Lawrence Aragon
When you're on a mission to prevent your industry from repeating a big mistake, you can get a little overzealous. That appears to be what happened to superstar VC Vinod Khosla. During a talk in which he denounced the hype surrounding nanotech and warned of a bubble, Khosla criticized plans by profitless venture-backed startup Nanosys to go public. He later took the unusual step of issuing an apology to the company.
Vinod Khosla, one of the industry’s most respected technology investors, has warned of an impending nanotechnology “bubble” and criticized plans by venture-backed Nanosys Inc. to become the first publicly traded nanotech company. Khosla, a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, made the comments at the MIT/Stanford/UC Berkeley Nanotechnology Forum at Stanford University on […]
You can always count on the government to be a day late and a dollar short. Such is the case with decisions by the states of Colorado and Michigan to protect private equity data. It is laudable that the states took action, but why did they have to wait so long? Venture capitalists couldn’t have […]
For those of you left standing, congratulations. It has been a hard-fought battle. And it’s not going to get any easier, but you know that, and that’s why you deserve a pat on the back. Finally, after a long dry spell, you’re starting to see the exits you worked so hard for (see “Funds Start […]
Year in review in February? Let me explain. We considered doing a special section in the December issue just like all the newsstand magazines. But we decided against it because we didn’t have final year-end fund-raising and disbursement numbers from Venture Economics. Those figures weren’t available until Jan. 23. Knowing that the vast majority of […]
I’ve invested in many early stage life sciences companies during my 19-year career as a venture capitalist. Following are 10 lessons that I have gleaned from my experiences that might be useful to someone embarking on a career in venture capital. 1. Generate deal flow. You can’t invest in companies you don’t see. Having a […]
Some limited partners believe that a major challenge for emerging manager firms is the recruitment of top quality talent to their investment ranks. Because of smaller fund size and the lack of overlapping multiple funds, emerging manager firms are sometimes seen at a disadvantage when competing with larger more established firms with $30 million or […]
Good idea. Bad timing. That appears to be the case with so-called “emerging manager” programs. Several large pension funds have created initiatives to invest in these small, first-time venture funds, but big losses in both private and public equity have visibly slowed commitments. Although the programs are just beginning to take shape, it seems that […]
The venture capital industry is at a crossroads. Valuations continue to plummet, sizes of financing rounds continue to shrink and exits appear fewer and farther away. Aware of these trends, limited partners have forced venture managers to reduce the size of their latest funds in an attempt to bridge supply and demand in the market. […]
Walking through the crisp offices of Accel Partners, it would be easy to confuse Managing Partner Jim Breyer with a college intern. The 41-year-old seems to have inherited the Dick Clark gene, but the boyish-looking venture capitalist has compiled a track record that is nothing short of astonishing: He’s created […]