an expansion stage company to get to a repeatable model to drive it to growth stage,” he says. The firm typically invests between $5 million and $15 million in its startups, and aims to get them to $100 million in revenues.
OpenView has 18 companies in its portfolio, with seven actively using the Labs. The firm charges their startups a “nominal fee that most of them laugh off” to access the OpenView Labs consulting services, says Zimmerman, noting that if the Labs hires five employees for a portfolio company, it pays for itself.
The Labs could also have a broader impact on the Boston startup ecosystem. OpenView has helped a handful of its startups set up shop in Boston, including Open-E, Exinda, Intronis, and Zmags.
OpenView will even go so far as to move companies so they can access the best resources. Take one OpenView portfolio company that’s based in San Francisco. (Zimmerman wouldn’t publicly disclose that company’s identity). “It was a hot company that struggled to build a pipeline,” he says. So the Labs has helped hire and put together a part of that startup’s sales team in Boston, an area strong in sales and lead generation talent, says Zimmerman. The company is now looking for permanent office space in the city.
The Labs strategy plays into OpenView’s broader investment outlook, which doesn’t buy into the idea that it’s OK for a chunk of the portfolio to flop if a few companies are blockbusters. “We look at each portfolio company equally—each one of our companies needs to succeed,” says Zimmerman. “We’re not going to throw 10 out there if two become rocket ships and eight die. It’s not our philosophy.”
