About Us
We are an early-stage investment firm focused on U.S. companies in the consumer Internet, mobile and software sectors. Shasta was formed to back brilliant entrepreneurs with an unwavering commitment to the customer experience. Our partners’ experience in marketing, as well as technology, gives us a leg up in analyzing products, potential markets and customers. We feel a customer-centric approach is particularly important in this age of social media. Buzz about superior—and inferior—products travels quickly today, leaving little wiggle room for mediocre offerings.
Our customer at Shasta is the entrepreneur. So we back only a small number of companies each year to maximize the service we can bring to you. But we know we don’t have a monopoly on all the great ideas. So we offer a lineup of other events throughout the year, from dinners to marketing summits to casual ski weekends, to expose our portfolio CEOs to other insights and points of view.
Our approach is tailored, hands-on and collaborative—not adversarial. We are your partner and work closely with others in the startup and VC ecosystem to make sure you receive all the resources and counsel you need to succeed. We’d welcome a chance to talk to you about your business.
Investment Focus
We seek fearless, risk-taking entrepreneurs with big ideas and vision. We focus on products and the customer experience, but also great teams that will eventually figure out the right business model. So what makes a great product, in our view? Usually it's something that:
- Nails a customer value prop unlike any other options
- Leverages current technology to provide product or service that was not previously possible
- Can achieve efficient and rapid distribution
- Delivers high value to users
- Has a huge market
- Is capital efficient to test and scale
Great products also enable promotion, leading to word-of-mouth PR; enable distribution, by leveraging new channels like smart phones and the Web; and enable great pricing, either by leveraging technology to keep prices low or disrupting traditional pricing models.
We focus our investing in companies working in the consumer Internet, mobile and software industries. We invest in seed rounds through Series B rounds and might consider later rounds in our area of focus. Our initial investments range from $250,000 to $6 million. We are able to support our companies over multiple rounds investing up to $12 million over the life of a company.
What we don’t do is invest in China or India, or in biotech or clean technology, or in giant growth-equity deals. This narrow focus allows us to offer you the best service possible.