Private Equity
If you woke up this morning itching to see Tim Draper do some rapping, I've got the video for you. Of course, if you woke up itching to see Tim Draper do some rapping, you might need something more than just a video... The Silicon Valley venture capitalist has teamed up with area artist Drue Kataoka and the First Lady of Facebook, Randi Zuckerberg, to perform some hardcore rapping and dancing to launch the inaugural episode of a new Web show called CultureLick. The music video, a parody of Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" is meant to be a petition for net neutrality. Called "Bits Don't Lie," the video includes endorsements from Tim's dad Bill Draper (from Draper Richards), Ashu Garg (Foundation Capital) and Rob Solomon (Technology Crossover Ventures). Watch it after the jump...
1 min read · 02 October 2009
Fresh off of last month's announcement that he has launched a Chinese IT incubator called Innovation Works, Kai-Fu Lee has been named chairman of WI Harper Group's advisory board. Kai-Fu will advise the firm on trends, strategy and innovative investment opportunities in China, according to a prepared release that went out early Thursday morning. WI Harper Chairman Peter Liu noted in the release that Kai-Fu has a keen sense of what the future holds in China. I haven't had the chance yet to speak with Kai-Fu, but it's safe to say that his appointment shows that WI Harper wants to do all it can to
1 min read · 01 October 2009
Similar to yesterday's report from Greentech Media, the Cleantech Group today issued a third quarter analysis of VC funding nationwide in cleantech. And the results of both were pretty much the same: cleantech investments picked up in the last three months following some dismal activity earlier in the year. The Cleantech Group went so far as to point out that the cleantech category for the first time has overcome biotech and software as the top U.S. venture capital area of investment. Here are links to Cleantech Group's Q3 report and its previous Q2 analysis. Before you get all giddy with cleantech euphoria, keep in mind that it's been a tough year for all VC investments, and you should never get too carried away
2 min read · 30 September 2009
3 min read · 23 September 2009
1 min read · 22 September 2009
Forget learning how to increase your Twitter followers ten-fold. What I want to know is how has Twitter supposedly is raising $50 million in venture capital at a $1 billion valuation? TechCrunch reports that Twitter CEO Ev Williams spilled the beans about the funding during an all-hands meeting at the San Francisco HQ of Twitter. What surprises me most, apart from the large valuation, is that I thought the company already had raised plenty of cash and had gobs more stashed away in its nest.
1 min read · 16 September 2009
2 min read · 09 September 2009
Google announced Thursday night that Kai-Fu Lee, president of its Chinese operations, will leave the company later this month to launch an undisclosed project. Kai-Fu, who joined the Internet search giant in 2005 after several years at Microsoft, played a key role in overseeing Google's growth in China. Interestingly, just last week, the U.K.'s Telegraph ran this story that quoted Kai-Fu about his thoughts on mobile computing. "Yes, we can confirm he is leaving us," a Google spokesperson told Reuters, but declined to give more details. I know what Beijing-based Kai-Fu is up to and why it's of prime interest to the venture capital community. But I'll honor the embargo until Sunday when Kai-Fu has promised to reveal all.
2 min read · 04 September 2009
2 min read · 27 August 2009
At 3:30 p.m. today (EDT), the FDIC will meet to vote on a proposed policy governing restriction to private equity firms investing in failed banks. For you policy wonks who can't get enough CSPAN-like viewing, you can check out the video online by going to this link. Also, Dan says he plans to cover the meeting live, so stay tuned to peHUB for your up-to-date FDIC coverage.
2 min read · 26 August 2009
