Venture Model Makeover & Diet Plan-Step One

A lot of people have been asking lately if the venture model is broken. But it seems to me that it’s just decrepit. Like an aging, rotund former football star, the venture industry is scratching its head and realizing that its glory days are long past. The industry collectively doesn’t really know how to handle its new reality. In the heyday, top-quartile funds might have gotten away with treating their important stakeholders arrogantly, but given that even top-quartile firms have not provided great returns over the past 10 years, venture GPs will need to make herculean efforts and adhere to a strict regimen in order to make the upcoming cut. With almost the entire industry needing to raise new funds over the next two years, there may be few survivors. I propose a three-step makeover plan for those paunchy firms that are on the edge.

$2.0 BILLION IN FISCAL 2010 FOR TECHNOLOGY IN PENNSYLVANIA STATE GOVERNMENT

Decrease in state funding offset by federal economic stimulus spending

August 24, 2009 - pjmathison today released its 2009-10 Pennsylvania State Government Technology Investment Forecast, which provides advanced details on more than $2.0 billion in upcoming tech-related consulting, procurement and economic development spending by PA state government for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009.

Patents: Horizontal vs Vertical Innovation

I am a long time opponent of patents and Intellectual Property rights (to a great part because of your work), but something always bothered me and that was the ‘innovation’ argument by the patent supporters. I could always see both the sides of the arguments, yet was never sure which side is right. I can see that without patents there is no incentive to develop a technology with a large investment, on the other hand, without patents, there is probably no need of a large investment.

Tools for Innovation I: Normal psychology and economic recovery ...

Business magazines like Forbes, newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, and economic forecasters are united in their belief that economic growth in the US will be driven by innovation. That is, the US and other major economic players will not grow by developing new products and key refinements of existing products that will drive new consumption. This is not news, really. Bringing new ideas to market has long been a centerpiece of economic growth. And that means that Psychology is crucial to the economy.

Sparxoo Top 5: You Might Be an Entrepreneur If...

“Our focus is now on entrepreneurship and innovation as opposed to industry attraction in the old-line sectors,” said Jeff Kaczmarek, president of the Economic Development Corporation in an interview with the New York Times. “In times of economic distress, it’s small business and entrepreneurs who lead the way out of these recessionary periods.”

Next three months will decide our future, says EI chairman

DECISIONS made over the next three months will show whether or not Ireland has a blueprint for the way forward, the chairman of Enterprise Ireland (EI) has said.

Accountant Hugh Cooney said the legislation on Nama, the Lisbon Treaty referendum, and the December Budget after the deliberations of the Taxation Commission and Bord Snip Nua would all arise in the next 100 days.

New York Times On to Plan B: Starting a Business

CALL them accidental entrepreneurs, unintended entrepreneurs or forced entrepreneurs. A year and a half into the Great Recession, with the jobless rate hovering near double digits, corporate refugees like Lisa Marie Grillos of San Francisco are trying to fend for themselves.

create a gig: ENTREPRENEURIAL RESOURCE SITE

Innovation America (IA), isa national 501c3 not for profit, private/public partnership focused on accelerating the growth of the entrepreneurial innovation economy in America.

Simoleon Sense Blog Archive Lecture: On Innovation - Why Not?

Introduction (Via Academic Earth)

“Some men see things as they are and say, ‘why?’ I dream of things the way they never were and say, ‘why not?’

- Robert F. Kennedy, after George Bernard Shaw

Professor Barry Nalebuff shares the insights from his book “Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small.”

reviving innovation - 10 tips from open forum - spruiked

The Open Forum has a great article about how to revive IP programs. While the article talks specifically about patents/inventions, the ten tips apply equally to any form of innovation, whether it's a new product, business model or marketing strategy.

Posts about venture capital as of August 22, 2009 | Geekfluence

How entrepreneurs finance their company is one of the most critical decisions that they will make during the course of their startup. The structure of their financing will be one of the key drivers of the financial return from their venture.There are financing structures for companies that have small potential and structures for companies that have big potential. There is not a one-size fits all strategy for capitalizing a company.Read the entire post

Barrons Article on Tech IPOs Misses the Importance...

On Monday, August 10, Barron’s ran a story “Does the IPO Market Shun Smaller Companies?”, written by Mark Veverka, asserting that “venture capitalists want to widen the playing field for the underwriters.” The story includes quotes from former National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) chairman Dixon Doll of DCM and investment banker Paul Deninger, who is the vice-chairman of Jefferies & Co. It accurately points out that, when it comes to IPOs, many venture capitalists have mistakenly defaulted to choosing the large investment banks (such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse) as lead underwriters for their portfolio companies. This practice has created “a near oligopolistic hold on tech IPOs” by these large investment banks. Such market power allows bankers to shapes the profile of those companies worthy of going public to favor the natural demand from their largest clients: short-term trading focused hedge funds and large institutional investors that demand highly liquid public securities.

16th Annual NASVF Conference

Join your colleagues in Oklahoma City and exchange the best strategies and tools for building and managing strategic investment programs and institutions. Newly formed organizations receive the benefit of different viewpoints, while established organizations track new approaches and resources. Participants meet with professionals from outside their local networks, making one-on-one contact with specialized practitioners and discussing new methods of facilitating capital formation. Together we will put early stage investing at the forefront of our economic recovery.

Innovation Yin and Yang by Bret Swanson

There are two key mistakes in the public policy arena that we don’t talk enough about. They are two apparently opposite sides of the same fallacious coin.

Call the first fallacy “innovation blindness.” In this case, policy makers can’t see the way new technologies or ideas might affect, say, the future cost of health care, or the environment. The result is a narrow focus on today’s problems rather than tomorrow’s opportunities. The orientation toward the problem often exacerbates it by closing off innovations that could transcend the issue altogether.

Entrepreneurship: Government funding and innovation still key by Duane Roth

Many of us remember the glory days of the late 1990’s when entrepreneurs could jot down an idea on a napkin, write some code and head to a VC for a couple of million in start up financing.

That may be an urban legend, but it is true that access to capital for an early stage company was a lot easier to acquire10 years ago than it is today.

DOE Announces $37 Million for Small Business Research and Technology by US Department of Energy

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that $37 million in funding from the Recovery Act will be made available to qualified small businesses through the Department's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Today's funding announcement emphasizes the Department's commitment to developing near-term, clean energy technologies while allowing small businesses take part in the new industrial revolution that the sustainable energy economy will bring.

Mass High Tech names 2009 All-Stars of New England Innovation Economy

Mass High Tech, The Journal of New England Technology, today announced the recipients of its 2009 All-Star Awards. Now in their 14th year, the All-Star Awards recognize 15 dynamic and influential leaders of New England’s innovation economy.

Summary of Finnish High-Tech Company Capital Raising Activity - H109

The following are the findings of the Quarterly Survey, conducted by Technopolis Online, which is at the forefront of high-tech venture capital research in Finland. This survey reviews capital raised by private Finnish high-tech companies from venture capital funds and from angel investors, both Finnish and foreign. The Survey is based on both publicly-reported and proprietary information regarding 140 Finnish and foreign investors, and 1,500 Finnish high-tech firms.

Seed fund group, Temple to study venture trends from Philadelphia Business Journal

The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds said Wednesday that it has entered into a research partnership with Temple University’s Fox School of Business that will focus on early-stage investing trends.

The partnership’s initial venture will be a survey of senior executives of early-stage funds to gather information on capital raising, investment, regional investment and technology development, and other things.

Draft-bill on Entrepreneurship and Industrial Parks

After a meeting of the Inner Cabinet at the Maximos Mansion on Wednesday, chaired by Prime-minister K. Karamanlis, Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis announced that a draft bill providing for better operation of entrepreneurship, regulations on industrial parks and actions to strengthen businesses will be soon submitted.