Alsop Louie Partners is a partnership between Stewart Alsop and Gilman Louie designed to provide venture capital to the most promising entrepreneurs we can find. It is structured as a traditional limited partnership, where the partnership between Stewart and Gilman manages the investments of the firm and the investors are the limited partners.

Stewart and Gilman first met in 1985; it was their long relationship and friendship that lead them to believe they would be good partners. We’ve taken to calling ourselves The Geek&The Gadfly; Gilman is very technical, a geek, and Stewart is well known for taking controversial positions in public, a gadfly. We work together to complement each other in these skills and that’s what makes our firm a true partnership.

 
  Gilman Louie ... The James Bond of venture capital doesn't waste time.

Only two days after we reported that Gilman Louie was leaving his position as CEO of the CIA’s venture fund, we find out he is joining with former journalist and investor Stewart Alsop in raising a new venture capital fund.

VentureWire (subscription required) reports they are raising a modestly sized $75 million fund to invest in early-stage technology companies. The new venture will be called “Alsop Louie Partners,” and based here in…

Rating venture capital deals, investors, exits and more. ... founded Alsop Louie Partners last year with NEA-vet Stewart Alsop, explained his ...

Random thinking from Stewart Alsop, mostly an opportunity to rant about bad ... Alsop ... boast about my once-well-known father, Stewart, and uncle, Joseph. ...

The Art and Science of Entrepreneurs

We’ve known each other for more than 20 years; in that time, we’ve discovered that we have one main thing in common: we love working with great entrepreneurs: really smart people with passion and drive; highly motivated people who want to create companies that will change the world. Outstanding entrepreneurs. Big ideas. Could we have more fun than that?

Rating venture capital deals, investors, exits and more.

Gilman Louie suggests Web 2.0 entrepreneurs are "disease" stricken

Venture capitalists seem to fall into two buckets when it comes to Web 2.0. They are either in love with consumer facing Internet startup using Web 2.0 technologies or they hate them. There are few shades of grey. Place Gilman Louie in the latter category.

The former head of In-Q-Tel who co-founded Alsop Louie Partners last year with NEA-vet Stewart Alsop, explained his view of Web 2.0 startups in a recent blog post.

We see a lot of Web 2.0 pitches from young entrepreneurs. The basic pitch: for an investment of $2 to $5 million, they can build a company that Google, Yahoo or Microsoft will buy. And, in under two years, we can get 5-10 times our money back. How could you not like that?!

We don’t. We always decline to participate in deals like that. We think this is a kind of disease, often caught by these youngsters in business school. They are looking to cash in on Web 2.0 fever and flip their companies quickly for a nice tidy sum.

He doesn't mask his disinterest in backing entrepreneurs launching what he believes are features for larger companies. His vehemence against most of this sector would suggest the firm is seeking out investment partners focused on harder technologies. While that may well be the case, for link love, Alsop Louie's web site is definitely focused on blogs written by Web 2.0 heavy VCs. Perhaps that can be chalked up to personal, not professional, kinship.

Whatever the case, if you've ever wondered why so many venture capitalists are sitting on the sidelines of Web 2.0 dealmaking, Louie's post is for you.

Random thinking from Stewart Alsop, mostly an opportunity to rant about bad ... Alsop ... about my once-well-known father, Stewart, and uncle, Joseph. ...