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TODAY'S HEADLINES
* Tech entrepreneurs are back; so is their arrogance * Globalization is inevitable * Seattle company is blue no more * The IPO process: views from the CFOs * Tim Draper: people, markets and technology * KP’s Khosla pulls no punches, slams plans for Nanosys IPO * TechTarget adds $70 million in VC financing * Kineto snares another $35 million in VC funding * Five Portland companies named ‘Venture All-Stars’ * Wireless VC losses ‘Maximized’ Notice to our readers - June 10 Wednesday, June 9
Tech entrepreneurs are back; so is their arrogance - Crain’s New York Business The balance of power between venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur is changing, says this piece: young start-ups in hot sectors are suddenly finding that they are able to dictate the terms of financing deals. In New York, for example, brash entrepreneurs are suddenly cutting VC firms out of deals, playing hard-to-get during the due diligence process, and adopting an "I don’t need venture capital type of attitude." Says one thirty-something tech entrepreneur: "I see the potential for cocky entrepreneurs to come back if the mini-bubble comes back." By all accounts, "money is again flowing to young companies in the early stages of development" and that means that "dot-com founders are becoming more comfortable dictating terms." New York VC Steve Brotman weighs in on the ‘karmic revenge’ factor: "It’s difficult to have 40 or 50 doors slammed in your face. This is the first time entrepreneurs are able to say, ‘Screw you.’ There’s some psychic reward from that." Globalization is inevitable - Always On Sanjay Anandaram, managing director of the JumpStartUp Fund, weighs in on the various ways that IT outsourcing arrangements are fundamentally reshaping the terrain for Silicon Valley start-ups. According to Anandaram, some Silicon Valley start-ups are now "deconstructing and reconstructing their business models to become global, distributed entities." The article takes a look at four specific ways that IT outsourcing will change the start-up ecosystem, emphasizing that ‘globalization is inevitable’ and that the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Silicon Valley, India and China will be the "engine of growth for the world’s technology business." For example, "there will be a change in the work ethos of traditional Silicon Valley VCs. No longer can the VC only make investments in companies that are a short driving distance away." Seattle company is blue no more - Seattle Post-Intelligencer The Cobalt Group, a Seattle-based company that provides online marketing tools for automobile dealerships, announced $54 million in VC financing, in yet another sign that companies left for dead during the Internet bust are now re-emerging with cash in the bank and blue-chip rosters of clients. In this case, The Cobalt Group has already signed deals with about 50% of the 22,000 automobile dealerships in the U.S. In addition, the company has inked an ‘exclusive partnership’ with GM and now has more than $50 million to fuel another round of aggressive growth. On the company’s resurgence: "We are like the cicadas back East. We have been buried in the ground - thank God not for 17 years. But we have gotten a great deal done ... and having another bite at the apple is enormously satisfying." The transaction is the second-largest VC deal in Washington thus far in 2004. The IPO process: views from the CFOs - VC Experts Tim Draper: people, markets and technology - Always On KP’s Khosla pulls no punches, slams plans for Nanosys IPO - Private Equity Week TechTarget adds $70 million in VC financing - Boston Business Journal Kineto snares another $35 million in VC funding - RCR Wireless News Five Portland companies named ‘Venture All-Stars’ - Portland Business Journal Wireless VC losses ‘Maximized’ - Always On Congress threatening to derail stock options reform – again - AP Tuesday, June 8
Venture money looks at Minnesota firms - TwinCities.com At the Minnesota Venture Capital Conference, a number of out-of-state VC firms showed up to kick the tires of Minnesota-based start-ups in the IT, biotech and medical healthcare sectors. Among the VC firms that created a buzz at the conference: Seattle-area Ignition Partners, Chicago-based KB Partners, Michigan-based EDF Ventures, Boston-based Oxford Bioscience Partners and Montana-based Strategix Ventures. According to the article, "the renewed attention is a sure sign that the dearth of venture capital in the past three years may be improving." If nothing else, the presence of so many out-of-state investors shows that "Minnesota companies may represent a better value… than those in Silicon Valley." In 1Q 2004, Minnesota-based companies raised $79.7 million in VC financing. IPO watch: priming the IPO pump - Red Herring Profiles briefly the two companies that had IPOs last week and says the real story is "the growing pipeline" of companies on the verge of going public. Seven companies, hoping to collectively raise $1.6 billion, filed their papers with the SEC, raising to 202 the number of companies that have announced their intention to go public this year. The number of companies that had done so a year ago: 12 - "That’s right, an even dozen." The article goes on to detail the process of going public as well as discuss the SEC's filing window. A collaborative VC fund for Alaska - Alaska Journal of Commerce An investment banker makes the case for a new VC fund to "catalyze and incubate new business development" in Alaska. The article argues that "the timing is right for more active venture capital activity to be started in Alaska" and that the first "collaborative vehicle" for VC financing could appear sometime within the next 24 months. The creation of a large VC investment fund is critical for attracting "some of the billions of dollars of passive capital on the sidelines" and for stimulating co-investment opportunities. Hong Kong’s Tencent Technology to use $199M IPO gains for buys - Dow Jones Corante is sponsored in part by Aveas. Copyright 2004 Corante. All rights reserved. Terms of use |
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