03Dec
Filed in Energy | Technology | Venture capital
During the third quarter of 2009, a total of 35 energy and environmental companies received $421 million in new venture capital financing, representing an 8% decrease in the number of companies being funded and an 8% decrease in the total amount funded to the four sectors of Alternative Energy, Clean Tech, Energy and Environmental.
Alternative Energy companies showed the only deal funding volume percentage increase of the four categories, with a 20 % increase quarter over quarter. The Clean Tech sector showed a sharp decrease in activity, with an 86% decrease in amounts funded. Energy funding amounts were also down, with an 18% funding decrease and the number of companies funded decreasing by 27%.
During the quarter, Software company fundings represented the second largest sector, raising $610 million between 97 companies. This activity represented an increase of 10% in total funding amount and a decrease of 22% in the number of companies funded.
The average financing round size reversed its previous decline and rose sharply, from $4.7 million in Q2 09 to $6.3 million in the current quarter.
Energy, Technology, Venture capital
21Apr
Filed in Economy | Technology | Venture capital
The New York Times reports that Venture Capitalist invest in 922 deals in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 861 in the same period last year. The total amount invested was down 5% causing the times to lead with the headline Venture Capitalists Invest Less In First Quarter – New York Times.
“We do not expect to see significant declines in investment levels in the coming year,” said NVCA President Mark Heesen.
Is this additional evidence that media outlets lean toward a doom and gloom outlook or are they just following the current sentiment of their readership? Just be sure to read past the headlines.
Economy, Finance, Venture capital
11Apr
Filed in Management | Science
“Why do people feel pressure to have an answer for every question?” Even when they don’t know Jack, they make it up on the fly. Ten years ago our training courses included a short video clip of college students at some of the more prestigious universities speaking at length with great confidence about a subject which they obviously knew very little. One episode had students suggesting summer’s were warmer because the Earth had moved significantly closer to the Sun. This video claimed we have been programmed from a very early age to know the answer or make it up. Apparently, some people take to this training better than others. If you really want to know the cause, you’ll need to ask someone else, because I simply do not know.
KM, Management, Venture capital
23Feb
Filed in Colorado | Economy | Management | Venture capital
Speaking of the TXU purchase, Mr. Bonderman said the company was adept at running a profitable company and equally bad at politics from price increases to ecology to labor relations. These shortcomings lead tothe opportunity which focused on addressing these public concerns.Opportunities for private equity include exploiting public investorsfocus on short term focus, their dislike for debt or leverage, fixingbroken companies and putting companies together that changes thecompetitive landscape.His advice to students wondering which classes to take for a career inprivate equity, which job to take this summer, which classes to takenext year is to “Just relax”.In looking at the public policy of the US, Bonderman says ourlawmakers are thinking like it is 1975 when the US represented 50% ofthe world’s GDP. Now that we are less than 30% and falling the rest ofthe world has choices and will not play by any US tax code.Best run companies are those which build value over long periods oftime. However, fund managers often are looking for short term gains.This makes creating proper incentives for publicly traded companies’managers sub optimal if not downright harmful.
Colorado, Economy, Management, Venture capital
07Nov
Filed in Economy | Management | Venture capital
In
Web start-ups snub the big money, the International Herald Tribune suggests this is a trend that should be expected to continue for a few if not spread to many companies in the space.“By then, Meebo was being courted by venture capitalists, but it decided to take a modest $100,000 from three angel investors, people who typically contribute small amounts and make few demands.
“We had a bunch of VCs talking to us about potentially putting more money in,†Sternberg said. “We said no. A lot of things happen when you raise a VC round, and they really slow you down.â€
Eventually, Meebo did raise money from venture investors – about $3.5 million from Sequoia Capital. But that was after the company was well on its way to showing that its service was a hit with consumers. At the time, Meebo had about 200,000 daily log-ins.â€
Finance, Management, Venture capital, web
11Feb
Filed in Management | Venture capital
The National Venture Capital Association has prepared this set of model legal documents:
Term Sheet
Stock Purchase Agreement
Certificate of Incorporation
Investor Rights Agreement
Voting Agreement
Right of First Refusal and Co-Sale Agreement
Management Rights Letter
Model Opinion Letter
Model Indemnification Agreement
According to the site, “the model documents aim to:
reflect industry norms
be fair, biased toward neither the VC nor the entrepreneur, consistent with industry norms
present a range of “typically seen†options (again, consistent with industry norms)”
include explanatory commentary where necessary or helpful”
Finance, Management, Venture capital
14Jan
Filed in Economy | Management | Technology | Venture capital
Bill Gurley outlines the future trends in VC investing via the ever present 2 x 2 matrix (Accurate vs. Inaccurate x Conventional vs. Non-conventional). Of course, we can all agree that inaccurate predictions are worthless. Gurley suggests the Conventional/Accurate predictions are also worth very little. The market prices the high expectations into a marketable security while the early stage investors fund too many companies for the market.
predictions, trends, Venture capital