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Propel is on a mission to reinvent product development
Talks about Startup, Product and Product Design
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Chris Farmer
Founder of SignalFire
San Francisco, California
Overview
Chris Farmer is the Founder and CEO of SignalFire, a venture capital firm where he has successfully invested in companies like Formant and Stampli, among others. With a background in product management and private equity, he has held key roles at General Catalyst Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, contributing to his expertise in entrepreneurship and building successful startups.
Work Experience
Founder & CEO
2013 - Current
SignalFire started more than a decade ago as a bootstrapped startup with one goal: to disrupt venture capital. We believed that applying novel data and machine learning techniques to sourcing, diligence, and value creation for early-stage startups would drive outsized returns for our portfolio. Today, we manage ~$3bn in assets under management and invest in technology companies from pre-seed through Series C.
SignalFire is a venture capital firm that invests in seed stage companies and breakout companies.
Venture Partner
2010 - 2013
Led General Catalyst's seed program (GC Seed), which made investments in: - Alation - Benchling - ClassDojo - Coinbase - Discord - FiveTran - Game Closure/PlayCo - Getaround - Stripe - Venmo - Zapier - Zenefits
General Catalyst partners with ambitious founders to drive resilience and applied AI from seed to growth.
Vice President
2005 - 2009
Focused on digital media and consumer mobile. Investor, board member, or board observer: - Millennial Media (IPO; acq by VZ/AOL) - Access Sports Media - Goal.com (acq by Perform Group) - Enforta Wireless (acq by ER Telecom) Personal angel investments alongside Bessemer funds: - LinkedIn (IPO) - Broadsoft (IPO) - Endeca (acq by Oracle) - Cornerstone OnDemand (IPO) - Lifelock (IPO) - Diapers.com (acq by Amazon) - OLX (acq by Naspers) - Postini (acq by Google) - Vertica (acq by HP) - Gracenote (acq by Sony) - Hunch (acq by eBay) - PA Semi (Acq by Apple)
BVP Forge operates as a private equity firm that focuses on software-enabled businesses.
Consultant
2004 - 2005
Private Equity and Technology groups
Vice President, Product Management & Business Development
2000 - 2004
SkyBitz was a wireless-enabled SaaS business serving several enterprise markets. Responsible for product management, fundraising, partnerships, recruiting and business functions. Managed product definition, launch and rapid growth of the full suite of core products and services. Led the business from $0-$35M in revenue and $0-$5M in EBITDA before its acquisition by Telular.
SkyBitz, a mobile asset management company, delivers real-time tracking and information management solutions.
Raised $48,000,000.00 from Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, AIG Investments, AIG Highstar Capital, Inverness Graham Investments, CIBC World Markets and Information Technology Ventures.
Investments
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