It took Mark Mullen and Jim Andelman years to partner up.
The two had a lot in common, both having separately made many of the same against-the-grain choices—both were solo GPs, based in Los Angeles, and focused on vertical software in the 2000s and early 2010s. From 2012 on, each was the other’s most frequent co-investor, through Mullen’s Double M Capital and Andelman’s Rincon Ventures. To Mullen—who’d spent years in investment banking and working for "father of cable television" Bill Daniels before becoming a VC—Andelman was on "a much higher plane than I was, because of his success and career so far in venture capital in LA." (In the early days of LA’s tech and venture scene, Andelman was a key fixture and had a number of successes, like future Apple acquisition Burstly.)
It was Andelman who first approached Mullen about potentially teaming up in 2014. From there, it would be about three years before the two officially stepped forward together, as cofounders of LA-based Bonfire Ventures.
"When we teamed up, my number one job was: 'don’t screw up the good thing he’s got going on,’" Andelman told Fortune, referencing Mullen’s solo successes like TradeDesk (now a public company with a $37 billion market cap) and Edgecast (acquired by Verizon in 2013). "Then, how do we make this whole greater than the sum of the parts?"
Fast-forward about eight years, and the firm’s practical, intensely focused approach to seed stage software investing has resonated: Bonfire has closed its fourth fund at $245 million, the firm’s largest to date, Fortune can exclusively report. Bonfire now has $1 billion in assets under management and more than 50 exits, including Andelman and Mullen’s previous funds. The LA-based firm’s notable exits include: TaxJar (acquired by Stripe in 2021), MNTN (last valued at $2.2 billion), OpenPath (acquired by Motorola in 2021), and Scopely (acquired in 2023 for $4.9 billion by Savvy Games Group).
Lindel Eakman, Bonfire LP and Foundry partner, told Fortune Bonfire’s moving forward at a crucial juncture for venture.
"Right now it’s like 2004 in the sense that you’ve had such a clear change in cycle," said Eakman, who was previously at UTIMCO and led the endowment’s investments in firms like Union Square Ventures. "So, you’re going to see a lot of generational transition in firms and funds. You’re going to see some peter out, and not make it. And you’re going to see others grow up like Bonfire is right now."
Bonfire’s solid position, Eakman says, is a byproduct of sustained discipline: "I like that they put blinders on to everything else, and really just look at B2B," he said. "I really like that they could have raised even more capital this time and they didn’t. They’re showing discipline."
Andelman and Mullen came together gradually, over a period of years, and they’ve approached bringing people on with the same consideration. For example, Brett Queener—a longtime operator and Salesforce executive who was at the company through its IPO and rise—joined Andelman and Mullen as a managing director in 2018, though Andelman had known him since 2012. (Queener also was previously president and COO of SmartRecruiters.)
"We bring people on very slowly and deliberately," said Andelman, who likens the firm’s approach to the opposite of the "hire fast, fire fast" founder mentality. "When you are the founder of your own VC firm, it’s attached to your identity. Like: 'I am Bonfire. Bonfire is me.' When we entered into this partnership, it was with an expectation that it would last us the rest of our careers and that's why we were so intentional."
The notion of stability within an inherently unstable industry is a theme running through the firm and the founders it backs. No frills, no nonsense, and no overreacting, even and especially amid chaos. Jerry Zhou, CEO and cofounder of legal AI startup Supio, who works with Queener and principal Tyler Churchill says: "They create a level of stability on the board level."
Matt Danna, cofounder and CEO at appointment booking platform Boulevard, has been working with Andelman for seven years: "He’s just been cool, calm, and collected the whole time. Jim’s always my first call, even to this day," said Danna. As I talk to Danna on Zoom, I point out a poster behind him that reads: "What Would Beyoncé Do?" I ask if there’s a Bonfire tie-in.
"They're really, really understated," Danna laughs. "They’re the anti-Beyoncé, in the best way."
Andelman and Mullen aren’t buzzword guys, and aren’t keen, for instance, on the frequently-used VC phrase "founder friendly."
"What we try to do is help founders feel comfortable with the pressures of the decisions they're making…and that the decisions they're making have been made before," said Mullen. "We also understand that a CEO-slash-founder is in some ways alone. We have so much empathy for that. We want to be a shoulder to cry on, but we also want to drive you."
The two suggest that they’re more amenable to "founder supportive," especially since seed stage investing is a long haul, where a lot changes over time.
"People think of VCs as being in the check-writing business, but you don’t write that many checks," said Andelman. "My mantra to the team is that we’re fierce defenders of the checkbook. The only ones that should sneak through are the ones where we can’t bear the idea of not making the investment, that it would eat us up alive and keep us up at night if someone else got to be on that journey with that founder."
It’s an approach that’s a reminder: For founders and VCs, teaming up is a business decision based on discipline, data—and instinctive but persistent faith.
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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