Search Results for: oren bennett

By Adrianne Jeffries 1/16/12 8:35am

Oren Bennett Still Hustlin’, This Time in Betabeat Comments

Protip: don’t namedrop on the internet. Back in October, Betabeat interviewed Oren Bennett, an inexperienced but ambitious college dropout who was putting together a $100 million fund. In November, he told UNYStartups, ““I’ve talked to Brad Feld, Luke Nosek, Jim O’Neill, John Frankel, Eliot Durbin, Kirill Sheynkman and Murat Aktihanoglu. The list goes on of people who I’ve told about what I’m doing and have considered potential LPs.”

Oops! Don’t namedrop on the internet, because the people you name will probably see it. Mr. Feld clarified in Betabeat comments that he had spoken to Mr. Bennett for five minutes at an event (good memory!) and did not consider himself a “prospective LP.” Read More

By Ben Popper 11/18/11 9:11am

Nothing Ventured...

21-Year-Old Oren Bennett Aiming for $100 M With His First VC Fund

A few weeks back Betabeat met Oren Bennett at a Brooklyn Beta party, where he informed us that he was a recent college dropout who was planning to start his own venture fund. We had our doubts, given his lack of experience as an entrepreneur and his admittedly minimal knowledge of finance. Today we got an update from his friends at UNYStartups:

Mr. Bennett is doing great. He met Mark Suster, who thought he was wasted. And he is forging ahead with his venture adventure, aiming to raise a $100 million fund his first time up to bat as High Growth Capital Partners.

This being a hip, youthful fund, it currently operates off of a Tumblr and Twitter account. As Mr. Bennett explained, “We were also at the peak of the biggest macro cycle in the history of the U.S. This meant it was the best time to raise and the worst time to invest.” In order to compete with established shops like DFJ Gotham and USV, Mr. Bennet had to go big. “I decided to raise $100 Million myself and start my own VC Firm. I needed to raise as much as I could because after the cycle ended I would have to wait a long time before I could raise again. I knew the minimum amount for the first round was usually $25 Million. I was about to do something very unusual.” Read More

By Ben Popper 10/21/11 8:41am

Nothing Ventured...

Upstate dreamer turned downtown hustler.

Oren Bennett, 21-Year-Old College Dropout, Is Starting His Own Venture Fund

Betabeat ran into a precocious young man last night named Oren Bennett. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked us as we grabbed some pita and hummus from the snack table at the Brooklyn Beta party. We shook our heads no, and asked if he was a startup guy.

“No, although I do love startups. I’m starting my own venture fund,” Mr. Bennet informed us.

Did he have any experience in venture capital?

“Well I have been to Startup Weekend in NYC here twice and I attend more events than a lot of people.” Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 2/27/12 1:49pm

SXSW

Which New York Techies Will Be Joining MC Hammer and Charlie O’Donnell at the SXSW Accelerator Judging Table?

This morning, Hustler VC Oren Bennett pointed Betabeat’s attention to a list of judges and emcees for the annual SXSW Accelerator, a competition sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark that culminates in awards for four lucky startups. Not as coveted a prize as the Breakout Award–which helped catapult Twitter, Foursquare, and then GroupMe to fame, financing, and an acquisition–perhaps, but a nice trophy all the same.

We already introduced you to the four Made In NYC companies that will be competing, but here’s a look at who’s deciding their fate. Read More

By Ben Weitzenkorn 2/22/12 6:00am

Startup the startup rundown

Betabeat: bringing you the finest in tech and startup news from these fine machines since before we were born. (BuzzFeed)

Startup News: Grokking Facebook Timeline for Fun and Profit

BLAST FROM THE PAST. Now, thanks to BuzzFeed, you can show all your friends how vintage chic your technology was—before it was cool. Prompted by the fairly recent Facebook timeline, BuzzFeed has introduced a Facebook app that lets users retroactively post images to their timeline. Checkout the “What Was Your First Computer?” question and reminisce about the nineteen eighties like it’s the 2020′s. The launch of this new app is probably just the beginning of a trend we’ll see as Facebook prepares to unveil its new timeline backdating ability.

CLICK CLICK FLASH. Pixable, the photo sharing complement for social networks is rolling out a couple big features. First, is a hashtag feature that allows users to tag their photos or their friends’ photos for an easier experience when recalling and organizing snapshots. #drunkenregrets?

At the same time Pixable is being integrated into the Facebook timeline technology. Users will be able to share their photo viewing and tagging activity in the Facebook ticker just like when listening to tunes on Spotify.

Read More

By Gary Sharma 5/21/12 1:30pm

No FOMO

Gary Sharma’s Internet Week 2012 Highlights (Nerd Proms, Rooftop Parties, Will Arnett DJ’ing, Michael Stipe Sightings ‘n more!)

Aol’s Andrea Hong, GroupMe/Skype’s Steve Cheney, TechStars’ Justin Overdorff, Shelby.tv’s Chris Kurdziel and Lauren Appelwick, American Express’ Meghan Paul, Acquaintable’s Joel Rodriguez and Greycroft Partners’ Alisa Richter posing at the always epic Webutante Ball @ Internet Week 2012. (Photo: Nick McGlynn / This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), Founder & CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary@garysguide.com.

“I think I just ran into Michael Stipe!”
“Get outta here. Srsly?”
“Well it looked like him.”
“Wait, who’s Michael Stipe?”
“The lead vocalist for R.E.M.”
“Hmmm, are you sure you saw Michael Stipe?”
“Well he was bald and looked familiar.”
“Maybe you saw Moby. You sure it wasn’t Moby?”
(We all peered into the crowd gathered at the Hard Candy Shell party scanning intently to see if we could spot a familiar, bald rockstar.)

Welcome to Internet Week 2012, y’all! Where the young & the restless mingle with the bold & the beautiful mingle with the rich & the famous all brought together by the seductive beauty and power of this thing we call the Internets!

With over 500 companies and 40,000 attendees, Internet Week (now in its 5th year) is billed as a celebration of the city’s thriving Internet industry and community. As festival co-chair David-Michel Davies (a.k.a. dmd) pointed out, it’s the web, not TV, that is driving the conversation today and is the hub of all things pop culture. And New York is very much a big part of where innovation on the web is happening. “New York is an exceptionally entrepreneurial city,” Mr Davies pointed out. “People come here for opportunity, and it’s been like that since the city was founded.”

Well, you know what they say. Mo’ innovation = Mo’ Companies = Mo’ Money = Mo’ Jobs! Yes, I can get behind that. (Also it’s been two months since all the partying + boozing + schmoozing + debauchery of SXSW and things have been a tad slow lately. Internet Week, you’ve arrived just in time!) Read More

BetaBeat

Search Results for: oren bennett

Oren Bennett Still Hustlin’, This Time in Betabeat Comments

21-Year-Old Oren Bennett Aiming for $100 M With His First VC Fund

Oren Bennett, 21-Year-Old College Dropout, Is Starting His Own Venture Fund

Which New York Techies Will Be Joining MC Hammer and Charlie O’Donnell at the SXSW Accelerator Judging Table?

Startup News: Grokking Facebook Timeline for Fun and Profit

Gary Sharma’s Internet Week 2012 Highlights (Nerd Proms, Rooftop Parties, Will Arnett DJ’ing, Michael Stipe Sightings ‘n more!)

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