Archive | December, 2004

Skype and a headset for every CEO!

Dec 29, 2004
in Entrepreneurship

As I prepare for my trip to Israel this weekend for a board meeting, one piece of equipment I am sure to bring is my Plantronics DSP 400 headset so I can Skype with the CEOs in my portfolio companies. I have been using Skype for the last 6 months and can honestly say that [...]

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It takes time to build value

It takes time to build value

Dec 20, 2004
in Venture Capital

During the boom, many VCs funded companies and created great exits within 12-24 months of funding.  Before that time, the standard rule of thumb was that it took about 5-6 years for a company to reach maturity, profitability, and potentially become an IPO candidate.  We did our own analysis of venture-backed software IPOs a couple [...]

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Best VC Blogs

Dec 16, 2004
in Web/Tech

A number of my readers alerted me to the fact that Fast Company has a survey on the best VC blogs.  Considering that VCs can be quite competitive and my cohorts Brad and Jeff are already stuffing the ballot box, please take a moment and cast your vote for me.  All kidding aside, since this [...]

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Consumer growth and globalization

Dec 15, 2004
in Investing/Markets

I was catching up on my Barron’s this week and a quote from Ajay Kapur of Citigroup caught my attention.  When discussing his macro investment themes Ajay said, "The world is driven by Asian exporters and U.S. consumers.  In the future, it will be Asian consumers and U.S. exporters."  Given that perspective, it is no [...]

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Some thoughts on building your team

Dec 8, 2004
in Entrepreneurship

I was recently advising a friend of mine who wanted to expand his team and hire some senior executives, and it occured to me that others could benefit from some of my thoughts on recruiting.  As you know, hiring is a critical component in the success of any company.  People and their ability to execute [...]

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NYC 2.0 (continued…)

Dec 3, 2004
in Entrepreneurship

In the past, I have written about a number of first generation NYC entrepreneurs coming out of the woodwork to launch new ideas.  Sure, the market may not be great right now but in my opinion it is the best time to build a business.  As an entrepreneur you have time to develop your product, [...]

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