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Month: July 2021

The Tortoise and the Huh???

The Tortoise and the Huh???

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How often have we heard that slow and steady wins the race? We’ve been looking at funding reports lately and there’s no doubt that this has been a banner year for both funding – and exits. Win-win for both sides of the table, and all the better when seemingly everyone wins, what, eh? Or do they? And funding, in some cases, seems to be happening at incredible speeds.

 

According to Pitch Book, Venture capital rewrites the record books, with “Venture-backed companies having attracted $150 billion in 2021, more than 90% of last year’s record total…IPOs and SPACs helped to drive the exit value of venture-backed companies to $372.2 billion in the first half of 2021. That was 30% higher than 2020’s all-time record…Firm-level fundraising also (took off), with investors closing funds worth $74.1 billion, about 91.5% of 2020’s record-breaking amount.  And Deals, exits, funds—US VC’s records for value are going to get even bigger Read More...

The New Global Tech Ecosystem: Why There’s No Going Back

The New Global Tech Ecosystem: Why There’s No Going Back

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It’s right about mid-summer, the halfway mark, and we hear more and more about how two of the tech capitals – New York and Silicon Valley – are ‘back.’ We also hear a lot of debate online about when events should be scheduled again where people will meet in person, at an actual venue. September? October? Some have already started, although in many cases, we see that the number of attendees is somewhat, if not greatly diminished, which was not necessarily true when the events were being held online.

 

We also wonder how many startups – and how much new funding – was a result of the new borderless ecosystem.  Do these new friendships/affiliations simply go away when the world goes back to in-person events and meetings? We regularly attend a now-online, formerly in-person event whose attendees span multiple states and several continents due to the lockdowns. As venues reopen and some people return to the tech hubs – not all will – and in-person events, will the online participants be cut off? So long and thanks for all the fish? Read More...

The Heat Is On…Big Tech

The Heat Is On…Big Tech

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It may be summer, but we well know that tech – and rust – never rest. Last week, “Former President Donald Trump, who has been banned from most major social media platforms, announced a class-action lawsuit against tech giants Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, along with their respective CEOs Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai,” Yahoo reported. “…In court documents, Mr. Trump’s legal team argued that the tech firms amounted to state actors and thus the First Amendment applied to them. Legal experts said similar arguments had repeatedly failed in the courts before,” said the New York Times.

But Palace Intrigue noted a while back that in April, 2012, “Barack Obama himself admitted that the government helped Google and Facebook get off the ground. The government was present at the beginning when both companies were created.”

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Summer Reading: Lessons from the Pros

Summer Reading: Lessons from the Pros

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We’re full on into summer, when people kick back a bit and even take some time to read. If you’re looking for recommendation and are in the midst of raising capital or plan to very soon, one our readers have suggested Foundry Group founder and Techstars co-founder Brad Feld’s Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist. As well as former New York Angels Chairman and NY Venture Partners founder Brian Cohen’s What Every Angel Investor Wants You to Know: An Insider Reveals How to Get Smart Funding for Your Billion Dollar Idea. Finally, there’s angel investor Jason Calacanis’s Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups–Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000, and as one reviewer noted: Should have titled this book: ‘The ABC Angel: Arrogant, Brilliant, and Confident!’ Then again, for those of us who know him well, that’s Jason, what, eh?

 

Feld also offers a free Venture Deals course that “demystifies venture capital deals and startup financing to give both first-time and experienced entrepreneurs a definitive guide to secure funding.” Sign up and make sure that you’re notified as to when the next session is starting, which will most likely be Fall. Read More...