A lot of people have said that unlike the first era of the consumer internet, Web 2.0 is not about VC’s. While I don’t pretend to know nearly enough about capital markets, I tend to agree with this statement.

This is because of two drastic shifts since the web first hit the scene:

1. Cheaper infrastructure (bandwidth, hardware, access to open source code, etc.) means that millions of dollars aren’t always necessary to scale.
2. Accountable, ROI-focused marketing (SEM and SEO, of course!) can help savvy start-ups create self-funding customer drives that don’t require Super Bowl ads or sock puppets.

Reprise Media is a privately held company that has fielded tons of calls from tons of venture capitalists since we opened our doors two and half years ago. I like to think that this is because we’ve built a reputation as a category leader. However, I have to imagine that our competitors receive the same inquiries since we’re in a “hot” space that’s just getting going.

Given that we’re profitable and comfortably funding all of our initiatives, we have decided not to take any outside capital at this stage. That said, we have met quite a few VC’s. Not to sound too Web 1.0, but most have not “gotten” our business or the economics of internet marketing, in general.

One firm that absolutely does not fall into that category is Union Square Ventures. These guys have forgotten more about the markets we’re in then most people will ever know. If I were an internet entrepreneur looking to raise money, they would be at the top of the list of folks that I’d call. Some people have gotten to know Fred Wilson, one of the firm’s partners, through his blog, as well as Charlie O’Donnell, an associate at USV, who is a blogger as well.

Today marks the re-launch of their official corporate site, which has taken on the form of a blog. Their first post was written by Brad Burnham, Fred’s partner in the firm. While Fred and Charlie will continue to post entries to their personal sites, USV’s corporate blog should paint a more complete picture of their overall business views.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, a VC looking to spy on the competition or just someone who is interested in web trends, I’d strongly encourage you to add this one to your RSS reader. I guarantee it’ll be a welcome addition to the conversation.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 13th, 2005 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Investment, M&A. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.