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March 21, 2006

Planning, Funding, Executing, and Exiting a New Venture | Gerry Lemberg

Planning, Funding, Executing and Exiting a New Venture by Gerry Lemberg An entrepreneur is that rare gifted person who has foresight, is firm and resolute, able to motivate and lead others and understands that the value of an idea... [continued]

October 31, 2005

To Think It Up Or To Look It Up - That is the Question

Over the weekend, I got caught with my pants down — again. I was engaged in an energetic debate on “some issue” when suddenly the tables turned on me when my bluff was called. During the discussion, I was caught... [continued]

October 19, 2005

Let George Washington Spread Your Message | A Clever Analog Promotional Technique

A few Fridays ago, I was perusing the New York Times with coffee-in-hand. (Something I can do occasionally if I manage to get to the Times before my wife completely dismantles it and uses relevant sections for pet clean-up tasks —... [continued]

October 06, 2005

The Politics of Denial - Fiscal Responsibility vs Un-Checked Power

Denial Isn’t Always Bad As I have mentioned before, denial is not necessarily a bad thing. Denial is clearly quite useful to keep organisations and groups on track towards long-term goals and not be too distracted by short-term setbacks and... [continued]

September 29, 2005

The Start of Internet Tsunami 2.0 Averted? eBay Shareholders Get the Final Word: "Skype Who?"

[“Uncle! Uncle! I give Up” — I really thought I could make it as the last hold-out in the VC Blogosphere NOT to comment on the Skype-eBay (or is it eBay-Skype?) Deal — Wrong again — cgm] What the Skype/eBay Deal Says... [continued]

August 16, 2005

Bill Gates is Right - Windows Stimulates Innovation - Much More than MacOS or Linux

I have been a fan of the MacOS for years — and still am. While I use a Windows machine myself, I maintain a mixed network at home and I have my entire family on MacIntosh machines. Why? To decrease... [continued]

August 09, 2005

DID UC THIS? Notable Links in Venture Capital, Technology, New Media, Bloggging, and Healthcare

[Interesting posts I ran across but didn’t comment on — a reflection of my lack of value-add — NOT the merits of the items themselves. — cgm] Venture Capital The Entrepreneurial Mind: A Niche Market is Never as Safe and... [continued]

July 30, 2005

Stealth Mode: Pros and Cons

One of the topics that frequently comes up in venture capital is the relative importance of secrecy. Entrepreneurs are typically obsessed about keeping their “great ideas” secret — hence their obsession with NDAs and with Patent “Protection”. It’s natural for entrepreneurs... [continued]

Top-10 Most Common Intellectual Property Rights Mistakes During Venture Capital Due Diligence

Top-10 Most Common Intellectual Property Rights Mistakes During Venture Capital Due Diligence 1.TOO LATE TO START FILING US AND INTERNATIONAL PATENT APPLICATIONSUnfortunately for many good technology companies, it may be too late to file for patent protection. The current U.S.... [continued]

July 02, 2005

TWO MYTHS IN ONE: Founder Control is Healthy and Investor Control is Healthy

MYTH: [Founder or Investor] Control is Healthy REALITY: [Founder or Investor] Control is called [Founder-itis or Investor-itis] We VCs often use the term “Founderitis” and, according to Google, we appear to be winning the war for hearts and minds of... [continued]

June 21, 2005

NEW MYTH: The Ultimate "Master of the Universe" Vision Statement

FOR MEGALOMANIACS ONLY If you have ever been inspired to have the full grandiosity of your vision come alive in the minds of your potential investors (or your therapist), this short video is for you. EPIC 2014 [“Thorazine Anyone?” — Chris... [continued]

June 18, 2005

What is a "Scalable" Business?

For Venture Investors: Scalability is King While both scalable and non-scalable businesses can be “successful” and grow — only scalable businesses can achieve the high-growth characteristics required to command market multiples attractive to venture investors. So what is a “scalable”... [continued]

MYTH: Physicians are Resistant to New Technologies

REALITY: Marketing 101: NEVER EVER Blame the Customer for not Buying Your Product!!! [Beware — this post is really more of a personal rant — so let me apologise in advance for being a bit meandering and repetitive — cgm] This... [continued]

June 17, 2005

MYTH: 10x "Best Case" Return is Compelling to Investors

REALITY: 10x “Worst Case” Return is Compelling to Investors Assume $500m Venture Fund Size $10m Average Investment Size Series B Average Investment Stage 50 Deals Total Do the math! 100x at 5 years delivers an incremental 15% IRR to the fund... [continued]

June 13, 2005

MYTH: Great Management is King

REALITY: Great Strategy is King Most VCs will respond with knee-jerk affirmation to the statement “Great Management is King”. But what VCs really mean is that Great Management is a necessary but insufficient condition for them to invest. Clearly, the company must... [continued]

June 12, 2005

MYTH: Entrepreneurs are Special People

REALITY: The term “Entrepreneur” has been rendered useless through massive over-use, misuse, and bizarre mystical veneration. I have always felt very very uncomfortable using the terms "entrepreneur", "entrepreneurial", "entrepreneurship" etc. And I have always felt acutely uncomfortable when I've... [continued]

MYTH: "Patents Protect Small Companies"

REALITY: “Only DEEP DEEP Pockets = Patent Protection” Patents are just negotiating chits in a Big Company Chess Game. You not only need the patents but you need lots and lots of money to play against the “Big Boys.”. If... [continued]

June 05, 2005

MYTH: NDAs are a Good Idea

REALITY: Nothing Screams “I’m Clue-less” Louder than asking for an NDA. Read my lips: “NDAs are a) unenforceable and b) even suggesting an NDA makes you look like a complete idiot.” BTW, For those of you who don’t know: NDA... [continued]

June 04, 2005

What is "Mythocracy"?

What is this term “Mythocracy” I use so prominently in the subtitle of this blog? Actually, “Mythocracy” is a term I coined for myself in the early 1970s to describe the role of Propaganda in Technology-Driven Democratic Societies. In college, I... [continued]

June 03, 2005

MYTH: "Crazy like a Fox"

Reality: “Crazy like a Raccoon!” Anyone who has grown up exposed to raccoons and their behaviours will have a treasure trove of bizarre stories to tell. In fact, in communities with significant “coon” exposure, raccoons often become the center of... [continued]

May 31, 2005

MYTH: "VCs care about what your application looks like."

This is another one of those major disconnects between entrepreneurs and investors — technically oriented entrepreneurs tend to spend way too much time building an impressive demo or alpha production... [continued]

May 26, 2005

LinkedIn: The Myth of Having "Too Many Connections"

Spiderware.com: LinkedIn: The Myth of Having "Too Many Connections" [ This is a must read post from Joe Bartling’s Blog and cross-posted in MyLinkedInPowerForum on Yahoo!Groups and copied here in it’s entirety … partly for convenience and partly because I’m jealous I didn’t... [continued]

April 29, 2005

Accenture Global Convergence Forum 2005: Plenary Session

Accenture Global Convergence Forum 2005: Plenary Session Accenture Global Convergence Forum 2005: Plenary Session Myth and Reality through the History of Convergence There is a lot to be l... [continued]

April 15, 2005

MYTH: "Advisory Boards Add Value"

VC's have an interesting rule of thumb: div align="center" "The value of a company is INVERSELY proportional to size of its ADVISORY board" /div Basically, the mere existence of an advisory board is a... [continued]

March 10, 2005

MYTH: "One Page Business Plan" is a great tool

REALITY: “One Page Business Plan” is a DANGEROUS tool. [this is a slightly revised from the orignal post entitled “BTW "One Page Business Plan" is a DANGEROUS Tool” in Ecademy Clubs: Global Capital Access Club - Forum — cgm] 10-Mar-05 5:56am... [continued]

March 09, 2005

MYTH: "A Good Business Plan must Convince Investors"

REALITY: “A Good Business Plan must Convince You” [this is slightly revised from the original posted as “ONLY ONE BUSINESS PLAN MATTERS... THE PLAN WHICH CONVINCES YOU!!!” in Ecademy Clubs: Global Capital Access Club - Forum — cgm] 09-Mar-05 5:19pmThe only... [continued]

Mythocracy in Venture Capital, Technology, Healthcare, Media, Internet, et al (Chief Dung Analyst: Christian Mayaud)