Jeff Richards

BIO

My focus is on working with CEO s and entrepreneurs to help build great companies. Having founded two venture-backed startups myself one a success R4 acquired by VeriSign in 2005 and one a failure QuantumShift I have deep personal experience with the challenges entrepreneurs and CEO s face. As an entrepreneur and CEO I raised six rounds of financing across two companies and had the opportunity to work with some of the world s best venture capitalists. I also worked with a few that weren t as helpful and experienced firsthand the adage that not all money is equal. I try to bring the best of these experiences to bear in every relationship I create with an entrepreneur or CEO whether it is as an informal advisor an investor andor a board member. I also have a family with four kids and understand the personal toll that building a great company can take. In short I ve been there and I believe choosing the right investors board members etc. can make a real difference in the outcome for a company. We tend to invest 5-25 million into our portfolio companies and our investment typically goes towards expanding the organization sales marketing andor acquisitions. I specifically focus on investing in companies in the softwareSaaS mobile and Internet sectors sectors where I have firsthand operating experience. I travel to China 4-6 times per year mostly Shanghai and Beijing and leave my trips amazed at the explosive growth and high energy of the entrepreneurs we re backing. I led GGVs investments in Buddy Media acqu. by Salesforce BlueKai acqu. by Oracle Appirio acqu. by Wipro Boxed Percolate Gladly HotelTonight Brightwheel PlushCare Slice Zylo and BigCommerce and spent time on our investments in Wish Domo Hashicorp OpenDoor Square and Reebonz. Follow on Twitter jrichlive Medium jeffgrichards