Private Equity
A few weeks back, a friend mentioned an idea he had heard suggesting that the government consider entering the VC (venture capital) business as part of the overall stimulus plan. Specifically, the argument was made for the government to provide excess venture capital funding to the green sector. At first, I assumed this was just one individual’s idea, but the noise level has risen to the point where it is reasonable to assume there is a group pushing or lobbying for this outcome. Last week, Thomas Friedman jumped on the bandwagon in a New York Times article titled Open Door Bailout. Friedman noted: “I would have loved to have seen the stimulus package include a government-funded venture capital bank to help finance all the start-ups that are clearly not starting up today — in the clean-energy space they’re dying like flies — because of a lack of liquidity from traditional lending sources.” Clearly, there is a group of individuals that believes the government should enter the venture business. With all due respect to Mr. Friedman – and by the way I am a huge fan of The World Is Flat – this is a remarkably flawed idea. Startups and VCs simply do NOT need bailout dollars. Allow me to provide more detail:
5 min read · 20 February 2009
This is an unprecedented time, and most companies are rowing upstream against the corrective economic currents. But it’s not the first time that we’ve been confronted by a significant, broad-based correction and the accompanying uncertainty. Indeed, many of us can recall the gas lines, 12 percent inflation and 9 percent unemployment of the 1970’s; interest rates nearing 20 percent in the 1980’s; and, more recently, the bursting of the Internet bubble and “irrational exuberance.” The important point to remember is that notable and sustainable business success stories – Apple Computer, ExxonMobil, Cisco, Amazon, Target and Google – emerged from each of these challenging periods.
6 min read · 19 February 2009
4 min read · 18 February 2009
Recently, my husband and I were at a dinner party when someone suggested a trivia game called “Six Degrees of Separation.” The game originated from an offhand remark Kevin Bacon made in an interview years ago that he had been in so many films that he either knew everyone in Hollywood or was no more than 6 degrees of separation from everyone in the industry. It’s evolved over time into a joking kind of reference that everyone in the world is only 6 degrees of separation away from Kevin Bacon. As the night unfolded, we learned that the chef who was catering the dinner party (Chef Matteo www.4coursevegan.com) regularly serves as chef for Kevin Bacon and his family – putting all of us at the table in the “2nd degree” category. I was dreaming of getting my closet-screenplay writing career off the ground! It got me thinking about how this parlor game might apply in our industry. Certainly, websites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, Doostang and Plaxo have all capitalized on the social networking scene. Like me, each of you probably receives dozens of invitations each week to get “linked” or otherwise connect to other people through social networking sites. But, is it really enough to network online? And is networking online really “networking” that can make a difference in your job search?
6 min read · 18 February 2009
5 min read · 16 February 2009
4 min read · 13 February 2009
3 min read · 12 February 2009
7 min read · 10 February 2009
2 min read · 04 February 2009
7 min read · 30 January 2009
