Auth0 + Founders’ Co-op

I’m excited to be able to announce our investment in another great Seattle-area company today: Auth0 just raised $6.9 million, led by Sunil Nagaraj at Bessemer Venture Partners, with support from Manu Kumar at K9 Ventures. This was a later and larger round than we typically participate in as a fund, but CEO Jon Gelsey continue…

Cascadian Capitalism Update: Introducing Canopy

Eighteen months ago I posited the emergence of a different flavor of global capitalism here in the Pacific Northwest, which I described as “big tent” capitalism, subsequently amended to the more region-specific “Cascadian Capitalism“. My assertion was — and is — that: Seattle is emerging as a global leader in fusing the growth-oriented culture of continue…

Seattle’s Startup Hall partnership goes global as Techstars scales up, acquires UP Global

Eighteen months ago we announced a four-way partnership among UP Global, Techstars Seattle, Founders’ Co-op and the University of Washington to create an end-to-end support system for high-performing Pacific Northwest entrepreneurs here in Startup Hall. By bringing the UW’s proven strength in global talent development, Startup Weekend’s excellence in entrepreneurial education, Techstars’ world-leading model for startup acceleration and Founders’ continue…

Local retail is thriving in the face of e-commerce, here’s why

Breathless digital enthusiasts — myself among them — have been predicting a massive shift from store-based to online retail shopping for the past 20 years. And while that transition is well underway, with online sellers now capturing eight percent of total retail spend, and 75% of the growth in spend since 2000, the long-predicted “death of continue…