GigaOM |
October 12th, 2008 |
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Fundraising always demands patience and grit, but passing the hat in the current environment will test your founder's mettle unlike any time in recent history. Even investors still flush cash that, only weeks ago, they had planned to put to work, now have grown skittish over the frozen credit markets [...]
VC Circle |
October 11th, 2008 |
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This may be shocking and a bit unsettling if you are an entrepreneur. The reality has started biting venture funds, and in turn startups they have funded. Sequoia Capital, the world's bluechip venture capital firm, recently made a presentation at its "CEO Summit" which told startups to pull up their socks, be [...]
We reported earlier today about Fast Company's merging digital with print operations, and Ed Sussman, the president of Mansueto Digital, leaving as a result. He is now starting a new company, as yet unnamed, that will take the Drupal publishing platform, build on top of it, and help other online [...]
And while Sequoia and other left-coast VC firms are asking their firms to tighten up, and strategically leaking their own advice about surviving the economic downturn (nevermind their investments into some ridiculous companies that don't need to survive this anyway), our own former investor Alan Patricof, founder and managing director [...]
Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris can never be accused of being shy, or, putting his foot in, oh well...in an extensive interview with Billboard, he talks about the digital piracy issues, UMG's efforts in digital music, working with YouTube and its plans for a Hulu-like music video site, and [...]
GigaOMNET |
October 10th, 2008 |
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SkyFuel officially launched its low cost trough-shaped solar concentrators, dubbed SkyTrough, at an event in Colorado today. Parabolic troughs are an older solar technology, and while most are made out of glass, SkyFuel’s are made from the company’s own ReflecTech film material — sort of like mylar but sturdier - [...]
She might run the biggest magazine company in the world in a time of falling advertising revenue and dwindling sales, but Time Inc's (NYSE:TWX) CEO and Chairman Anne Moore doesn't sound too concerned. She tells The Times of a two-year strategy to get her company, owner of consumer UK magazine [...]
A link bait if there ever was one, and a flawed one at best, but then, always fun for the rest of us: a list of 11 online companies that may be in trouble in short to medium term as the economy falls apart: the first 10 are actually decent [...]
Tech Startups |
October 10th, 2008 |
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"Here are presentation excerpts and comments drawn from a leak posted on GigaOm and as left in comments on Silicon Alley Insider. Our sources have confirmed their accuracy.Mike Moritz, General Partner, Sequoia Capital:“We’re talking survival. Get this point into your heads.”Companies need to be cash-flow positive, if nothing else in [...]
Tech Startups |
October 10th, 2008 |
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From Techcrunch: "Gurley also says for companies to expect “across-the-board reductions” in valuations, and a tough market for raising money - “Basically, the cost of capital is going way up.” Hedge funds are probably out of the picture for startup financings, he says, and corporate, strategic and angel money will [...]
NYT Dealbook |
October 10th, 2008 |
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Tom Perkins, the well-known venture capitalist, just took a small hit on one of his big investments - literally. As recounted by Portfolio.com, his 289-foot megayacht, the Maltese Falcon, was smacked in the side by another, much smaller boat during a charity race in the San Francisco Bay last weekend. [...]
WPP Group media agency MindShare has bought UK media planner Michaelides & Bednash. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The media planner will be folded into MindShare's Invention group, which handles digital content, programming, sponsorship and planning. M&B;'s founders, George Michaelides, Graham Bednash and managing partner Paul O'Neill, will take [...]
Don't believe the hype: printed newspapers aren't doomed, you just need to spend more money on them. That seemed to be the analysis of Dominic Carter, trading director at News International, and the man responsible for boosting the profits of the The Sun, News of the World, Times and Sunday [...]
According to GigaOM Sequoia yesterday called their portfolio company CEOs to a meeting, greeted them with the above image (or something like it), and went through a set of presentations telling them how they could cut costs in each functional area of their businesses. On a similar note I have [...]
NYT Dealbook |
October 9th, 2008 |
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From Brad Stone and Claire Cain Miller on Bits: Ron Conway, an icon of the Internet economy and an angel investor in some 130 start-ups, has sent an e-mail to his portfolio companies with a stark message and advice from 2000. Though he said that he will continue to invest [...]
Tech Startups |
October 9th, 2008 |
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"—— Forwarded message ———-From: Ron ConwayDate: Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 12:12 PMSubject: IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ASAP …..REGARDING CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS…ConfidentialWe have all been absorbed by the turmoil in the financial markets the past few weeksUnlike the turmoil of 2000 when the “action” was centered right here in Silicon Valley [...]
BijanBLOG |
October 9th, 2008 |
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I haven’t blogged about this topic yet but as i sit here recovering from a minor surgery I thought I would jot down a bunch of thoughts in no particular order (disclaimer: I reserve the right to change my mind since I’m on medication ) 1. Most VCs and entrepreneurs [...]
GigaOMNET |
October 8th, 2008 |
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In the last few days, venture firms have begun to realize they are not immune from the credit crunch. At the end of next week, official data will arrive that will likely bear that out. Judging by early numbers indicating $5.71 billion went into startups from July through September, the [...]
GigaOMNET |
October 8th, 2008 |
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Sequoia Capital, arguably the smartest venture capital investor in business, is sounding the alarm and asking its portfolio companies to buckle down for what could be the worst economic downturn of their relatively short lives. The fund organized a meeting yesterday where it invited entreprenuers/CEOs from its portfolio companies. The [...]
GigaOMNET |
October 8th, 2008 |
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LS9, a startup using synthetic biology to produce a renewable petroleum product, says it has secured Bill Haywood as its CEO to lead the company's transition from research and development into production. The three-year-old company has been led by President Bob Walsh, who joined in July 2007, and before that [...]
GigaOMNET |
October 8th, 2008 |
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Who would have guessed that the create-your-own-animation-online space could get crowded? But with yesterday's launch of newcomer Xtranormal's text-to-movie service, that's precisely what's happening. "Show up with nothing, leave with a movie," promises Richard Gratton, Xtranormal's product manager. "You don't have to capture anything with your camera; you don't have [...]
