Mark Jacobsen

Background

Mark Jacobsen is the co-founder and managing director of O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV), an early-stage venture capital firm he founded in 2005 alongside Tim O’Reilly and Bryce Roberts ^{1 2}. He has over 25 years of experience advising companies and entrepreneurs ³.

Jacobsen holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in Political Science and East Asian Studies from St. Olaf College ^{4 3}. He began his career as an associate at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, then became a partner at Mandel, Buder & Jacobsen, where he represented small and medium-sized companies ^{3 4}.

Prior to entering venture capital, Jacobsen served as Business Affairs Director at Colossal Pictures, a San Francisco animation studio ^{3 4}. In 1995, he joined O’Reilly Media as Executive Vice President for New Ventures and Business Development, managing the company’s investment portfolio for nine years ^{2 3}. While at O’Reilly, he also had extensive operational experience including managing two startup companies and overseeing O’Reilly’s conferences business, as well as responsibility for most business development and strategic relationships ¹.

In 2005, Jacobsen, O’Reilly, and Roberts launched OATV with a $51 million fund focused on seed-stage investments leveraging O’Reilly Media’s relationships with technology early adopters ². OATV was among the first approximately five firms to pioneer the category that became known as institutional seed investing ⁵. The firm went on to raise Fund II ($60M, 2010) and Fund III ($85M, 2012) ⁶.

Jacobsen is also active in nonprofit governance, serving as Secretary of the board at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California ³.

Stated Thesis

Jacobsen has described OATV’s mission as investing in “stuff that matters” ⁷. In the context of OATV’s investment in AMEE, a carbon and energy data platform, he stated that “AMEE’s vision to aggregate all of the energy data in the world fits OATV’s mission to invest in stuff that matters” ⁷.

OATV’s stated strategy, shared by all three co-founders, is to follow the “alpha geeks” – technology early adopters who are a few steps ahead of the mainstream ^{2 5}. The firm’s founding press release described its focus as “funding alpha geeks” ².

At the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference in 2011, Jacobsen spoke on a panel about what investors in the publishing sector look for, reflecting the firm’s interest in how technology disrupts traditional industries ⁸.

The firm has publicly targeted investment themes including personal fabrication, bionic software, location-aware services, open data management, renewable power, peer-to-peer applications, sensor networks, and mobility solutions ⁹.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 14 verified investments where Jacobsen served as the lead OATV partner or board member, the following patterns emerge. These investments represent a subset of OATV’s total portfolio; Jacobsen’s specific deal involvement could only be confirmed for investments where he took a board seat or was named in press coverage.

Stage distribution: All 14 verified investments were at the seed or early stage, consistent with OATV’s identity as a pure seed-stage firm.

Sector breakdown: The portfolio shows genuine breadth: civic tech/government (SeeClickFix – 1 of 14, 7%), cleantech/sustainability (AMEE – 1 of 14, 7%), consumer marketplace/e-commerce (Chairish, Betabrand – 2 of 14, 14%), data analytics (OpenSignal, Path Intelligence – 2 of 14, 14%), developer tools/infrastructure (Fastly, CollabNet – 2 of 14, 14%), education (LearnZillion – 1 of 14, 7%), food/agriculture (LocalDirt – 1 of 14, 7%), travel (TripIt – 1 of 14, 7%), maker/DIY (Instructables – 1 of 14, 7%), hardware (Chumby Industries – 1 of 14, 7%), and media (O’Reilly Media board – not counted as a venture investment). No single sector dominates, reflecting the generalist “alpha geeks” approach.

Geographic concentration: Verified portfolio companies cluster in San Francisco and the broader Bay Area (Fastly, Betabrand, Chairish, CollabNet) with notable exceptions including New Haven, Connecticut (SeeClickFix) and London (AMEE, Path Intelligence) ^{10 11 12}.

Typical check size: Signal by NFX data indicates an investment range of $100K-$2M with a sweet spot around $500K ⁴. The firm’s publicly stated average check size was approximately $700K ⁶.

Board involvement pattern: Jacobsen is notably hands-on as a board member. He has served on the boards of AMEE, Betabrand, CollabNet, Planet Labs, Fastly, LocalDirt, LearnZillion, OpenSignal, O’Reilly Media, Path Intelligence, and SeeClickFix ¹. This extensive board participation, combined with his legal background, suggests he provides significant governance and operational support to portfolio companies.

Co-investor patterns: OATV investments where Jacobsen was involved include co-investments with Union Square Ventures (AMEE, Foursquare), Omidyar Network (SeeClickFix), Azure Capital (Chairish), Amplify Partners/Sunil Dhaliwal (Fastly), and Morado Ventures (Betabrand) ^{7 10 13 14 15}.

Notable pattern – legal and governance expertise: Jacobsen’s J.D. and prior law firm partnership distinguish him from typical VCs. His legal background likely contributes to the firm’s deal structuring and governance capabilities, evidenced by the unusually high number of board seats he holds across the portfolio.

Notable pattern – repeat founder relationships: Jacobsen invested in TripIt (co-founded by Gregg Brockway) and later invested in Chairish (also co-founded by Gregg Brockway), demonstrating a pattern of following successful founders into subsequent ventures ^{13 16}.

Portfolio

This table represents investments where Mark Jacobsen’s personal involvement as lead partner or board member could be independently verified. OATV’s full portfolio includes approximately 100+ investments across three funds ¹⁷; only investments with confirmed Jacobsen involvement are listed here.

Note: Years marked with “~” are approximate. Entries marked “–” indicate confirmed board membership via Crunchbase but no independently verified investment date. Jacobsen likely participated in many additional OATV investments where his specific involvement was not publicly documented.

In Their Own Words

“AMEE’s vision to aggregate all of the energy data in the world fits OATV’s mission to invest in stuff that matters.” – Mark Jacobsen, GreenMonk, December 2008 ⁷

“SeeClickFix is poised to bridge citizens into governments which have traditionally offered limited channels.” – Mark Jacobsen, OATV/Omidyar Network press release, January 2011 ¹⁰

“I’m very impressed with the team at Chairish, which includes leaders from both technology and home decor.” – Mark Jacobsen, Chairish Series A press release, August 2014 ¹⁴

What Founders Say

Miles Lasater, co-founder of SeeClickFix, wrote about the company’s early investment from OATV: “at our first board meeting with Mark from OATV. I had to pinch myself that we had attracted investment dollars from a venture firm that we admired so much” ²⁰.

No additional independently sourced founder testimonials specifically about Mark Jacobsen were found. The OATV firm profile contains broader founder testimonials about the firm experience.

Connections

• Co-founder, OATV – alongside Bryce Roberts and Tim O’Reilly (2005-present) ²
• Board member, Fastly – co-invested with Sunil Dhaliwal (Amplify Partners) in 2011 seed round ¹⁵
• Board member, Planet Labs ¹
• Board member, SeeClickFix – alongside Omidyar Network ¹⁰
• Board member, Betabrand – led $1.3M Series A ¹³
• Board member, Chairish – alongside Azure Capital ¹⁴
• Board member, CollabNet ¹
• Board member, AMEE – co-invested with Union Square Ventures and The Accelerator Group ⁷
• Board member, LearnZillion ¹
• Board member, OpenSignal ¹
• Board member, O’Reilly Media ¹
• Board observer, Chumby Industries ¹⁸
• Former EVP, O’Reilly Media (1995-2005) – worked with Tim O’Reilly ^{2 3}
• Former Business Affairs Director, Colossal Pictures (animation studio, San Francisco) ³
• Former Partner, Mandel, Buder & Jacobsen ³
• Former Associate, Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison ³
• Secretary, Pacific School of Religion (nonprofit board) ³
• Speaker, O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference (2011) ⁸
• Co-investor with Union Square Ventures – AMEE, Foursquare ^{7 21}
• Co-investor with Omidyar Network – SeeClickFix ¹⁰
• Co-investor with Amplify Partners (Sunil Dhaliwal) – Fastly seed ¹⁵

Sources