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It would be awesome to see a list of the winning companies and the approximate multiple on invested capital returned for each of them, along with which companie

It would be awesome to see a list of the winning companies and the approximate multiple on invested capital returned for each of them, along with which companies fizzled out. Not expecting to ever see that, but it would be interesting to learn which ones they thought would be huge successes and what the eventuality was.

eastdakota 11y ago
USV's 2004 fund invested in Twitter, Tumblr, Indeed, Etsy, and Zynga. Those likely represent the 5 double-digit return multiples Fred references. It was an astonishingly good fund — certainly among the best of its vintage and perhaps among the best of all time.
- vram22 11y ago
  Indeed.com sold for around $1 billion, or so I heard from a startup founder that I did some consulting work for (he was in the recruitment space too, and had a prior exit or two). Later googled for that info and saw links that looked like it was true. A Japanese company recruiter.com bought it. Interestingly, I don't remember reading about the Indeed sale on Fred's blog, though I've been reading it for some years now. Could have missed the post, or could be he never wrote about it. Edit: grammar.
  - mikeyouse 11y ago
    http://avc.com/2012/09/indeed/ http://avc.com/2012/09/indeed/ > Indeed has always been the quiet one. Nobody really talks about them. But as I have said a number of times on this blog, they are the most complete company in our portfolio. They have it all. Two world class entrepreneurs as founders. A solid management team all up and down the company. A product that is beloved and services more than 80mm people worldwide every month. An engineering team that has kept the service up with literally no down time that I can ever remember. A business model that, like Google's, is the best on the Internet. Revenues, profits, customer satisfaction, shareholder value. They built a fortress and I am just so happy to have had a front row seat watching them build it.
    - vram22 11y ago
      Ah, thanks, obligado.
    - vram22 11y ago
      Also, just saw at the AVC link you posted, this: http://avc.com/2012/09/indeed/#comment-662213687 http://avc.com/2012/09/indeed/#comment-662213687 Indeed used Lucene.

eastdakota 11y ago

USV's 2004 fund invested in Twitter, Tumblr, Indeed, Etsy, and Zynga. Those likely represent the 5 double-digit return multiples Fred references. It was an astonishingly good fund — certainly among the best of its vintage and perhaps among the best of all time.

vram22 11y ago
Indeed.com sold for around $1 billion, or so I heard from a startup founder that I did some consulting work for (he was in the recruitment space too, and had a prior exit or two). Later googled for that info and saw links that looked like it was true. A Japanese company recruiter.com bought it. Interestingly, I don't remember reading about the Indeed sale on Fred's blog, though I've been reading it for some years now. Could have missed the post, or could be he never wrote about it. Edit: grammar.
- mikeyouse 11y ago
  http://avc.com/2012/09/indeed/ http://avc.com/2012/09/indeed/ > Indeed has always been the quiet one. Nobody really talks about them. But as I have said a number of times on this blog, they are the most complete company in our portfolio. They have it all. Two world class entrepreneurs as founders. A solid management team all up and down the company. A product that is beloved and services more than 80mm people worldwide every month. An engineering team that has kept the service up with literally no down time that I can ever remember. A business model that, like Google's, is the best on the Internet. Revenues, profits, customer satisfaction, shareholder value. They built a fortress and I am just so happy to have had a front row seat watching them build it.
  - vram22 11y ago
    Ah, thanks, obligado.
  - vram22 11y ago
    Also, just saw at the AVC link you posted, this: http://avc.com/2012/09/indeed/#comment-662213687 http://avc.com/2012/09/indeed/#comment-662213687 Indeed used Lucene.