BLOG STARTUPS, VENTURE AND THE TECH BUSINESS
Author Archive
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. Bad ...
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 ...
August 19 2009
by John Backus
Are you looking for a job? How to get a VC to help you!
Are you looking for a job? How to get a VC to help you! (tag: john Backus, vc, job, career(by John Backus)
Not a day goes by that I don’t receive several emails from people looking for a job. Although I would like to help, most of the emails are written is such a way that ...
July 16 2009
by John Backus
Where is the REFORM in all of the “Health Care Reform” bills being Debated in Congress?
I have a problem with the health care reform bills being bantied about these days on Capital Hill. Actually I have a few problems.
My problem with all of the “health care reform” proposals is that they don’t reform anything!
What do I mean by that? Let me count the ways:
1. There is no reform! All they ...
July 15 2009
by John Backus
Why This? Why Now?
My partner Tim Rowe always asks in our investment committee meetings, “Why This? Why Now?”. It is a great pair of questions. And ones every entrepreneur should ponder when starting their business. It is really two separate questions, each of which I would argue needs a convincing answer to place the company in the category of ...
July 11 2009
by John Backus
Sell-To or Sell-Through?
Not a week goes by in our weekly investment committee meetings when one of us doesn’t ask the question, about a business we are evaluating, “Are they successful at selling through, or just selling to?”. The distinction may sound inconsequential. But I suggest that it is critical.
“Sell-to” means you are good at selling your product ...
July 11 2009
by John Backus
Can we Balance the Budget by Taxing the Rich?
144,000 people in the State of California pay half of all of the income taxes collected in a state with 38M people. That is a startling statistic. .37% of the population paying 50% of income taxes. And income taxes are almost half of California’s revenue. Underlying that statistic is the unspoken “problem” which is behind ...
