Independent rating of Sierra Ventures VC fund
Overall rating:
18 reviews
About Sierra Ventures VC fund
Website:
Founded:
1982
Number of funds:
12
Number of investments:
369
Number of exits:
83
Headquarters:
Organization type:
Venture Capital
How Sierra Ventures VC fund invests
Rounds:
Average ticket size:
6.13M USD
Smallest investment:
1.14M USD
Biggest investment:
14.3M USD
Would lead round:
Yes
Would coinvest:
Yes
Countries where invested:
Sectors of interest:
Software, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, SaaS, Information Technology, Information Services, Wellness, Wedding, Web Design, Travel, Speech Recognition, Software Engineering, Service Industry, Quantum Computing, Productivity Tools, Podcast, Mobile Payments, Medical, Marketing, Manufacturing, Logistics, Intelligent Systems, Health Care, Fitness, Financial Services, FinTech, E-Commerce, Delivery, Data Integration, Data Center, Cyber Security, Apps
Founders' reviews of Sierra Ventures VC fund
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Solid Partners
Sierra (Dave Schwab, Steve Williams) funded a company of mine many years ago, and they were terrific: pains in the ass when needed, operationally focused, and zero BS. They made introductions, gave actionable operations advice, and were savvy about executive matters and negotiations. They stuck with us for many years, never giving up even when the going got rough.
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Yi Jian Ngo New Principal at Sierra
Pitched Yi-Jian Ngo at his request via AngelList. As part of our due diligence we do some checking on portfolio companies to see if there is a conflict. One last step is to ask outright if they have a portfolio company that could be a conflict. During our pitch Yi-Jian Ngo assured us they had no conflicting investments.
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Pitched but Turned Down
It turned out my business was not a good sectoral fit but had a good conversation and the response was courteous.
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Working with Jeff Loomans: Disaster
First, let me say that my earlier post- I was coaxed by Sierra to write a positive review for them on this site. I regret doing so, and later realized this was against the site's policy. Now that I have gone through the full process with Sierra, let me share my experience and in particular with a partner by the name of Jeff Loomans.
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Sierra Ventures
Sierra is not afraid to get their hands dirty in helping entrepreneurs succeed. They have helped us hire, introduced us to key distribution partners, helped us close deals with their portfolio companies and have given us a clear strategic direction. Our partner has had a huge impact on our visibility in the SaaS space.
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Great Partner
I have been involved in VC-funded companies for many years, and dealt with all the major funds on my various boards. Sierra is proving to be the most value-add fund that I have dealt with. Tim Guleri is willing to dig in and help find the right high-level contacts for expanding our sales, and works those contacts as adroitly as any CEO I have seen. They are not a passive fund, but on the other hand they don't needlessly get involved either, finding the right balance that adds value. If you can get them to invest in your company, you will find it a great experience.
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Expertise & Partnership Complement Capital
Our organization recently closed a $7M Series B transaction led by Sierra Ventures of Menlo Park. We were really fortunate to have a number of great VC options to chose from. In the end, we concluded that Sierra Ventures offered us the best overall balance of operating expertise and a hands-on partnering approach to help our business
grow and scale. During our fundraising process, we were particularly impressed with Vispi Daver and Dave Schwab. Both really understood our industry and our challenges as a SaaS business.
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Sierra, Vispi Daver Solid Folks...
We stayed in touch with Sierra and pitched Vispi Daver...
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Turned US Down, Solid Reasons
Sierra wasn't a fit for us. They passed quickly and professionally. Good experience. Tim Guleri - standup guy.
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Exceptional Venture Partner
As a serial entrepreneur, I've dealt with many VCs over the years. I've raised over $800 million in capital and led a start-up to an IPO. Many notable venture firms have invested in my companies. Sierra Ventures is hands down the very best I've worked with - out of 20+ capital sources. Sierra's Partners have all been very successful Tech Entrepreneurs having run their own companies. They add value for strategy and business development as well as providing sound operational advice. Sierra is very responsive and truly supportive - through good times and tough times. I'd strongly recommend Sierra Ventures.
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Value Added Partner
It has been eight months since we closed a Sierra led round. We remain as confident as ever that they are a great fit to help us realize our potential. The partners have strong operational expertise. This made for a very detailed due diligence process. As a clean tech company we were a new type of deal for them. We also had the added complexity of being located in an atypical geography.
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Build Value
The Sierra team was highly energetic and detail oriented throughout our relationship, from diligence through building the company to exit. I was impressed by the level of commitment - the Sierra partners felt like co-founders: on call all hours, challenging our team and taking on whatever we needed to help. Although this may not be appropriate for every entrepreneur, in our case it was excellent. We had a great technology but needed leadership and market tactics. Sierra brought a level of sophistication that was, in our domain, quite clearly above the other firms with whom we spoke. Would work with them again without hesitation.
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Excellent to Work With
Working with Sierra has been a very positive experience. I've been impressed by their fairness, their efficiency, and a very open and straightforward disposition. They showed a strong bias toward genuinely helping the company get things done, whether it be assistance in recruiting, introductions to contacts who could impact the business, or actively supporting next-round funding. They didn't "over-manage", but were there with very good counsel on both operational and strategic topics as we needed it. This is a partnership I'd strongly recommend working with.
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Great Partners
We couldn't ask for a better partner. Sierra led our A round and stepped up in every financing since. They add value at the board and bring real practical operating experience. They've been fair and efficient all the way.
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Helped US Hire
When we raised the back half of our A round, these guys really stepped us to help us hire some top talnet. Folks I've been working with now over 5 years.
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Link From From Other Posting, but Relevant to Sierra
The other posting was general, not specific to this fund. Posted link in private
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Unprofessional
Unfortunately met with associate first time round, but then he loved it. After the first meeting he talked about moving forward, getting his senior people involved, etc. - then nothing, not even a call back and no response to our emails. Not the way to run a service business.
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Don't Have a Clue
They claim a lot of experience in wireless and consumer. Turns out to be pretty shallow. Sorry to say, but there are lots of better folks on Sand Hill than Sierra.