It's always an interesting week in venture capital. Discover the best stories, blog posts and other information inside the VC ecosystem here in the US and in happening places around the world. Onward dear reader…
STARTUP REVOLUTION LAUNCH
Foundry Group VC Brad Feld has launched the Startup Revolution website as a first step toward a number of subsites for his startup-oriented how-to books:
FeldThoughts: Startup Revolution
Feld continues evangelizing the power of startups and entrepreneurship with this new initiative.
CHINA'S STARTUPS
PandoDaily writer Hamish McKenzie has a report on the venture capital-backed startup scene in various locales in China.
PandoDaily: Thoughts on China's Startup Ecosystem
It's a long post, but McKenzie does a serviceable job pointing out the positives and negatives of starting a company as well as investing in China.
GREELEY ON Q2
Flybridge Capital Partners VC Michael Greeley has his take on the latest venture financing report from tech law firm Cooley Godward.
On the Flying Bridge: What Happened in 2Q 2012…
He notes that series A and B round pre-money valuations were surprisingly high but that third rounds were surprisingly low.
GOOGLE VENTURES NOT A CLONE
Although most venture capital firms would strenuously deny they are a clone of anyone, Google Ventures is a bit different.
VentureBeat: Doing More Than Writing Checks
Google Ventures believes they do more to “help companies" than try to pick big winners to invest in.
IT'S A MOBILE GAME NOW
Some people don't like assigning “versions” to the web, such as 1.0, 2.0, 3.0...but not this partner:
Jay Jamison: Web 3.0: the Mobile Era
Jamison is a partner at BlueRun Ventures who focuses on the convergence of mobile and consumer technologies.
PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE INTERNET VALUATIONS
Online media entrepreneur and VC Om Malik has a thought-provoking post up on the seeming divergence between private valuations of Internet companies and what happens when they go public.
GigaOm: Who Is Right on Internet Valuations?
He attempts to shed light on the differences between VC valuations and public market investor valuations. Also, great discussion follows in the comment section.
CROWDFUNDING TAXES
If you're thinking of securing financing through the presale of your product or service on a crowdfunding service, be aware of the tax man.
PE Hub: Crowdfunded Businesses Face Tax Man
Don't overlook the fact that if you sell something to raise cash to fund your business, you need to keep enough funds to pay taxes on your profit.
FILE THE FORM D
Some companies are forgoing the safe harbor requirements to file a Form D with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Jason Mendelson: Don't Hate the “D”
Companies that sell stock may be required to file a Form D to avoid falling afoul of SEC’s notice of exempt offerings provisions. Internet industry VC (and former attorney) Jason Mendelson makes some good points on why you don't want to skip this filing.
VCS THINK ORDINARY?
The NYTimes has a post up about how VCs may be looking to fund small innovations applied to everyday tasks.
DealBook: In the Ordinary, the Next Big Thing
Using mobile payments startup Square as an example, the piece compares the startup to what Thomas Edison did - linking "existing ideas and products with innovation in design and usage to create a new technology".
VALUATION BLUES
Rho Ventures Managing Partner Habib Kairouz sees valuations in social media and software-as-a-service companies dropping.
Xconomy: Valuation Correction
He doesn't think we're in a bubble, just that the valuations put on some Internet companies have exceeded their ability to grow in the future.