December 14, 2005
SwashMark Cuban's latest investment "delivers filtered posterior and feminine warm water wash via two retractable wands as well as a heated seat."
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August 27, 2005
Know How to Write a Business Plan?If you are convincing, you might just get funding.
Thanks to Eric Goldman for the tip.
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June 07, 2005
Sociopathic EntrepreneursJustin Hibbard reports on some wild comments by Michael Moritz.
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April 26, 2005
Venture Capital Surplus?Bill Burnam wonders where there is too much venture capital chasing too few deals. He provides some interesting numbers on venture capital under management compared to Nasdaq valuations, and concludes that a slight oversupply will correct itself in the next few years. If you are interested in venture capital, this is well worth a read.
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The "Pulled" Term SheetFred Wilson has an informative post describing circumstances under which a venture capitalist will "pull" a termsheet from an entrepreneur.
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April 15, 2005
Grooming & The VC PitchThis wouldn't be so funny if I didn't know people who would do it. David Hornik offers some pretty sound advice that could be applied to any meeting.
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March 30, 2005
Managing VC Deal FlowRobin Bordoli has written an interesting post on the Art of VC in which he asks: "What do VC and great comedy have in common?" The answer: timing. He also quotes George McGovern, so you know he must have a sense of humor.
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March 24, 2005
University Startups DeclineMy colleague Anne Miner forwarded this story to me. According to a study by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), university spinoffs declined in fiscal 2003 and "figures for 2004 will likely show continued weakness." The purported cause: "Scarce venture capital for very young firms has caused the start-up decline, says AUTM President Mark Crowell." Is this a bad thing? I mean, startups for their own sake are nothing to write home about. What we really need to know is whether worthy companies/ideas are being left unfunded.
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March 23, 2005
A Unified Theory of VC SuckageDespite the silly title, Paul Graham has written a serious and thoughtful essay about venture capital. Here's a teaser: "The problem with VC funds is that they're funds. Like the managers of mutual funds or hedge funds, VCs get paid a percentage of the money they manage. Usually about 2% a year. So they want the fund to be huge: hundreds of millions of dollars, if possible. But that means each partner ends up being responsible for investing a lot of money. And since one person can only manage so many deals, each deal has to be for multiple millions of dollars. This turns out to explain nearly all the characteristics of VCs that founders hate."
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March 10, 2005
The "Analog Analog"Brad Feld turns a clever phrase, and simultaneously offers insight to entrepreneurs on how to pitch their ideas to venture capitalists; "While 'Tivo for the Web' or 'eBay meets CNN' are useful analogies, I recommend entrepreneurs take a giant step back – out of the technology domain (or at least our current technology domain) – and get to the core analogy – optimally a non-digital one.
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