Blue Mesa Partner’s investment philosophy is “First In, Last Out. From Day One through Exit.”
In Blue Mesa’s messy world of category-creating startups and early stage investments, roles are fluid and outcomes are ambiguous and uncertain. Companies routinely pivot or morph. Trust and integrity are the foundational ingredients. That’s why we bet on the people.
We invest in the beginning and stay with Founders we have unshakable conviction in. Blue Mesa backs their vision, rather than making passive, fragmented investments.
Great companies and deals are build less on capital and more on long-term relationship skills like creativity, humor, persuasive storytelling, emotional intelligence, and engaged listening.
Blue Mesa’s successful performance history reflects our Managing Partner’s unorthodox, human-centered, startup and deal philosophy. Marc’s career began selling encyclopedias door-to-door, following the Grateful Dead, and eventually wearing every hat you can wear in a startup as a Fonder, Co-Founder, Managing Partner, C-suite executive, Director, Strategic Advisor, or Counsel.
Two bedrock Morgenstern’s Maxims for early-stage investing:
“People (not spreadsheets or algorithms) are the epicenter of every deal”.
“Startups are time, cash, and emotion vampires”.
Read additional Morgenstern’s Maxims
Blue Mesa’s track record includes stellar startups like OfficeMax, Divergent 3D, LoungeBuddy, Within3, and CardinalCommerce
Since being the first outside investor in revolutionary office supply superstore OfficeMax in 1988, we’ve backed dozens of high growth, disruptive startups and early-stage companies.
Blue Mesa wrote the first check in Kevin Czinger’s category-creating Divergent 3D (leap-frog technology rebuilding the U.S. industrial base, and revolutionizing defense and automotive manufacturing). For three years Marc was Divergent’s initial EVP, and later its initial Senior Strategic Advisor. Blue Mesa was a founding stockholder in San Francisco-based travel app, LoungeBuddy (Co-Founder Tyler Dikman; sold to America Express (AXP:NYSE)). Marc also served as Senior Strategic Advisor from inception through sale.
Other Blue Mesa seed or first round investments include CardinalCommerce (pioneer in online retail authentication technology; sold to VISA (V:NYSE)), and Twitch (fka Justin.TV; sold to Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ)).
Marc co-founded Within3 (digital collaboration for Pharma and life sciences; sold to global PE powerhouse Insight Partners), C+T Access Ventures (technology venture fund), and groundbreaking CadenceCounsel (providing top-tier lawyers on a variable basis for top-tier law firms); sold to Lateral Link. He’s an inductee into the Dealmakers Hall of Fame. Read Bio and Select Deals
Forbes:
“One of the 25 M&A books every CEO, Founder, and Business Owner should read”. The EQ of M&A. The human side of buying, selling, and investing in any business.
