Aditi Maliwal
General Partner
Upfront Ventures
General Partner at Upfront Ventures investing in early-stage fintech and enterprise software, with a focus that includes vertical SaaS and AI applications and infrastructure.
Bio
Professional summary
Mark Suster is a General Partner at Upfront Ventures with an official primary focus on computer vision and SaaS. His background includes founding and leading two enterprise software companies, with the more recent company acquired by Salesforce, after which he served as VP of Products. He also worked as a software developer at Accenture across Europe, Japan, and the U.S. Upfront states that it often comes in at pre-seed or seed and can support later rounds through its growth fund, so a relevant pitch should combine early-stage ambition with a clear path to long-term company building.
Investment focus
Stage, sector, and overall fit
Stage
Pre-seedSeedEarly stageGrowth follow-on
Sector
Computer visionSaaSEnterprise software
Thesis
Computer visionSaaSEnterprise software
Notable companies
Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed
Salesforce
How to approach
Framing and angles for outreach
Pitch framing
Lead with a SaaS or computer-vision opportunity, especially one with founder-product insight and a credible enterprise software go-to-market path.
Personalization hooks
- 1Reference his founder/operator background if the team is solving a product or go-to-market problem from direct experience.
- 2Philadelphia Eagles is listed as an official 'ask him about' hook, but use sparingly.
Recent signals
What the partner has said or done recently
Official profile lists recent blog/podcast appearances including conversations on This Week in Startups.
Upfront states it wants to know founders as early as possible, often at pre-seed or seed.
Background
Career, education, and skills
Career history
- Upfront VenturesGeneral Partner2007 - Present
- Kana Communications / BroadbaseFounder / CEOPrior to Upfront
- BuildOnline (acq. ILOG)Founder / CEOPrior to Upfront
Education
- University of ChicagoDegree
Skills
Early-stage SaaSFounder mentorshipLA ecosystemBoth Sides of the Table blog
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