VC

04.15.07

Venture Impact: Southeast Figures Prominently Entrepreneurship, VC | Comments
I finally got around to looking at Global Insight's recently released study, "Venture Impact: The Ecomonic Importance of Venture Capital Backed Companies to the U.S. Economy." This one's great emotional candy for anyone in the business. After all, venture-backed company employees represent 9% of all private sector employees, and employment at venture-backed companies grew at triple the rate of overall domestic growth in the period from 2003 to 2005. Hoo-rah! I'm not surprised by the above, but what took me aback was data on venture-backed company jobs by state, which prominently figures Georgia and Tennessee amongst other eye-openers. Peek at the following table ...
03.27.07

MyShape - New "Custom Fit" Entrant E-Commerce, Entrepreneurship, VC | Comments
Despite what has been a marked uptick in consumer facing startups over the past couple years, it's not altogether often that e-tailers make it into VentureWire. If memory serves, 1-800Diapers.com was the last that graced its e-letter. So I was interested to read the scoop yesterday that a shopping site called MyShape received $2 million from angel investors. Here's the skinny on the company per Erica Owen's reporting: MyShape, which launched six months ago and is based in Altadena, Calif., matches shoppers measurements, body shape and preferences with the varying sizes of participating brands to help overcome the fashion industry's lack ...
03.19.07

Outside "Internetville" Entrepreneurship, VC | Comments
Wheat field - (Mornico Losana, 26 Jun 2006), orginally uploaded by Simone Merli I've often heard seasoned venture capitalists refer to a kind of informal screening process for new deals. It goes like this: If I hear about a new, interesting company once, I'll mentally "log" it If I hear about a company twice (from separate sources), I'll check them out If I hear about a company three times (again, disparate sources), it's time to bring them in for a pitch This methodology serves as cure for "deal overload" and harnesses one's network as interest barometer. I'd contend that rising transparency in the ...
03.05.07

Personality Typing in Venture Capital Entrepreneurship, VC | Comments
Psychoanalist [sic], originally uploaded by DarthLen I'll never forget Mitch Mumma of Intersouth telling an assembled group of newly initiated venture capitalists that a degree in psychology would probably be a stronger indicator of success in the industry than a degree in economics. One's ability to intuit the capabilities of a team, to build trust, and manage bumps in the road are key skills for a VC, and only likely to become more so as investment opportunities become more competitive. Consider the kind of relationship building the Outside.in investment required. It's worth noting, then, that venture investors do occasionally bring ...
03.03.07

Heading to SXSW: Attendant Thoughts Entrepreneurship, Media, VC | Comments
Texas Flag on Fire Truck Grill, originally uploaded by jehinote I'll be trekking to Austin next Friday for my first SXSW conference. Do let me know if you're attending and interested in meeting up. I've been glancing through the agenda and caught the following: "Don't need no VC when you've got a PC." How's that for a grabbing panel lead-in? Actually, it's a rehash of a worn tune in the industry and it's a misnomer for the topic of a panel that'll be worthwhile for attending creatives: "Web 2.0 / 3.0 ArtsEntrepreneurship.com: Make Your Passion Your Profession." Venture dollars rarely go ...
02.15.07

Never "Just the Facts" Entrepreneurship, Life, VC | Comments
709f092603 Newport, Point Word in Yellow, originally uploaded by Pixel Packing Mama's photos At lunch yesterday I had the pleasure of hearing National Review Editor-at-Large and Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute John O'Sullivan speak about his new book The President, The Pope, and The Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World. Politics aside, what struck me about the talk was O'Sullivan's style: self-deprecating, witty, and direct. After the obligatory glowing intro highlighting role after role, accolade after accolade, O'Sullivan took the podium and said (I'm paraphrasing): "Reminds me of what my mother used to say: seems he can't ...
02.11.07

Lighting a One-Match Venture Fire Entrepreneurship, VC | Comments
on fire, originally uploaded by JesseBarker The latest issue of AlwaysOn includes a great piece by Founder and Editor-in-Chief Tony Perkins, titled, "Avoiding the Bubble Blues." He lays out seven guiding principles of success in a bubble, and implicit aftermath, geared towards startups. I'd sum them up as "ground yourself in reality" - watch cash, focus on customers and their experience, avoid hypesters (with their hipster clothes), etc. These are "evergreen" advice nuggets that deserve a rehash, but what caught me was Michael Moritz's quote within Perkins' discussion of cash as king: At Sequoia, we like to start raging infernos with a single match rather than with two ...
01.08.07

E-commerce 2.0? E-Commerce, Entrepreneurship, VC | Comments
shopping carts, originally uploaded by anyone_anywhere I've been enjoying Jeremy Liew's posts on Lightspeed Venture Partners' new blog. On Jan. 1 he posted six 2007 consumer internet predictions and at the top of the list was "Ecommerce 2.0 arrives": Googleâ€™s search revenues continue to grow at 70-80% growth rates. Yet the public ecommerce companiesâ€˜ revenues are growing at â€œonlyâ€ 25-30% at best. But almost every Google click is going to an online transaction somewhere - people still arenâ€™t using search advertising for branding purposes. So what is filling the gap? Some of it is the multichannel retailers coming on strong, Walmart, ...
12.30.06

New Venture Blogger Blogging, VC | Comments
I've been encouraged to continue unearthing young VCs that are blogging. Happy to oblige: Self-described "young VC" (though senior investment professional), David Dufresne, joined the blogosphere this past week. On surface, David is noteworthy as both a Quebecoi (not too many VCs in Montreal) and fantastic photographer, which leaves him in good company. Market insights and investment anecdotes await, I'm sure. David and I met briefly at the Always On Innovation Summit this past summer over a group lunch in which we were distracted by toying with startup mDog's service (mobile Internet). I hope we reconnect soon. David, if you swing by, leave a comment!
12.27.06

Download The Golden Goose Desktop Entrepreneurship, VC | Comments
Every venture investor lies in search of The Golden Goose, a serial entrepreneur (or team, even investment roadmap) that delivers success time after time. On a good day, we'll play a role in turning that goose golden. For all the VCs and entrepreneurs out there, here's a desktop image meant to evoke the hunt (click for link to enlarged image): Technically, the above is a golden quail, and more specifically, a salt shaker. But as I aimed my mother's Olympus E-1 its way during a visit to Washington, DC last week, it became The Golden Goose. ...

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Welcome to Punctuative! Here you'll find occasionally insightful comments on entrepreneurship, venture capital, technology, and the future, as well as a nifty tool meant to help open doors in the financing world. Go ahead and explore.