Private Equity
After more than 3,000 posts (and more than 2,000 daily email blasts), this is my final item for peHUB. As you might imagine, leaving this brand behind was a very difficult decision. Inertia is a powerful magnet. So too was the thought of going solo, rather than marrying another corporate overlord. But I honestly feel that this is the right decision for me, and my gut is right 50.1% of the time. You, dear readers, are the best part of my job (no matter my employer), so I hope we can stay in touch. My email address going forward is danielprimack@gmail.com. Or you can follow me on Twitter @danprimack. Don't worry, this site will soldier on. Finally, I owe lots of debts of gratitude for enabling me to have this extraordinary platform. But there are a few people, in particular, I’d like to thank:
2 min read · 26 August 2010
Last week there was an FTC filing that implied a pending transaction between Technology Crossover Ventures and DataDirect Networks, a Chatsworth, Calif.-based provider data storage solutions. These documents usually suggest that the transaction is virtually a done deal, with just a few I's to dot and T's to cross. But in might not be so this time. What follows is part of a statement by DataDirect CEO Alex Bouzari, in reply to my request for comment on the prospective TCV investment: In order to better serve our customers, DDN is evaluating several strategic initiatives, including potentially partnering with a financial institution. However, in light of the recent developments with 3Par, Dell and HP, we are carefully rethinking our options. Bouzari added that DataDirect is profitable, and is "on track" to exceed $200 million in annual revenue. Getting any statement from a "target" CEO is unusual, and this particular one goes out of its way to suggest that conditions have changed since DataDomain DataDirect first entered negotiations with TCV (which declined any comment). (Note: The previous sentence was corrected because the company was referred to by the wrong name. -Ed.)
1 min read · 25 August 2010
Jake Anderson has quietly joined Sequoia Capital, as a Silicon Valley partner associate focused on growth-stage investments in the healthcare sector. He previously spent two years as a senior manager with Cord Blood Registry, and before that was an associate with Pequot Capital. Jake also has some serious VC lineage: His father is Howard Anderson, co-founder of Battery Ventures and current senior lecturer at MIT...
1 min read · 25 August 2010
When Andreessen Horowitz raised $300 million for its debut fund last year, I suggested that it was too much money. Actually, I said the original $250 million target was too large – particularly for a two-partner firm that said initial investment sizes would average around $500k. And my argument still makes sense to me. At least in theory. The reality, however, is that AH has already invested most of its stash -- including a giant check for the Skype carve-out -- and added staff. Moreover, Marc Andreessen has become even more influential in Silicon Valley, while Ben Horowitz has emerged from his famous partner’s shadow by penning one of the smartest VC blogs around. All of this adds up to AH becoming the hottest VC firm this side of Sequoia.
2 min read · 25 August 2010
Venture capitalists have invested nearly $2.44 billion into 263 U.S.-based companies so far this quarter, according to Thomson Reuters. This compares to $2.56 billion raised by 365 U.S.-based companies during the same time period in 2009. So fewer companies, but larger rounds. Seems at odds with the seed-stage boom we keep hearing about. Maybe that's because TR doesn't record angel deals. Or maybe it's because the bulk of VC investment is in sectors other than consumer Internet, even though Foursquare, etc. suck up all the blog oxygen...
1 min read · 24 August 2010
For the past year, CalPERS has been dogged by scandals related to its private equity investments. And most of it has been deserved, as the pension giant allegedly became a revolving door for ex-staffers seeking to make millions off their past service. Unfortunately, there can be a downside to the exposition of public corruption: Well-intentioned journalists sometimes confuse the appearance of impropriety with actual impropriety. Such was the case last week, when the Los Angeles Times published a story about how “CalPERS investment staff receive luxury travel, gifts from financial firms.” At issue were between 10 and 12 private jet trips taken by Joncarlo Mark, a CalPERS senior investment officer for alternatives, prior to 2008. He also was accused of failing to disclose several gifts in excess of $50, including two meals, some candy and assorted tschotchkes.
4 min read · 23 August 2010
Flipping through the Form D filings yesterday, I came across one for something called Trunk Show Inc. Seems to have raised a $1.15 million VC round led by New Atlantic Ventures. NAV isn’t talking – the company is in stealth mode – but I did a bit of digging because the name was intriguing: In the fashion world, a trunk show is a special sale in which designers present new product directly to a select group of buyers (typically department store or boutique personnel). Trunk Show Inc. is hoping to put that process online – both for the masses and to better facilitate distribution to retailers.
1 min read · 19 August 2010
Yesterday we reported that Golden Gate Capital co-founder Jesse Rogers had formed a new firm called Altamont Capital Partners. We've since learned that his partners are a pair of former principals with Golden Gate: Randall Eason and Keoni Schwartz. Each had been with the firm for at least six years.
1 min read · 19 August 2010
1 min read · 18 August 2010
Preisdent Obama still hasn't announced his pick to run the new consumer protection agency, but a group called The Main Street Brigade is supporting Elizabeth Warren. And it's just released a video that's too surreal not to share:
1 min read · 16 August 2010
