It may not be conventional for a team member to join during Shelter in Place, and yet our newest Associate Spencer Calvert has seamlessly become part of Team Upfront! Below, this former operator shares his thoughts on the Southern California ecosystem as well as some tips for founders, including the best way to pitch him.

What's your role at Upfront?

As an Associate, I work on the investment team to identify, invest in, and partner with founders transforming their industries in the Southern California ecosystem and throughout the world.

I’ll leverage my two years leading growth at Stance (a venture backed apparel company) to coach our portfolio on acquisition, retention, and how to set up analytics programs to monitor and optimize growth efforts.

What's exciting about coming to the venture side of the world?

Constant learning. I get to interact with people every day that have spent their entire career developing deep domain expertise. I consider it a huge privilege to learn from them and share my knowledge about growing a business.

What's your top piece of advice for founders and entrepreneurs?

Spend extra time building out the right team. Make that one extra reference call. Don’t rush it. You will (ideally) be working side by side for a long time.

On the flip side, what's a mistake that you see startups make too frequently? Building a great product for a market that doesn’t exist. Constantly validate what you are building with the market to confirm it is needed.

As you mentioned, we're global investors but of course, we're #LongLA. What excites you about the Southern California tech ecosystem?

Recycled capital + knowledge. We’ve reached a tipping point in the LA ecosystem with founders succeeding in large exits and recycling capital and knowledge back into the Southern California community. This flywheel is accelerating and I’m excited to be an investor and partner in the next generation.

What's a non-work passion you have?

I am obsessed with everything fitness related (cycling, running, swimming, cross-fit). If any founder wants to do an early morning run + pitch, ping me on LinkedIn! You will have my undivided (and breathless) attention for 60 minutes.