Scott Friend

Scott Friend invests in commerce and marketing tech companies from the earliest stages and beyond. A former seed-to-exit founder of a successful retail analytics company, Scott is a trusted operational partner and advisor to founders building the next generation of commerce and marketing tech successes.

Partner
Boston

About Scott

What is the first company you invested in? Do you have any anecdotes from when you first began working together?

The first one I’ll admit to? Rent the Runway. Lots of great stories from the early days there. One of my favorite memories was how, after launching the business in November 2009, in time for the holidays but in the teeth of the Great Financial Crisis, they did their first year revenue plan in the first month! They couldn’t dry clean the dresses fast enough to satisfy all the demand. We knew we had a tiger by the tail right from the start on that one….

 

What do you love about working for Bain Capital Ventures?

Being part of such a high caliber, winning team and culture. This is true across Bain Capital, not just BCV. I’ve never experienced this level of talent, teamwork and humility in combination, and with such powerful results, anywhere else in my career.

What are your interests and passions outside of BCV?

Wordle. Great books. BUILD.org. Being outdoors all year-round.

 

Do you have an investment ethos?

Founder first. Great founders make the impossible happen. They see the future,  are unconstrained by the odds, and  create success through sheer power of persuasion, vision, and brilliance. They are so inspiring to be around!

What is compelling about your domain?

The commerce ecosystem has gone through tremendous disruption thanks to the internet, mobile, and Amazon over the past 15 years. And more recently, due to the pandemic, the trends  shaping the commerce world have only accelerated. The opportunity for founders in commerce and marketing-tech to create new businesses faster and bigger than ever before has never been greater.

 

What advice would you give your younger self?

As my sage grandmother used to say, “this too shall pass.” Or as another wise former mentor once advised, “time wounds all heals….” 🙂

 

What is a self-care ritual you practice?

NYT’s crossword puzzle. Daily if possible, though I tend to hold them for flights.

Background

4 years
6 years
2 years
Cognitive Arts
2 years
The Parthenon Group
1 year
7 years
1 year
16 years

Insights

The “Mirakl” Of Marketplaces For B2B And B2C Commerce

At Bain Capital Ventures, we spend a lot of time thinking about the future of commerce. Over the last decade, billions of venture capital dollars have been invested in companies transitioning from commerce 1.0 (brick-and-mortar retail) to commerce 2.0 (digitally native brands and online marketplaces) and back again (online startups expanding into retail). Rather than […]

Scott Friend 5 min read
News Commerce

The Age Of AI In Commerce: Have We Achieved One-To-One Customer Engagement At Last?

Ever since online commerce took off in the late 1990s, brands have been deploying technology to better understand their customers. The dream is to provide online customers with the type of truly personal shopping experiences they get at their favorite mom-and-pop shop. I’ve been a student of this space for over 20 years, first as […]

Scott Friend 8 min read
News Commerce

BCV Leads $35M Investment In soona, Bringing The Ecommerce Photoshoot Into The Cloud

“A more beautiful internet for all!” — Liz Giorgi, Co-Founder, soona We’re excited today to announce BCV’s investment in soona, bringing the ecommerce photoshoot into the cloud. With today’s vast number of ecommerce choices, it’s getting harder and harder for retailers and brands to attract and retain new customers. As the cost of getting a customer […]

Dawit Heck 4 min read
News Commerce

Scott's Portfolio

soona

hi 👋 we’re soona! the world’s first virtual content studio for e-comm merchants.
Growth Commerce
Company
About
Partner
Invested
Domain
Stage
Case Study

hi 👋 we’re soona! the world’s first virtual content studio for e-comm merchants.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2021
Commerce
Growth

WONDER is a next generation of restaurant chains powered by an advanced mobile platform.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2020
Commerce
Early

Mirakl is a French cloud-based e-commerce software company jointly headquartered in Paris, France and Somerville, Massachusetts.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2019
Commerce
Growth

Flow is a powerful and flexible cross-border solution that simplifies the complexity of scaling internationally.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2017
Commerce
Case Study

A personalized mobile messaging platform for innovative e-commerce and retail brands.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2016
Commerce
Early

mParticle’s customer data platform integrates data and orchestrates it across channels, partners, and systems.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2016
Commerce
Early

Microsoft acquired Semantic Machines, developers of fundamental, next generation conversational AI technology, in May 2018. Semantic Machine’s uses the power of machine learning to enable users to discover, access and interact with information and services in a much more natural way, and with significantly less effort.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2014
Apps
Early

The mission of Manicube is to make the lives of working women easier.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2014
Commerce
Early

Jet.com was an American e-commerce company. In 2016, it became a subsidiary of Walmart.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2014
Commerce
Early

TapCommerce helps mobile businesses retarget their ads.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2013
Commerce
Early

Persado is a high-growth, category-leading AI platform that helps data-driven executives – including CMOs, CXOs, CDOs, CFOs, and P&L owners – unlock a new level of value creation by ensuring the right words are used at every customer interaction.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2012
Apps
Early

4moms® is dedicated to making innovative, easy to use baby products that make life easier for parents. Shop our selection of baby swings, portable playards, bassinets, high chairs and more.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2012
Commerce
Growth

Criteo is an advertising company that provides online display advertisements.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2011
Commerce
Growth

Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2010
Commerce
Early

Rent the Runway is an e-commerce platform that allows users to rent, subscribe, or buy designer apparel and accessories.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2009
Commerce
Early

MediaRadar is used to find new ad sales prospects, build sales pitches and outshine competitors. Find valuable advertising insights and sales advice here.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2008
Commerce
Early

TokBox was a PaaS company that provided hosted infrastructure, APIs and tools required to deliver enterprise-grade WebRTC capabilities.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2008
Commerce
Early

Thefind.com is an online discovery shopping search engine targeting lifestyle products such as apparel, accessories, home and garden, fitness, kids and family, and health and beauty.

Partner(s) Scott Friend
Invested 2007
Commerce
Early
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