Happy Holidays from all of us at True

Though the events of the past year have certainly been no laughing matter, our team shared a hearty laugh when Tony and Shea unveiled the True Ventures bobbleheads as our team Christmas gifts. (Be sure to look for Om in the Yankees outfit in back).

The end of year means we get to reflect back on all of the exceptional people that makes our business work so well:

The team at True grew a bit this year, with the addition of Om as Venture Partner, Puneet as Executive in Residence and Christiaan as our Summer (and beyond) Associate. We’re lucky to have such immense talent and clear thinking on our team, and we’re thankful that these folks put their faith and confidence in True. This year growth brought us additional vision, diverging opinions and new connections, and it has already made us stronger.

In recent visits with many of our investors, we were reminded of the important strength and perspective that they bring to our every day decision making. We’re fortunate that our investors have lived through many, many cycles and can offer us guidance and valuable counsel in times like these. Their unified and engaged support for our model in this environment bolsters our conviction and makes us stronger. This year our LPs also renewed their commitment to our vision with the successful closing of Fund II, which will enable us to continue to execute our core strategy for many years to come. We are incredibly grateful for their steadfast support.

The true hero in our model is the entrepreneur, and this year our entrepreneurs continued to amaze us with their resourcefulness, tenacity and creativity as they navigate their companies through extremely tumultuous times and start new ventures with energy and vision. We are grateful for the inspiration, dedication and creative talents of our entrepreneurs and founding teams.

Tough times have meant that everyone has worked harder and worried more, and now more than ever everyone has needed friends and family. This is compounded by the fact that our entreprenurial passion often makes it difficult to distinguish between home life and work life. This means that those around us have to share our conviction for what we do and have lots of patience for the ups and downs we go through. We’re hopeful that our firm has been able to be a friend to those around us, and we’re thankful for everyone who has helped each of us this past year. In particular to our close friends and families: thank you.

From all of us at True, we wish you a healthy and peaceful Christmas, and we hope that 2009 brings you continued health, opportunity, and prosperity.