Ren & #233;e LaBran


Partner

Rustic Canyon Partners

Age:

46

Residence:

La Canada Flintridge

Education:

B.A., economics, U.C. Berkeley; M.B.A., Harvard Business School

Previous Jobs:

Executive at Los Angeles Times where she met Rustic Canyon founding partner Tom Unterman. LaBran was co-founder and chief executive of CareerPath.com, Times Mirror-backed startup now known as CareerBuilder. Also managed L.A. office of consulting firm Monitor Co.

Venture Capital Start:

Worked on several venture capital deals at Times/Mirror during Internet boom of 1999. Many of the startups LaBran saw were centered on digital media and Internet firms partnering with content providers. “I was on the inside of the content providing side at the L.A. Times, and I wanted to go to the investment side.”

Target Markets:

Digital media, consumer and business services companies targeting Hispanic or ethnic markets, firms that leverage breakthrough technologies in other sectors for application in traditional markets.

Financing:

Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners is a later stage fund with investments in the $150 million range, geared toward helping proven Hispanic media firms expand or prepare for acquisition. For the larger Rustic Canyon Ventures Fund, investments go from seed funding up to series B and C rounds.

Investment Philosophy:

Varies according to market segment and climate. “There was a period when the market was much softer and it was hard to be a series A investor because series B investors wouldn’t pay. You did the hard work and then someone would come and invest at a lower price.” But some principles remain constant. “If a company is not succeeding then you have to be willing to admit your mistakes and make changes quickly whether that means a change in management, a change in the business plan or to stop investing.”

Recent Fundings:

Mobileplay, a Northern California firm touting a new digital network geared toward wireless devices; Transonic Combustion Inc., a Camarillo company in research and development phase focused on developing a technology that will allow conventional automotive engines to run at ultra-high efficiency on gasoline and on bio-renewable flex fuels; Quiet Solution, a Sunnyvale firm that has applied polymers with unique soundproofing qualities to the manufacture of construction materials

Boards:

Mobileplay, Meximerica Media, IdeaForest, PC on Call

Advice:

When it comes to early stage financing, LaBran says entrepreneurs need to have the right combination of a great idea and the interpersonal skills to get investors excited. She describes the best-case scenario as when a chief executive walks in with a great idea, and the ability to sell that idea down through the funding chain.

Exit Strategies:

“Ideally you want to see your companies get large enough to be taken public or sold off,” she observed. “The challenge is that most large companies aren’t interested in a firm that only does, say, $20 million in revenues. They want $50 million or even $100 million.”

L.A. Market Outlook:

L.A. venture capitalists have to work much harder at finding deals than their Silicon Valley counterparts, because there aren’t as many entrepreneurs leaving venture-backed firms to begin startups. “We have pockets of venture-backed communities: San Diego for biotech, Orange County for wireless, Los Angeles for digital media. We still battle the conventional wisdom that many startups would rather be based closer to Google than Disney, because they’re more likely to be bought by Google than Disney.”

Biggest Challenge:

“To be available to all the people in your life your clients, your firm, and your husband and children and not let anybody down. Juggling time is the biggest issue.”

Biggest Winner:

LaBran says the jury is still out on many of her investments. But an El Segundo company called GlueCode was sold last year to IBM and “yielded a strong profit.”

Biggest Bust:

LaBran won’t name a specific example, but she notes that the biggest disappointments are in general great ideas the firm has backed that don’t succeed in the marketplace

On Being a Woman in Venture Capital:

“There are few women in venture capital and few women entrepreneurs, so it does put more pressure to think about your behavior. As far as investment purposes, it’s a neutral situation. You have to find the best company with the best management, regardless of whether a woman is a CEO or not.”

David Geffner