Mark Suster: Partner, Upfront Ventures

SHOW NOTESPublished 24th Jan, 2024The guest this week is Mark Suster in this episode 153. Mark Suster is a globally renowned Investor, being Partner at Upfront Ventures, based in LA, California. He previously was the founder & CEO of two successful enterprise software companies, the most recent of which was sold to Salesforce.com where Mark became Vice President, Product. Prior to being a founder, Mark was a software developer at Accenture where he lived and worked in Europe, Japan and the U.S. Mark was born in Philadelphia, and now lives in Los Angeles, California in the USA. Learn about Mark’s sunrise in Philadelphia, and the influences of his family — Mum was a singer, started as a nurse and then an entrepreneur, opening a bakery and a restaurant — which gave Mark his first taste of tech and entrepreneurship and Dad was a paediatrician and gentle giant, who came to the US from Columbia in South America with both sides of family of Jewish faith. In this candid conversation, we cover Mark’s reflections on learning programming from his high school Spanish teacher, being diagnosed with ADHD (but not knowing till he was 39 years old), why he recommends gaining two skills to young people: programming and sales. Particular areas that stand out include:Corporate experiences he had to delete and those he highlights as meaningfulBuilding confidence to leave a well playing job and become a startup founder in 1999 just before the dot com bust, and how hard it was to give up the salary and social pressureFascinating story involving twitter, the White House and steaks in Philadelphia Mark’s own experiences with exploring acquisitions for the startups he built and how he would advise founders today, in a market that perhaps has more scope for being acquired than going public. His perspective is particularly useful here given his first startup didn’t quite work out and the second sold to Salesforce which was not the giant it is todayHis difficult transition to becoming a VC after this and why it’s a lonely solo sport as he calls itPros and Cons of Upfront Ventures being based in LA rather than Silicon Valley (and Mark came prepared with facts that are worth noting!)5 people in his metaphorical Hall of fame room: our host Vidit loved Mark’s deep views on why he choose the people he did, on the spot is incredible. And we cover his thoughts on valuations heading into 2024 (note: this episode was recorded in mid-December 2023) and the importance of investing in the siege stage, public markets and IPOs, an area that Mark is thinking about a lot to invest in and the broader VC market isn’t but should be. Don’t miss out on hearing about his key focus of learning in next 6 months and career highlight to date — the answer might surprise you! It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! Past guests include: Anil Sabharwal, Mark Suster, Ahmed Fahour, Holly Ransom, Daniel Petre, Paul Bassat, Simon Holmes a Court, Michael Traill, Osher Gunsberg, Ed Cowan, Carol Schwartz, Wyatt Roy, Jack Zhang, Martijn Wilder, Holly Kramer, Sam Kroonenburg and more.***The High Flyers Podcast re-imagines the traditional notion of a "high flyer" and is a premier product of the Curiosity Center. The podcast showcases the journeys of relatable role models from their sunrise (childhood) to today. Listeners love the unique and direct inside access to these relatable role models, companies and industries in every walk of life to help us all be 1% better everyday, together.180+ guests have joined Vidit Agarwal on the show from around the world including Heads of state, Olympians, Business and cultural leaders, Social Advocates, Investors, Entrepreneurs and more. The Curiosity Center is your on-demand intelligence hub for knowledge, connections and growth to achieve your potential, everyday. Join 200,000+ Investors, Founders, Decision Makers and Emerging Leaders. Learn with the world's best at https://curiositycentre.com***