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LP Conference

Jun 29, 2005
in Venture Capital

I am not sure how many entrepreneurs understand the structure of venture capital funds but the bottom line is that while VCs manage funds, we ultimately report to our investors or Limited Partners (LPs).  It is not our money, and we have a fiduciary responsibility to manage it properly and generate the returns our LPs [...]

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The laws of supply and demand for VCs and IT Buyers

Jun 8, 2005
in Venture Capital

There is a supply and demand equation for every startup’s product or service.  In early stage companies, I sometimes see too much from the supply side and not enough from the demand part of the equation.  In other words, inventing great products that no one wants to buy is a waste of time, money and [...]

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Fundraising is a distraction

May 13, 2005
in Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

I was speaking with a friend yesterday who recently signed a term sheet to raise a Series B round.  While he did not hit it out of the park with the valuation, it was a nice step-up none-the-less and would provide his company with the capital to move forward and stay ahead of its competition.  [...]

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Venture capital in China

Apr 29, 2005
in Globalization, Venture Capital

I recently caught up with my friend Derek Sulger, founder of Linktone (Nasdaq: LTON) and current founder and CFO of Smartpay, a Paypal-like play in China (I really like what Derek is doing with this one-no credit in China, use the mobile phones for debiting from bank accounts).  Derek and I are college friends and [...]

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Go early, go late, or go home

Apr 12, 2005
in Venture Capital

After having returned from vacation last week, I had the chance to reflect on the current venture and investing market.  Yes, one of the big challenges is that there is still way too much money sloshing around in alternative assets.  As I think about how to make money in this competitive environment and where to [...]

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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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Highlights from a recent VC panel

Jan 29, 2005
in Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

On Thursday, I had the opportunity today to speak on a panel at the SAEC Global Venture Congress.  Other panelists included the moderator, Scott Maxwell from Insight Venture Partners, Bob Gold of Ridgewood Capital, Robert Dennen of Enhanced Capital Partners, Todd Pietri of Milestone Venture Partners, and Roger Hurwitz of Apax Partners.  Our panel was [...]

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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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Strike while the iron is hot

Oct 13, 2004
in Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

I was speaking with a friend of mine today who mentioned that his term sheet for his Series A round fell through. Things looked great for the last 6 weeks and then the deal process went into a stall regarding intellectual property rights. To make a long story short, one of the co-founders of the [...]

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Opportunties for Enterprise Software Investments

Sep 30, 2004
in Venture Capital

I had the opportunity to spend a few hours today at an Intel Capital event for their portfolio companies and VC friends. While a great way to network with fellow investors and meet new companies, I particularly enjoyed a talk given by Chris Thomas, Intel’s EStrategist, on the future of software in the enterprise. While [...]

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