"In a metrics-obsessed industry, I believe in the power of what can’t be measured," says M13 partner W. Christine Choi. "The satisfaction of an honest day of work, an epiphany that changes your worldview or direction, a meal with friends, holding hands with your elder parent—these are the things that touch and shape us at a cellular level." These “unmeasurables” become the acorns of stories that reveal our genuine selves, shape the direction of our teams and business, and open the door for audiences and partners to connect. It's about storytelling. And startups are always storytelling, from the moment they start sharing their vision with prospective talent and investors. At this year’s Future Perfect conference, we convened filmmaker Casey Neistat, TV icon and author Stacy London, and Overtime founder and CEO Dan Porter to talk about the why, what, and how of storytelling. Their conversation challenged the startup focus on growth metrics as brand building—and encouraged a refocusing on authenticity and personal connection. Dig into their thoughts about startup strategies for brand communications and how companies can leverage tension, curiosity, and authenticity in their storytelling: https://lnkd.in/ebWtQDy7 #BrandCommunications #StartupComms #Storytelling #Authenticity
M13
Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
Santa Monica, California 22,920 followers
An early-stage venture firm investing in visionary founders building disruptive software businesses. Based in LA & NYC.
About us
M13 is an early-stage (seed and Series A) venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building disruptive software businesses. Established in 2016 with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, we are a full-stack partner that brings a deep bench of full-time operators to help founders outperform and build category-defining companies. Our Propulsion model helps founders execute faster and with less capital towards better outcomes, with 3x people on our Propulsion team for every one investing team member. Our portfolio includes more than 200 direct investments, with 25 exits to date. M13 has seeded seven companies and been in the Series A of five others that went on to achieve unicorn status. Messier 13 (or M13) is one of the brightest star clusters in the northern sky. It’s full of remarkable individual stars, but when those stars come together, they create something that’s truly greater than the sum of its parts—inspiring the M13 philosophy of “brighter together.” We’re proud that M13 has been awarded as a Built In Best Place to Work in both LA and NYC multiple years running.
- Website
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http://m13.co
External link for M13
- Industry
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- Santa Monica, California
- Type
- Privately Held
- Founded
- 2016
Locations
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Primary
Get directions
1920 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica, California 90404, US
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Get directions
568 Broadway
Suite #405
New York, NY 10012, US
Employees at M13
Updates
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It’s been a busy week for M13 and our portcos in the press! Here’s a quick ICYMI roundup. 1️⃣ "Reverence for founder mode can be misplaced. It's easy to say founder mode is better because the word ‘manager’ is just uninspiring." M13 partner Anna Barber shares her take on “founder mode” with Sam Blum in Inc. Magazine: https://lnkd.in/eckMTfNZ 2️⃣The town of Palm Beach is now using Polimorphic’s AI-powered technology to improve the community’s ability to access information. "The Polimorphic AI website search feature presents the community with a whole new way to engage with the town and get their questions answered," says Jordan B., a project specialist with the town. Read on in Palm Beach Daily News: https://lnkd.in/gZp9CRbg 3️⃣Brian X. Chen tested dozens of generative AI apps in the last year and shared his recommendations in The New York Times. One of his recs? M13 portfolio company Humata. "For summarizing notes, the free web app Humata AI has become popular among academic researchers and lawyers. By visiting Humata.ai on a web browser, you can upload a document such as a PDF, and from there, you can type requests in a window to ask a chatbot to summarize the most important points. In response, the chatbot will show a digital copy of the PDF and highlight relevant portions of the text." Read more: https://lnkd.in/dhAfnKGD #FounderMode #GovTech #AI #GenAITools
Y Combinator's Paul Graham Has Unleashed Founder Mode. The Tech World Has Some Thoughts
inc.com
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At University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business last week, M13 partner Latif Peracha interviewed Benchmark GP Bill Gurley. Below, Bill shares some of his hot takes on startup hustle, rewards, and why you might not make it working 8-5. #VentureCapital
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Bill Gurley at University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business. This was my favorite clip and a recurring theme through the talk: lets bring work ethic back. We celebrate work ethic in sports but not so much at work anymore. Applies to all competition including start ups and VC. Shout out to Shane Battier who is a huge inspiration
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We had such a wonderful time with our community out in LA this week! Thank you to all of the brilliant guests who joined us. A few highlights: 🤝 Carter Reum, Courtney Reum, and Karl Alomar shared the arc of M13’s nearly decade-long journey—and how our Propulsion platform is built to support founders in a systemic, personalized way that goes far beyond a first check. Read more about Propulsion here: https://lnkd.in/eZp_-pNR 📈 Brent Murri reviewed the macro shifts that have shaped the state of the market today. 🔍 Anna Barber pulled back the curtain on our portfolio to share more about what goes on behind the scenes at early-stage startups. 🤖 Nami Baral and Rob Smith went deep on innovating in the ultra-hyped #AI space (with a shout out to Niural's beloved “Emma” agent). 🌊 Latif Peracha shared what it means to invest through innovation waves, and Morgan Blumberg led an in-depth lesson on the AI landscape in 2024. ⌚ Blackstone's Jon Korngold shared his approach to investing on time horizons far longer than quarterly reports. 🐱 Lilita (Lili) I. and Matt Hoffman dove into Lili’s journey from law enforcement to startup founder as she builds CAT Labs, a next-gen tool for fighting crypto crime. 💻 Jonathan Corbin of Maven AGI shared his hot takes on how AI can truly improve and personalize customer service. 📖 Our guests are bookworms! We completely cleaned out our library table of ~200 books. 🌴And who can forget—we also had some amazing rooftop views in the California sunshine. So grateful for the partnership, time, and talents of our amazing community!
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“Crisis doesn’t have to be scary, and pivoting is not a bad word,” M13 partner W. Christine Choi says. “I've made many career pivots, from public education and arts nonprofits, to music festivals and cannabis, to flying cars and commercial space. These decisions were driven by curiosity and wanting to learn more.” As someone who values listening as the most important leadership skill, Christine’s not just about occupying the space at the table—she’s about creating space for others, encouraging them to join in the conversation. You’ll find her crafting narratives that celebrate the underdogs, the creatives, and the genuine leaders shaping tomorrow. Learn more about M13's fearless and ever-evolving brand comms leader, and get her thoughts on communication, community, and M13's model of working with founders: https://lnkd.in/dF32CiUv
M13's Head of Brand Communications Shares Her Tips for Crisis Comms, Storytelling, and True Authenticity
m13.co
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"Our goal isn't just to add years to your life, but to add life to your years." Check out Lifeforce's new brand and learn about learn more about their personalized, evidence-based longevity medicine ⬇ #HealthTech
Today is an exciting day as we launch our new brand. Our commitment to personalized, evidence-based longevity medicine underpins our new look and feel. We’ve opted for a cleaner, more authentic brand, including a redesigned member dashboard to make understanding and taking control of your health easy and actionable. Feeling good and staying healthy shouldn’t be hard. Yet, most of us have been stuck between two bad options: the traditional healthcare system waiting for you to get sick, and the wellness industry unable to show actual results. As the largest longevity program in the U.S., we’re changing that. 80% of our members improve their Lifescore within 12 months. We’ve also entered the next phase of the Lifeforce product. Over the coming months, keep an eye out for enhanced diagnostics, a next iteration of Lifescore, additional supplements and pharmaceutical therapies, an updated health coaching program, and deeper integrations with the broader health ecosystem. Because our goal isn’t just to add years to your life, it’s to add life to your years. The Lifeforce Team www.mylifeforce.com
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Last week, on the eve of the Texas-Michigan game, the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business hosted some of the M13 community at their Venture Summit event. A few highlights: -M13 partner Latif Peracha spoke about venture investing with arguably the most successful consumer venture investor there is: Benchmark ’s Bill Gurley. Benchmark has backed household names like Uber, eBay, OpenTable, Discord, Twitter, Zillow, Yelp. -M13 partner W. Christine Choi spoke with Roger Ehrenberg, whose storied investment career includes Datadog, Wise, The Trade Desk, and DigitalOcean, among others. They talked about building a meaningful career in venture, managing expectations through venture’s long time horizons, and how to manage phase shifts with skill and intention. One takeaway: Process leads to excellence! -Ryan Gentry (Lightning Labs), Vince Hankes (Thrive Capital), Brit Morin (Offline Ventures), and Reilly Brennan (Trucks Venture Capital) had a conversation about one of our favorite investing topics: hype cycles. They dug into crypto, AI, the creator economy, mobility, and the future of transportation. -James Hackett gave opening remarks and talked about leading in transformative times and understanding how all the variables in venture interact to create value. (He also led the audience in a rousing “Go Blue!”) Thank you Andrew Haeger and Syleste Davis for your hard work putting together such a great event! We had a great experience. #VentureCapital #Crypto #AI #Investing
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M13 is a venture firm by founders, for founders. Supporting founders is critical to our mission, and we've always believed that we're #BrighterTogether. That's why we're so excited to partner with Julie Samuels and Tech:NYC on a survey to help us gain deeper insight into the NYC tech ecosystem and how it can better meet founders’ needs. NYC-based founders, take the survey before it closes on September 13th to tell us how the NYC tech ecosystem can better support you: https://lnkd.in/e7zcuV5f #NYCFounders #NYCStartups
Tech:NYC x M13 — NYC Founder Ecosystem Survey
https://typeform.com
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This morning, the Fortune Term Sheet newsletter (by Allie Garfinkle) asked the question on everyone’s mind: What is founder mode, anyway? M13 Partner & Head of People Matt Hoffman weighed in on the trending term, alongside The House Fund’s Jeremy Fiance and Superhuman’s Rahul Vohra ⬇️
I was recently asked by Allie Garfinkle and Fortune for some thoughts on "Founder Mode", currently the meme du jour in VC world. Since it's actually something I am talking to more than a few founders about at the moment, I thought I'd expand my thoughts in a bit more longform format: Founder mode is a great concept in theory and I can certainly understand why it’s tantalizing to founders who traditionally already have had difficulty letting go of areas of their business. And of course the idea that founders should stay very closely involved in key product and customer decisions has always been true. But in practice, especially as companies scale, it can become challenging and problematic for almost all but the most focused and disciplined founders to be in the weeds on every single business decision. So making sure there is clear focus on where they are digging in is critical. Otherwise the founder becomes a significant roadblock to speed and efficiency. More importantly, every investor will tell you that the key to scaling a business is by hiring exceptional talent that can level up the founder, and these leaders typically will have more experience and expertise in their areas than the founder does. A founder who substitutes their judgment for that of their executives on a regular basis risks is almost certainly likely to demoralize and demotivate their team, likely to create even broader lack of engagement and turnover. At M13 we've actually done our own internal research on what makes founders great and we've found that the best founders are curious and coachable; so finding ways to balance your passion with the willingness to listen to people who may be smarter then you is a key component of long term founder success, and the best leaders and teams bring a diversity of experiences and perspectives to the table in a way that lets everyone leverage each others' strengths. And as my partner Anna Barber has smartly pointed out, there have actually been many books and studies already written about founder mode - in Jim Collins' book Good to Great he demonstrates that leaders with a cult of personality often leave their companies weaker because the companies become too reliant on one person rather than building institutional resilience. So ultimately while I believe in the core of the concept behind Founder Mode, I’d argue it needs to be applied thoughtfully and not be used as a license to founders to diminish their teams and micromanage at scale. Like all great ideas there needs to be a healthy balance in the execution. The best founders already know this and act accordingly, and the best investors and teams know this too and support their founders to achieve this. Whether you are a founder, an operator, or investor, how are you approaching the new mindset of Founder mode?
Sixth Street invested $125 million with an all-star roster to launch Bay FC women’s soccer team—and the team just sold out its first home game
fortune.com
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Prepared is building a world that's safer not only for citizens in emergency situations, but also the dispatchers and responders who help them. Emergency response centers are understaffed as call volumes continue to grow, leading to widespread burnout. Prepared's AI-powered technology supports 911 operators, helping them better understand the unfolding emergency through live video and process it with audio transcripts, audio translation, and powerful AI insights to ensure telecommunicators can find the key elements of every call, faster. Check out the technology and meet Prepared CEO and co-founder Michael Chime and Delaware County Emergency Services' Raquel Lewandoski in this spotlight on the TODAY show with Kate Snow.
A game-changer for 911, a life-saver for communities, and a story worthy of the national spotlight. Check out CEO Michael Chime and Delaware County Emergency Services' Raquel Lewandoski on NBC News' TODAY with correspondent Kate Snow. Learn more about bringing our technology to your agency: https://bit.ly/3TkhyZ4
Reduce call processing times, increase efficiency of emergency responses with Prepared — assistive AI platform for PSAPs.