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We’ve all done it. You land at a new job or grad school, and you take a personality survey - maybe it’s Myers Briggs or DISC or Enneagram.  You click through all the questions, get your results, and are amazed at just how accurately it really does describe your personality. Your colleague tells you about their results. You think… “this is super insightful, and I’m going to use these insights ...

I am pleased to share that in March, I joined Origin Ventures as its first in-house CFO. I am excited to take on the responsibility as Origin Ventures scales its operations and broadens its investor base.  I would like to share why I joined Origin Ventures.  The vast majority of my 27-year career was spent working as a CFO with a venture firm. Prior to joining Origin, I was working ...

Prashant is persistent. But this time, he was unusually persistent about hiring an intern at a moment when our firm had an overwhelming number of other higher priorities. I was puzzled. Then I looked at the resume of the candidate: Princeton economics undergrad, banking at Goldman Sachs, growth and partnership roles at a scaling SaaS company, Stanford GSB, and a VC-backed founder herself. I then knew why Prashant insisted I ...

There are nearly 2 billion PC gamers across the world. Their digs vary dramatically, from a desktop setup in the bedroom to a dark gaming cave in the basement. But their rigs have a lot in common - often characterized by having high performance computer chips, high speed network connectivity, and an abundance of storage capacity. Those high-end computing resources make gaming extremely entertaining - allowing multiplayer environments with realistic ...

A ride to the airport, a walk for the dog, a grocery or meal delivery, or a video birthday message…are all just a phone tap away. With over 2.5 million mobile apps, there’s an endless number of products and services available in our pockets and purses. Origin Ventures has been investing in the Digital Native economy for several years, identifying high-growth software, marketplace, and consumer businesses with unique growth catalysts ...

I have always loved to shop.  As a kid, my mom and I would drive two hours to Buffalo NY, crossing the border from Toronto, to spend a day at the Walden Galleria Mall. There, I would go back to school shopping at stores like Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister that had yet to make their way to Canada. In middle school, weekends were spent at Yorkdale Shopping Center, visiting ...

The mile. Originating with the Roman Empire and refined to its current distance by the British in the late 1500’s, the mile has become a primary unit of measurement in the United States - and has many colloquial uses. Some people talk a mile a minute, some are willing to go the extra mile, and some will take a mile when only given an inch. On the cinder track of ...

  We are pleased to announce that Origin Ventures has led Utah-based Carketa’s $6M Seed round, with participation from Crosslink Capital, Hack VC, Lancaster, and I2BF.   The investment is our second in auto tech, following our 2018 investment in BacklotCars.  When we made that initial investment, we joked in our blog post that “we finally met a used car salesman that we like.”  Well now… we’ve found another one!   In ...

Origin Ventures Closes Oversubscribed Fifth Fund at $130M Today we announced the launch of our newest fund, Origin Ventures V, with a final closing of $130M. We will continue to invest in innovative, rapidly growing companies that are defining the Digital Native Economy - and backing the ambitious entrepreneurs that found them. We initially set a target on the fundraise of $100M - then came Covid-19 and all of the ...

We are hiring a Chief Financial Officer to join our executive team and to help us shape Origin Ventures' next phase of growth. Interested candidates should apply here. About Origin Ventures Origin Ventures is a leading early-stage venture capital firm that has backed market leading software and marketplace companies like Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB), Cameo, Fountain, Tock (acquired by NYSE: SQSP), Tovala, 15Five, BacklotCars (acquired by NYSE: KAR), and many others.  ...