Archive | March, 2005

Competing with the big boys

Mar 24, 2005
in Entrepreneurship

I was talking to a portfolio company CEO today about his sales pipeline and one of the key items of interest for me was understanding competitive dynamics.  Besides looking at the raw numbers, I like to understand whether or not we are seeing more or less competition, why we are winning, and why we are [...]

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When competitors are acquired…

Mar 19, 2005
in Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

It is clear that we are moving towards a consolidation phase in the technology sector.  M&A activity has been heating up over the last 18 months as strategic acquirers are looking to bulk up and broaden their product offerings.  During the last few months, we have had a few board discussions on this very topic.  [...]

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Cisco, a value play?

Mar 5, 2005
in Investing/Markets

I was reading Barron’s this morning and came across an article (sorry-need subscription for this) claiming Cisco’s potential appeal as a value stock.  It is hard to believe that this high flying company which once was the largest market cap company at $600b is now potentially a great value play.  The hot growth sector these [...]

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Know when to say “No”

Mar 3, 2005
in Entrepreneurship

I have said many times before that with respect to doing deals that saying No is as important as saying Yes.  Let me elaborate.  A portfolio company has recently been in trials with a potential strategic partner about a reseller relationship.  We got in first, set the criteria for success to leverage our technical and [...]

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