BLOG STARTUPS, VENTURE AND THE TECH BUSINESS
Author Archive
July 13 2010
by John Backus
The SEC prohibits VCs from giving to Political Candidates!?!
Do a few bad apples spoil the entire bushel? There have been a few well-publicized investigations and prosecutions of illegal bribes and kickbacks between money managers and state and local pension funds. New York Common Retirement Fund is the poster child here. Bribery is illegal, and those who participate in it should spend time with ...
June 16 2010
by John Backus
Venture Capital Carried Interest Tax Debate – A VC’s Perspective
HB 4213. Much has been made of late of the Venture Capital Carried Interest Tax Hike Bill. It carries the gallows-humor title of the “American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010.” Charlie Rangel, the Congressman from Harlem (seen here relaxing on one of his properties which triggered his current ethics investigation) is the ...
May 9 2010
by John Backus
Facebook: Every Website is now a Facebook App
Web 3.0 has arrived. Facebook changed the entire character of the Internet on April 21, 2010. Come on! A little “like” button? What could be more trivial? Let me explain. Before 4/21/10 there was Facebook. And there was the web. They did not intersect. Oh, sure, you could use your Facebook credentials to log on ...
April 12 2010
by John Backus
Apple Ipad: Flat Screen + Multi-touch = Paradigm Shift
The Ipad will usher in a new wave of computing devices that will fundamentally change the way we interact with computers. Two reasons. Touch. And flat. Like 500,000 of you, I was one of the first to buy an Ipad. I didn’t quite know why. The announcement disappointed me. I thought it was a big ...
April 1 2010
by John Backus
Virginia to Entrepreneurs: Start Your Business Here – And Pay No Capital Gains Tax!
Capital Gains taxes on high-tech entrepreneurial startups are going away in Virginia – at least for three years. Founders, Angel Investors, Venture Capital Fund Investors, Corporate Investors to benefit. On Tuesday, March 30th, newly elected Republican Governor Bob McDonnell signed into law House Bill 523 (Senate Bill 428), which provides a 100% capital gains tax ...
Read on and discuss (10)
March 13 2010
by John Backus
Health Care Reform: Common Sense Solutions
Health Care Reform is topical. But it need not cost an arm and a leg to do. Because I sit on the Board of Directors of NAV portfolio company Qliance, an innovative “Direct Practice” primary care solution that operates completely outside of the insurance system, I am often asked to comment on things that we ...
February 25 2010
by John Backus
VC Tips for Entrepreneurs: How to manage the VC on your Board
Venture Capitalists love giving advice to startup entrepreneurs. We especially love doing it while in the boardroom, before, during, and after that 40-slide powerpoint presentation that you and your management team spent a week preparing. With a VC on your board of directors, you never know if you are going to get The Good, The ...
February 25 2010
by John Backus
VC Tips for Entrepreneurs: Thoughts About Raising Money
Most entrepreneurs raise money to help their businesses get off the ground. Whether from angels or venture capitalists, I see most entrepreneurs making the same mistake. They raise money when they “have to.” There is a better way. With some advance planning, you can raise money, easier, at certain moments in time. Take advantage of ...
November 11 2009
by John Backus
Venture Capital: 5 tips on how to navigate the VC gauntlet
Early-Stage venture capital firms see every imaginable type of business idea. Since we are the first institutional fundraising “gate” that entrepreneurs have to pass through, the variety of business plans which we see fill the spectrum from awful to terrific. Over the years I have seen lots of bad ideas: Bad ideas for big businesses. ...
October 23 2009
by John Backus
Executive Compensation
Today I turn the blog over to Walt Shill, a CEO of one of our portfolio companies many years ago, and now a very senior executive at Accenture. I love the way Walt thinks and writes – and post this below with his permission. The topic is executive compensation, but at the end he has ...
