Union Square Ventures just announced their new $156m fund – Union Square Ventures 2008.
My relationship with USV goes back to the mid-1990’s – well before USV was created. I vividly remember the first time I met Fred at Seth Godin’s Yoyodyne office somewhere near Waltham, MA. We hit it off immediately and I ended up making a number of investments with Fred and Jerry Colonna – Fred’s partner at the time in Flatiron Partners. Through this I got to know Fred and Gotham Gal – as did my wife Amy.
At some point around 2002 Fred introduced me to Brad Burnham. I had an affinity for Brad because of his magnificent first name. While we never did anything directly, we had a meal or two together. Eventually Fred told me that he and Brad were raising a new fund together called Union Square Ventures. I committed to being a (small) investor early on in the process.
Fred and Brad have done an incredible job with Union Square Ventures. When my partners and I were putting together Foundry Group, we talked often about what USV has done right. I’ve also had a great (and financially rewarding) time co-investing with USV and Fred through FeedBurner (acquired by Google), WallStrip (acquired by CBS), AdaptiveBlue, BugLabs, and most recently Zynga.
Along the way, I’ve gotten to know Brad much better, am really enjoying Albert, think Andrew is dynamite, and try to remember to send Dorsey flowers or chocolate after every visit to the USV office where she always makes me feel at home when I’m camping out in NY. Of all the VCs I’ve ever worked with, the team at USV ranks up at the very top.
Congrats Fred, Brad, Albert, Andrew, and Dorsey!