Welcome to Cypress Points!

When Bart Goodwin and I started our late-stage venture capital firm in 2010, we chose a name that meant something to both of us. For many years, our corporate business trips often brought us and our families to the Monterey, California peninsula and in particular to the area around Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. If you haven’t been there, this stretch of coastline is “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world," at least according to Australian landscape artist Francis McComas. We agree with his assessment.

So Cypress Growth Capital became our moniker. Interestingly, a lot of venture capital and private equity firms have a tree as part of their identity --there are at least twenty that use “oak” in their name-- so our name is also evocative of the Monterey Cypress. This type of tree is actually quite rare, native only to two sections of coastline near Monterey: Cypress Point and further south in Point Lobos State Park. Headquartered in Texas, we’re a long way from either grove, but we appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of Cypress Point.

Cypress Points, then, seemed like a logical name for our blog. The content is focused on entrepreneurs, because fundamentally they are our business; their success is our success. As investors, we spend a lot of time with the founders of emerging companies and since 2010 we’ve noticed a handful of recurring topics that interest this special group of people. Cypress Points reflects our views on these issues and, occasionally, the views of others that we find compelling or interesting. The topics break down into these broad categories:

• Leadership

• Customer Acquisition

• Financial Stewardship

• Capital Strategy

• People

• Customer Experience

• Growth Strategies

• Life Lessons

• Markets

Every member of our team contributes to Cypress Points, sharing their ideas, insights and reflections. For an entrepreneur considering an investment from our firm, the blog is a starting point in getting to know us: how we think, what we value and how we might be of assistance as you grow your enterprise.

We hope you enjoy Cypress Points and find it an interesting destination.


Ed Mello