Each year we co-host an event in Research Triangle Park, NC, along with the Strategic Venture Association and the North Carolina Technology Association. This year on April 10th/11th we will be doing so again and I wanted to extend a personal and open invitation for all to attend. Please email me at jnieman@collectiveiq.com and I can make […]
It seems that we may be on the back end of the ethanol (and biodiesel) peak. While the President continues to call for increased consumption, the wonders of the invisible hand are working in the real world. If dealflow is any guide, we are seeing fewer investment proposals. There was a time when these ideas […]
So. You’ve just bagged a job as a partner at a VC firm. You want (badly) to impress the people who just showed a lot of faith in hiring you (if they only knew!). So you make a lot of rookie mistakes… VC ROOKIE MISTAKE #1 The Kansas City Shuffle (a.k.a. Dog Deal Afternoon) The […]
My last posting suggested that growing fear global warming’s of the economic and ecological consequences of — and the usual greed for profits –would combine to provide emotional stimulus for the venture capital industry to lead the clean technology revolution. In addition to being in tune with the usual emotional motivators to investment and action, the […]
Recruiter Denise Palmieri says you get only one chance when applying for a position, so you need to demonstrate to a potential employer that you have the ability to do the job you want.
Recently, I have been introduced to the prospect of early-stage venture capital in Japan. A lot of attention (and money) has been focused on China and India – but what about Japan? Japan is the world’s second largest economy and is home to powerhouse technology companies such as Sony, Toshiba, Fujitsu, NTT, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Toyota, […]
The venture capital business typically alternates between cycles of greed and fear, but will be absent in the emerging clean and green technology sector as these normally opposing emotional forces become synchronized for long periods. As the scientific evidence of global warming and its consequences become clearer, we will become increasingly fearful of overheating the […]
Bambi Francisco wrote several months ago: “Those who dig for gold rather than those who supply the picks and shovels make the most money. That observation holds true if you just take a look at MySpace and YouTube.” Separately, she notes that Steve Case made a similar comment years ago. Few would disagree that the content […]
Remember all those venture-backed companies that promised to turn dreams written on the back of napkins into real businesses (my erstwhile colleagues at Robertson Stephens earned many shiny nickels supporting those arguments)? As you PE professionals correctly predicted, most of them went under or were absorbed into more established entities. However, the most amazing thing has happened over […]
Following an increasing trend in LBO volume in 2006 (Thanks to PE Week Wire/Buyout Magazine Data), 2007 should remain very active in terms of volume, geography (More Europe, Asia and Latin America?) and financial engineering scope. I am particularly interested in the effect of global trends such as the euro/dollar performance in ’06 that could see […]