Private Equity
The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has named Margot Wirth as its new head of alternative investments, peHUB has learned. The position had been empty since early last year, when longtime alternatives chief Réal Desrochers resigned. Wirth and Seth Hall -- both private equity portfolio managers -- had been serving as interim co-heads. Wirth originally joined CalSTRS in 2001, before which she was a valuation consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York and San Francisco. She also served as a vice president at an environmentally-conscious residential real estate developer in the Washington, D.C. area.
2 min read · 15 March 2010
I’m pleased to announce that peHUB will return to San Francisco on April 14, for our first Bay Area Shindig in more than a year. It will take place at Mighty, which doubles at a music hall on the weekend (and which also should afford us more space than that overcrowded affair at Pete’s). Per usual, cocktails and conversation with the area's venture capitalists, private equity pros, entrepreneurs, bankers and assorted hangers-on. Plus, the Taco Truck will be there to satisfy your hunger. Get tickets and more info at: http://sfshindig.eventbrite.com Tickets are just $10, with proceeds to be donated to a charity chosen by event attendees. Be sure to nominate one upon sign-up. BIG thanks to our sponsors: Capital Dynamics, Rothstein Kass, Flag Capital Management, SecondMarket and True Ventures.
1 min read · 15 March 2010
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to help judge the regional VCIC at MIT. Congrats to the winners from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, which just edged out Wharton. The Tuck team will head to Chapel Hill for the finals next month. For the uninitiated, VCIC is an international competition, in which teams of business school students imitate venture capital firms. This includes due diligence with real entrepreneurs, the drafting of term sheets, deal negotiations and Q&A with the judges (which can be a bit harsh).
2 min read · 15 March 2010
It's that special time of year, when corporate America turns a blind eye toward in-house gambling. That’s right dear reader, it’s time for our annual March Madness Extravaganza. The contest is open to all peHUB readers, with the top finisher to receive three prizes: (1) Premium Membership to peHUB, which includes one year of complimentary access to our editorial archive; (2) A complementary one-year online subscription to Buyouts or Venture Capital Journal; and (3) The opportunity to write a lead column for peHUB Wire, which could mean anything from an essay to a company advertisement to a plea for work. Get details after the jump...
1 min read · 15 March 2010
I did a Reuters video hit yesterday about David Loglisci, the former chief investment officer for New York state's largest public pension fund, pleading guilty to his role in a pay-to-play scheme that involved private equity firms. Per usual, filming just a stone's throw from the home office:
1 min read · 11 March 2010
Mark Suster is a venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur and owner of one of the best office views in Los Angeles. He also has become a blogging phenomenon, joining the pantheon of VCs whose every word is devoured by startup CEOs. He and I have spoken a few times informally, but it was about time to put something on the record. So what follows are 5 Questions for Mark Suster: GRP Partners once was known as Global Retail Partners, and is best known for deals like Starbucks, Costco and P.F. Chang's. What's a tech guy like you doing there? I'd love to set the record straight on this. We did a lot of that retail and consumer stuff in the 1980s and early 1990s, but our first independent fund was in 1996. Since then, We've backed Overture, CitiSearch, LastMinute.com, DealerTrack, Bill Me Later and more. We invested in HealthDataInsights, which is just ripping it up. We also did Qualys, a software-as-a-service company that's got double-digit millions in revenue run rate.
4 min read · 10 March 2010
David Loglisci, former chief investment officer for the New York Common Retirement Fund, has pled guilty to felony charges related to the state's pay-to-play investment scandal. He also has agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. For the uninitiated, Loglisci was part of the scheme that included infamous "finder" Hank Morris. Here's how it basically worked: A private equity firm would seek business from NYCRF. Loglisci would direct them to Morris, saying he was a NYCRF "gatekeeper." Morris then would agree to work with the firm, in exchange for a commission on any fund commitment secured from NYCRF. It does not appear that Loglisci necessarily received a cut of the proceeds personally, but he did get to maintain his position of CIO (because Morris was a political ally of Hevesi). Plus, some PE pros invested in a film being produced by Loglisci's brother. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has scheduled a press conference for 11:30am ET, and we'll cover it as it happens (after the jump)...
3 min read · 10 March 2010
Dafina Toncheva has joined Tugboat Ventures as a partner, after having spent the past two years with Venrock.
1 min read · 10 March 2010
1 min read · 09 March 2010
My weekly small biz video segment for Reuters, on a Canadian tax change that will benefit local startups by making it easier for U.S. VCs to invest:
1 min read · 09 March 2010
