Another year, another blizzard of VCs descending on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to check out the latest venture deals. Well, not exactly. “What’s the latest in the plasma vs. LCD debate?” I asked a VC friend as we crossed paths in the turbulent canals of the Venetian Hotel. “I didn’t focus on it […]
As I did in 2007 as well as 2006, I thought I’d throw out a few predictions for 2008. So here we go, in no particular order… 1) No Recession. As Agent Maxwell Smart would say: “missed it by that much”. I am short-term bearish about the US economy and, like many of you, have […]
In the past several years, an intriguing trend has pervaded the venture mindset. The VC mantra has gone from changing the world to saving it. A decade ago, most venture firms aligned their investments with a corporate CIO’s holiday shopping list. Today, glance at websites for some of the most prominent VC franchises, and you’d […]
The first week of the year always offers such promise – New Year’s resolutions to eat less, exercise more and focus on the important things. For many of you, that probably means focusing on your career. I personally find it easier to keep my own resolutions if I have a tangible reminder of what the […]
Advent recently announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the Hudson Group, a clear sign of its commitment and interest for an often overlooked sector, the travel retail industry. After suffering from external negative events such as Iraq, SARS and 9/11, the shoppers appear to be back on the airport stores, and funds are […]
I am pleased to have as a guest blogger, Nitzan Shaer, who was an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) with us at IDG Ventures for the first half of this year. Nitzan had previously started Skype Mobile and prior to that worked at Microsoft Mobile. Nitzan recently left us to take the COO position at Mobivox, […]
Tumultuous credit markets are changing the private equity landscape. We’ve seen a falloff in upper and mega-market private equity deals, with some private equity groups exposed by a string of imprudent — and, in some cases, broken — deals. The massive leveraged buyouts that helped boost M&A activity to record levels earlier this year have […]
The wind power business provides valuable insights about prospective opportunities in sustainable energy. So says Ted Noble, vice president of Wintec Energy, a renewable energy and real estate company with headquarters in Palm Springs. Wintec has been in the renewable energy business for over twenty years as a developer, owner and operator of wind energy […]
While many consumers are focused on the hectic holiday shopping season, many CEOs are focused on the hectic annual planning season. Each of my eight VC-backed boards are in the throes of this annual ritual – trying to gaze into the crystal ball to divine what next year’s results will look like and how to […]
As many of you know, I travel several weeks a month for Pinnacle Group. In each of the 25 cities we actively recruit in, I spend part of each week interviewing candidates, part of each week meeting with firms and usually one day attending a conference or networking event. I love it and it gets […]