Alan Patricof has been hearing the VC industry's doom and gloom -- including Sequoia Capital's graveyard deck -- and thinks that a lot of it is overstated. In comments to PaidContent, he says: The comments made by the partners of Sequoia Capital at their recently held ‘CEO Summit’ have been widely covered by leaks to numerous bloggers. These bloggers have disseminated the details and spread the contagion of the sentiments to the public at large, unfortunately running the risk that the words become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Without challenging the comments, which expressed a heightened degree of doom and gloom for the economic prospects of young start-up companies particularly, I do think it calls for a somewhat more restrained response on the outlook and required action before throwing the baby out with the bath water. Kind of reads a bit like shooting the messenger, so now is probably a good time to tell you that I’ll be interviewing Patricof as part of the North American VC Summit on Oct. 28 in Quebec City. He’ll give a 20 minutes speech, and then I’ll do a 20 minutes Q&A with him. Later that same afternoon, I’ll do the same thing with David Rimer of Index Ventures. In between will be a luncheon keynote from Steven Schwarzman. Get more info here.
1 min read · 13 October 2008
* Stock futures on the rise. That's all well and good, but I want some sort of futures for activity between 3pm-4pm, because that's when all hell keeps breaking loose. * Doomsday grocery shopping in Iceland. * PE bigs gather in Dubai for Super Returns Middle East, where they'll give speeches and then retire to their hotel rooms for a good cry. One might assume that this economic crisis would be hitting Dubai particularly hard, but apparently that's not (yet) the case. * Black and white video from stock market analysts in 1929. The lesson: Don't believe what anyone is telling you. * MBA candidates keep job hope alive.
1 min read · 13 October 2008
Tech bloggers and venture capitalists have finally emerged from their self-congratulatory cocoon, and realized that they are not immune from the financial meltdown. It’s a couple of weeks tardy, but better late than never (plus, everyone was preoccupied with the all-important Facebook redesign)... Most of the newfound focus has been on stemming portfolio company spend, but let me suggest the next two story lines (after the jump).
2 min read · 10 October 2008
What follows are seven VC deals culled from recent Regulation D filings with the SEC. They have not been otherwise disclosed: AdaptiveBlue, a Livingston, N.J.-based provider of a research and organization plug-in for the Firefox browser, has raised $4.52 million in Series B funding, according to a regulatory filing. Shareholders include Union Square Ventures and Biltmore Ventures (managed by Knightsbridge Capital Partners). www.adaptiveblue.com Blurb Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of self publishing software and services, has raised around $5 million in Series C funding, according to a regulatory filing. Return backers include Canaan Partners and Anthem Venture Partners. It had previously raised around $14 million, plus
2 min read · 10 October 2008
1 min read · 10 October 2008
2 min read · 10 October 2008
* Daily carnage report: Bloodbath in Asia, bloodbath in Europe, GE Capital scales back lending, U.S. lawmakers weigh a new stimulus package, metal values dive, Citi gives up on Wachovia, Hong Kong bankruptcy risk rises, Lehman CDS auction timeline and Jim Rogers warns of an "inflation holocaust." * If you can no longer get into investment banking, should you become a ski bum instead? * Welcome to The United States of Argentina. * Paul Volcker: We have the tools to manage this crisis.
1 min read · 10 October 2008
Earlier today, I reported that Highland Capital Partners had quietly invested $20 million into the $17.1 billion leveraged buyout of Harrah's Entertainment. My thesis was that this was a very strange commitment for an early/growth-stage venture capital firm like Highland, and that none of the available explanations seemed to hold justifiable water. Highland still hasn't called in to give its side, but a bunch of you have emailed to remind me that Battery Ventures participated on the $17.6 billion buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. Battery also got involved in the $4.3 billion buyout of travel reservations company Sabre Holdings. And then there was Spark Capital partnering with hedge fund Jana Partners on a bid for CNET (Velocity Interactive Group also participated, but not
1 min read · 08 October 2008
1 min read · 08 October 2008
Last month, I wrote that TPG Capital’s $1.35 billion infusion into Washington Mutual was the worst private equity deal in history. Keeping with the theme of sweeping characterizations, TPG also seems to have been involved with the strangest venture capital deal in history. But TPG wasn’t actually the odd actor this time around. That dishonor goes to Highland Capital Partners. I hate to kick a firm after it plied me with liquor and Wolfgang Puck food, but this is so bizarre as to give me no other choice... Lexington, Mass.-based Highland earlier this year invested $20 million as part of TPG Capital and Apollo Management’s $17.1 billion buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. Let that sink in for a moment. An early-stage and growth-stage VC firm participated in a massive take-private acquisition in exchange for much less than a 1% equity stake. The $20 million check is virtually insignificant to mega-LBO firms like TPG and Apollo, but represented more than 2% of Highland’s current
3 min read · 08 October 2008
