Well, the good news keeps on coming for early-stage Pittsburgh companies…. I guess someone forgot to tell these entrepreneurs to take a summer vacation.
The latest in what is shaping up to be a great season for Pittsburgh deals is Knopp Neurosciences‘ blockbuster announcement this morning that it has signed a $345 Million strategic deal with [...]
Yesterday I finished book #11 in my 2010 book-reading quest - Creative Capital, by Spencer Ante. This book tells the story of Georges Doriot, considered to be the “Father of Venture Capital”, and the first venture firm, American Research and Development Corp (ARD). The author wass a technology/finance editor at Business Week (recently moved to the WSJ), so [...]
I am presenting at a new media conference in Columbia, MO, in March. The organizer teaches a class in entrepreneurship, and he asked me how my firm thinks about competitors to the portfolio companies we invest in.
The only way to understand competition is to read as much as you can and stay on top of [...]
For investors who are brave enough to challenge the conventional wisdom that all of the good ideas are in Silicon Valley, the current supply/demand imbalance of early stage capital may present a window of opportunity in Pittsburgh.
There is an intriguing article in last week’s issue of Forbes Magazine – Venture Capital’s Coming Collapse – an excerpt:
The venture capital industry is staring at the most vicious shakeout in its history. Returns are pathetic for most funds, the public offering pipeline on which venture depends for its exit strategy is clamped shut, and [...]
National VC Trends:
Monday, Dow Jones VentureSource came out with their 3rd quarter venture capital deal totals for the United States. As expected, the national trends in venture investing are not encouraging. It appears that the number of venture deals fell in all sectors, compared to the same quarter last year.
Some quick takeaways:
The number of healthcare deals [...]
Basil: “Can’t we get you on Mastermind, Sybil? Next contestant , Sybil Fawlty from Torquay, special subject: the bleeding obvious.”
From PEHub:
The National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB) today released data showing that VC fundraising has declined from both the prior quarter and from the third quarter of 2007. Fifty-five U.S.-based firms [...]
I have been asked by many friends and former colleagues about the implications of the current credit crisis on my industry. My answer is pretty straightforward: I am not too worried.
There are three angles to consider if you are a venture capitalist:
Investors/Limited Partners – these are the people whose money we invest. Since we collect [...]
This post could be about 10 pages long… when thinking about how to build positive working relationships with partners of any sort (spouses, friends, children, co-workers), there are many “best practices” that apply. But I am going to focus on only one right now, and it is a high-level one:
With regards to a partner, don’t [...]
For several years, Innovation Works (IW) has been tracking data about venture investment in the Pittsburgh region, which we view as one of the most objective ways to measure the health of the local early-stage tech community. Our 2006 year-end report noted that the region’s 2006 VC investment total of $230 million was the highest [...]