I think blogging is cool…
I also think it’s a fantastic business tool. I’m speaking on a panel to that effect next week in Denver along with Tim Higgins from Indigio, Jon Nordmark from eBags, Ken Klispie of Disaboom and David Gibbons of Zillow. If you’re around and interested (or just want to come heckle) please come!
May 7, 2008· 1 min read
Foundry Group Joins the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado
Foundry is pleased to announce that we’ve joined the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado. EFFCO was created to encourage philanthropy from entrepreneurial companies in Colorado (there are chapters in many other major markets across the country). By encouraging companies to donate a small percentage of their stock (in the form of a warrant that is only exercisable when the company is sold or goes public) EFFCO is both raising funds for local non-profits as well as encouraging companies to foster a culture of philanthropy early on in the life of their company. …
May 7, 2008· 1 min read
The glamorous life of our accounting group
I caught this shot as Melissa from our accounting department was preparing some kind of mailing to go out later this afternoon. This is actually only about 1/2 of the envelopes she was working on. It’s all glamour here in venture capital!
May 6, 2008· 1 min read
From the shameless commerce division…
A little off topic, but if you’re in the market for a fun summer driver, I’m selling my fake Porsche 356 (not a kit but a “custom” build). I bought it on eBay 6 years ago and am trying to sell it the same way. I’ve had it up a couple of times – winner’s financing fell through the first time and it didn’t clear reserve the second. I’ve taken out the reserve so if you’re interested or know someone who is . . . bid! …
May 6, 2008· 1 min read
Positive trending
I was thinking earlier today about one of the more subtle litmus tests that I use when considering an investment opportunity – my excitement trend line. My partner Ryan really helped me think through this a few months ago (I had been doing it but hadn’t been explicit about it). For every investment opportunity we dig into there are always multiple meetings, due diligence calls, research reviews, partner debates and other chances to interact about a company or idea. It’s obvious when I write it out here – although I think more subtle when you’re actually in the middle of evaluating an opportunity – but the trend line around a potential deal should be pretty clearly rising as you spend more time on it. I’m not saying that every meeting has to be better than the last or that you can’t dig up issues that require further work or clarification. I am saying that overall your enthusiasm for a deal should be increasing (and clearly so) over time rather than going down or even staying the same. It’s not a reason in and of itself to make an investment, but is a pretty good barometer of when you’re on to something or not.
May 5, 2008· 1 min read
How to get a job in venture capital (revisited)
A few years ago I wrote a post on how to get a job in venture capital. It was lucky enough to get broad distribution and remains my most viewed and linked to post. I’ve had a number of questions about it over the years and have tried to respond to people who wrote in to ask my opinion about their VC job search. One of the most common questions I’ve received runs something like: “I get it – finding a venture job is hard. I still really want to try and I have a 5+ year outlook on this. What should I do during that time to work towards my goal of landing a venture job?” …
April 29, 2008· 5 min read
Is Facebook replacing email?
If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I love platforms in general and Facebook in particular. And since I’ve been thinking about messaging recently (see my post yesterday on Twitter as my new instant messenger) I’ve been noticing the increasingly varied methods I use to communicate. I’m curious if others have also experienced a trend away from old school email. In particular I’m seeing an increase in the volume of messaging on Facebook – from Jeff suggesting on my wall that I try out Twhirl (in response to a tweet about a Snitter problem I was having) to old high school buddies re-connecting through direct message. And I’m not even a heavy Facebook user. …
April 23, 2008· 1 min read
at my desk in boulder yesterday
April 23, 2008· 0 min read
Twitter is my instant messenger
I’ve been off instant messaging for years. There was nothing about it that I found appealing or that added to my productivity. I realized this morning that Twitter has become my new IM. I publish what I’m doing (and as a result people know if they can reach me or not, whether to try me at my office or on my cell, etc.). I stay in touch with my friends and colleagues by following what they are up to (and therefore know how to get in touch with them if I need to). Through following and being followed I keep up with more people and don’t have to “check in” as much because I know what they are doing, where they are traveling and who they are spending time with. And of course through Twitter’s direct message feature, I’ve literally replaced IM by enabling people to get in touch with me directly and quickly (and I pay way more attention to a Twitter DM than I ever did to IMs; they also show up on all of my computing devices so they are more likely to find me that IM, which seemed to route messages randomly among my various IM clients and whatever machines I had that happened to be “online” at the time). …
April 22, 2008· 2 min read
Big Company. Little Company
I was out at the Microsoft Mountain View campus a few weeks ago for an event hosted by their venture relations group. I had the chance to meet Chris Liddell, MSFT’s CFO, along with 3 of their divisional CFO’s. It was a pretty wide ranging discussion from how they are thinking about M&A to several strategic area of focus to how the divisions are working together on projects that cross divisional boundaries. …
April 22, 2008· 2 min read