BLOG STARTUPS, VENTURE AND THE TECH BUSINESS
May 9 2009
by Todd Hixon
Rod Brooks interview: TLH notes from the Nantucket conference
MIT professor, star of movie Fast, Cheap, and Out of ControliRobot started without a plan, just some JPL contracts, ran that way for 8 yearsDid not raise money until we saw external market opportunities At one point had six product divisions Now two divisions: gov and consumer If we had it to do again, we would ...
May 9 2009
by Todd Hixon
Rich Miner interview: TLH notes from the Nantucket conference
Expect Android to overtake iPhone in sales around the end of 2010 (most analysts’ view) based on OEM and carrier anouncements more friendly to carriers than iPhone, eg, share app revenue openness is becoming more accepted in the mobile industry Google Ventures There have been 50 or so investments in the past, need to pull ...
May 9 2009
by Todd Hixon
Scott Derschlag, Skype COO: TLH notes from the Nantucket conference
Skype is a Ferrari that is running on 3 cylinders: [sounds like someone hyping a car company to me] huge success engaging users (400m) weak on monetization ($550m, $1.30/user) customer service is a challenge with a user base the size of the European union Fremium is a subtle strategy: different customers have different behaviors some ...
May 9 2009
by Todd Hixon
Managing through the downturn: TLH notes from the Nantucket conference
First panel: Managing through the downturnAron Ain, CEO, KronosJana Eggers, CEO, SpreadShirt (customized apparel), $10s m run rate, just raised growth capital (offers were shocking)Christia Lampe-Onnerud, Boston-Power, advanced lap-top batteries, H-P is lead customer, growing fastChris Zannetos, CEO, Courion, Info SW co, security business, manage provisioning of systems for employees (eg, 800 new interns at ...
May 9 2009
by Todd Hixon
LP Panel: TLH notes from NVCA annual meeting
Title: “The Delicate LP/GP Relationship”Moderator: Becky Buckman, ForbesContext: LP liqudity squeeze, mediocre VC performance [besides that, how was the play, Ms. Lincoln?]Panel: Nick Harris, Lexington Partners (secondaries), typically buying 5-yr old funds, believe in VCRebecca Connelley, FairView: known for great names, very conservative, raise $300m/3 year cycle, keep it right-size, 30% is emerging manager mandates (Fund I-III), ...
May 9 2009
by Todd Hixon
Liquidity Panel: TLH notes from NVCA annual meeting
Controversial suggestion: extend lock-ups. Data suggests that VC selling is a major drag on price during first two years (small cap IPO performance historically is pretty flat in first year, much better in second year). Newhall from NEA: average hold post IPO used to be 3 years, before the bubble.Few buyers for newly minted IPO ...
May 9 2009
by Todd Hixon
IT Panel: TLH notes from the NVCA Annual Meeting
Moderator = Chip Hazard (a VC)Panel:CIO of TransUnionPartner at Bain who does IT consultingDavid Skok, Matrix GPCIOs cutting 10-20% based on expected revenue shortfalls of 10%-40% have lost discretionary spending ability Focus is on short term savings and efficiency, not on the future 50% discount rate, need payback within a budget year variablize costs — ...
May 9 2009
by Todd Hixon
Mobile panel: TLH Notes for NVCA Annual Meeting
Panelists:Mike Baker, Nokia/enpocket Rich Miner, Google VenturesBernie Gershon, DisneyChip Hazard (moderator)Baker: no one yet knows what mobile media is good for we understand other kinds of new media much better Gershon: does content deals for Disney on the web iPhone is the breakthrough platform: experience and network is now there Revenue oppties: subscriptions and ad model ...
May 6 2009
by Thanasis Delistathis
Tip #1: Explain your business in simple terms
Memo to entrepreneurs: can you explain to your mother what your business does and what problem it solves? Great. Now explain to VCs the same way. Here is a mythbuster for you: VCs don’t need to hear buzzwords to think you are smart. In fact, the more buzzwords they hear the more they think: (a) ...
May 6 2009
by Thanasis Delistathis
Use of focus groups
There are many times in startup pitches where the entrepreneurs are trying to convince us that they have the product features figured out because they have conducted one or two focus groups and have incorporated potential “customer feedback.” It is puzzling to me how frequently this happens. Of course anyone who has worked in marketing ...
