upside

Interview begins: 10:30
Debrief: 45:38

Mary Grove is Managing Partner of Bread and Butter Ventures. She brings nearly two decades of leadership experience in technology, early stage investing, and startup ecosystem growth. She began her career working on the Google IPO, and went on to lead new business development partnerships, negotiating early stage product and technology deals worldwide. Mary then served as the founding director of Google for Startups, leading the company’s global efforts to support entrepreneurs in over 100 countries.

After her 15 year career at Google, Mary worked as an investment partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund where she led dozens of investments in a range of sectors including healthcare, enterprise software, and fintech. She also built the fund’s portfolio support platform and built a network of over 150 mentors and partners to guide startup growth.

She is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Silicon North Stars, a nonprofit that she and her husband Steve founded in 2013 to help young Minnesotans from underserved communities pursue careers in tech. Mary serves on the boards of Vital Voices, the Minneapolis Foundation, and the Techstars Foundation. She earned her BA and MA from Stanford University. Mary and her family moved from Silicon Valley to Minneapolis in 2018 and she loves cooking, hiking, and getting to know Minnesota through the eyes of her three-year-old twins. Mary's bread and butter is helping organizations build teams and infrastructure to operate at scale, building partnerships, and home cooked Thai recipes.

Key points:
- Vantage point within Google supporting startup weekend. 14:21
- Why prefer a dutch auction style IPO vs the traditional IPO. 18:43
- Early days if Google for Entrepreneurs 22:59
- Starting Bread and Butter Ventures 27:23
- Why in Minneapolis? 29:55
- Starting a venture firm in 2020 35:45
- Choosing the right teammates 37:35
- Dropping city names to look for 43:18

Learn more about Bread & Butter Ventures: https://www.breadandbutterventures.com/

Follow Mary Grove: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marygrove/

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–
This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

Click here to learn more about Taft
–

This episode of upside is also sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management. Managing wealth with an eye toward the future demands vigilance and skill in today’s global economy. Over the years, Ethos Wealth Management has worked with clients and their other professional advisors – including attorneys and accountants – to create comprehensive wealth management plans designed to make the best use of their wealth today and help ensure its endurance for future generations.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–
Want to share information about your company, or an opportunity with the upside audience?

Book a classified advertisement and your advertisement will be read in an upcoming episode of the show.

Classified ads are priced at $100, and are:
read by Jay and/or Eric on upside
linked from the show notes
linked from this website, upside.fm

Show Notes

Interview begins: 10:30
Debrief: 45:38

Mary Grove is Managing Partner of Bread and Butter Ventures. She brings nearly two decades of leadership experience in technology, early-stage investing, and startup ecosystem growth. She began her career working on the Google IPO, and went on to lead new business development partnerships, negotiating early-stage product and technology deals worldwide. Mary then served as the founding director of Google for Startups, leading the company’s global efforts to support entrepreneurs in over 100 countries. 

After her 15 year career at Google, Mary worked as an investment partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund where she led dozens of investments in a range of sectors including healthcare, enterprise software, and fintech. She also built the fund’s portfolio support platform and built a network of over 150 mentors and partners to guide startup growth.

She is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Silicon North Stars, a nonprofit that she and her husband Steve founded in 2013 to help young Minnesotans from underserved communities pursue careers in tech.  Mary serves on the boards of Vital Voices, the Minneapolis Foundation, and the Techstars Foundation. She earned her BA and MA from Stanford University. Mary and her family moved from Silicon Valley to Minneapolis in 2018 and she loves cooking, hiking, and getting to know Minnesota through the eyes of her three-year-old twins. Mary's bread and butter is helping organizations build teams and infrastructure to operate at scale, building partnerships, and home-cooked Thai recipes.

Key points: 
  • Vantage point within Google supporting startup weekend. 14:21
  • Why prefer a dutch auction style IPO vs the traditional IPO. 18:43
  • Early days if Google for Entrepreneurs 22:59
  • Starting Bread and Butter Ventures 27:23
  • Why in Minneapolis? 29:55
  • Starting a venture firm in 2020 35:45
  • Choosing the right teammates 37:35
  • Dropping city names to look for 43:18
Learn more about Bread & Butter Ventures:  https://www.breadandbutterventures.com/ 

Follow Mary Grove: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marygrove/ 

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–
This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

Click here to learn more about Taft
–

This episode of upside is also sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management. Managing wealth with an eye toward the future demands vigilance and skill in today’s global economy. Over the years, Ethos Wealth Management has worked with clients and their other professional advisors – including attorneys and accountants – to create comprehensive wealth management plans designed to make the best use of their wealth today and help ensure its endurance for future generations.

They can do the same for you. 

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–
Want to share information about your company, or an opportunity with the upside audience?

Book a classified advertisement and your advertisement will be read in an upcoming episode of the show.

Classified ads are priced at $100, and are:
  • read by Jay and/or Eric on upside
  • linked from the show notes
  • linked from this website, upside.fm

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Named a top 27 business podcast by Fortune, upside examines startup investing outside of Silicon Valley.

Every Wednesday, we speak with an early stage founder. We interview them as if we are angel investors considering the company as an investment opportunity.

Each show has three segments:

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2.) Interview: interview with the founder
3.) Debrief: breaking down the opportunity

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