Tag Archives: VC

News, Politics, Government

Decoding VC Speak

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By Josh Linkner, Contributor

As you sit across the table from a venture capitalist in a meeting, it can be challenging to decipher his or her likelihood of eventually signing a check. As is the case in every industry, there’s a certain level of jargon used, as well as a veil of politeness and manicured restraint. So when that VC says something, I want to be blunt – you may have to read into that phrasing to figure out exactly what was meant. Because of that, don’t let yourself get too excited about your meeting until you really stop and think about the dialogue, and that conversation’s underlying implications. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

The Dorm Room Fund: A Conversation With First Round Capital's Phin Barnes

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By Meghan Casserly, Forbes Staff

In 2012 First Round Capital, a VC firm hailing from Philadelphia, put $500,000 into a fund for 11 students at Penn and Drexel to invest in student startups. The Dorm Room Fund has since expanded to colleges in two more cities, with others to follow. Its 15 investments (so far)–mostly $10,000 to $20,000 non-equity deals–include screen-sharing software Firefly and online used-car retailer Zen Kars. We talked to First Round partner Phin Barnes about how it works. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Are Commercial Loans Making A Comeback?

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By Larry Myler, Contributor

After years of tight-fisted banks saying “no” to your requests for commercial loans, it looks like the dam may finally be breaking. Lenders seem to be more willing of late to share some of their liquidity with you, the entrepreneur. This is a funding source that has been largely absent since early 2008, but with its resurgence, you might consider it a viable option for growing your business. However, not everyone who wants/needs business capital can get it from banks. Here are a few tips to consider: Cash flow is king. One of the fundamentals of loan underwriting is an assessment of the borrower’s ability to repay. If you have strong cash flows, you are a good risk. What is your net worth? Banks like deals that can be collateralized by real estate, a company’s receivables, or other assets. If you (or your business) can show a strong balance sheet, your chances of getting a loan go up dramatically. Different institutions like different deals. It may take a few tries to find the right lender for your loan. Some will be interested in working with you and your business and others won’t. Don’t get discouraged if you have to kiss a few frogs. Be patient. The process of loan origination, underwriting and funding can be tedious and protracted, but it can also be well worth your time and effort. Bank funding can be one of the cheapest sources of capital for your growing business because you only pay interest, which means you don’t have to give up equity to a VC, angel, or other funding entity that hopes for a huge upside from an exit strategy like an IPO or sale of the company. If you can qualify for bank financing it may be your best option, and now could be your best time in years to move forward. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Why 99.95% Of Entrepreneurs Should Stop Wasting Time Seeking Venture Capital

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By Dileep Rao, Contributor

It is difficult to pick up a major business publication today without reading about venture capitalists (VCs, defined as professionally-managed VC limited partnerships that invest in early-stage ventures), about their skills in finding great investment opportunities, and about the ventures they fund. And lately in states like Minnesota, it is also about how they can create jobs if the governor would speak favorably about the need for VC and offer some state pension money for them to invest. And since we all like to talk about our successes, the stories are about how entrepreneurs secured VC and soared to wealth in a very short time via an IPO or a strategic sale. This can lead other entrepreneurs to think that this is the only model for success, that there is no other way to build a major company, and that they should write business plans, attend VC conferences, seek VC, and give VCs control of their venture. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Open Source Software: The Hidden Cost of Free

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By Raj Sabhlok, Contributor

Recently, Michael Skok wrote that “open source is eating the software world.” As general partner at North Bridge Venture Partners, Skok should know. He’s witnessed the power of open source as an entrepreneur and VC. And he’s seen the positive, long-term adoption trends revealed by the annual “Future of Open Source” survey sponsored by his firm and others. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Are You Sure You Want To Be An Entrepreneur?

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By Brock Blake, Contributor

Over the past few years, I’ve had fun visiting college campuses to talk about entrepreneurship.  The classroom is usually full of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed students that are excited about becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, or Jack Dorsey.  They spend their days reading all of the major tech blogs and know about the most recent VC fundings and billion-dollar acquisitions in Silicon Valley. The life of the founder appears to be so dreamy:  late nights, coding, angel investors, VCs, awesome teams, killer cultures, fast growth, investment bankers, luxurious travel, and then a huge exit.  Of course, they all know that it’ll be ‘hard work.’  Unfortunately, it isn’t all a bed of roses and I’m often the bearer of bad news… ‘Hard work’ is to entrepreneurship what contractions are to giving birth.  Contractions might give you a feel for what you’re about to experience, but there is almost no comparison to the experience of delivering a baby. Don’t get me wrong… (in business) there is nothing more satisfying and enjoyable (for me) than building a successful company.  It’s not a job; it’s a challenge.  It includes the highest of high experiences that create life-long friendships and memories.  However, that’s not the whole picture.  Being an entrepreneur/founder will also ‘chew you up and spit you out’ on a very regular basis.  You’ll experiences challenges, pains, and emotions you never thought you’d experience — including the lowest of lows. I’ve heard Josh James, CEO/Founder of Domo (raised over $125M) & Omniture (sold to Adobe for $1.8B), talk about how he has literally been huddled up on the floor, in the fetal position, crying as he was trying to figure out a solution to a major problem he was facing. Believe me, we’ve all been there. So, in the spirit of trying to portray an accurate reflection of what it’s like to be an entrepreneur/founder/CEO, here are a few of the things you will likely experience: …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Science & Technology

Carnegie Mellon video thumb selection startup, Neon, secures VC Seed funding

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Neon, the Carnegie Mellon University startup that uses cognitive neuroscience to improve online video clicks, has secured venture capital (VC) funding in a Series Seed round led by True Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. Silicon Valley-based firms Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV) and XSeed Capital, and entrepreneur Steve Blank also participated. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org

News, Politics, Government

Strong Fourth Quarter, Higher Estimates Puts Auto Supplier Stock In High Gear

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By Zacks.com, Contributor

Visteon Corp. (VC) delivered a big fourth quarter earnings and sales beat on February 28, and management provided bullish guidance for 2013. This prompted analysts to revise their estimates significantly higher for both this year and next, sending the stock to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Despite the strong earnings momentum, the valuation picture still looks very reasonable with shares trading at just 1.4x book value. Visteon is a global automotive supplier that specializes in climate, electronics and interiors systems, modules and components for the major automotive manufacturers around the globe. More than 80% of its sales come from outside of North America. Visteon delivered a big fourth quarter beat with adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.17, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20 cents. Sales rose 5% to $1.823 billion, well ahead of the consensus of $1.782 billion. This increase was primarily driven by higher sales in the ‘climate’ segment, which saw higher production volumes in Asia and North America. The gross profit margin expanded 253 basis points to 10.9%. Meanwhile, selling, general and administrative expenses held steady at 5.6% of total sales. These factors led to a solid 27% increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Special Offer: Stock picks from Forbes Dividend Investor are up 15.9% since July. Average yield on buys is 5%. Click here now to try Forbes Dividend Investor free for 30 days. Estimates Rising Following strong fourth quarter results, management provided encouraging sales and EBITDA guidance for 2013. This prompted analysts to revise their estimates higher for both 2013 and 2014, sending the stock to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The 2013 Zacks Consensus Estimate is now $3.98, representing 37% growth over 2012. The 2014 consensus is currently 38% higher at $5.50. The two biggest factors of the Zacks Rank are the ‘Agreement’ and ‘Magnitude’ of the analysts’ estimates. As you can see in the chart below, both of these factors are moving in the right direction: Reasonable Valuation The valuation picture looks reasonable for Visteon with shares trading at 13x forward earnings, inline with its historical median. Its price to book ratio is just 1.4, which is also inline with its historical multiple. With strong earnings momentum and reasonable valuation, Visteon offers investors attractive upside potential. Todd Bunton is the growth & income stock strategist for Zacks Investment Research and editor of the Income Plus Investor service. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

5 Tips For Hiring — And Retaining — Top Talent

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By Young Entrepreneur Council, Contributor

Prior to launching my own startup, I spent a few years in the VC world. During that time, I regularly coached startup founders on how to best approach everything from cash flow issues to PR to acquisition strategies. When all was said and done, however, what I always found most fascinating were the elements of company growth, particularly in terms of human capital. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

The Biggest Threat To Venture Capitalists

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By Tanya Prive, Contributor

Venture Capitalists have been behind startup financing since 1946, when the first two VC firms were created in the United States. These firms were American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC) and J.H. Whitney & Company. Georges Doriot founded ARDC while John Hay Whitney created J.H. Whitney & Company. Both of these men were considered the pioneers of VC investing. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Mark Hexamer Joins CTGrowth Partners as Principal

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Mark Hexamer Joins CTGrowth Partners as Principal

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– CTPartners Executive Search Inc., (NYSE MKT:CTP), a leading global retained executive search firm, announced today that Mark Hexamer will join CTGrowth Partners, a recently established division of CTPartners focusing on executive search for high growth companies, typically venture capital or private-equity backed. He will be a Principal based in Silicon Valley.

Most recently, Mark was a Partner with Fortis Partners where he worked with venture-backed technology and consumer organizations.

An award-winning entrepreneur, Mark established Swap.com, the largest swap market on the Internet. Under his leadership, the firm was named Entrepreneur Magazine‘s “100 Brilliant Ideas of 2011,” Time’s “Top 10 Ideas of 2010,” and to the Red Herring North America 200. Earlier, Mark was co-founder of Sidebar Software, a legal writing and research product named as a “Top 20 Product of 1999” by Legal and Technology News.

Brian Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of CTPartners said, “Mark has been a successful recruiter, working closely with Dayton Ogden to build a lasting presence in Silicon Valley and the VC world. We are excited to have him on the team.”

About CTPartners

CTPartners is a leading performance-driven executive search firm serving clients across the globe. Committed to a philosophy of partnering with its clients, CTPartners offers a proven record in C-Suite, senior executive, and board searches, as well as expertise serving private equity and venture capital firms.

With origins dating back to 1980, CTPartners serves clients with a global organization of more than 400 professionals and employees, offering expertise in board advisory services and executive recruiting services in the financial services, life sciences, industrial, professional services, retail and consumer, and technology, media and telecom industries. Headquartered in New York, CTPartners has 23 offices in 15 countries.

www.ctnet.com

CTPartners
Jennifer Silver, 617-316-5527
jsilver@ctnet.com

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  California  New York

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The article Mark Hexamer Joins CTGrowth Partners as Principal originally appeared on Fool.com.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a target=_blank …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

News, Politics, Government

A Fresh Sheet of Paper: Designing for the Public Cloud

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By Tom Gillis, Contributor

I once worked for a man I really liked and admired, but he came from a very different realm than I did. He was a “classic industrialist,” and our VC board members thought he would bring wonderful leadership to the high-tech startup where I worked. Email—the essential lexicon of the Silicon Valley tech sector—was completely foreign to him. He’d have his secretary print out his emails and compile them in a binder, which he would then read and respond to with a handwritten memo. Then his admin would type his input into an email response. It was painful to witness. Rather than open his mind to this beast called email, he was trying to bring the decades-old model of office memo, filing cabinet, and personal secretary to the information industry. It was not a successful or long-lasting transition. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Startups Look to Shine at SXSW 2013 Interactive

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By Rawn Shah, Contributor

I stopped by the SXSW Accelerator session on Social Technologies to hear the pitches from entrepreneurs on their new offerings in hopes to get attention and funding. It was presided over by quite a number of judges from various top name VC firms such as KPCB, SV Angel, Austin Ventures, Google, Greylock Partners, etc., as well as industry notables such as Bob Metcalfe, and Richard Garriott. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Citi's VC Dollars Fund Six Areas of Innovation: A Conversation with Citi Ventures Managing Director, Ramneek Gupta

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By Sanjeev Sardana, Contributor

VCs are generally thought of as private investors who provide capital to promising business ventures. Some smart corporations have realized that there is no reason that they cannot fund promising ventures of the type that will benefit their company and industry. But a bank? Yes, it’s true. Read on to learn how global behemoth Citi has gotten into the VC business. It will provide clues to what to watch for in upcoming tech trends. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

4 Things Nobody Told Me Before I Started a Venture Capital Firm

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By Josh Linkner, Contributor

When I closed out 2010, I realized I had embarked on one of my craziest journeys to date: that November, I started a venture capital firm. Now in its “terrible twos,” Detroit Venture Partners has grown to seven employees, plus three partners (including me, the firm’s managing partner). We’ve invested in 17 companies, generated more than 150 jobs, and made a noticeable impact in the technology epicenter of downtown Detroit’s urban core. Not bad for two years. However, there have been a series of growing pains; lots of potholes could have been dodged with a few tidbits of advice. The same is true for any business – before starting, find out from industry leaders what they wish someone would have told them before they started out. Here’s my list from starting our VC firm. What’s yours? …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Interview with Angel Investor Greg Tarr

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By Tom Taulli, Contributor

During his career, Greg Tarr has founded a tech company as well as worked as a VC for a strategic investor.  A big part of his background has been in telecom and mobile, especially in Asia.  For 13 years, he lived in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore (he is a native New Yorker!) …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Mastercard Advisors Partners with, Invest In, Big Data Specialist Mu Sigma

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By Tom Groenfeldt, Contributor MasterCard Advisors, a division of MasterCard has announced a partnership and investment in Mu Sigma, a high-end analytics firm in Chicago and India. Mu Sigma specializes in advanced analytical tools and services with a team of more than 2,500 highly educated professionals, most of them in India. It counts several leading retailers and major insurance carriers among its clients and received more than $100 million in VC funding, including investments from General Atlantic Partners and Sequoia Capital.The new partnership will combine MasterCard Advisors’ aggregated and anonymous purchase behavior purchase behavior insights with Mu Sigma’s advanced analytics and expertise. MasterCard Advisors and Mu Sigma will jointly develop innovative analytic products to enable companies of all sizes to successfully solve their business challenges – like acquiring customers and increasing customer loyalty. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Massive Hype — and Hope — for Digital Health in Silicon Valley

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By David Shaywitz, Contributor The initial reports from the Valley were breathless: upstart digital health company led by accomplished and charismatic design-focused entrepreneur (Forbes 30 under 30; 2012 invitee to exclusive Founders Fund Hawaii retreat) was acquired for “tens of millions of dollars,” according to the (original) TechCrunch headline, conservatively reflecting a 10x return to the company’s gold-plated VC investors.  Exultant congratulatory tweets (including from partners at some of these VCs) were joyfully exchanged.  Another Silicon Valley success story.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest