It specializes in funding the world’s most promising internet and mobile companies. It has two funds: Greycroft IV, a $200 million venture fund; and Greycroft Growth, a $200 million growth-stage fund. The venture fund invests between $100,000 and $5 million at inception. The growth fund invests up to $20 million.
Greycroft has about $800 million under management and 120 active investments.
Among the most successful investments it has made include in Buddy Media, acquired by Salesforce for $800 million, and Braintree, bought by PayPal, also for $800 million. Maker Studios, another of its investments, was acquired by Disney in a deal worth up to $950 million.
Over the past 24 months Greycroft has made $2.6 billion in exits.
Dylan Pearce, a principal at Greycroft Partners who is based in Los Angeles, earned an MBA at Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. After a career in investment banking he transitioned to private equity and then venture capital. Speaking to BusinessBecause, he shares a slew of tips for budding VCs.
What excites you most about the industry and your role at Greycroft Partners?
It’s really just the number of global opportunities in tech companies being created today. There are a lot of opportunities in my marketplace to build global businesses.
The opportunities to partner with these entrepreneurs to help them build businesses through our platform is exiting.
We’re continuing to see big tech companies build businesses that have global scale and that’s something that’s [appealing].
What is your career background?
I started my career at Morgan Stanley’s investment bank and then transitioned to private equity and then from PE I moved into venture capital or growth equity. I’ve been at Greycroft since 2004.
What did the MBA do for you?
It really gave me an opportunity to step back and revaluate, and confirm that venture capital was exactly what I wanted to do. Having those two years to think about it and explore those opportunities gave me the conviction.
Does your firm value your MBA?
Yes. Probably 80% of the investing professionals here have an MBA, so it’s something valuable to us.
Are there career opportunities for business school graduates in the industry?
Absolutely. It’s a very dynamic field that’s growing very quickly. There are opportunities at a lot of different firms.
There are opportunities across the investing spectrum — from sourcing to deal execution to portfolio management.
It depends on your skill-set. [You can work] in sourcing if you have a great network; deal execution if you come from technical background like investment banking; and lastly on the portfolio management side, if you come from an operational management background.
[Overall], having a great network is very valuable — it helps with deal flow, due diligence, [and] sharing best practices. It’s a very important piece.
What's your advice for breaking into venture capital?
There are a lot of opportunities out there, but you have to be creative in your job search coming out of the MBA, because often it’s not going to be as simple as looking at your job board and seeing 15 VC firms coming on campus. Being creative in your job hunt is a necessity.
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