But when I’m looking to invest the dollars that my Limited Partners have entrusted my firm with I’m going with my view. This return won’t be enough for me to justify for me partners.”  I In 2006, Steven Dietz, a partner at my firm, GRP Partners, had given me $500,000 in a seed in convertible debt when I started my second company, Koral.  GRP I was going to save this post for a while but the Patzer Problem meme has forced my hand. I

Mark Suster – Partner – GRP Partners Cal Cap Partners Price Waterhouse Coopers Rustic Canyon Partners Sir Richard Branson is known for being a successful entrepreneur. Ten minutes alone with the guy could probably change your life if you used it correctly. An opportunity like that is usually one in

I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners.  Do you really think Porter’s Five Forces is going to help you figure out what feature set to launch or how to price your product? But there are plenty of partners and successful entrepreneurs who don’t have MBAs.  This is part of my ongoing series called “ Start-up Lessons .” 8221;

Santa Monica-based Zag.com , the online automotive buying firm headed by Scott Painter, announced Thursday that the company has reached an agreement with Mercedes-Benz USA to offer an additional $5000 off pricing of new Mercedes-Benz cars to members of USAA, one of the affinity groups using Zag's auto pricing and purchasing services. The firm said the additional offer comes on top of special member prices, rebates, and dealer incentives available to members. Zag provides a white-label version of its automotive configuration and pricing engine to USAA and other affinity groups, which provides a detailed, in-depth quoting system for "fleet" sales of automobiles.

Zag provides the technology to power affiliate car buying services, allowing members of associations like the AAA to get fully configured, exact quotes on new cars at pre-negotiated prices. Zag's technology differs from other similar programs in that it offers fully detailed pricing on exact options, rather than just feeding leads into a dealership's fleet or online department. Zag is venture backed Santa Monica-based Zag.com , the online car buying software firm headed by Scott Painter, announced this morning that it has inked a deal with the AAA, to power a new service called AAA Automaker.

The firm, which develops technology that allows consumers to fully configure and price autos from affinity groups like credit unions, AAAs, and other groups, claimed that the firm has saved its buyers over $83.5M Zag has received funding from USAA, Capricorn Investment Group, LLC, GRP Partners and Anthem Venture Partners. Santa Monica-based Zag.com , the online auto buying technology firm headed by Scott Painter, said Wednesday that the firm has sold its 50,000th car through its online auto-buying affinity programs. over MSRP on their autos.

Zag has previously received funding from Anthem Ventures, Arcturus Capital, Capital One, Capricorn Management, GRP Partners, and the Tech Coast Angels. The firm recently spun out True Car, an automotive pricing information site. Santa Monica-based Zag , which has developed an automobile configuration and buying service for affinity organizations like credit unions and automobile organizations, has a funding round of undisclosed size. A

Zag is venture backed by Anthem Ventures, Arcturus Capital, Capital One, Capricorn Management, GRP Partners, and the Tech Coast Angels, along with USAA. The firm recently spun out True Car, an automotive pricing information site. Santa Monica-based Zag , which has developed an automobile configuration and buying service for affinity organizations like credit unions and automobile organizations, has raised around $32.4M in a funding round.

She asked if she could fly the next day to meet with me and my partners.  I I didn’t understand why she wanted to do this if she already had lined up such A-list investors but it was in a segment where GRP Partners is very strong so I it sort of made sense to me.  We My gut says that she came 70% as a spoiler for Company A and 30% because GRP has a great reputation in this space.  I This is part of my series on  what makes an entrepreneur successful .  I originally posted it on  VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs.

Zag said it has promoted Bernie Brenner to Executive Vice President in charge of the firm's consumer initiatives, named David Pributsky as VP of Partner development. Zag develops software used for configuring and pricing new and used automobiles, which it provides on a white-label basis to affinity buying programs. The firm is backed by Anthem Venture Partners, Capital One Auto Finance, GRP Partners, Arcturus Santa Monica-based Zag, a venture-backed developer of online car buying software, said this morning that it has made a a