References are a funny tool. In my experience, few folks really know what they’re looking for when they check references. It’s a sensitive topic when to check references and the generally accepted practice in this industry is to check references either just before or just after making an offer (in which instance, the offer is […]
Reading the newspapers and magazines covering the US economy is downright depressing (today’s Wall Street Journal is particularly depressing – hammering on both the worsening credit market problems and brain drain away from start-ups). But meeting with fresh-faced MBA students is downright inspiring. I had the opportunity to meeet with 100 Harvard Business School and […]
Stating the obvious, General Partners are capitalists. They spend most of their time working with portfolio companies on development, production, pricing and distribution — in order to ultimately harvest profitable investments. As a reward for their efforts, investors reward GPs with a meaningful share of investment profits, in the form of carried interest. The carried […]
I’m an executive recruiter, and a candidate recently said to me: “I puffed my GPA on my resume and, now that I have an offer, the firm has made the offer contingent upon me providing a copy of my official transcript. What should I do?” It made me think of a childhood taunt commonly used on […]
With the capital market turmoil raging, many argue that 2008 is going to be a tough year for start-ups to raise money, particularly follow-on capital in the form of a Series B financing (not surprisingly to any veteran viewers of Sesame Street, Series “B” follows Series “A” rounds of financing). Series B financing processes are […]
A revitalized emphasis on long-term, strategic-oriented partnerships is precisely what’s called for when a tight credit market rears its head.
Microsoft’s unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo is an exciting, bold move for the Redmond, WA software giant who is desparately trying to compete with Google for the $800 billion in global advertising dollars, of which only $24 billion will be spent online in 2008 (a rate that is growing at over 20% per year). […]
Ever notice how you can be thinking of someone you hadn’t seen in years and the phone rings and it’s them? Or you seem to see signs for something over and over? Several years ago, my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer and I was flying from LaGuardia to Detroit for his consultation with a […]
The Internet video revolution will hasten the adoption of green and clean technologies. Established public Internet companies are rapidly discovering compelling business and economic reasons to adopt clean and sustainable technologies. As their consumption of electricity grows, Internet companies look more like traditional manufacturing companies. To address the growing power consumption of its server farms and the […]
More than $5 trillion has disappeared from the value of public companies in the first three weeks of January. Many markets are 20% or more below their highs — the informal definition of a bear market. It’s a frightening moment, particularly for the banks, but it’s also inlaid with investing opportunities for savvy distressed buyers. Here are […]