I grew up in suburban Detroit. My dad was a barber. Most of his customers were auto workers. I knew from an early age that we are all economically intertwined. When Detroit churned out lots of cars, the auto workers were flush and they got their hair cut regularly. When Detroit was booming, it meant […]
Yesterday, I caught myself chain-drinking Diet Cokes again. With about ten ounces left in my Double Big Gulp, I’d start waltzing over to the 7-11 on Lytton. By the time I got through the door, it’d be time to reload. Maybe it was the caffeine, but back in the office after my third trip – […]
Every time there’s an economic downturn, the spotlight shines on the super-rich and their out-of-touch lifestyles. The iconic moment of the 1991/1992 recession was President George H.W. Bush looking bewildered at the supermarket checkout line during the 1992 “It’s the Economy, Stupid” presidential campaign. In 2001/2002 it was Tyco’s CEO Dennis Koszlowski spending $1 million […]
As we look back at the dreadful deal environment of 2008, we wonder what’s in store in 2009 and beyond? What did we learn, if anything, from our battle scars? When will we return to the good old carefree days of private equity? Actually, my hope is never! What we saw in the so-called “golden […]
The big freeze in the financial world has led to a big squeeze for legions of CEO’s trying to work their way through the current economic correction. This vise-like grip stems from the numbers: boards and private equity investors with majority stakes want growing businesses, but in today’s environment, CEO’s are confronted by contracting revenues […]
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the newly invented personal computer. In 1982, I used my paper route and Bar Mitzvah money to purchase an Apple II+ PC (my parents did subsidize the purchase somewhat, I confess). I was mesmerized by the magic of the personal computer and all its possibilities: games, […]
About one year ago I attended a great session in San Francisco, with VC firm limited partners, The Carlyle Group’s Bob Grady and fund managers from Hamilton Lane and SFERS. At the time I was impressed with the rationale behind a deliberate slowdown in new VC fund investments, yet every fund manager assured that the […]
Venture capitalist Pascal Levensohn this morning gave a keynote speech at the Cybersecurity Applications and Technologies Conference for Homeland Security (CATCH), delivering the message that U.S. innovation and entrepreneurship, the crucial growth engines of the U.S. economy, are at risk of stalling out. What follows is the text of his prepared remarks: I’d like to thank Doug Maughan and DHS for their gracious invitation to address this gathering of distinguished technology entrepreneurs who are focusing their talents on protecting the security of our nation’s critical infrastructure. “Crisis” seems to be the common thread in everything we see on television or read in the popular media. I do not use the words “American Innovation in Crisis” lightly. As a venture capitalist, an entrepreneur, and an American, I am very concerned about the state of innovation in our country today. I believe that we need to be proactive in addressing the innovation crisis because the consequences for the future of our country are simply unacceptable if we don’t.
We have all seen the recent headlines: US M&A volume dropped 38% in 2008 and transaction values are down 24% from 2007. Other statistics and headlines are equally gloomy. By nature, I am an optimist so I look for the silver lining in things. Perhaps this is why I have chosen to focus more on […]
What’s with the Tom Friedman bashing? In 24 short hours from prime-time glorious mention of venture capital in Sunday’s New York Times op-ed pages, to opinionated humiliation at peHUB. Easy boys, he’s just a writer. He doesn’t make the rules, he just reports them. Or tries to. And yes, sometimes he can be wrong, just […]