silicon valley vc

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Are Silicon Valley VCs killing innovation?

There is a growing imbalance in terms of the risk/reward ratio between venture capital firms and entrepreneurs. And the current economic situation is making things worse. Very little funding is happening. VC firms do have funds but they are focused on trying to keep portfolio companies alive....

Tags: Silicon Valley, Innovation, Entrepreneur, Silicon Valley VC, Venture Capital, Investment, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Financing Startups, Management, Tom Foremski

Blog posts 2009-08-11

Silicon Valley VCs proposed a plan to save newspapers in 1996

Silicon Valley VCs proposed a plan to save newspapers in 1996People were looking for ideas back in 1993I was working at the Apple Media Research Lab in Boulder in 1993. Steve Outing, also based in Boulder, started the Online News mailing list in 1994. Anyone who was involved with digital...

Tags: Operational accounting, Silicon Valley VC

Discussion threads 2009-07-01

Additional Resources

Where politics and greentech money merge: Silicon Valley

At least one of the Silicon Valley VC firms moving in greentech sector sees a clear connection between politics and greentech start-ups. No surprise the firm is The Westly Group, headed by former gubernatorial candidate, Steve Westly. Here's how they position themselves on the VC firm's...

Tags: Venture-capital Company, Clean Technology, Venture Capital, Government, Finance, Financing Startups, Harry Fuller

Blog posts 2009-09-17

Are Silicon Valley VCs killing innovation?

VC's and InnovationThe title of your blog suggests that VC's are in control of innovation - a position that is correct only if entrepreneurs grant them that power.I am no fan of VC money (I get along with some VC's personally) because it is so expensive and the need for...

Tags: Entrepreneurship, investor

Discussion threads 2009-08-12

News to know: Clearwire; Google Caffeine; innovation; Office and Nokia; VMWare; Windows 7

Here are today's notable headlines. You can get News To Know via email alert and RSS daily. For continuous updates see BNET's around-the-Web tech coverage. Larry Dignan: Clearwire bets on fourth quarter WiMax tipping point Garett Rogers: Google to Caffeinate search results ...

Tags: Innovation, Google Inc., Larry Dignan, Google Android, Nokia Corp., Clearwire Corp., Andrew Nusca, Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft Windows, VMware Inc., Matthew Miller, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Sam Diaz, Microsoft Windows 7, Mobile Operating Systems, Data Centers, Smart Phones, Virtualization, Microsoft Office, Storage, Hardware, Data Management, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Office Suites, Software

Blog posts 2009-08-12

Foundation of our green future

I recently got to speak with Steve Vassallo, an exec at Foundation Capital. They're an investment firm firmly in the greentech camp. They've been in the VC business for 14 years. They don't just talk the talk, Foundation's putting their money where the matter is. The firm's...

Tags: Foundation Capital, Florida Power & Light, Construction, Strategy, Management, Harry Fuller

Blog posts 2009-08-10

Government is killing Silicon Valley innovation

Who cares?'m tired of this struggle for capitalism, I'm off to Galt's Gulch.Wah, wah, wah!Americans like Franklin, Westinghouse, Whitny, Kilby, didn't need fake "incentives"!Massengill Satchel"I don?t want to come across as a crying venture capitalist " but..............Sickening. Self-centered VC story. Complaining about access to talent, h1b's etc. No mention of...

Tags: Leadership, Strategy, Regulations, innovation, H1B, government

Discussion threads 2009-08-07

Government is killing Silicon Valley innovation

I just spoke with Bob Ackerman, founder of Allegis Capital, and he is very concerned about innovation in Silicon Valley, primarily because of the cumulative impact of US government actions and regulations. Here are some notes from our conversation: -...

Tags: Silicon Valley, Innovation, Venture-capital Company, Darwin, Venture Capital, Government, Investment, Financial Services, Finance, Financing Startups, Tom Foremski

Blog posts 2009-08-07

bizSessions 1.0, FTW or WTF funding models for startups

Hosted by Wildcog, and the creators of geekSessions, tonight was the first bizSessions. Jonathan Abrams, founder of Friendster and now Socializr, was the first to speak. The Lean Startup Low burn rate, the use things that are cheap...

Tags: Start-up, Money, Data Centers, Social Networking, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Storage, Hardware, Data Management, Online Communications, Marketing, Advertising & Promotion, Management, Andrew Mager

Blog posts 2009-07-14

Andreessen Horowitz VC fund launches: Will invest $50,000 to $50 million in IT startups

Marc Andreessen and Ben Hororwitz have launched $300 million venture capital fund looking to invest in early stage startups. Andreessen has been best known for hatching Netscape, but has had a series of hits. Opsware, started with Horowitz, was sold to HP. And now Andreessen is chairman...

Tags: Marc Andreessen, Information Technology, Founder, CEO, Andreessen Horowitz, Venture Capital, Investment, Strategy, Finance, Financing Startups, Management, Larry Dignan

Blog posts 2009-07-06

Biofuel fraud exposes some big names

A court has awarded over $10-million in damages for fraud perpetrated by Cello, a biofuel company. If you've read Anthony Trollope's THE WAY WE LIVE NOW you could have predicted something like this. Scams are as old as the stock market. If you follow any current headlines you...

Tags: Biofuel, Fraud, Biofuel Fraud, Scams, Harry Fuller

Blog posts 2009-07-04

Poking for holes in Silicon Valley's future

Every time Silicon Valley goes through a downturn we see stories about how it is losing its lead. Here is the BBC with a long story headlined: "Silicon Valley crown up for grabs. It has one source to make this claim, Tom Siebel, the retired founder of Siebel Systems. ...

Tags: Silicon Valley, Leadership, Strategy, Cloud Computing, Virtualization, Management, Hardware, Tom Foremski

Blog posts 2009-05-04

Survey: Venture capitalist spirits perk up

Venture capitalists are becoming slightly more upbeat about the economy and market, according to the latest read from the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index. The ongoing survey of VCs in the Bay Area found that venture capitalist confidence registered a 3.03 on a 5 point scale...

Tags: Survey, Venture Capital, Investment, Finance, Financing Startups, Larry Dignan

Blog posts 2009-04-08

SXSWi - party like its 2009

Prior to SXSWi I was asked goodness knows how many times if I was likely to be there. I said the same thing to all comers: 'I don't get it. I don't see the point. Waste of time.' Much against my advice, at least one SAP...

Tags: Innovation, Austin, Enterprise, SXSWi, Drunkenness, Breakthrough Innovation, Leadership, Strategy, Management, Dennis Howlett

Blog posts 2009-03-18

Failure in Silicon Valley and the guild of entrepreneurs

Here is the second part of my conversation with Silicon Valley veteran Bill Coleman. The first part is here: How will the recession affect Silicon Valley? Mr Coleman is optimistic about Silicon Valley's long term prospects but he is pessimistic about the current situation. "These days...

Tags: Silicon Valley, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Productivity, Management, Tom Foremski

Blog posts 2009-03-05

Government doings: water, climate

China wants to reduce its water use. How? More efficient irrigation. In California they're dealing with the drought by cutting back water supplies. In Silicon Valley the techies will find themselves with half a normal water supply this summer. Bet you'll see some more VC...

Tags: Harry Fuller

Blog posts 2009-02-24

Greentechies smiling a little brighter today

Courtesy: Foundation Capital. One immediate effects of the Obama Administration's economic plans: it has stimulated optimism among greentech firms and investors. I spoke yesterday with Steve Vassallo, principal at Foundation Capital. They have a range of greentech investments in their VC portfolio. Steve walked...

Tags: Window, Grid, Ozone, EnerNOC, Vassallo, Harry Fuller

Blog posts 2009-02-18

Recession lowers all boats

In the solar industry the recession is pushing one player from operator to vendor. Ausra, based in Silicon Valley, is giving up its plans to build huge solar generating plants. Instead the firm will focus on selling components and solar facilities to existing utilities. Ausra is abandoning for...

Tags: Recession, Ausra, Harry Fuller

Blog posts 2009-01-29

Bucking the trend, handful of open source players attract VC funding

Venture capital spending is down eight percent nationally yet a number of open source companies have scored big funding wins as of late. Talend, which develops open source data integration software including Open Studio, this week announced it secured $12 million from investors Balderton Capital,...

Tags: Software, Venture Capital, Open Source, Finance, Financing Startups, Paula Rooney

Blog posts 2009-01-27

Can U.S. close the battery gap?

Not made in America. How many tech devices are designed in Silicon Valley, Boston, Seattle or some other American tech center, manufactured elsewhere? From chips to iPods, we've gotten used to it. Now a consortium of lingering manufacturers in the U.S. want the feds to help them get...

Tags: Lithium-ion, Battery, Imara, Engineering, Harry Fuller

Blog posts 2008-12-18