-firm.
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Howard is the Best VC Out There.
Howard is the first VC I went to after a bad experience with Crosslink Capital in my last company. Having been the victim of a VC (Jim Feuille) who was more interested in taking over the company than doing what was right for ALL the shareholders, Howard is one VC who is genuinely interested in the entrepreneur and who will give you the best feedback he can. He actually DOES add value and always returns my calls. While Howard didn't invest in my company (Bill wasn't keen on fantasy sports), he agreed to serve on my board and he has already driven more value to my company than I could have hoped. He is the man!
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Howard is an Observer on My Board
Howard is no-bullshit, no sitting on the fence investor. He likes it or he doesn't like it. The strategy is good or it's not. As an entrepreneur, it's refreshing to get black and white from an investor. The roldex is healthy and always open. Board level value-add comes in the form of concise, on-topic and insightful observations/recommendations.
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Great Experience in Pitch and Board
Howard and Bill sized up our company and opportunity faster than anyone we pitched (over 12 VC's). The feedback was honest, the timeline to close was clear, and they moved quickly. The integrity of Bill in particular was shocking - he shook our hands, promised a close in X days, and when the lawyers dragged, he wired the money anyway. What VC has ever stuck to his word" It's crazy. Since then Howard joined our Board and has worked harder than any VC I've worked with. He's like a free VP, Biz Dev. I've worked with KPCB, Benchmark, Sequoia, and others on 8 start-ups. Believe me, he's operationally top notch. And I just met the guy for the first time in my pitch.
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Howard's a Straight Shooter and More....
As an entrepreneur who has pitched to Howard before and been turned down, the only thing I can say is that I have a lot of respect for Howard. He is really sharp, and insightful. He was upfront with us and told us exactly how we felt about our business, what metrics/goals he would like to see in order to get him interested in the deal.
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We Had a Positive Experience
We had a meeting with Howard this week and found him to be really straight forward. He ultimately passed on our deal, but he told us that he was taking a pass before we even left the table. It was one of the most kind and honest conversations that I have had in some time.
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Howard Asked Right Questions and Offered Great Ideas to Enhance Our Value Prop
Howard was the first in the VC community that I showed my latest stealth venture to and my experience was very positive. He was really honest and professional. He offered many good ideas to improve the product. In fact our team was so excited about one of his suggestions that they started working on it right away. He also offered to help spread the word about the site, once we are ready for Beta.
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Experience with Howard Hartenbaum
I've been reading the negative feedback and comments for Howard. I find these comments disturbing and amazing. My experience in pitching Howard was extremely positive.
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Very Different Experience if He's an Investor...
We were introduced to Howard by another fund (top-tier), he asked a lot of good questions and moved quickly into the A round. Sure he's blunt (sometimes very), but so what: he's extremely helpful on the bizdev front, available, quick to respond, and thinks out-of-the-box. His prior life as an entrepreneur hasn't hurt either, and I'd work with him again on the next one.