Category Archives: Uncategorized
More VC Anxieties Apparent
VC Paul Kederosky recently posted a prophesy that there’ll be a massive crash in VC.
His analysis seems sound, but I’d boil it down to a simpler point.
Interest rates are being held at a phenomenally low level. It’s been that way for years. Money that would otherwise seek out conservative investment has rushed into startups, [...]
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President Medvedev Makes Play for American Investment
President Medvedev has gone on a tour of technology companies in California, coinciding with a recent announcement that Russia is lowering the long term capital gains tax rate to 0%.
Apparently, Russian politicians are looking to attract high-tech companies and foreign investment.
This comes at a time during which many heavily indebted countries like the US and [...]
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More on the IPO Blockade
I’ve been writing about problems with the entrepreneurial system in the US for months now.
Some of that concern has come up in a recent post on TechCrunch and another by Fred Wilson.
Quoting one of my comments:
Thank you for this honest and transparent post on exits.
If people want to create a sustainable entrepreneurial community, the [...]
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Malinvestment: Avoid Wasting Your Life
Investors are primarily driven by price signals.
When a certain area of business shows unusually high profits, speculators flock to that sector in an attempt to exploit the opening. As the sector becomes saturated with capital, profits erode due to competition, until further investment in the area offers paltry or non-existent yields.
I’m not the person to [...]
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From the Archives: Perestroika! (9/26/2008)
I get the sense reading the papers that people actually want this society to fall to pieces, that it would be a dreadful disappointment to everyone involved if they never saw a bread line, or if the dreaded FEMA detention camps are never actually used. The ever-escalating bailout plans are being sold on the argument that [...]
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Business Plot #1: Exporting Human Capital
This is a first draft. It’s not intended as a pitch or an application for a loan.
Summary: This company will assist underemployed MBA graduates from Ivy League institutions to find work in China.
The Problem: I believe that many (if not most) recent graduates from elite business schools are underemployed.
Traditional US-only employment agencies, recruiters, and head-hunters have [...]
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One Question For Your Investors: “What’s Our Exit Strategy?”
I’m reminded by the 1990s when I see a lot of the technology companies receiving press (and funding) these days.
I’m uncertain what many of the most public venture capitalists really intend to do with their portfolios. Companies that have a lot of “users” but no revenue aren’t really corporations – they’re just hobbies funded by [...]
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The Importance of Profits
Profits are morally neutral. Turning a profit is not evil. It’s the only method by which a business can calculate whether or not its service provides utility.
When a company loses money, it signals to the owners that behavior needs to change to meet the demands of the market.
People only pay for goods and services that [...]
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Deb Ng Has Bright Ideas for Foursquare