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1/ For my first @firstround investment we decided to invest in @lloydtabb’s new startup. Today @GoogleCloud announced its intent to acquire @LookerData. I thought I'd share a few thoughts on how our partnership came together and evolved over the 7 years in between.
2/ I first worked with @lloydtabb back at @Liveops in 2004 and watched him go on to start several companies before Looker. There are so many reasons he’s a world-class company builder.
3/ He often says that “Great software is an act of empathy.” The longer I’ve been in this business, the more and more this rings true. Understanding people and their problems really deeply is critically important. lloydtabb.com/great-software…
4/ @lloydtabb gets that at his core and is so talented at empathizing with those users and coming up with ideas and magical solutions. He’s one of the most empathetic, thoughtful, and technical founders out there—a rare combination.
5/ Back at @Liveops, I saw this time and time again. Whether it was coordinating 20,000 remote reps, communicating data to customers, or organizing our account management, @lloydtabb met technical, business, and people problems with powerful solutions.
6/ So when @lloydtabb first started telling me about his idea for a data analytics startup, I knew he was on to something. Here's the email he sent me summarizing his pitch in the summer of 2012. Note that the company started off as Llooker (a domain name they got for $15) 
7/ We ended up co-leading @LookerData’s seed round. In this note from 2013, I shared my perspective with our team on why @firstround decided to invest:
8/ For the perspective from the other side of the table, see this article where @lloydtabb shared his thoughts on how they chose their investors for Looker. firstround.com/review/What-ma…
9/ It was an honor to be invited to join the board pre-seed—and to stay all the way through the exit, a rare opportunity for early-stage investors. Our working sessions ranged from helping them hone their Series A fundraising process to sketching out an early sales funnel.
10/ Looker was under the radar for many years, quietly building a company that was much larger than people realized. It’s fun to revisit the first @TechCrunch piece from when they came out of stealth in 2013: techcrunch.com/2013/03/06/loo…
11/ I also appreciate how much the @LookerData team gave back to the @firstround community, from giving great talks at our CTO Summits and co-hosting data salons to sharing their wisdom on the Review and working with portfolio companies as customers. firstround.com/review/im-sorr…
12/ And of course, who can forget when @lloydtabb and @frankbien graciously played unicorns in the 2013 @firstround holiday video (2:44 mark)
13/ Congrats to @frankbien @lloydtabb @benporterfield and the entire world-class @LookerData team. Your hard work and impressive execution is what made all of this possible. I just feel lucky to have been along for the ride.
