VCJ Staff
Oct. 1 turned out to be a pretty interesting day in the tech business. First, the board of directors of PeopleSoft stepped up and canned Craig Conway, its CEO since 1999. Then, the enterprise software company took the highly unusual step of replacing him with none other than Dave Duffield, its founder and chairman. Replace […]
Private equity is, by definition, supposed to be a high-risk activity. When it comes to geography, however, most investors shy away from the perils of investing in emerging markets, like those in Eastern Europe. Michael Bleyzer, president and chief executive of SigmaBleyzer, finds the absence of private equity in Eastern Europe regrettable, but has not […]
“It’s better to give than to receive” is not a mantra often spoken by CEOs. But Harry Gruber not only says it, he lives by it. Gruber is CEO of Kintera Inc. (Nasdaq: KNTA), a company he co-founded in 2000. Kintera makes money for nonprofits, providing software and services to help organizations raise billions of […]
Who better to give venture capitalists an informed perspective about their industry than someone who’s been through the fund-raising ringer and has come out in one piece? We sat down with serial entrepreneur Taylor Scanlon, CEO of Pintail Technologies, to get his perspective on the current fund-raising environment and the various issues facing VCs and […]
Scouting for LPs at 30,000 Feet Like the main character in the new Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal, Joseph Tzeng spends a lot of down time in airport lobbies. But he knows how to put his flying time to good use. Tzeng, managing director and co-founder of Crystal Ventures, has been flying a lot between […]
10. White House anecdotes only get you so far and their entertainment value declines in proportion to their age. 9. Urgency is a virtue on your team. Patience is a virtue on your board. 8. When one investor wants to discuss the liquidation preferences of another, smile knowingly and mumble a lot. 7. You don’t […]
Paul Gompers specializes in research on financial issues related to venture capital and private equity funds. This month, the Harvard Business School Press will publish his new book, entitled The Money of Innovation. The book was co-authored by fellow HBS professor Josh Lerner. The past few years have seen an onslaught of books relating to […]
Technology-focused Institutional Venture Partners last week announced the close of its tenth investment vehicle, IVP X LP. Originally launched in June 2000 with a $150 million target, the fund was oversubscribed and reached a total cap of $225 million. IVP X will invest in 30 to 35 companies, investing between $5 million and $10 million […]
Germany has traditionally been known for its large, well-managed corporations. However, in the past few years, it has also garnered a reputation for its small, technology-related enterprises. Indeed, an entrepreneurial fervor similar to the one seen in the U.S. captured Germany to wane only after a prolonged decline in the public markets. As the attitude […]
When Hans Severiens, a retired venture capitalist and angel investor, established San Francisco’s Band of Angels in late 1994, he believed he was embarking on a part-time project. He soon realized, however, that running an investment club like the Band, now regarded as the industry’s premier angel network, was an expensive, full-time endeavor – which […]