Venture Capital
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Most Topular Stories
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TheFunded.com Discussion: Who Would Be a Right Fit for Investment Into Us
TheFunded.com16 May 2012 | 6:40 am -
Don’t Try to “Pull an Instagram.” Here’s Why …
Both Sides of the Table14 Apr 2012 | 2:07 pmInstagram. It’s understandably on everybody’s mind these days. Clichés abound about, “You know what would be cool? …” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. Instagram happens to be one of the few social networks I regularly use along with Twitter. I use it much more frequently than I’ve ever used Facebook and have done so since inception. Still, there will be a “next.” I’m just back from Spring Break with the kids so I chose not to weigh in during the fracas. -
Canaan Partners: Canaan Needs a Restart or Just Blackball Balen
TheFunded.com11 May 2012 | 6:50 pm| Posted by monkeybrewster | Fund Rated 2.7 | 633 Chars in PrivateI met with John Balen from Canaan six months ago to introduce our company. Co-founders and I had a great initial meeting with him and got pretty valuable insight from that conversation. We were too early--we knew it, he did too. They passed, but were eager to see us again. -
Two is a good number of founders
Lightspeed Venture Partners Blog14 May 2012 | 7:23 pmI’ve long held that two is a good number of (co)founders. One is difficult because you don’t have a true thought partner to talk to, or to tell you when you might be being crazy. To everyone else, you’re the CEO and the boss, and that power dynamic mitigates what they are willing to tell you. Three can lead to a “two on one” situation, which can be destabilizing. It doesn’t always have to be unstable, but it is a risk. Four or more and the equity cuts start getting pretty small for cofounders. Douglas Merrill (CEO of Zestcash, one of our portfolio… -
TheFunded.com Discussion: X/Seed Capital?
TheFunded.com14 May 2012 | 3:46 pm
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TechCrunch
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Viacom Gives Up Fight Against Time Warner Cable, Adds Channels to TWC iPad App
16 May 2012 | 2:35 pmCustomers of Time Warner Cable have some reason to rejoice today, as the cable company has gotten the go-ahead to add channels like MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central to its live streaming iPad app. The addition comes after the channels’ owner Viacom has settled its differences and resolved litigation with Time Warner Cable. The legal fight erupted last year, after Time Warner Cable released its iPad app, which lets subscribers stream live shows to tablets inside their homes. While many networks grumbled about the app, Viacom was most vocal in rejecting the app, taking its distribution… -
How Many Daily Downloads Does It Take To Reach The Top Of The App Store?
16 May 2012 | 2:01 pmIt’s hard to underestimate how important ranking in Apple’s top 25 in the iTunes store is for mobile app developers. After all, the top 25 is probably the single most important app discovery mechanism for most iOS users. But how many downloads does it take to rank in the top 25? Mobile app store analytics firm Distimo today published some interesting data that answers just this question. Turns out, in the U.S. store, the answer currently is about 38,400 daily downloads for free iPhone apps and 3,530 for paid iPhone apps. To rank in the top 25 per category, of course, takes… -
Third Pivot’s The Charm? Events Site Ravn Becomes Flash Sales Site Touch Of Modern
16 May 2012 | 1:34 pmNo one ever called a limit on the number pivots a company can do, right? So here’s the latest at a company we’ve been watching for a while now. RAVN, an event planning and sharing app that itself was the product of a pivot from the developers behind “experiences marketplace” Skyara, has sent a letter out to its users telling them that the app is getting shut down at the end of this month. In RAVN’s place, the founders are starting up yet another business — their third — also loosely based around events but with a decidedly more commercial bent: a… -
This Won’t End Well: Toyota Connects With Nintendo DS For In-Car Navigation Interface
16 May 2012 | 1:31 pmFor some inexplicable reason, Nintendo and Toyota have teamed up to turn the Nintendo DS into a navigational remote control, thereby allowing drivers (although I hope passengers do most of the fiddling) to set their routes using their game consoles. The service, called Kuruma de DS lets you see map and destination info as well as tour information as you drive through town. The service slightly gamifies the experience by adding a POI saving option. The compatible Toyota Smart Navi system costs about $3,000 while the game itself costs $92 – quite a bit of cash to simulate the map screens… -
Forrester: 32.1 Million U.S. Households Now Access Online Video On Their TVs
16 May 2012 | 1:04 pmAlmost 115 million households in the U.S. currently own at least one TV set and 36 million own four or more. That’s a huge market and as Apple, Google and Microsoft try to wrestle more of this business away from the traditional content and hardware players, the old-school cable and satellite providers now suddenly have to content with this new group of challengers that, until now, barely registered on their radars. According to Forrester analyst James McQuivey, it’s Microsoft that’s winning this platform war so far. Why? Microsoft, MCquivey argues, currently has a massive…
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TheFunded.com
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TheFunded.com Advice: Advice about Pitching Your Product/Service
16 May 2012 | 12:51 pm| Posted by E=mc2 One time I went to a 'fast pitch' speed dating event between investors and entrepreneurs. We were given one minute to tell investors what we did and how we were going to make money. As I waited my turn, I noticed that entrepreneur after entrepreneur would get up and completely failed at communicating exactly that. So much of what they said made ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE. Why? I'm not a tech geek, but I do know a bit about business. Well, why is this important? Because most investors, while they may be tech savvy, are also business oriented and for the most part, NOT TECH GEEKS. -
TheFunded.com Discussion: Who Would Be a Right Fit for Investment Into Us
16 May 2012 | 6:40 am -
TheFunded.com Discussion: X/Seed Capital?
14 May 2012 | 3:46 pm -
Opus Capital: Good Guys Generally
11 May 2012 | 7:54 pm| Posted by monkeybrewster | Fund Rated 3.3 | 273 Chars in PrivateNot really anything negative or positive to say about these guys. -
Canaan Partners: Canaan Needs a Restart or Just Blackball Balen
11 May 2012 | 6:50 pm| Posted by monkeybrewster | Fund Rated 2.7 | 633 Chars in PrivateI met with John Balen from Canaan six months ago to introduce our company. Co-founders and I had a great initial meeting with him and got pretty valuable insight from that conversation. We were too early--we knew it, he did too. They passed, but were eager to see us again.
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Both Sides of the Table
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Marketing Presentation from Blue Glass Conference
10 May 2012 | 9:14 amI recently spoke at the Blue Glass conference on the topic of marketing. I’ll write up some thoughts in a blog post format soon. I’ve been spending time looking at marketing conversion metrics at portfolio companies lately. We’ve been testing things like: How do Facebook “Likes” perform relative to FB ads that drive you directly to a web page How do brand pages convert relative to the Timeline How do integrated Twitter campaigns work relative to “promoted Tweets”? How well do YouTube ad campaigns work? (hint: remove Bit.ly links and they convert much… -
To Be Successful You’ll Need to Shake Hands and Kiss Babies.
9 May 2012 | 5:21 pmIt’s Wednesday late afternoon. I’m aboard Delta flight 1833 from Cincinnati (actually, Northern Kentucky for what it’s worth) to Los Angeles. I had a very enjoyable day in Cincinnati meeting many local entrepreneurs, angels and accelerators. I was here to see one of our LPs (limited partners are the people who invest money in VC funds) called Fort Washington. They’ve been a long-term investor in our fund – GRP Partners – and it was important to me to spend time with them in their home market and meet the people with whom they deal locally. We had lunch at a restaurant that sits… -
The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth
28 Apr 2012 | 1:49 pmWhen you work inside a startup with lots of clever and motivated staff you’re never short of good ideas that you can implement. It’s tempting to take on new projects, new features, new geographies, new speaking opportunities, whatever. Each one incrementally sounds like a good idea, yet collectively they end up punishing undisciplined teams. I like to counsel that the best teams are often defined by what they choose not to do. Let me explain. As a VC I regularly meet with companies and listen to their plans. It’s a very common occurrence that a young startup with sub 20… -
Some Thoughts on Branding Startups and Communities
17 Apr 2012 | 4:59 amBrad Feld visited Los Angeles this past week. I always enjoy spending time with Brad as the antidote to the echo chamber. He is a unique human being with original thoughts & ideas and very limited concern for having to fit into other people’s narratives. And I’ve always remembered a quote from high school, “Non Conformity is the Highest Form of Social Attainment.” That always stuck with me. That seems very Brad to me. It’s what I strive to. We threw a Launchpad LA dinner to bring the community together as we tend to do 6-10 times a year. Brad was our guest of… -
Don’t Try to “Pull an Instagram.” Here’s Why …
14 Apr 2012 | 2:07 pmInstagram. It’s understandably on everybody’s mind these days. Clichés abound about, “You know what would be cool? …” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. Instagram happens to be one of the few social networks I regularly use along with Twitter. I use it much more frequently than I’ve ever used Facebook and have done so since inception. Still, there will be a “next.” I’m just back from Spring Break with the kids so I chose not to weigh in during the fracas.
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VatorNews.tv
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Q1 2012: Number of tech M&As are down, but value is up
16 May 2012 | 1:25 pmTech deal volume may have dropped 7% since last quarter, but 9 deals were multi-billion dollar M&As Even as we see an overall decline in M&A deal volumes, technology companies continue to lead other sectors in U.S., according to PwC’s US technology M&A Insights report that came out today. This report reflected that, while technology companies are pursuing larger acquisitions, the volume of these acquisitions has decreased since the last quarter of 2011. PwC’s US technology M&A Insights is a quarterly analysis based on data for transactions with a disclosed… -
Smartphone users spending more time on apps than Web
16 May 2012 | 9:50 amThe Android Market, App Store are shifting how smartphone owners use their phoneAs the market shifts toward a smartphone-only environment, with now more than 50% of mobile users buying a smartphone, apps have become more central in this technology shift. Nielsen released some data this morning that is showing how reliant people are becoming on apps, and their ability to personalize their smart device to manage their entertainment and lives with the swipe of a finger. This new data compared smartphone users to see just where the app and smartphone shifts were occurring. Last year smartphones… -
Today's Entrepreneur - Today's Entrepreneur: Eman Talei
16 May 2012 | 9:37 amNo. 1 mistake: Falling in love with their idea and jumping into it without researchToday's Entrepreneur is Eman Talei, CEO of Jeebster.com. According to his VEQ Eman is good at negotiation, networking, sales management. Vator’s community is the home to entrepreneurs who embrace their passion and follow their dreams. Our profiles allow members to express themselves by sharing their interests, lessons learned, as well as bits and pieces of their roller-coaster journey. These profiles give entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase themselves and tell their story. So if you are an… -
Facebook adds 25% more stock to sell 2 days before IPO
16 May 2012 | 9:24 amFacebook shareholders are looking to pocket more cash as the big day inches closer Facebook has, once again, updated its S-1 filing on Wednesday morning to add more shares to the Friday IPO. While, earlier this week, the company added 50.6 million, this morning's update bumps it up another 25% to 421.2 million shares, which could raise an additional $3 billion to make the initial share sale worth as much as $16 billion. If the company does end up selling its available share on Friday to the tune of $16 billion, it would be the largest tech IPO in history, and the third largest… -
Fotopedia wows once more with latest app, Morocco
16 May 2012 | 8:00 amThe company sees a 70% jump in traffic in just the last monthWhat’s a fancy pants Retina display without pretty pictures to look at? Fotopedia, the company that brought you mesmerizing photographs of sites as near and far as Paris, Japan, and North Korea (among others), shines again with another gem. The company released its latest app, Morocco, Wednesday. The app is the first from Fotopedia designed specifically for the Retina display on the new iPad. The company also announced that page views have jumped 70% just in the last month and is now serving up 200 million…
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VentureBeat
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Facebook is breaking these three records with its IPO
16 May 2012 | 2:17 pmFacebook’s IPO is being heralded in rather vague terms as the biggest tech IPO in history. But this initial public offering actually does break a few records, and not just in the tech sector. This week, Facebook’s IPO will be the largest venture-backed IPO of all time, and not in the subjective Kanye West sense. If, as expected, the company’s valuation creeps toward $104 billion, it would be four times larger than Google’s 2004 IPO. Facebook will also have earned the distinction of raising the most venture capital of any venture-backed company in the U.S. — a… -
Pirate Bay is under (DDoS) attack! Torrent site remains down after 24 hours
16 May 2012 | 1:53 pmThe Pirate Bay is currently experiencing a massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which has caused the site to remain inaccessible for the last 24 hours, reports TorrentFreak. Members of The Pirate Bay confirmed the news with an update on their Facebook page, saying “We don’t know who’s behind it but we have our suspicions.” The group added, “We believe in the open and free Internets, where anyone can express their views. Even if we strongly disagree with them and even if they hate us. So don’t fight them using their ugly methods. DDOS and… -
Whoops! VeriFone’s Sail user agreement ripped off Square’s
16 May 2012 | 12:37 pmVeriFone’s Sail mobile-payments platform was clearly a Square wannabe from the beginning — now it seems that’s more true than we initially thought. VeriFone apparently lifted significant chunks of its user agreement from Square, GigaOm’s Ryan Kim has discovered. While there are other competitors similar to Square, like PayPal’s Here and Intuit’s GoPayment, VeriFone is a latecomer to the mobile credit card swiping game. I gave Sail flack for not bringing anything new to the market, but today’s revelation makes it even clearer that VeriFone is more… -
A Windows racket: Microsoft will clean crapware off your PC for $99
16 May 2012 | 12:10 pmThe PC crapware problem has finally gotten bad enough that Microsoft is now charging users to fix it. For $99 Microsoft is now offering to strip consumers’ Windows PCs of all unnecessary software pre-installed by PC makers, AllThingsD reports. Affectionally dubbed “crapware”, the software is installed by PC makers in exchange for cash from vendors and is almost universally hated by owners of new Windows PCs. This makes the removal program an arrangement bordering on a racket: PC makers get paid to put the software on computers, and Microsoft gets paid to remove it. -
Web typography: create “art from code”
16 May 2012 | 12:00 pmThis sponsored post is produced by CASCADE SF. Thanks to CSS3 web design techniques and font-foundries, the ability to create gorgeous typography and beautiful design for browsers, is more accessible than ever. The web is about content — finding it, delivering it, exploring it, and experiencing growth and possibility within it. What’s the fun of using a site that takes forever to load and is difficult to read? A poorly designed product can be the single deciding factor for whether a user stays on your page or makes a dishearteningly rapid exit. Fortunately, with the use of new…
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A VC : Venture Capital and Technology
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Bootstrapping
16 May 2012 | 4:42 amWith all the talk of massive amounts of cash sloshing around the web/mobile startup ecosystem (including things I've said recently), you would think that nobody bootstraps anymore. But that is not true at all. Last week my partner Albert blogged about our most recent investment in Behance. Behance was bootstrapped for its first five years. As Scott Belsky, Behance's founder and CEO, wrote on the Behance blog: For the past five years, Behance has been a bootstrapped enterprise. We’ve sold Action Pads, books, job postings, conference tickets, and even banner ads (horror!) to generate… -
Death To The Use Of Death In A Title
9 May 2012 | 5:12 amI was asked by the excellent folks at Grind, a co-working space near our offices, to give a talk in their monthly #Rethink breakfast talk series. I am drawn to the idea of a #rethink hashtag. It's a good mental exercise. So I said I would do the talk and that I'd like to #rethink the VC industry. I gave the talk yesterday and William storified it. And there was some blog coverage of the talk yesterday. I started out the talk by stating that I was "thinking outloud in realtime and that my remarks should be taken as such". At some point yesterday I see the words "death of… -
Tolerance and Prosperity
5 May 2012 | 5:45 amYesterday, my partners and I invited Paul Romer over to USV for lunch. For those that don't know, Paul is a leading thinker in the world of economics and currently a Professor at NYU. It was a fascinating conversation. My favorite part of it was Paul's "lecture" on William Penn, early Pennsylvania, and the reaction to the growth of Pennsylvania from neighboring states. William Penn was a Quaker and when King Charles II gave him a large piece of his land holdings in America, Penn created the colony of Pennsylvania and grounded it in the notions of tolerance and religious… -
Where's My Billion Dollar Check, I Wonder
1 May 2012 | 5:18 amWhen a blockbuster deal happens, a lot of people get excited. The press is all over it, money comes pouring into startups in search of the next one, people quit jobs and school to get in the game. It's a gold rush. But there's another reaction that I have heard a lot in the past few weeks that is quite different. It is "why not me?" The title of this post is from an email between me and an entrepreneur I know who will go nameless. It sums up the emotion so well for me. Startups are hard. They require great sacrifice from everyone. They are stressful and fail more often than… -
Can The Crowd Be More Patient?
26 Apr 2012 | 5:13 amOne of the most noticeable changes to the VC business over the past decade is the movement of investment allocation from capital and time intensive sectors like biotech and clean tech to capital efficient and fast moving sectors like internet and mobile. This makes total sense if you think about it. VCs are professional money managers. We are provided capital to invest as long as we can return it to our investors with a strong return in a reasonable amount of time. A strong return is 3x cash on cash. A reasonable amount of time is ten years max. Internet and mobile product development cycles…
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Xconomy
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Hutch, UW Scientists Find Elusive Cancers With Adaptive Diagnostic
16 May 2012 | 1:00 pmLuke Timmerman Doctors often ask themselves, after a leukemia or lymphoma patient gets high-dose chemotherapy, whether they really wiped out every last rugged cancer cell in the patient. That’s always been a difficult question, but now a team of Seattle researchers is showing they might have found a powerful new technology to consistently deliver that answer. Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the University of Washington and Seattle-based Adaptive Biotechnologies are reporting they’ve found what could become a more clear and consistent way to spot “minimal… -
Mining “Happiness Moments” at Mobile-Rewards Startup Kiip
16 May 2012 | 8:30 amWade Roush Whatever you do, don’t tell Kiip CEO Brian Wong that he’s in the advertising business. Yes, if you’re playing a mobile game that uses Kiip’s service, you’ll see pop-up screens offering rewards from big brands like Pepsi, Disney, and Best Buy. But these aren’t ads, Wong insists. They’re moments of reciprocity prompted by an achievement on your part, like shooting the boss zombie. And they might just signal the end of an era for traditional online marketing. Wong is one of several startup founders striving to blow up the whole traditional banner-advertising model in Web… -
Vertica/HP Veteran Chris Lynch Joins Atlas for Big Data Investing
16 May 2012 | 8:00 amErin Kutz Chris Lynch, the tech exec who said venture capital was not for him, is the newest member of the technology team at Atlas Venture, the Cambridge, MA-based firm announced today. In March, Lynch left his role as CEO of Vertica Systems, a year after the data analytics company was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $300 million. At the time of his departure, Lynch told my colleague Greg Huang that he was looking to work hands-on with Boston-area big data entrepreneurs, but not in a VC role. So what changed? “I’ve seen so many more deals than I ever thought I would,” Lynch says. “I… -
The Skqueak That Roars: New App Combines Drawing, Audio, Images
16 May 2012 | 2:08 amBruce V. Bigelow What began as an effort by a couple of San Diego engineers to bring computer vision to the iPhone has resulted instead in “Skqueak,” a mobile app that enables users to sketch over photos and videos on their iPhones. The Skqueak app is now available in Apple’s iTunes App Store. Sanjay Nichani, who moved to San Diego in 2006 after working at Cognex (NASDAQ: CGNX) the Natick, MA-based pioneer in machine vision, says he founded Pelfunc (Skqueak’s parent company) with Ray Fix, another former Cognoid, in mid-2010. The original idea was to develop an app capable of… -
Targeted Cancer Drugs With Punch: The Next Big Class of Antibodies
16 May 2012 | 2:05 amLuke Timmerman One of the big dreams in biotech over the past 35 years has been to make drugs that work like “smart bombs” by destroying tumors while minimizing collateral damage. Scientists have learned this is no easy thing, but now that a couple of these types of drugs have been shown to work, a new wave of companies is emerging to see if they can finally turn this vision into reality. Targeted antibody drugs have been around for a long time, and have been shown to do a lot of good for patients. Some of the world’s best-selling medicines are designed to specifically hone in on cancer…
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Ross Mayfield's Weblog
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Telepresence to Moscow
12 May 2012 | 12:12 pmWhen I ran for student body President at Foothill College (where I'm giving this year's commencement speech), they had each candidate record a video pitch. Even back then I was a pretty good speaker. But in a room with just a camera pointed at me, no audience to feed off of, I found myself rediculously self-concious and started to choke. Later I lost the campaign, to my roommate. I chalk it up as a learning experience. Yesterday morning I found myself in a room with a camera pointing at me, but it was telepresence to Moscow, giving a talk for the Digital October program. I've used… -
LinkedIn Acquires SlideShare
12 May 2012 | 11:29 amWas quite a week... LinkedIn and Slideshare View more presentations from LinkedIn -
The Next Chapter of Socialtext
1 May 2012 | 11:23 amToday I'm pleased to share that Socialtext has gained a strategic investment by Bedford Funding ($1.4B PE firm) and will integrate with Peoplefluent. They are all gassed up and stepping on the accelerator. There is a strong strategic fit with Peoplefluent's Enterprise Human Capital Management solutions, but Socialtext will also remain an independent entity set to expand its position in Enterprise Social Software. Nine years ago this month Socialtext was incorporated. After almost 10 years, I'm stepping down from the Board of the company I co-founded.This is a good outcome… -
Links for 2011-06-06 [del.icio.us]
7 Jun 2011 | 2:00 am5 Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make with Stock Options — Tech ... -
Links for 2011-04-28 [del.icio.us]
29 Apr 2011 | 2:00 amA VC: Finding And Buying A Domain Name
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Venture Capital News and Information on Yahoo! Finance
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Limelight Networks forms strategic partnership with Concentric Cloud Solutions
15 May 2012 | 6:39 amLimelight Networks announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Concentric Cloud Solutions, who has added Limelight's integrated content delivery services and cloud-based applications to its ... -
Facebook IPO has halo effect for venture capitalists
14 May 2012 | 6:55 pmFor the handful of venture capitalists who backed Facebook in its early days, a huge financial payoff is not the only thing they may be celebrating when the company goes public later this week. In a business ...
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Venture Capital
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Yahoo, AOL veteran Garlinghouse takes helm of startup YouSendIt
16 May 2012 | 7:40 amKnown for 'peanut butter manifesto,' he'll lead venture-backed rival to Box, Dropbox -
Facebook is more than the year's hottest stock story -- it's a cultural phenomenon
13 May 2012 | 4:42 pmSocial network has changed business and society in ways not seen since arrival of e-mail, telephones -
Zuckerberg and Facebook roadshow come to Palo Alto
12 May 2012 | 12:18 amFacebook's IPO roadshow rolled through Silicon Valley Friday, part of a weeklong pitch to institutional investors eager to buy the social network's stock. -
Samsung acquires Palo Alto mobile startup mSpot
9 May 2012 | 6:41 pmIn an interview with this newspaper last year, Daren Tsui -- the co-founder and CEO of mobile-video startup mSpot -- said that if a potential acquirer came knocking with "a huge amount of cash, I'd have no problem with that.
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Venture Capital Access Online: Website Updates
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VCPro Database 2012
9 May 2012 | 7:00 pmVCPro Database 2012 (15th Edition) is a downloadable venture capital and private equity directory with complete profiles of over 4,800 venture capital firms worldwide. Compiled by a veteran VC researcher, VCPro Venture Capital Database is available in both Windows and Macintosh formats. (includes a FREE mid-year update in July 2012) Updated January 2012 Features >> Profiles of over 4,820 venture capital and private equity firms >> Searchable by all the data fields including contact information (company name and executive names) and investment criteria (stage, geographic, industry preferences,… -
Buyouts Chicago 2012
8 May 2012 | 7:00 pmBuyouts Chicago 2012 June 26-27, 2012 Click the above link to view this event. -
Venture Capital Access Program Created to Connect Diverse Entrepreneurs with Traditional Venture Capital Sources
8 May 2012 | 7:00 pmNEW YORK, May 9, 2012-- Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York (HBSAANY) and The National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) today announced the launch of the Venture Capital Access Program ("VCAP©"), a collaborative venture that provides women and diverse entrepreneurs nationwide with access to venture capital through accredited investors within the HBSAANY network. VCAP©, the first program of its kind, bridges the gap between venture capitalists and angel investor networks and women and diverse entrepreneurs, many of whom have not traditionally had access to… -
Venture Forward 2012 Conference
8 May 2012 | 7:00 pmVenture Forward 2012 Conference June 20, 2012 Click the above link to view this event. -
23rd Venture Capital Investing Conference
8 May 2012 | 7:00 pm23rd Venture Capital Investing Conference June 19-20, 2012 Click the above link to view this event.
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VentureWoods
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Walk down Silicon Alley…
14 May 2012 | 8:22 amLast week I had the opportunity to spend time with startups and tech companies in New York, aka Silicon Alley. The excitement in the startup and venture circles in the city was impressive. Previously where finance used to dominate all conversations, now its about ad tech, social/mobile and Pinterest clones. VC’s seems to around each corner - from Accel, KP and Canaan, plus USV, DFJ, RRE and many more. More importantly, there is a passion towards entrepreneurship similar to what existed for maybe hedge funds previously, and investment banks before that. The venture funding numbers… -
How much revenue does it take to be a billion dollar company?
1 May 2012 | 8:49 amTechcrunch has a good article on the subject - in essence, emphasizing on quality of revenue. The mantra suggested is recurring revenue, low churn, high LTV and operating leverage. For consumer companies equally, the notion of high lifetime value, repeat behavior, and margin structure are the key. A CapitalIQ analysis shows a strong correlation of the revenue multiple to (ebitda margins x revenue growth rate). -
Real stories of Startup Failure
27 Apr 2012 | 4:03 amReadwriteweb has a review of The Founder’s Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup . Based on extensive research of 10,000 startup founders, this book draws upon the reasons of successes and failures. Top reasons for failure - people issues, equity issues, and investor relations. Seems like a promising read. -
India Expansion - Acquire & Manage Culture not just the Business
6 Apr 2012 | 10:48 amIn recent months I have had the great opportunity to work with organisations from around the world who have expanded their global footprint through Joint Ventures/strategic Buyouts or Acquisitions. I am happy to share, based on my experiences, some of the key elements/experiences which are important steps in business success in these types of situations . These are indicative and not an exhaustive reflection of my experience. - Managing Business & People independently : Many businesses identify a business leader or a senior operational director to run the operations(Hired locally… -
What’s NXT : Digital Content – Where is Money – 3rd April 2012, New Delhi
28 Mar 2012 | 2:25 amDigital Content : What’s NXT - Where is Money Britannica closing down its print publication after 244 years to focus on online version! The number of Internet users in India – estimated at around 140 million today – exceeds the number of TV sets in our homes. Facebook, with its 44 million Indian members reaches more of us than any single TV channel, Doordarshan included. While YouTube, with over 31 million Indian viewers a month, is far and away our largest English television channel. Meanwhile Twitter and Google Plus each get to about 14 million of us in a month – a number that…
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Seeing Both Sides
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Hey Graduates: Forget Plastics - It's All About Machine Learning
11 May 2012 | 5:30 am"Tell me, what would you do if you had 1,000 times more data?" I still remember reading this profound question on December 24, 2007 in BusinessWeek's cover article on Google and cloud computing like it was yesterday. It was an interview question, posed by then senior Google engineer Christophe Bisciglia (later founder of red-hot cloud software company, Cloudera and more recently WibiData) to job applicants. For the first time, I began to think through the practical implications of what the advent of the information explosion (now commonly referred to as “Big Data”)… -
Activist Seeds - The Latest, Subtle Trend in Seed Investing
30 Apr 2012 | 6:39 amWhen I entered the VC business 10 years ago, I tried to keep thinking about venture capital as a business, where the key focus area was on meeting the needs of our target customers -- entrepreneurs and limited partner investors. In the case of entrepreneurs, those needs have changed radically in these last 10 years. The surge in seed investing over the last few years has been well-reported and analyzed. With advances in cloud computing, open source infrastructure, development tools and general "Lean Start-Up" techniques, entrepreneurs need less capital than ever before. And… -
The Bar Has Gotten Higher
12 Apr 2012 | 7:51 amWhen I first entered the venture capital business 10 years ago after being an entrepereneur, my partners warned me that "my bar" for new investments would get higher over time. In other words, the criteria to make a new investment - clearing "the bar" - would get more strict with time as I developed more experience and saw more things. I found this to be very true, and the notion that investors get wiser and more selective over time has become common wisdom in the industry. But there's something very new going on in the last few years - something very striking. -
Now That The JOBS Act Has Passed, Immigration Reform Is Next
6 Apr 2012 | 8:27 amYesterday was a pretty special day. Not only did I get to attend the White House ceremony at the Rose Garden for the passing of the JOBS Act, but I got to see one of our CEOs featured as an entrperneurial hero. I have written in the past about the JOBS Act and its importance, so I won't repeat that here. The president was on point in his remarks (see the video I took below), pointing out that his job is "Fighting every day to make sure America is the best place on earth to do business." But the coolest thing for me was seeing our portfolio company CEO, John Belizaire… -
Founder's Dilemmas - And There Are Many
25 Mar 2012 | 3:07 pmIn the very first year of a company, there are a few very tough, make-or-break decisions that founders need to make. My colleague and friend, Professor Noam Wasserman, teaches a class called "Founder's Dilemmas" at Harvard Business School that delves into these decisions and has become a "must-take" session for aspiring entrepreneurs. Noam has turned the materials and research from his class into a new book: The Founder's Dilemmas, where he analyzes the fundamental trade-offs such as when to found a company, who to found it with (if anyone), how to determine…
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PE Hub Blog
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Providence Equity Raises Upwards of $4.5B for Fund VII, Will Likely Hold Final Close in Q3: Sources
16 May 2012 | 2:00 pmProvidence Equity Partners has raised $4 billion to $4.5 billion for its seventh fund, which has a $6 billion target, and the firm will likely hold a final close in the third quarter, peHUB has learned. A Providence spokesperson did respond to a request for comment. Providence is a media-focused PE firm that also invests in communications, information and education deals. The buyout shop began fundraising for Providence Equity Partners VII LP early last year and was initially hoping to raise $8 billion. But the firm “got blowback from LPs, so dropped the target to $6 billion,” a… -
TA Associates Tops $1B For A&P Fund VII
16 May 2012 | 1:51 pmTA Associates has raised more than $1 billion for its latest buyout and growth equity fund reserved for non-U.S. backers, TA Atlantic & Pacific VII, sister magazine Buyouts reported earlier today, citing recent regulatory filings. The firm is raising the fund in two parts, TA Atlantic & Pacific VII-A LP and TA Atlantic & Pacific VII-B LP, which have raised $435.58 million and $611.22 million, respectively, according to the filings. UBS Securities LLC is helping the firm raise the capital, which includes 23 investors so far, according to the filings. The fund is earmarked for… -
NYC Euro Investments are a Mixed Bag
16 May 2012 | 10:34 amEuropean buyout funds within four of the New York City pension fund portfolios have a mixed performance ranging from an IRR low of -29.10% to a high of 41.8% according to the most recent fund performance reports. As of 31/09/2011 NYCERS (NYC Employees’ Retirement System) generated an IRR of 8% and investment multiple of 1.24x on a private equity portfolio value of $3.2 billion. TRS (Teachers’ Retirement System City of New York) generated an IRR of 9.38% and a multiple of 1.3x on a portfolio value of $2.1 billion, as of 30/06/2011. NYC Police Pension Fund generated an IRR of 9.5%… -
GM Ends Facebook Ad Campaign on Low Impact
16 May 2012 | 6:18 am(Reuters) – General Motors Co said on Tuesday it will stop advertising on Facebook, even as the social networking website prepares to go public, with a source familiar with the matter saying the automaker had decided Facebook’s ads had little impact on consumers. The decision by GM, the third-largest advertiser in the United States, marks the first highly visible crack in Facebook’s strategy and underscores doubts about whether advertising on Facebook works better than traditional media. “This does highlight what we are arguing is the riskiness of the overall Facebook… -
peHUB First Read
16 May 2012 | 2:01 amYou Need to Keep up in a Town Like This: Google gets the upgrade in NYC Question from Om: Why can Quora get 50-mil? Not Again: We’ve executed an innocent man. We, as a nation. Who’s the BMOC on social media? Now here’s something the taxpayer can afford to support On the Fence: Where are Americans on gay marriage? What’s student debt going to do the economy? (Editor’s note: Will it be as bad as what dumb people do to the economy?) Can Facebook boost its mobile base? How Flikr blew it So what’s to like about Jamie Dimon? Livin’ in a Hacker’s…
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Technosailor.com
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Crazy Christians and Bad Spam and Mailing List Management
27 Apr 2012 | 4:24 pmI somehow got added to a mailing list recently unsolicited. It’s called Christian Report and I refuse to link to them. It is an arrogant, self-serving site that is plagued by guilt. There is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. -Romans 8:1 What is seriously tragic about this site (aside from the content) is that I was added to this mailing list unknown. For God knows what reason. I mean, I’m used to getting spam and all, but at least a mailinglist has an unsubscribe, right? I am a user of Other Inbox, which has this neat “Unsubscribe”… -
Tech: We Need to Start Being Feminists. Stat!
26 Apr 2012 | 2:42 pmUsed under Creative Commons. Photo by Jay Morrison. This. That extends this I wrote about a few weeks ago. This is pissing me the hell off! All that. It all needs to stop. How are some of the brightest minds on the internet not seeing the harm in how we collectively perceive women, women in tech, women in our industry? How is it funny to send nude photos of women to a prospective boss and get hired as a result? How is it humorous to make jokes about “gangbang interviews” in a professional presentation? How is this okay? In the context of discussion around this… -
David Simon on Debate and Journalism
26 Apr 2012 | 12:05 pmIt’s why I used to love a healthy newsroom, which I have described as a magical place where everyone disagrees with everything all of the time. Arguments make the work better; when people stop arguing, or at least arguing intelligently, absent the usual half-assed, rhetorical cheating, the work invariably suffers. (Source: davidsimon.com) -
Scantily Clad Women are for the Bedroom, not the Showroom Floor.
9 Apr 2012 | 12:00 pmI love women. I love scantily clad women. I think the majority of men, and of course some women, would agree with me. Sexual attraction is inherently part of the human experience and part of the instinctual core that makes up who we are. The same goes for women with men. However, this is not okay. *This* is a glimpse inside Ad:Tech San Francisco. Maybe not all of Ad:Tech. Maybe not even most of Ad:Tech. But it’s certainly a representation of how at least a few people decided to capture it. And this is not directed toward the photographers, at least one of whom I am personally acquainted… -
Twitter as a Protocol
1 Mar 2012 | 2:06 pmImage from Shawn Campbell. Used under Creative Commons Yesterday, I had lunch with a guy who was picking my brain about various topics. One of the conversations we ended up having was about the longevity of Twitter as a company. It hearkens back to conversations I had years ago when Twitter was barely making it as a service. It was down seemingly half the time, a problem they have long since solved. In those days of 2007 and 2008, Twitter was just beginning it’s conquest of communication mediums. It was nowhere near as big, influential or necessary as it is today. It was getting there…
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LinkedIn Answers: Venture Capital and Private Equity
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What is the best source for finding 4-star to 5-star hotel investors?
15 May 2012 | 3:33 pmThere are lots of sources for finding hotels for sale and investors for hotels with less than 100 rooms. Since we are seeking a joint venture partner to acquire a major hotel we don't want to list the hotel on any of the major bulletin boards to keep the opportunity as confidential as possible. So, what is the best source for finding investors that would be interested in a joint venturing on the acquisition of a 4-star hotel? -
What are good options for nontraditional funding for a startup?
15 May 2012 | 12:17 pm -
Why second and third rounds are the most hard the start up companies to raise money for?
12 May 2012 | 11:05 amSome days ago I read in New York Times the article where it was said for start-up companies there are the most hard second and third rounds to raise money. How do you think, friends? Are you agree this with? -
Finding a broker/Dealer for PPM offering
11 May 2012 | 2:43 pmI have a current private offering for the real estate and construction of an all purpose arena located in Northwest Arkansas. Not sure how to find and approach a broker/dealer to help with the offering. -
Closed Question: If I want to take private banking related courses in Singapore, any recommendation?
8 May 2012 | 2:29 am
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GigaOM
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ISwifter’s TheWorx iPad app recreates Facebook, but with games
16 May 2012 | 1:33 pmJust days before Facebook’s big IPO, the company is getting a lesson from another Silicon Valley startup on how to improve its iPad app. ISwifter is showing how it can create a full-fledged Facebook app that also includes Flash gaming. TheWorx iPad app, a Facebook application that is set to go live next month, will provide users with access to status updates, their news feed and photos. But the kicker is that it will also give iPad users access to Facebook’s Flash-based games through an App Hub. Currently, iSwifter’s iPad app allows people to play thousands of Facebook… -
Calvin: A fast, cheap database that isn’t a database at all
16 May 2012 | 1:12 pmYale researchers Daniel Abadi and Alexander Thomson think they have developed the cure for Oracle and IBM dominance in the world of database performance, and it isn’t even technically a database. In a blog post Wednesday morning (and in a related research paper), the two researchers detail Calvin, a “transaction scheduling and replication coordination service” that they think can level the playing field between high-cost distributed relational databases and less-expensive, but limited NoSQL and NewSQL databases. Abadi and Thomson aren’t dismissing either NoSQL or… -
Bloglovin, a prettier take on RSS and Tumblr, gets Betaworks investment
16 May 2012 | 12:59 pmWhen Mattias Swenson, Patrik Ring and their three co-founders first decided to launch a startup out of high school, the plan was to work on it for a year and then move on with their lives. Growing up in Stockholm, they said, they didn’t know of anyone else who gave up university for entrepreneurship. But more than five years later, they’re still at it. And their startup Bloglovin, which is something like a visual RSS reader meets Tumblr for the entire blogosphere, is poised for a new level of growth. New York-based Internet company Betaworks is announcing today that it, along with… -
Verizon phasing out unlimited data as customers switch to 4G
16 May 2012 | 12:20 pmUpdated. Verizon Wireless plans to close down the mobile broadband buffet for good, phasing out unlimited plans as customers upgrade from 3G phones to 4G. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo revealed the policy plan change on Wednesday while speaking at a J.P. Morgan conference, saying it must turn off the unlimited spigot as a prerequisite for moving to shared family data plans, FierceWireless reported. Verizon ended unlimited data last summer, but it also grandfathered its old all-you-can-eat customers into their $30 plans in perpetuity. That practice now seems to be ending. Shammo said that Verizon… -
Google shakes up search with new Wikipedia-like feature
16 May 2012 | 12:00 pmJust months after rolling out a controversial personalized search feature, Google is shaking up its search pages once again. This time, the search giant is carving out a chunk of the site for “Knowledge Graph,” a tool that offers an encyclopedia-like package in response to a user’s query. The idea is to get users to spend more time on Google and also to make the search engine offer a more human-like understanding of questions and context. “This is a critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the…
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The VC Experts' Buzz
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LBO: Attempts to Step Up Basis and Avoid Double Taxation
15 May 2012 | 7:00 pmOne obvious gambit to eliminate tax at the corporate level is, in the appropriate instance, for the Target to be or convert from a taxpaying C Corporation to, an S Corporation, a so-called, pass-through entity in that tax is not imposed on income at the entity (in this case the corporate) level. Another option could be that since a partnership, like an S Corporation, is a pass-through entity for tax purposes, there may be advantages to organizing Newco as a partnership. -
Some Thoughts On Registration Rights
14 May 2012 | 7:00 pmTo comprehend adequately various issues involved, a discussion of basic principles is in order. The first is that registration rights are seldom used in accordance with their terms, and yet some investors and their counsel view them as a central element of the deal. The actual use of the demand rights, for example, could prove very awkward. -
Analysis of FATCA Proposed Regulations
9 May 2012 | 7:00 pmOn February 8, 2012, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations for the next major phase of implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The regulations lay out a step-by-step process for U.S. account identification, information reporting, and withholding requirements for foreign financial institutions (FFIs), certain non-financial foreign entities (NFFEs) and U.S. withholding agents. -
IVC-GKH: Summary of Israeli Private Equity Deals - Q1 2012
8 May 2012 | 7:00 pmHere are the findings of the IVC-GKH Quarterly Private Equity (PE) Survey conducted by IVC Research Center, which for more than 15 years has been at the forefront of private equity, high-tech, start-ups and venture capital research in Israel. The Survey reviews Israeli private equity deals involving Israeli and foreign PE funds and other investors - both Israeli and foreign. The current Survey is based on the activity of 70 private equity funds of which 30 are Israeli and 40 are foreign. -
Some Thoughts On The Business Plan And Private Placement Memo
7 May 2012 | 7:00 pmSince a private placement memorandum, usually abbreviated as the PPM, is the norm in most deals, the founder should familiarize himself with the standards for memorandum preparation, keeping in mind that, like any legal document, there are various audiences.
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the Frank Peters Show
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Breakfast with Ross Finlay
15 May 2012 | 7:47 amIt’s a 4 hour time difference with Los Angeles; I forgot. So when I said I’d meet First Angel Network’s Ross Finlay for breakfast at 7:30am I hadn’t realized that would feel like 3:30am for me. But a friendly face early in the morning is a benefit in itself as I begin a 8-day visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia. We’re traveling to a FAN meeting in Moncton, New Brunswick tomorrow then a repeat session here in Halifax on Thursday. Each night I’ll speak about my recent travels to Moscow. In the meantime I’ll rent a bicycle for a week starting at noon today and… -
Russia Wrap Up
14 May 2012 | 9:06 amIt’s Day 2 of the EBAN Congress in Moscow and, like the previous interviews, I’m trolling for likely interview subjects before the sessions get started. This is the Russian Wrap Up as I conclude with two final interviews. Nino Vianello He started in international tax planning; Nino Vianello is an angel investor in the Hague, Netherlands, but not a member of an angel group. He’s patient; concerns about the euro appear almost daily in the Netherlands press. “I don’t see myself investing until next year.” Bernd Litzka Bernd Litzka of Austria Wirtschatsservice… -
Moscow Musings, Part II
4 May 2012 | 11:08 amwith Oleg Kozyrev, Director of the Higher School of Economics in Nizhny Novgorod The next morning Dmitry picks me up with the driver — today’s sessions are downtown Nizhny Novgorod just blocks away from that beautiful pedestrian mall I toured the night before. This neighborhood is located opposite a glitzy new mall with all the same merchants you can find here at home — some civic leader’s idea of ways to lure more conferences to town, I suppose. Without prompting I start telling everyone within earshot of how this cannibalizes the local merchants and compromises the… -
Moscow Musings, Part I
3 May 2012 | 6:10 pmIn the Moscow Metro “Did you sleep on the train?” The overnight train from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod was my first sleeper car experience. “No, not much.” It was like a long massage though; the jiggle of the rail car a constant interruption. Also, I was too excited to sleep. My travel guide to Nizhny Novgorod, Dmitry Budesko “You’ll see the real Russia,” was what several new friends offered. And it was something to see as the morning sun lit up the countryside view; I could see the rugged housing stock along the tracks, but was it much different from… -
NW Regional Angel Conference
3 May 2012 | 11:58 amBob Chaworth-Musters on due diligence I almost didn’t make it to the 5th annual NW Regional Angel Conference hosted by the Alliance of Angels in Seattle; I caught just the 2nd day of the session. It was well attended and the content was excellent. AoA Chairman Dan Rosen summarizes the conference on his blog. It was a gorgeous day in Seattle
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Feld Thoughts
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Learning A City By Running Around In It
15 May 2012 | 1:28 pmThis morning I had a gritty, sweating, damp, dirty run down Bowery through Chinatown and back. It was a short run – only 30 minutes and my coach’s note for me was simple and clear: “One of those “throw away” runs that mean a lot to long term fitness improvement.” So I did it. I’ve never run down Bowery. I’ve done the East River many times and ended up under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge, but I don’t recall ever seeing them from the top. The Manhattan Bridge totally surprised me – as I approached it I had a sudden flashback to… -
Should Your Board Members Be On The all@company.com Email List?
14 May 2012 | 6:00 amtl;dr – Yes. I’m on the all@company.com list for a number of the companies I’m on the board of. CEOs and entrepreneurs who practice TAGFEE welcome this. I haven’t universally asked for inclusion on this list mostly because I hadn’t really thought hard about it until recently. But I will now and going forward, although I’ll leave it up to the CEO as to whether or not to include me. In an effort to better figure out the startup board dynamic, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of continual communication with board members. The companies I feel… -
Should VC Board Observers Rights Exist?
12 May 2012 | 7:00 amOver the past year, I’ve been systematically trying to change the way the board meetings work for the companies that I’m on the boards of. I’ve done a bunch of experiments and continue to learn what works and what doesn’t work. Ever since I started investing in the mid-1990′s I’ve been exposed to a concept called “board observer rights.” When we did investments at Mobius Venture Capital, in addition to a board seat, we always got board observer rights. This was a way for us to bring another person to the board meeting other than the board member… -
Guidelines For Interviewing At A Startup
11 May 2012 | 7:58 amMy long time friend Chris Moody, president and COO of Gnip, has offered to write some guest posts on management – we’ll call the series Moody on Management. In addition to being an outstanding early stage / high growth executive, Chris has made a study of management in startups and is extremely thoughtful about what does and doesn’t work. His first post is aimed at anyone looking to get a job in a startup and talks about how to be effective at interviewing for a job. Feel free to weigh in if you have other “Stop, Don’t, Nevers” or “Pleases” I… -
Random Acts of Kindness – Marathon Fundraising
9 May 2012 | 7:00 amWhen you support a family member in need, you’re doing the right thing. The community you are part of is counting on you, and fulfilling your obligation to them is part of being a member of that community. What happens, though, when you help someone you don’t know? What happens when one community deliberately seeks out someone who needs a leg up and attention and support and reaches out – with no possibility of reciprocity? That feeling is extraordinary, and as I run the 29 marathons I’ve got left to go to make my 50 marathons by age 50 goal, I have been thinking…
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Ask the VC
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Weiss: The CEO’s Weekly Checklist
13 May 2012 | 8:00 pmScott Weiss, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, has an excellent post up on GigaOm titled The CEO’s Weekly Checklist. I’ve gotten to know Scott over the past few years via the board of Return Path. Scott was co-founder/CEO of IronPoint (acquired by Cisco) and built a very significant and powerful company – his checklist comes from his experience growing as CEO from the beginning of IronPoint to an over $100 million company. -
Baldwin: Advisors – Stop Screwing Startups
30 Apr 2012 | 4:34 amToday’s post of the day comes from Micah Baldwin. Micah isn’t a VC – he’s an entrepreneur, CEO, and experienced mentor (he’s been involved in TechStars since the beginning.) He has a great rant titled Advisors Stop Screwing Startups. He makes several very important points about how advisors are screwing startups, why they should stop, and why entrepreneurs should take responsibility for 100% of their equity and be a lot more careful with it. As a long time advisor for many companies, I’m a huge believer in “give before you get.” If you are an… -
Do My Early Stage Investors Own Too Much Of The Company?
27 Apr 2012 | 7:39 amQuestion: Most VCs commented that they can not fund current cap table where the CEO and COO would get 10% equity once fully vested while the current investors have 80%. We talked to our investors and they have agreed to rework the cap table, however, I would like to understand from you what should I change my cap table to? More Context: I recently joined a very early stage company as their CEO. The company was founded by two people three years back who have funded it since inception to the tune of ~$200k out of which $60k is in loans and is on the books of the company. The rest of $140k are… -
Does Being The First Full-Time Paid Employee Affect That Founder’s Equity In The Company?
19 Apr 2012 | 11:36 pmQuestion: I am one of three founders of a company. Up until now we have been bootstrapping the company from our own funds and working part time on the company while having full time jobs. However, we are now looking to raise some private funding and one of us will be transitioning to the first full time paid employee of the company. The question is, does being the first full-time paid employee affect that founder’s equity in the company? I can see two sides to this issue. The first is the founders that are not yet paid employees would think that the other is getting… -
How Often Do Employees Of VC-backed Startups Get Stock Options?
3 Apr 2012 | 9:00 amQuestion: How often do venture-backed start-up employees (let’s say non-executives) get stock option grants? Besides the initial grant when they start, how often do “re-up” grants come? Should they be expected after further funding rounds? After significant accomplishments/promotions? Never? The short answer, at least in the US, is “most of the time.” It’s pretty standard for every employee of a VC-backed company to get at least a minor option grant as part of their compensation. Employees should expect these grants to vest over time (usually four years)…
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Lightspeed Venture Partners Blog
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Two is a good number of founders
14 May 2012 | 7:23 pmI’ve long held that two is a good number of (co)founders. One is difficult because you don’t have a true thought partner to talk to, or to tell you when you might be being crazy. To everyone else, you’re the CEO and the boss, and that power dynamic mitigates what they are willing to tell you. Three can lead to a “two on one” situation, which can be destabilizing. It doesn’t always have to be unstable, but it is a risk. Four or more and the equity cuts start getting pretty small for cofounders. Douglas Merrill (CEO of Zestcash, one of our portfolio… -
The Enterprise Flash Market is Taking Off
10 May 2012 | 3:49 pmCongratulations to Lightspeed portfolio company XtremIO and founders Ehud, Shuki, and Yaron for their acquisition which was announced today. This is another reminder of just how fast flash has gone from promising consumer technology to mainstream enterprise building block – primarily fueled by the proliferation of virtualization, BI, and Big Data coupled with the rapid decline in flash pricing. We made our first investment in an enterprise flash company (Pliant Technology) in 2007; in 2008 we blogged about the potential for this technology to disrupt the storage market and in 2010… -
More on data enabled underwriting
30 Apr 2012 | 2:32 pmCheck out my guest post on data enabled underwriting at American Banker. -
How to Build the Next Huge Mobile App
19 Apr 2012 | 6:31 pmThe advent and growth of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and, now, Pinterest has heralded a new era in the Internet where people are connected to one another to share, discover, curate, and collaborate. The mobile applications are fast becoming the primary vehicle to access what I call “connected services” to discover people, information and entertainment. However unlike the intent oriented desktop Internet search, the mobile platform is about discovery. Thus the application developers would have to think differently about getting user attention and engagement. User Time… -
People who feel guilty over mistakes make better leaders
18 Apr 2012 | 1:50 pmJust read an interesting article about some research coming out of the Stanford Business School that suggests that feelings of guilt may signal leadership potential. Some excerpts below, but I’d urge you to click through and read the whole thing – it is pretty short. When we think of a typical leader, most of us picture a person who’s sociable and upbeat. But new research puts a wrinkle in that stereotype, revealing an unexpected sign of leadership potential: the tendency to feel guilty. “Guilt-prone people tend to carry a strong sense of responsibility to others, and that…
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deal architect
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More New Florence
16 May 2012 | 11:17 amon the innovation blog The Bionic Foot Ultrabook beauties Denver: a non-stop museum Delta Airlines to buy an oil refinery The Internet is a right, not a privilege The Third Industrial Revolution -
NetSuite runs SAP!
15 May 2012 | 8:44 pmZach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite, in his keynote this morning at SuiteWorld welcomed SAP as a customer. SuccessFactors is a NetSuite customer, ergo with the SAP acquisition, he is right. Meanwhile, 2444 miles away (actually 2521 on my Virgin America... -
The Static Outsourcing Market
14 May 2012 | 12:40 am“Is it just us, or does the outsourcing sector evolve much slower than other tech sectors?” asked a client recently. “Yes and No” I replied. “Many companies sign multi-year contracts, then renew with incumbents so there is a definite feel... -
More innovation
13 May 2012 | 10:24 amOn the New Florence blog Fortune’s Greatest Entrepreneurs of our time Technology and the TSA The neuroscience of Bob Dylan’s genius Lady Serendipity Green Colleges The multi-talented restaurant POS -
What color is your conference badge?
10 May 2012 | 1:13 pmGavin Davidson of NetSuite summarizes a major contrast I will see between SapphireNow in Orlando on Monday and SuiteWorld in San Francisco on Tuesday. "Normally when you attend a user conference hosted by a major ERP vendor, it’s quite a...
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allensblog
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Note to Apple & Opportunity for a new Startup by Hardware Entrepreneurs?
14 May 2012 | 9:26 amI was in a meeting a few days ago with a bunch of tech-savvy folks here in Silicon Valley, and, as meetings these days usually do, this one started with a good deal of shuffling around, with everyone pulling out their various gadgets, plugging in extension cords, etc. Increasingly, one can't attend a meeting, at least hereabouts, without the constant clicking of keyboards as the meeting participants take notes (and, truth be told, do email, check Facebook, browse YouTube, etc.) on some form of computer. So, initially, as the clicking started, I didn't give it much notice. After a… -
Is Amazon.com Building a Private "Uber for Package Delivery"
12 May 2012 | 2:35 pmWe're heavy Amazon.com users in our household. Since I frequently work from my home office, I'm often here when the deliveries arrive. Over the past couple of months (it may have been longer, but that's how long I've consciously noticed it), something has changed. Prior to this past couple of months, the Amazon packages always arrived via some commercial service (e.g., usually UPS) or via the USPS. Occasionally, that still happens. Increasingly, however, the packages are delivered by private couriers in delivery vans or compact, hatchback cars -- in all cases,… -
Entrepreneurs: For Venture Capital Pitches, Say What Your Startup "Does" not What It "Is"
10 May 2012 | 2:54 pmEntrepreneurs, as I've written here, when you pitch a VC, you don't have much time to make a good first impression. VC's spend a good part of their waking hours sitting through pitches, so the "make an impression" hurdle is high. Moreover, you are, like it or not, competing against the ever-growing pile of other pitches flooding onto the VC's desk (more on this in a subsequent post). So, be punchy and quickly capture the interest of the audience (even if it's only one person). One good, simple bit of advice is to avoid taglines beginning with the… -
Entrepreneurs: Make Two Presentation Decks
7 May 2012 | 1:01 pmHaving worked with startups for over 30 years now, I'm noticing a trend (while trying to remain aware of the cognitive bias called the "recency (or frequency) illusion") among VC's to request to see the entrepreneur's pitch deck ahead of time, as a condition to deciding whether to take meeting with the entrepreneur. On the one hand, this seems like a reasonable request. VC's are time-starved, have too many deals to which they can realistically pay close attention, and reviewing the deck seems like a more time-efficient way to triage their deal flow. And, some… -
Entrepreneurs Should NOT Answer This Question: "What Are Your Valuation Expectations?"
30 Apr 2012 | 9:51 amOne of the first things I do when I engage with a company as their "Sherpa" is to help them raise money. Quite often, if not all the time, they get asked by VC's in pitches: "What are your valuation expectations?" Here's the wrong answer (the "Wrong Answer"): giving a specific dollar figure, even if phrased as a range (e.g., "...oh, it's somewhere between $X and $Y."). Here's the right answer (this, or something very close to this -- the "Right Answer"): "We want to set the company up to succeed, and we know you need…
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Babbling VC
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Where You Live Doesn't Matter Anymore But Your Mindset Sure Does
14 May 2012 | 9:49 amSurprisingly, after spending another week in the Valley, I've come to a conclusion that it really doesn't matter where you live anymore. As much as I believed for a long time that you had to be in the Valley to truly have the full benefit of the surroundings, this is no longer the case. Now don't get me wrong. You still have to get over there fairly regularly if you want to be on the cusp of innovation. It IS necessary to see it with your own eyes, to breathe it in and to talk in person with the right people. There's only one way and that is physically to get your ass on a plane and fly… -
Damn, The Samwers Are Entertaining (& Dangerous)
31 Mar 2012 | 3:46 amThe Samwers have become the talk of the town when you're en-route in Germany. I was at Thomas Promny's D3Con event Friday and was again reminded of this. No, actually, I am reminded of how prevalent these guys are in the German VC scene whenever I leave the confines of my home. Not one party, event, business pitch nor even at times dinner conversation goes without mention of these infamous brothers. They're constantly in the press, Jason is spouting against them, Nero is ready to canonize them (were they dead) and every other blogger hangs on each and every email which slips out of Rocket… -
Gauging VC’s According to Herd Sentiment
23 Mar 2012 | 10:00 amI spent a couple of days in London at the London Web Summit, wonderfully organized by Paddy and Mike. It was a meeting of the minds when it comes to the internet scene in Europe and was fairly well attended. In addition to meeting a lot of old friends at the event, I felt that there was also a lot of opportunity to meet new people. One thing which kept coming up in conversation though was VC’s and what I thought of them. I guess people feel I have some thoughts on this considering this previous post! For some reason, now that I am no longer directly a VC, people figure I’ll speak much… -
Dear German VC's: Being Plan B Sucks
11 Mar 2012 | 4:26 amI've always defended Germany and venture capital here. Yet, it's always been a bit behind and slow to adapt and I think it may be completely missing the boat (again). Further, the damage may be irreparable if the VC's don't adapt quickly. While the US goes in one direction, Germany seems to be going in another. This all became evident to me from the amount of noise (positive) you hear about two very specific funding options in the US: AngelList and Kickstarter. Hence I thought I'd share my thoughts. I may be a bit alarmist but I spent the past 12 years as a VC watching the segment establish… -
Letting Go & Losing Control
6 Mar 2012 | 5:55 amWe usually know when we have to let go and give up control, yet I oftentimes simply find it so hard to do. Parents probably know this situation best in regards to their children. Yet at the same time, I sure do too as a former VC and manager. It's often extremely hard to let an idea, an employee, an innovation or team loose because it means you give up some control. You can no longer micro-manage every step of the way. You may also no longer be able to claim the success as all yours. Nevertheless, the inability to let go and give up control probably leads to failure far more often than we…
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DealBook
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Coty Is Said to Have Picked Underwriters for I.P.O.
16 May 2012 | 2:28 pmCoty has selected Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase as the lead underwriters for its initial public offering, days after the cosmetics maker withdrew its $10.7 billion takeover bid for Avon. -
'London Whale' Said to Be Leaving JPMorgan
16 May 2012 | 12:14 pmBruno Iksil, the so-called London whale at the center of the trading debacle, is expected to depart the bank, according to current and former colleagues. -
In Scrutiny of JPMorgan Loss, Bigger Questions Left Unanswered
16 May 2012 | 11:15 amThe commentary surrounding the trading debacle at JPMorgan Chase has mostly been about the implications for banking reform. But the first question on everyone's mind should be whether any existing laws were broken. -
Grading Last Year's Ira Sohn Presenters
16 May 2012 | 11:10 amAs some of the biggest names in hedge funds gather for the annual Ira Sohn Conference on Wednesday, AR magazine has surveyed how well last year's investment proposals have worked out. -
Business Day Live: Sipping Less Sugar
16 May 2012 | 10:22 amWhy states use cash meant for homeowners to plug budget gaps. | A look at Eduardo Saverin, Facebook's co-founder. | How soft-drink makers cope with a decline in sales.
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Venture Chronicles
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Sapphire 2012
16 May 2012 | 10:44 amI have been in Orlando for the Sapphire event and while I missed day 1 I did take in the full experience yesterday. With no particular narrative here is a summary of thoughts I collected. Sapphire is huge, the main pavilion is easily 3-4x the size of Dreamforce and the energy is studious and focused. Walking the show floor revealed a lot of SAP people in every area demo’ing and talking about SAP products and technologies, and as @pgreenbe noted there wasn’t a lot of chaos and noise. It’s actually very pleasant to be on the show floor. The morning keynote featured co-CEO Jim… -
Utility at What Cost?
14 May 2012 | 1:20 pmDan Gillmor is critical of the NYTimes decision to require Facebook login for verified identity, which brings with it greater access to services in their online offerings. News organizations that use Facebook for login to comments and other features are unbelievably short-sighted. Which, of course, is absolutely nothing new. Normally I would be at the front of the line when it comes to criticizing the NYTimes but in this case I think their decision is calculated and reasonable. What they are getting is a real name identity system without the substantial obstacles that would otherwise not be… -
Customer Service 2012 – Just Get to the Point
13 May 2012 | 6:00 pmI have had the need to contact 3 different companies today through their call center numbers and I’m done… I simply don’t have any more time to give these companies with all the other stuff I have to do. First there is the IVR system… Then there is the obligatory customer/account/confirmation number dance, I punch it in then I have to say it and then I have to confirm it… Then we go through the recital of problem/need and a repeating of that that for posterity…. Then my issue gets solved after some back and forth, and “can I put you on hold” (as… -
What Kind of Fear Owns You?
12 May 2012 | 7:02 pm“Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson I have two experiences that have taught me more about the human condition than all other things in life combined, being a parent and being an integral part of a small company. What I have concluded is that fear is an unavoidable component in most of the decisions we make, whether conscious or not, and that the opposite of fear is not courage, it is love. Not all fears are equal when it comes to the paths that people take in life. Some are ruled by fear of failure while others fear success, fear… -
Network Laws
30 Apr 2012 | 7:09 pmLast week I spoke at Dr. Natalie’s social business class at UCLA and one of the presenters who was on before me commented on the idea that people have a finite number of connections they can maintain, if I recall correctly he said 123 connections. What he is referring to is something called Dunbar’s Number, which asserts that the number of relationships a person can maintain is limited by the human brains cognitive abilities to between 100 and 230, with 150 being the commonly quoted number. I have no reason to dispute this and would defer to Dunbar’s research in this area…
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Frederic Destin
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Chris Lynch joins Atlas Venture
16 May 2012 | 8:38 amChris Lynch has decided to join Atlas Venture. Needless to say, we're very excited. This brings our tech team to a total of five investors: Dustin Dolginow, Jeff Fagnan, Ryan Moore, Chris and I. I first got to know Chris after he came in as an EIR in January 2010. I expected him to find and run a great startup we could fund. He didn't: Chris joined Vertica as CEO in the Spring of 2010. Vertica: a Stonebraker company funded by a flurry of VC's (Highland, Bessemer, KP, NEA) but not, of course, by us. You may wonder how that happens: how did we let our prized EIR slip away to another… -
The Singularity hits Venture Capital (Wilson/Kauffman Redux)
13 May 2012 | 10:20 pmI mean, really, who still wants to be a venture capitalist ? It's fast moving from job to have for new HBS grads with flat abs and trophy girlfriend (or vice versa) to labour of love for guys or gals who are willing to commit 15-20 years of their lives and preferably a big percentage of their current and future wealth without knowing whether they will ever make money. Shocker ! For all we know VC's might start to feel and act more like entrepreneurs by the time we are done with all of this. Now that would be something. Let's recap an exciting week (and build on the… -
The Great European Venture Capital Crisis
9 May 2012 | 1:24 pmOver the past few quarters I have had to organize or assist in refinancings of some of the companies I work with on European soil. The exercise of drawing up target list of investors has been a depressing one, for the European venture landscape is starting to look extremely depleted. We have three clearly dominant firms based out of London, in the form of Accel Partners, Balderton Capital and Index Ventures. We have regional champions like Northzone. But one struggles quickly to add new firms to the list of potential investors. It's a tough market out there. Take France as an example. -
Kauffman report : Broken VC, Guilty LPs, and the way forward
8 May 2012 | 4:32 pmThe Kauffman Foundation seeks to put the final nail in the coffin of the VC malaise, with a thoughtful and evidence based recap of what we already know: "VC is Broken" and driving the point home to Limited Partners: "we have seen the enemy and it's us". The notion is that insufficient focus on alignment of interest and sloppy performance measurement has led the majority of LP's down the garden path when it comes to actual performance. You can go read the report if you want all the gory details and I wrote a rant about this in February of last year. I am going to focus on… -
Raising the bar at Techstars Boston 2012
3 May 2012 | 3:40 pmToday was TechStars Boston Demo Day (#tsdemoday). With what felt like a large proportion of the ecosystem in the room (including all the money), there was a good mix of friendly nerdiness (you know, Boston-style, not too agressive e.g. Ty Danco's wonderful T-Shirt: "My, what big data you have"), snarky tweets (@brentGrinna: @doctrackr announces 2012 revenue is $150k greater than @instragram #tsdemoday), fun banter ("Hey Fred, I bet your next deal is backing my fifteen year old son") and real business getting done (e.g. Ubersense accepting Atlas Venture money right before the show).
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GenuineVC » GenuineVC
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The Startup Offsite
16 May 2012 | 11:33 amWhen was the last time all of your startup’s management team came together to take a step back from day-to-day minutiae and think big picture? I think it’s actually incredibly valuable for startups to occasionally, and regularly, have offsite planning sessions. Unlike at “big companies,” a startup offsite isn’t about a boondoggle, it’s not about fancy hotel rooms, nor is it about silly team-building exercises so dilberts in accounting can interact with dilberts in marketing. Instead, a startup’s offsite provides the leaders of a startup with the opportunity – and excused… -
A VC Walks into Your Pitch Meeting Biased
24 Apr 2012 | 7:38 amVCs rarely go into an entrepreneur’s pitch meeting with a completely open mind. Of course they have biases given their past experiences, like with any human interaction. More importantly, though, they have biases about whether or not they are going to find the opportunity attractive even before a word of the dialog has been spoken. VCs have a fond saying about “wanting to like it” when they’re introduced to a new investment opportunity where many conditions of their so-called pattern recognition are satisfied prior to hearing the story. On the negative side, many VCs often take… -
Authenticity is Experience
12 Apr 2012 | 2:53 pmPeople ask us at NextView all of the time: “What is the typical profile of an entrepreneur in your portfolio?” Subtly behind that question is often one about the experience-level of the founders. The answer, however, doesn’t fit into a neat soundbite. We have and will continue to fund young entrepreneurs in their twenties – and as my partner Rob Go likes to say, we’re proud of it. We also especially have an affinity for what we call Tom Brady Entrepreneurs - executives with experience who have seen the playbook for success and are now ready to become the starting… -
A New Dawn for Consumer Internet Acquisitions
26 Mar 2012 | 1:22 pmOver the past decade, VCs have been lamenting about the poor state of the IPO markets and that the number of real potential acquirers for consumer internet startups has dwindled down to a handful, if that. Many of formerly rich acquirers like AOL and Yahoo have long since faded past their heyday, and their appetite for acquisitions has subsided along with it. The exit markets, along with the overfunding of the VC asset-class, have significantly contributed to poor returns that venture capital experienced during the 2000’s.But now with the IPO markets opening up for the strongest of… -
What the Founder’s Email Address Says About Your Startup
20 Mar 2012 | 8:39 amIt always feels anachronistic these days to exchange business cards when you usually have someone’s contact information anyway in an electronic format before (via email introduction) or just after (via LinkedIn connection) you meet. Many people, though, take the opportunity with a physical card to make an impression with a unique spin on their card (size, vertical orientation, etc.). But the one thing I find which also makes a subtle impression on me when I meet a founder of a startup is the convention of the company’s email address. I started mentally noting a few…
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Get Venture: Venture Made Transparent
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Bro vs. Pro Sale
15 May 2012 | 8:57 amWhen you’re setting out to hire sales people it’s important to know what type of sale you’re making. While there are many distinctions in the types of sales that companies make, one noteworthy paradigm is what I call the Pro vs. Bro sale. A “Pro” sale means selling to a professional audience in a professional way. Whether a small or large corporation, the rapport developed with the client centers around the quality of the product or service, the company’s reputation and the pricing. Generally, these are more professional settings and feel a little stiffer in style. The other type… -
Why You Want Your Competition To Succeed
2 May 2012 | 8:07 amWhen I was in High School I taped a picture of the next guy I was going to wrestle to my bathroom mirror. I stared him down as I scrubbed my teeth every morning. I was on a mission to beat him physically and mentally. It was a winner-take-all world, and I never learned to like losing. My preparation for a match wasn’t unique. Frankly, I stole it from a cheesy over-watched 80’s movie. I’d bet that 20% of the homes on the block had a similar photo taped to the mirror. One of them probably was a photo of me. That competitive perspective is beat into many of us, whether athlete or not, from… -
UX Explained
19 Apr 2012 | 8:53 amI just came across this TED talk. Very interesting thinking about human psychology that has implications for product and pricing decisions. Enjoy. -
Transforming Italy Into A Startup Hub
17 Apr 2012 | 7:50 amAny plan to transform an entire country into a thriving startup ecosystem is a lofty goal for a mere mortal. Despite that, Fernando Napolitano has set out to do just that. Fernando organized a conference in Rome that took place this last Friday. This one-day event was a call to the government, captains of industry, academia and entrepreneurs to come together to transform Italy in three years. While the mission seems daunting, he garnered support from many of Italy’s most prominent leaders. Through the course of a single track of speakers and panels he brought four ministers of the Italian… -
Your Product Is A Distraction
10 Apr 2012 | 8:45 amMagicians know all about the use of distractions. Flash something shiny over here, while they change something over there. Like lemmings we, the audience, stare at the flashiest thing in sight, unable to see the dull and mundane. Here's the problem. Your product is flashy. No matter how drab the colors, the pupils of your customers, partners, and investors will feel the gravitational pull of your product in any conversation where it's present. Want to talk strategy? Well, you better hide your product under your mattress. If it glimmers into the consciousness of your audience, you'll have to…
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Jason Ball's TechBytes
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The Invisible Internet
29 Apr 2012 | 8:50 amOne area I’m thinking about these days is what I call the “Invisible Internet”, so I thought I’d put a post out there in case there are apps and products I should be looking at. Feel free to reach out if you’re building a company in this space… Big data is gaining a lot of interest from VCs. e.g. companies that can crunch data and find patterns for large corporations. I’m interested in Big Data for the Little Guy. We invested into Worksmart Labs, who make a great product called Noom. Noom is a pedometer for your Android device. It’s fantastic… -
iPhone usability tip: slide to open
13 Feb 2012 | 1:54 pmWe all know you can “slide to unlock” your iPhone, but did you know you can “slide to open” your various alerts? This is what happens when you get a text message (or any alert for that matter) and slide it: This will open directly to the message vs opening the phone, then drilling down to the message. Enjoy your new-found productivity. -
Favorite Apps from 2011 – iOS and Android
10 Jan 2012 | 2:33 pmHere they are, in no particular order… Day One Day One offers a well designed journal app. Twitter and Facebook are great for shouting to the world, but sometimes you’d like to keep your thoughts to yourself. Day One is a great app that lets you do that. You can set a reminder for any given period – I have it set weekly, and I type a few lines about what’s happening. Available for both iOS and Mac OS X. Strava I’m a cyclist. Strava is hands down the easiest to use app I’ve come across. It works on your iPhone, your Android device and also can handle data… -
If you can’t take it with you, it’s not yours
14 Oct 2011 | 1:00 pmI picked up an Android device earlier in the year – I’ve been watching the platform and app ecosystem develop, and decided it was time to make the jump… That’s a huge deal for me, the Apple Fan Boy, bought a non-Apple piece of hardware. Turns out, the hardware switch wasn’t as critical as the software switch. And I don’t mean the OS. I stopped buying any content from Apple a long time ago. Sure, I used iBooks to test it out, but that’s all. No Apple content lived on my iPhone. When you buy digital content from Apple, you don’t actually own it,… -
The European start-up scene. It’s finally working.
10 May 2011 | 1:42 pmWhat a difference a year makes. Last April, I posted that: Europe has always had problems gaining start-up momentum – there’s no epicenter, there’s no critical mass- and there are no Heros. The Wired 100 list has gone a long way towards making 100 heroes visibile. Big applause for the Wired team. This year’s Wired 100 is on stands now – one person I was happy to see on the “bubbling list” – John Taysom. He’s an awesome guy. I’ve got a few other personal favorites that aren’t on the list yet, but I’ll cheer for them in silence……
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Redeye VC
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The More Things Change
9 May 2012 | 8:00 amThe more things change, the more they stay the same. Today I’m happy to announce that we have successfully closed on our new fund (First Round Capital IV) – but we’ve chosen to keep our fund the same size as our last fund. And we are thrilled that our investor base remains the same. Every single one of our existing institutional Limited Partners has recommitted to our new fund – and we are honored and thankful for their continued support. First Round Capital’s investment focus and strategy remains the same. All we focus on is seed-stage. We believe that the first… -
Introducing our New Head of Talent at First Round Capital, Jack Leidlein
2 Apr 2012 | 7:36 pmToday I'm thrilled to announce that Jack Leidlein has joined First Round Capital as our new Head of Talent. At First Round Capital we've spent the last 7 years working really hard to build a new kind of venture capital firm dedicated to supporting the next generation of company builders at idea inception. We do this through both a highly engaged partnership and a platform that helps connect our community to resources (and each other). During this process of building our firm, we've been laser focused on making sure that First Round is an entrepreneur's First Call when they want to… -
Unintended Consequences
23 Mar 2012 | 11:45 amI am very happy that the Senate approved the JOBS Act yesterday -- I supported it's passage and believe that it will ease the path for companies to go public faster in a way that maintains meaningful investor protection. I am fully aware, however, that like all legislation, we will find both positive and negative "unintended consequences" the emerge from this legislation. I believe (and hope) that those consequences will be better than the existing situation. We have already witnessed the unintended consequences of Sarbanes Oxley on the startup industry. There has been a lot of… -
Video Pre-Roll Advertising: SOLVED
5 Mar 2012 | 11:35 amWe've all had the experience -- we want to watch a video online, but have to watch some useless pre-roll video beforehand. This often frustrates the user, doesn't deliver value to the brand, and reduces the consumer's perception of the publisher. Finally, there's a new approach. Created by Solve Media (a First Round Capital portfolio company), the folks that re-invented the captcha, comes a new approach to video advertising. Instead of watching the whole pre-roll advertisement, consumers can type in a part of the brand message -- allowing them to access the content faster...and… -
Brett Berson - Turning a Portfolio into a Community...
29 Feb 2012 | 9:58 amEver since I became a VC, one of the most frequent questions I get asked is: “Don’t you miss being an entrepreneur? Will you ever do another startup?” And I think my answer typically surprises people – because my answer to the question is always: “First Round Capital is astartup – it’s just a startup venture firm.” Just like Half.com was started to capitalize on a gap between eBay and Amazon, First Round Capital was started back in 2004 to fill the gap between venture funds and angel investing. I’ve often said how surprising it is that an industry that exists to…
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Seth Levine
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The future of your past (our investment in Mocavo)
16 May 2012 | 11:47 amIt’s funny how things have a way of working out. I wrote recently of our experience with SEOMoz – from initial meeting a few years ago to finally investing in them earlier this month. Today we announced our investment in Mocavo - a genealogy search platform that provides users with the best tools available to find information on their ancestors. More specifics on the business in a minute but the year long journey from TechStars to Foundry investment is worth noting. I first met Mocavo at the start of last year’s TechStars Boulder. I liked founder Cliff Shaw a lot and… -
California, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado
1 May 2012 | 10:33 amCalifornia, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado. That’s the order of states with the greatest dollar value of seed and early stage investment according to a PWC MoneyTree study that my partner Jason blogged about today. 290M invested in 41 companies based in Colorado in 2011. Compare that with 2006 when Colorado ranked 12th on the list with just under 90M invested in 32 companies. That’s an incredible achievement and says a lot about the state of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Colorado and our rising profile on the national stage. I’ve written extensively on why Boulder… -
Getting it Right the 2nd Time (our investment in SEOMoz)
1 May 2012 | 7:36 amIt’s not often in this business that you get a second bite at the proverbial apple, but with our funding of SEOMoz announced today we got just that. I first met SEOMoz founder and CEO Rand Fishkin in late 2008. It was a pretty memorable meeting in the lobby of the Vitale. At the time I was deep into the SEM side of the search world and was thinking about whether we wanted to place a bet on the organic side of search (aided at the time by what seemed like a large number of SEO agencies trying to productize their service into some kind of software package). It was clearly a big opportunity. I… -
The Seed Signaling Problem That’s NOT Being Talked About
23 Apr 2012 | 6:01 pmThere’s been plenty of chatter over the past few years about the potential pitfalls for entrepreneurs taking seed money from VCs. This includes a recent and very thorough overview of the issues by Elad Gil which I’d highly recommend reading, even if you’re already familiar with the issues around seed financing (and in particular the so called “party round” where everyone takes a piece but no one takes the lead). I’ve noticed something recently that’s a bit of the flip side of the same problem that everyone is talking about but that I haven’t… -
Glue 2012 will be the best Gluecon yet
16 Apr 2012 | 7:58 amAs you may know from reading prior posts on the subject the two days that comprise the Glue Conference (May 23rd and 24th, 2012) are some of the most information packed and interesting days of my year. To me what sets Glue apart is that it stands almost alone in the conference circuit as a show that’s neither company specific (Google I/O, Dreamforce, Chirp) or startup celebrity focused (DEMO, TC50, etc.). There are only a sparse few events that are developer focused – which makes Glue that much more important. Glue is an incredibly well run conference and you can tell by looking at…
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Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed
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Twitter Digest: 2012-05-15
16 May 2012 | 6:00 amHaving long ago dated a lovely Dutch girl, I'm really torn on the whole Dutch disease thing – http://t.co/DaRkVxh0 -> Debate today on best cameo ever. It's this: "I loved you in Wall Street". Can there be debate? http://t.co/KjTAZTYS -> I think I'm going to tweet in entish more often. Crazy satisfying. -> The global hotel Club Sandwich index – http://t.co/S2KkLXVR /via @theeconomist -> English too brief to show my love of this, so … entish: A-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lindor-burúmë – http://t.co/8djZn85r -> -
Twitter Digest: 2012-05-14
15 May 2012 | 6:00 amSki industry watching as eastern US resort sues insurer over catastrophe policy payout – http://t.co/9D87veC1 -> Can't believe the gold bugs aren't all over the tragic end of Canadian Tire money. http://t.co/zgi20svE -> Apropos my amorality, I tried the psychopath test earlier today & turned out saner than I thought. http://t.co/84VN3XfG / cc @jonronson -> Chagrined I can't work up energy to care about Jamie Dimon, VaR models, etc. It used to be that when things were going to hell it bugged me. -> Think of putting in recreational bid for FB IPO allocation. -
Twitter Digest: 2012-05-13
14 May 2012 | 6:00 amJust showed offspring you can find pi to 7 places at position 50,366,472 of pi. Yes, I'm that geeky. http://t.co/qlnYgMJF -> The Floppy Disk icon means "save", & 14 other icons that don't make sense anymore – http://t.co/ZFSXcsTG /via @techmeme -> Strong stuff in Pettis's latest, incl on China wobbles and a collapse in commodity prices – http://t.co/HHmAkY8f -> Never realized YouTube's lead was this gigantic: Top 10 Video, Multimedia Websites – April 2012 http://t.co/DmIUvjyr -> Evans-Pritchard: World edges closer to deflationary… -
Twitter Digest: 2012-05-12
13 May 2012 | 6:00 amDean Potter walks a tightrope over Enshi Grand Canyon – YouTube http://t.co/LbosSSVg -> John Lanchester · Marx at 193 · LRB http://t.co/Pmzp4iqd -> More Wealthy Chinese Said to Seek Exit Options via Investor Visas – http://t.co/A3v6GXMo -> Photo set: 75 Years Since The Hindenburg Disaster – http://t.co/9gkkH2aK -> Neutrinos to Give High-Frequency Traders the Millisecond Edge – http://t.co/S2ow8l7e -> The shitty singularity – http://t.co/RicFaj74 -> Gruber: IOS low-hanging fruit – http://t.co/Ww41pBYv ->
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Start-ups & VC
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MoneyTree: VC investment halved in Q1
16 May 2012 | 2:41 pmpwc Israel: Investment will rise later this year, but we expect investment in 2012 to be much less than in 2011. -
Healthcare expenses control co Simplee raises $6m
16 May 2012 | 11:44 amThe Social+Capital Partnership and Greylock invested in the company's first financing round. -
Stem cell co Gamida Cell raises $10m
15 May 2012 | 3:36 pmThe company will use the proceeds to support the commercialization of its StemEx, as an alternative therapeutic treatment for patients with blood cancers. -
The Hurvitz life sciences legacy lives on
15 May 2012 | 2:32 pmCHealth is the investment fund of Chaim Hurvitz, the son of the late Teva chairman Eli Hurvitz. -
Mobile TV chip developer Siano seeks to raise $20-30m
14 May 2012 | 7:50 pmThe company hopes to storm the US market with its RallyTV product that provides TV broadcasts to railway and bus passengers.
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BeyondVC
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Startups and Intellectual Property (IP)
16 May 2012 | 10:02 amLately questions about Intellectual Property or IP have been cropping up left and right. Eliot Durbin (my partner at BOLDstart Ventures) and I had a long discussion this morning in preparation for his panel today about IP and patents. Last week, we met with a company and when we asked about their core IP, they launched into a 5 minute discussion about the various patents they filed. Do startups really think patents are going to make or break their business? Yes, having core tech or IP matters but patents are a different question altogether. Your best protection… -
What entrepreneurs can learn from Jeff Spicoli
25 Jan 2012 | 11:28 amI know I may be dating myself here, but over the past few weeks I couldn't help but think about the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High and one of the standout characters, Jeff Spicoli. When asked by Mr. Hand, his teacher, why he keeps coming late and wasting his time, Spicoli answers, "I don't know." I Don't Know Fast Times at Ridgemont High at MOVIECLIPS.com In several meetings with entrepreneurs during the past few weeks, they would have been better off answering like Spicoli rather than giving me some hollow bull shit answer. I want to make it very clear that I don't expect… -
Never give up but move on quickly
21 Oct 2011 | 9:24 amAs a young kid, I was always taught the valuable lesson of never giving up or quitting. No matter how many times you get knocked down, you have to stand up and keep moving. That is the same trait that I also admire in many of the entrepreneurs that I have funded over the years. This mentality is what carries many great entrepreneurs from near death experiences to ultimate success. However, I do caution that entrepreneurs should temper this "never give up" attitude with a "move on quickly" one as well. Let me explain. Many entrepreneurs will take this same… -
Startups getting caught in No Man’s Land
29 Sep 2011 | 9:29 am"No Man's Land" is traditionally known as the area between two trenches. This is a reference to World War I and the vicious trench warfare and hand-to-hand combat that characterized that war. In "No Man's Land" lay a wasteland of dead bodies and other debris and shrapnel. Increasingly I am seeing many startups who were ably seed funded get caught in "No Man's Land" between the seed round and a true Series A round led by a venture capitalist. This is happening because there are way too many companies raising seed capital but not enough executing their way to a Series A. -
The New York Startup Market Rocks and is REAL
15 Apr 2011 | 7:02 amOK, I may be biased having been an early stage VC based out of New York since 1996, but I must say that the vibe, energy, and people at the Techstars NYC Demo Day event yesterday was simply awesome. Dave Tisch and team simply did a fantastic job guiding the startups, recruiting the mentors, and organizing the event. I was quite honored to have been a mentor and to have had a chance to interact with so many high quality teams. The audience was awesome as well bringing together many rock stars of the past with those of the future. In addition, over 750 investors came in…
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VC Cafe
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Invest in Israel Newsletter – April 2012 Edition
3 May 2012 | 11:03 amAs every month, VC Cafe is re-posting the “Invest in Israel” Newsletter, published by the investment promotion center of Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, which offers many helpful tools for prospecting investors. For the Invest in Israel archive, click here. This month’s trend continues to be acquisitions of Israeli firms by large US corporates. COVIDIEN ACQUIRES ORIDION FOR $346M OridionSytems,Ltd. (SWX: ORIDN) an Israeli manufacturer of capnography respiratory monitors and modules was bought by Ireland’s Covidienplc.(NYSE: COV) for $346 million in cash. -
The Role Venture Capital is Playing in Online Schooling (Guest Post)
23 Apr 2012 | 4:29 pmBy Estelle Shumann* Venture capital and other forms of seed funding have been crucial for the development of the best online colleges. Many third-party educational organizations exist to maintain online schooling ventures, and these organizations typically receive most of their funding from venture capital firms. The same is true of educational technology developers. Many smaller development firms receive seed funding to develop technologies used by public and private schools across America. Venture capital for online schooling is so important because success usually hinges on the ability to… -
144 Israeli startups raised $483 million In Q1 2012
23 Apr 2012 | 4:03 amAccording to the latest IVC-KMPG quarterly survey published today, in the first quarter of 2012, venture capital investments in Israel rached $483 million, up slightly from the amount invested in Q1/2011. 144 Israeli high-tech companies raised $483 million from Israeli and foreign venture investors, 15% below $569 million raised by 124 companies in the previous quarter, but almost equal to $479 million raised by 140 companies in Q1/2011. Rounds becoming smaller, more first investments The average company financing round was $3.40 million, compared to $4.59 million in Q4/2011 and up slightly… -
Invest in Israel Newsletter – March 2012
3 Apr 2012 | 1:51 pmAs every month, VC Cafe is re-posting the “Invest in Israel” Newsletter, published by the investment promotion center of Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, which offers many helpful tools for prospecting investors. For the Invest in Israel archive, click here. This month’s trend is without a doubt large M&A deals. CISCO BUYS NDS FOR $5B NDS, founded in 1988 by scientists from the Weizmann Institute, and which operates a large R&D center in Jerusalem, is being bought by information technology giant Cisco for $5b. NDS, with world headquarters in… -
Doing something I love
1 Apr 2012 | 4:56 pmIt’s been a while since I posted regularly. People have been asking me if VC Cafe is still going, so I thought it is about time I updated you on what has been keeping me busy. There’s been a surge in great blogs covering the Israeli startup scene, so I feel less guilty about taking a break from blogging this time around. So, what has been keeping me busy? I’ve been fortunate to start a new role at Google as the Head of Campus, a unique co-working and event space, that Google set up in East London, in the heart of TechCity (worth repeating the ‘disclaimer’ that…
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SAI
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Facebook Should Buy Klout
16 May 2012 | 2:08 pmFacebook does a fantastic job of tapping into an innate human neuroticism: the desire to share and promote yourself among others. It also taps into another innate part of human nature, but less so: grading. Users often "grade" their friends by how many friends they have on Facebook. However, Facebook doesn't have a direct way for users to grade each other, or be graded. If Facebook wants to tap into that component of human nature, it should buy Klout. Yes, it sounds a little crazy, but it's not. Here are three reasons it makes sense: It will encourage people to share information more readily. -
Why General Motors Will Rue The Day It Dissed Facebook
16 May 2012 | 2:05 pmOne of Facebook's largest ad buyers, TBG Digital, says General Motors was off its rocker for pulling its Facebook ads. GM created a stir when it pulled $10 million in ads from Facebook Tuesday, right in time for the company's expected IPO. While sources have told Business Insider that some people on Facebook's ad sales team are pissed off, particularly since GM used an advertising strategy that was essentially the exact opposite of what Facebook suggests companies do, Facebook hasn't commented given in its pre-IPO status. TBG, however, has given BI a slideshow explaining why GM ditching… -
Google Should Be Terrified Of These 12 Startups (GOOG)
16 May 2012 | 1:56 pmGoogle is in a pretty good position right now. It's by a very wide margin the best search engine on the market, and it's charging into other spaces like payments and music. But those sectors are ripe for disruption, and all it takes is a good idea from a startup to knock Google — which can't move as quickly as a nimble startup — off its pedestal. We asked a bunch of investors and industry sources where they think Google is at risk for disruption. It turns out Google is much more vulnerable than we thought. Even search isn't sacred any more, with some startups going after… -
Facebook's IPO Expected To Blow Google's Out Of The Water - Will Be The Largest VC Backed IPO Ever By 4X
16 May 2012 | 1:50 pmDow Jones says Facebook is expected to smash three IPO records when it goes public. Google holds the current record for the largest IPO by a venture backed company which was valued at $24.6 billion in 2004. Facebook is expected to exceed that by about four times. Thanks in part to Instagram, Facebook is also the "most active acquirer pre-IPO," says Dow Jones. It has purchased 13 VC-backed companies while private. Twitter is in a close second with 11 VC-backed acquisitions. Facebook has also raised more money than any other VC-backed company to go public. It has raised $2.2 billion in… -
DEAR GIDDY FACEBOOK IPO BUYERS: Are We Looking At The Same Numbers? (FB)
16 May 2012 | 1:40 pmWell, it looks as though Facebook is shaping up to be the IPO Of The Century, after all. Demand was so strong that the underwriters reportedly closed the books two days early. A senior stockbroker at a major US brokerage firm says he's never seen such demand. "Rich, older women" are apparently placing orders in droves, following Peter Lynch's advice to "buy what you know." And so on. And all this in the face of what can only be described as disappointing Q1 results for the company (see below), the revelation that super-fast-growing mobile is much less lucrative for Facebook than the desktop,…
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The VC Experts' Buzz
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LBO: Attempts to Step Up Basis and Avoid Double Taxation
15 May 2012 | 7:00 pmOne obvious gambit to eliminate tax at the corporate level is, in the appropriate instance, for the Target to be or convert from a taxpaying C Corporation to, an S Corporation, a so-called, pass-through entity in that tax is not imposed on income at the entity (in this case the corporate) level. Another option could be that since a partnership, like an S Corporation, is a pass-through entity for tax purposes, there may be advantages to organizing Newco as a partnership. -
Some Thoughts On Registration Rights
14 May 2012 | 7:00 pmTo comprehend adequately various issues involved, a discussion of basic principles is in order. The first is that registration rights are seldom used in accordance with their terms, and yet some investors and their counsel view them as a central element of the deal. The actual use of the demand rights, for example, could prove very awkward. -
Analysis of FATCA Proposed Regulations
9 May 2012 | 7:00 pmOn February 8, 2012, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations for the next major phase of implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The regulations lay out a step-by-step process for U.S. account identification, information reporting, and withholding requirements for foreign financial institutions (FFIs), certain non-financial foreign entities (NFFEs) and U.S. withholding agents. -
IVC-GKH: Summary of Israeli Private Equity Deals - Q1 2012
8 May 2012 | 7:00 pmHere are the findings of the IVC-GKH Quarterly Private Equity (PE) Survey conducted by IVC Research Center, which for more than 15 years has been at the forefront of private equity, high-tech, start-ups and venture capital research in Israel. The Survey reviews Israeli private equity deals involving Israeli and foreign PE funds and other investors - both Israeli and foreign. The current Survey is based on the activity of 70 private equity funds of which 30 are Israeli and 40 are foreign. -
Some Thoughts On The Business Plan And Private Placement Memo
7 May 2012 | 7:00 pmSince a private placement memorandum, usually abbreviated as the PPM, is the norm in most deals, the founder should familiarize himself with the standards for memorandum preparation, keeping in mind that, like any legal document, there are various audiences.
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DubaiBeat.com
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After the New York acquisition, Kuwaiti investors acquired a $33 million building in UK
15 May 2012 | 10:20 amThe Kuwait-based Warba Bank has announced acquisition of the new headquarters of British Telecom located in the town of West Bromwich in the UK for $33 million. This is in-line with their acquisition in New York a couple of weeks ago in which they announced the conclusion of a financing deal to purchase a property and develop it into a multi-family residential complex by Criterion Group based in New York. A total of 24 percent of the stocks of this bank is held by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA). To see more Real Estate investors from the Middle East like Warba Bank, check our Middle East… -
US Paladin Capital and Abu Dhabi Invest AD to launch $100 million fund
14 May 2012 | 9:32 amUS private investment company Paladin Capital Group and Abu Dhabi-based investment company Invest AD have established a private equity joint venture that will channel investments into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Turkey. The joint investment team has already identified a deal pipeline in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. (As DubaiBeat.com reported earlier, Invest AD and Japan's SBI Holdings has invested $100 million in Turkish private equity before.) Invest AD is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code BD46. More details follows: -
Bulgaria counting on Qatar investors for new Romania-Turkey highway
10 May 2012 | 9:18 amBulgaria's government has decide to open to potential investors a project for building a new motorway between its border with Romania and Turkey - with Qataris as top potential investors. On a recent visit to Sofia, Qatari investment delegate confirmed his country's interest in the motorway, highlighting Bulgaria's important potential as a transit point from the Middle East to western Europe. To see a list of investment firms from Qatar check our Middle East Investors Directory More details follows -
Middle Eastern investors acquired substantial farming property in Western Australia
30 Apr 2012 | 7:59 amHassad Australia, an Australian company backed by Qatari investors, has acquired 27,000 hectares of farming lands in Westerns Australia - ABC News of Australia is reporting. Hassad Australia's head office is in Sydney and its operations are managed and staffed by Australians. The Board of Hassad Australia consists of six directors, including three Australian Directors. (Nasser Mohamed Al Hajri, Hassan Abdulla Al Thawadi, Professor J. Lindsay Falvey, John Corbett, Gary Spiel and Tarek Hashem.) To see a list of real estate investors from the Middle East similar to Hassad check our Middle East… -
Souq.com merges private shopping portal Sukar.com in its operations
29 Apr 2012 | 6:23 amIn a move that appears to be more of a consolidation in a holding group than an acquisition, it is announced that Souq.com, an e-commerce portal from the Middle East has acquired the private shopping portal Sukar.com. Sukar.com is majority owned by the same group that owns Souq.com. So for us this seems more like a consolidation against the big force of another shopping portal, MarkaVIP.com which has recently closed a Series B of $10 million investment. Souq.com had announced investing $2.5 million in start-up Run2Sport.com earlier. More details follows from their release:
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Taylor Davidson » Perspective
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I want to…
14 May 2012 | 4:15 pmWhen you think “I want to..”, what do you do? I want… powered by Neighborland. When you think “I want to..”, what do you do? When you want to share a thought, store a link, find an idea, research a person, find new music, ask a question, share a photo, etc., what do you do? And do you even think about it? Each one of these actions can be accomplished in many ways with a variety of products on the web; each one of these actions has a multitude of companies competing to be our preferred, default method for getting what we want done. Some are even trying to convince… -
Context First
23 Apr 2012 | 2:19 pmThe next set of winners in web services will use the organizing principle of “context first” to build on top of social platforms, mobile platforms and data platforms to rethink how their business operates. When I hear people say “mobile will be huge” I cringe: mobile is already huge, and has been huge around the world for many years. To say “mobile” will be big is a useless generalization, because “mobile” means so many different things. But moreso, mobile isn’t a product feature: it’s an organizing principle. What’s the… -
kbs+ Ventures in 2011
19 Apr 2012 | 7:50 amSharing the kbs+ Ventures 2011 Annual Report, highlighting our performance in 2011, what we saw in the early-stage market, and our investments in 2011. MediaPost recently highlighted kbs+ Ventures in a recent article: One year after launching, kbs+p Ventures has emerged as one of the most sophisticated venture capital units on Madison Avenue. Read the rest for a review of how we view our role as a strategic investor, the Fellows program, and how we work to create investment and knowledge returns for the kbs the agency and its clients, our fellow investors, and all the entrepreneurs we back. -
“Let me not be so vain to think that I’m the sole author of my victories and a victim of my defeats.”
10 Apr 2012 | 10:09 am“There’s no need to sharpen my pencils anymore. My pencils are sharp enough. Even the dull ones will make a mark.” I’m very stoked about The Show. It doesn’t have to be the same to be great. Also: “Perfectionism may look good in his shiny shoes, but he’s a little bit of an asshole and no one invites him to their pool parties.” -
“We are here on the planet only once, and we might as well get a feel for the place.”
2 Apr 2012 | 8:10 amWhat’s the point of travel? Hidden, Hudson Highlands State Park, NY Anne Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters: The point of going somewhere like the Napo River in Ecuador is not to see the most spectacular anything. It is simply to see what is there. We are here on the planet only once, and we might as well get a feel for the place. This is how I think about travel and exploration; often times, the point of going is simply to see what’s there, to experience it with our own eyes, heart, mind and soul, to add to our perspective and knowledge about the world.
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Continuations
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Off the Grid (China Edition)
16 May 2012 | 8:31 amWe are about to go on a trip to China and I couldn’t be more excited. I have never been to Asia before and am looking forward to the experience. China in particular has held my fascination since taking Roderick MacFarquhar’s amazing course on the Cultural Revolution in college. And now of course China has been seeing dramatic economic growth with a domestic Internet population that is approaching 500 million users. For a variety of reasons that include language and culture but of course also politics and the great firewall the Chinese Internet market is completely… -
Tech Tuesday: Literals, Constants and Variables
15 May 2012 | 6:39 amI may have lost a bunch of Tech Tuesday readers with that post on semantics last week, so today I am hoping to gain some back with a much easier topic! We are continuing the cycle on programming by looking at how programs refer to things. Again let’s start by looking at human language. If I say “William Henry Gates III” then I am referring to the co-founder of Microsoft by his full given name. In the right context I could simply say “Bill” and everyone would know who it was. Alternatively, I could say “co-founder of Microsoft” and that… -
Behance
14 May 2012 | 2:32 pmToday’s post is over at USV, where we announced our investment in Behance. -
What's $2B Among Friends?
11 May 2012 | 6:08 amDuring the 2008 crisis, I argued that we should take over the big banks and restructure them. Instead, we bailed out the banks with tax payer money and with an unprecedented increase in the Fed’s balance sheet. We did nothing to get rid of banks that are “too big to fail” or to severely restrict their activities (which might lead them to break themselves up). So yesterday, JP Morgan Chase had to announce a $2 Billion trading loss from what they claim was a hedge gone wrong in Credit Derivatives but looks awfully like rogue trading activity. This particular error may be… -
Etsy Becomes a Certified B Corporation
10 May 2012 | 9:24 amToday’s blog post is over at the USV blog on Etsy becoming a certified B Corp. It all started with this. Congrats to Chad and the team at Etsy on taking transparency and responsibility to the community and making it not just a commitment but also something that is measured.
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OpenView Blog
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B2B Social Media Assessment: How Do Your Efforts Stack Up?
16 May 2012 | 1:23 pmB2B Social Media Matters More and more B2B companies are recognizing the power of social media in terms of building community, increasing thought leadership, and generating leads. With over 800 million active users on Facebook, more than 300 million tweets sent daily, and one hour of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, it’s easy to get carried away and let everything just pass you by. The truth is, B2B companies can’t afford to overlook a solid social media strategy (which is why we have assembled a group of biggest and brightest minds in social media including Jay Baer, Tim… -
Don’t Be Haunted By “IP” Mistakes
16 May 2012 | 1:08 pmAs a Boston-based venture capital firm that invests growth capital in expansion-stage software companies, OpenView works hard to determine whether a company that we are looking to invest in has intellectual property or “IP.” All things being equal, OpenView would invest in a company that has IP before it would invest in a company that doesn’t. That is why I wanted to share this WSJ article I found in their “Small Business” section written by Antone Johnson titled 5 ‘IP’ Mistakes Start-ups Should Avoid. You might find Johnson’s five mistakes… -
Brand Influence: Is Your Company Maximizing the Return on Its Efforts?
15 May 2012 | 1:01 pmImage provided by: ArticlesBase.com Over the last 4 weeks, I have written a series of posts on how to measure an individual’s online influence and provided tips to improve your return on investment in the Blogging, Tweeting and LinkedIn influence channels. This week, I will shift my focus to online brand influence. Earlier today, OpenView released the second of its 2-part series of reports on online influence in the Venture Capital space. The latest report ranks the top 10 most influential venture capital firms online and provides some highlights of the tactics that these firms are using… -
4 Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Content Factory
15 May 2012 | 7:52 amIf I asked you to close your eyes and imagine a content factory, what would you envision? Most of us associate factories with images of busy assembly lines filled with high-tech machinery. We might think about the people, parts, and processes that it takes to create a product like the laptop I’m writing this article on or the smart phone you might be using to read it. Put the word content in front of factory, however, and people often get a little confused. It’s not that they don’t understand what one is (a little explanation goes a long way), but rather that they can’t always… -
The Best Email Prospecting Tactics
14 May 2012 | 3:50 pmWhile many people criticize email as tool for sales prospecting it still remains one of the most effective and commonly used forms of communication for both business and personal use. A study done by the Radicati Group estimates that in 2012 there will be about 2.7 billion active email accounts world-wide, 25% of which are corporate accounts. A more recent Pew Research survey found that 91% of adult internet users in the U.S. send or read email. The topic of sales prospecting emails is widely discussed in the sales and marketing blogosphere, and I agree with most of the other contributors…
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EZebis
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Lynn Perkins, CoFounder Urbansitter.com & Mompreneur
16 May 2012 | 11:00 amVideo interview with Lynn Perkins. Lynn is co-founder of UrbanSitter.com, a service that enables parents and babysitters to connect online through Facebook and their existing networks. A startup veteran, Lynn offers more than 15 years of experience marketing and selling to Gen X and Gen Y.Prior to founding to UrbanSitter, …
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Openview Labs
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Perspectives: Product Management Expert Jeremy Horn on What Drives Product Development Success
16 May 2012 | 1:52 pmEditor’s Note: This is a guest post by Jeremy Horn, author of “The Product Guy” blog. Over the course of more than a decade in the Internet industry, Jeremy Horn has witnessed some pretty seismic shifts in the constantly evolving technology landscape. One that he’s particularly happy to see is this emerging trend: Companies are no longer afraid to ask customers to pay for their products. “That’s a pretty important change in perspective,” says Horn, a Senior Director of Digital Products at Viacom and the creator of The Product Guy blog and The Product Group, a New… -
Culture Shock: Is Your Startup Company Culture Built for the Long Haul?
16 May 2012 | 12:47 pmCongratulations, your company is growing! Now, does that mean your company culture has to grow up with it? During the frenzy of starting a new tech company, not a lot of thought is typically put into company culture. More often than not, it’s simply an extension of mindsets and personalities of the founders. There’s nothing wrong with that meaning shorts, sandals, and all-night coding sessions punctuated by trips to the bar, at first, writes Zikria Syed, CEO and co-founder of NextDocs in a guest post for VentureBeat. But is that the type of culture that is going to help fuel and… -
Tooting Your Own Horn: 3 Tips to Effective and Guilt-Free Self-Promotion
16 May 2012 | 11:38 amHas self-promotion gotten a bad rap? Maybe not, but even if it’s a necessary evil isn’t there any way to make it less annoying? These days it’s hard not to bristle at the seemingly endless barrage of shameless self-promotion that comes our way via social media. That said, if you’re not going to get out there and talk about yourself and your product, who will? “With all the noise online today,” writes Kevin Daum, bestselling author of Video Marketing For Dummies, in a post for Inc. “We need to shamelessly self-promote, loud, strong and often. And yet… -
Ask the Experts: Best Practices in Product Design
16 May 2012 | 10:48 amThis week, in conjunction with a workshop OpenView is hosting on user experience process and product design, we’ve gathered a panel of four industry experts who each know a thing or two about designing successful products. In this three-part series, they’ll share their insights and expertise by answering a variety of questions. First up: What best practices do you recommend for designing products that customers will love? Chris Kaufman, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of UpTo There’s a quote often attributed to Henry Ford (though there’s really no evidence he actually… -
How Big Data Monitoring Can Make a Big Difference for Small Companies
16 May 2012 | 9:37 amIt’s never been easier for even small companies to decode the riddle of their customer data. “Machine learning is high data science — a discipline focused on algorithms that automatically detect complex patterns hidden within datasets — and it’s fast becoming something that anyone leverages to sell more handbags, or solve a research problem, or build the next LinkedIn or Facebook,” writes GigaOm’s Derrick Harris. It can help companies discover patterns in customer behavior that allows them to fine-tune and personalize their marketing campaigns accordingly. And now several…
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Mass High Tech Newspaper | Mass High Tech: The Voice of New England Innovation | Finance
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Emme E2MS raises $2.6M in equity offering
15 May 2012 | 11:00 pmConnecticut newcomer Emme E2MS LLC, an environmental control and energy management company, has raised $2.6 million of a $4 million equity offering, according to a May 15 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. -
LuckyLabs stops fooling around to accept $3.5M
14 May 2012 | 11:00 pmSteve Kane, co-founder and CEO of Boston games company LuckyLabs Inc., isn’t the most serious of entrepreneurs. The company’s website features the tagline, “If you’re going to squander your life, do it with us,” and has a dog named Jack pictured as the company’s quality assurance technician. -
InsightSquared raises $4.5M from Salesforce, others
13 May 2012 | 11:00 pmCambridge startup InsightSquared, which aims to provide powerful business intelligence for small and medium-sized businesses, said Monday it’s raised $4.5 million in a Series A venture capital round that included new investor Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM). -
Credit card processing startup raises $2.35M
13 May 2012 | 11:00 pmA company founded three years ago and incorporated in 2012 by two Harvard students to process large credit card payments has received $2.35 million in its first formal round of funding from investors including Atlas Ventures and Flybridge Capital Partners. -
Image Stream Medical takes in $600K
2 May 2012 | 11:00 pmImage Stream Medical Inc. of Littleton has received $600,000 in equity from three investors, according to federal documents filed Thursday.
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Matt Crowe
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The Future of Business
19 Apr 2012 | 8:35 pmI can say two things for sure – 1.) The sun sets in the West and 2.) Crowdsourcing is the future of business.
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Mendelson's Musings
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Colorado Is Now #4 Ranked Destination for Early-Stage Venture Capital Investment
1 May 2012 | 7:55 amOne of the cool perks of being on the National Venture Capital Association board of directors is that I get to see lots of interesting data on the venture capital industry. The research staff, along with PriceWaterhouseCoopers are constantly looking at trends and data that provide unique and useful insights into the ecosystem and publish under the MoneyTree brand. Today, however, I got wind of some new MoneyTree data that pulled at my heart strings unlike any data that I had seen before. In fact, I was all of astonished, proud, humbled and inspired. The news? In 2011, Colorado… -
The Coolest Thing I Saw at SXSW – I Employ Veterans (Your Help Needed)
16 Mar 2012 | 2:39 pmMy partner Ryan and I just returned from SXSW. We spent a lot of time meeting with entrepreneurs, spending time with some of our companies and catching some great music. (In short if you don’t know who L.P., Punch Brothers and Ed Sheeran are, find out immediately – amazing music). But the coolest idea that I ran across was part of my office hours at Startup America. The entrepreneur is Eric Fitzsimons and his company is IEmployVeterans. The concept is simple, create a line of food and clothing products (akin to the Newman’s Own brand) that provides great quality at… -
The Senate Should Finish the Good Work They Started
6 Mar 2012 | 3:42 pmWith ongoing partisan politics fostering endless inertia in Congress, it would be easy for us citizens to throw in the towel and assume that nothing of legislative substance will get done this year. Yet VCs and entrepreneurs are eternal optimists and, in fact, we actually have a bill poised to do great things for venture-backed portfolio companies showing signs of significant bipartisan momentum. S. 1933 or the “Re-opening American Capital Markets To Emerging Growth Companies Act” was originated in the Senate late last year and is now being considered by members of… -
Goodbye Yahoo! It was nice knowing you.
28 Feb 2012 | 5:24 pmMark the date of February 28, 2012 as the official death of Yahoo!. Sure there are still people there collecting paychecks and day traders making a buck or two playing games with the stock price, but today Yahoo! waved the white flag. How so? Well, today it was announced that Yahoo! has become yet another patent troll by threatening to sue Facebook. In other words, Yahoo! has admitted that it can’t compete, can’t innovate, can’t figure a way forward and thus will hire lawyers to be its revenue generation engine. Kara Swisher properly calls it the “Kodak… -
Zayo Group is Hiring
29 Jan 2012 | 6:25 pmMy friend, Dan Caruso, CEO of Zayo is hiring. And unlike many companies, he is looking for recent college grads. Dan is a great guy and the folks that I’ve meet at his company are as well. In his words: “Amazingly, in this economy it is hard to fill key positions. Zayo occasionally looks to fill senior positions. Usually though, we are looking to complement our veteran team with recent grads who have engineering, IT, construction project management, and finance backgrounds. We are looking for ambitious, hard working and entrepreneurial people, especially women and…
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eWallstreeter
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Guest Post: Top Tier Chinese Solar Firms Have a Legitimate Cost Advantage
16 May 2012 | 2:27 pmTomorrow the U.S. Department of Commerce will announce its preliminary determination on the issue of whether Chinese solar manufacturers dumped crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules into the U.S. market. But it’s important to understand that, irrespective of the alleged dumping, China’s top tier solar manufacturers do have a legitimate cost advantage over U.S.-based solar manufacturers. China’s solar manufacturers are winning for good reason: they’re more competitive than their American counterparts. Before I get into why that is, I want to stress… -
IPO Prospects Raising Valuations Slowing Deals
16 May 2012 | 2:24 pmA report this morning issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers said that "IPO fever" is increasing the valuation of technology companies, which as slowed the pace of mergers and acquisitions in the technology market. The report, which analyzed IPO and M&A activity over the first three months of the year, said an enthusiasm for IPOs--with 13 technology IPOs and another 14 IPO registrations in the first three months of the year--has been affecting the number of mergers and acquisitions, with 64 deals, versus 69 deals in the prevoius quarter. Photo courtesy BigStock Photo). - Selected by… -
Facebook is breaking these three records with its IPO
16 May 2012 | 2:17 pmFacebook’s IPO is being heralded in rather vague terms as the biggest tech IPO in history. But this initial public offering actually does break a few records, and not just in the tech sector. This week, Facebook’s IPO will be … - Selected by eWallstreeter.com - -
Rocket Internet Copies Fab Code
16 May 2012 | 2:09 pmRocket Internet’s Nigerian site, Sabunta, has been caught stealing code from Fab. The page has since been taken down, but a cached version still provides evidence that the Samwer Brothers’ latest venture decided to claim some of Fab’s coding as its own. I don’t even have a joke for this anymore. [Source: GigaOM] - Selected by eWallstreeter.com - -
Facebook Should Buy Klout
16 May 2012 | 2:08 pmFacebook does a fantastic job of tapping into an innate human neuroticism: the desire to share and promote yourself among others. It also taps into another innate part of human nature, but less so: grading. Users often "grade" their friends by how many friends they have on Facebook. However, Facebook doesn't have a direct way for users to grade each other, or be graded. If Facebook wants to tap into that component of human nature, it should buy Klout. Yes, it sounds a little crazy, but it's not. Here are three reasons it makes sense: It will encourage people to share information more readily.
