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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 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]

September 08, 2005

One for My MISS LIST - TRANSNEURONIX

As per my previous post, this is my inaugural MISS LIST ( or PASS REGRET) post. This deal was a PASS which came back to haunt me with a vengeance this summer. With this deal, I had some concerns related... [continued]

The Art of Saying No -- without Saying No

The Art of Saying No — without Saying No If one were to do a “keyword” frequency analysis of VC communications with entrepreneurs, the actual usage of the word “No” by VCs wouldn’t necessarily look anymore common place than in other... [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 15, 2005

Isn't Smaller Just Better? More on this Stupid "Search Engine Index Size" Controversy

I like to look at trends. And I like to periodically measure the trends I look at. Perhaps they are misleading but I do find tracking the rates of change in certain concepts on the Internet (and blogosphere) useful. I’d... [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]

August 05, 2005

My Find of the Week -- The Entrepreneurial Mind

The Entrepreneurial Mind This is a blog written by Jeff Cornwall, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University. I came across this blog because of an interesting post he wrote this week — The Entrepreneurial Mind: A Niche... [continued]

August 02, 2005

I/P UPDATES: Business Names and Trademarks for Dummies

[I realize I have a reputation for bad-mouthing IP but it is still an important component of building many businesses. William Heinze, an intellectual property attorney out of Atlanta, maintains an excellent blog devoted to IP issues called I/P UPDATES. ... [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]

Top 10 Internet Marketing Trends for the Next 10 Years

Larry Chase's Web Digest for Marketers [Interesting List of Internet Marketing Trends worth considering — cgm] Pay Per Call Rings In Feed Marketing Flourishes Email Marketing Will Survive Personal Agents Propogate Reverb Marketing, In Stereo Audio Blogs/Video Blogs (V-Blogs IPTV Adds... [continued]

July 10, 2005

Opinionated VCs "Bravely" Find Their Voice

I have often characterised venture capitalists as “a bunch of guys who — talk to themselves, evaluate guys with visions, and treat visions with money instead of medication.” So when an VC takes the time to actually transcribe their “internal... [continued]

July 04, 2005

VC Cheat Sheet

Venture Capital Journal: Top 10 Tips for New VCs from an Old Hand [Another interesting cheat sheet — This one is for Newbie VCs from Fred Dotzler of De Novo Ventures. — cgm ] 1. Generate deal flow. You can't invest... [continued]

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Real entrepreneurs don't raise venture capital

Real entrepreneurs don’t raise venture capital I came across this post written in February 2005 by Jason Calacanis on one of his many popular blogs. His logic for why he wasn’t shopping for venture funding is well worth reading. —... [continued]

July 03, 2005

Swanson's Rules -- The (Un)Secret CEO Cheat Sheet

Business 2.0 :: Magazine Article :: Features :: The CEO's Secret Handbook Swanson’s (Un)written Rules of Management by Bill Swanson, CEO | President, Raytheon Learn to say, "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be often. It... [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 29, 2005

Good Driving Technique vs Staying the Course

Damn it! Fred Wilson beat me to the punch today with yet another one of his great VC Cliches of the Week. Re: Bush Speech last night, Fred astutely related the Bush “Let’s Keep Doing Everything the Same” approach to the... [continued]

Know Your Entrepreneur's Magic Number

Know Your Entrepreneur's Magic Number One of my objectives on Sacred Cow Dung is to discuss various aspects of the art of building new companies and new industries. One of the most central areas to discuss is RISK. The ability... [continued]

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June 28, 2005

The Power of Free

Both of these two posts together offer a very interesting and useful summary of the strategic use of Free — from Tom Evslin’s Fractals of Change Definitely worth the time to study both of these entries carefully and to reconsider your... [continued]

Genuine VC: Know Your VC's Magic Number

Genuine VC: Know Your VC’s Magic Number In determining if a venture firm is a good fit for an entrepreneur (and vis versa), every first meeting should include a brief discussion about fund size, typical initial investment size, and the... [continued]

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June 27, 2005

So Just How Much is a MOTU worth to a VC? -- VC Fantasy Life Part II

So Just How Much is a MOTU worth to a VC? It depends. Bill Burnham has just posted his analysis with detailed links and references to public filings to get a good sense at what two Big Bear VCs (John... [continued]

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June 24, 2005

The Motus that Got Away

I have yet to find a more interesting, revealing, and truly brilliant web page on any other VC website than this one. This is my all time favorite and it is from Bessemer, or BVP as they seem to call themselves... [continued]

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June 22, 2005

Bagging the Rare MOTU -- VC Fantasy Life Part I

The MOTU The Motu is the rarest, and most highly prized, of all species of venture deals. While I intend to discuss each of the species popular to venture investing over the next few months, it makes sense to start with... [continued]

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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 19, 2005

RULE OF THE WEEK: The success of a web service is inversely proportional to the secrecy that surrounded its development.

Sacred Cow Dung Rule of the Week Mark Fletcher , founder of Bloglines , wrote this rule in an interesting post on the relevance (or irrelevance) of Stealth Mode for Internet Start-ups called Stealt... [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 14, 2005

Target ID and Validation for Orphan Diseases

[ BioTech and Pharma VCs Beware: This article is yet further evidence of the Open-Source Drug Development Trend that is building rapidly and challenging the traditional pharmaceutical industry. Open-Source Drug Development will ultimately have a similar and equally devastating disintermediating... [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]

Bullshit Generator

Bullshit Generator This is a great resource to make sure your business plan and marketing materials are fully “buzz-word compliant” — cgm... [continued]

May 29, 2005

VC Adventure: How to become a venture capitalist

VC Adventure: How to become a venture capitalist [As a VC, you get asked alot about how to become a VC. I’ve given talks on the subject and have lot’s of opinions on this topic but Seth Levine’s post is... [continued]

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So You Want to Be a Venture Capitalist - New York Times

So You Want to Be a Venture Capitalist - New York Times May 22, 2005 So You Want to Be a Venture Capitalist By GARY RIVLIN Menlo Park, Calif. BY all rights Stewart Alsop should have been a terrific venture... [continued]

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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]

May 24, 2005

Management Hubris and the "Humble Pie" Matrix

Management of a successful company has every right to be proud. Alot was invested to get there. It’s hard, and usually thankless, work with long hours and constant “payroll-to-payroll” anxiety. Finally, when management begins to see fruits of their labors and their... [continued]

May 16, 2005

Nice Guys Finish Last

Nice Guys Finish Last Being Agreeable May Hinder Your Rise Up the Corporate Ladder By Kelli MillerWebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MDon Wednesday, September 15, 2004 Sept. 14, 2004 -- It usually pays to be nice, but new research suggests that being a... [continued]

May 13, 2005

Is "Build vs Buy" a New VC Trend? Yes and No ...

[ This entry was originally posted by me in Ecademy Clubs: Global Capital Access Club - Forum on 13-May-05 5:05pm — cgm] This "Build vs Buy" trend is actually a direct result of the maturation and differentiation of the Venture Capital... [continued]

May 07, 2005

BEWARE all you "Chasm Crossers" ...

Ecademy Clubs: Global Capital Access Club - Forum [ This is a revised comment from an original thread above on the GCAC Forum on Ecademy — cgm ] A "Chasm" without the other side is called a "Cliff"orIn the Fog of... [continued]

May 02, 2005

M.O.S.T. Analysis

Although I don’t personally recommend using third-parties to replace or substitute for the “Intellectual Capital Building Process” within an organization … these guys do articulate well our approach to business strategy — cgm M.O.S.T. Analysis from Strategy Consulting, corporate strategy, business... [continued]

April 29, 2005

Open Wallets for Open-Source Software

The New York Times > Technology > Open Wallets for Open-Source Software April 27, 2005 Open Wallets for Open-Source Software By GARY RIVLIN AN FRANCISCO, April 26 - The first time Marc Fleury tried to raise money for his technology... [continued]

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]

January 01, 2005

FIND CAPITAL: Directory of Venture Capital Firms

VENTURE CAPITAL FIRM DIRECTORIES VENTURE CAPITAL / PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM WEB DIRECTORY This directory is very comprehensive (of course, cause its mine). I've compiled it from multiple sources into a database which I use and which I try to keep... [continued]

FIND TALENT: Directory of Executive Recruiters

Recruiter Directories EXECUTIVE RECRUITER WEB DIRectory EXECUTIVE RECRUITER AND SEARCH FIRM DIRECTORY — SEARCHFIRM.com Recruiter Associations Association of Executive Search Consultants The International Association of Corporate and Professional Recruitment The National Association of Executive Recruiters ... [continued]

FIND DEALS: Directory of Ventures Seeking Funding or Talent

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