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Venture Capital This Week for August 17 - 23

Thursday, August 23, 2012 9:25:00 AM PDT | VentureDeal

It's always an interesting week in venture capital. Discover the best stories, blog posts and other information inside the VC ecosystem in the US and in hotspots around the world. Onward dear reader…

 

VC TIMES ARE A-CHANGIN’

Always provocative seed stage VC Dave McClure had some thoughts up on what he thinks are the major forces at play in the next five years in the industry.

500 Hats: VC Evolution

While McClure usually plays in the Internet/mobile/digital media sectors, he sees (1) a shift in venture capital from financiers to operators and (2) the emergence of "branded guilds" of entrepreneur communities.

 

PRIVATE MARKET REPORT

Secondary private marketplace operator SecondMarket has a half-year 2012 report out on its customized liquidity program.

SecondMarket: Private Market Composite

The report is a composite picture of activity for a hypothetical (typical?) company on its market.

 

SUSTER HATES TALKING BOARD OBSERVERS

GRP Partners VC Mark Suster has a thought-provoking post up on the use of Board Observers in startup companies.

Both Sides of the TableThe Case against Board Observers

He seems to say that Board observers have a track record of skewing the conversation on important issues to other topics. He's fine with a "silent observer", though.

 

COMPANY COACH CAMPBELL

Longtime Silicon Valley executive Bill Campbell was head football coach at Columbia University before getting into business.

Business TimesCampbell's Wisdom

A few nuggets: He picks people, not companies to work with. Startups should never hire a COO, because operating metrics and company philosophy should be developed by the CEO.

 

CROWD FUNDING TRAITS

Redpoint Ventures VC Tom Tunguz has an interesting post up about the different expectations surrounding crowd funding participants:

Tom Tunguz: Crowd Funding And Venture Capital

His basic thesis is that crowd funding serves different markets with different expectations, so it is a complement venture capital.

 

SMALL VC IS BEAUTIFUL

The recent report by the Kaufmann Foundation is grist for this article on the advantages of being a small VC.

VentureBeat: Lean VC: Small Is Beautiful

The piece says that small funds have a tighter incentive alignment with limited partners than large VC funds.

 

RETAINING KEY EMPLOYEES

Startup attorney Alexander Davie has the latest installment in his series on retaining key employees in privately held companies.

Strictly Business: Retaining Key Employees - Part 6

This post deals with securities law and corporate governance implications of awarding equity compensation.

 

VENTURE CAPITAL EX- INNOVATION

Tech blogs are raging against the VC machine.

ReadWriteWeb: Venture Capital No Longer Defines Innovation

The piece argues that innovation is happening outside of the standard venture capital paradigm.

 

OUTSIDE SILICON VALLEY

Northeast VC Jeff Bussgang says that medium-sized VC funds are the best bet outside of Silicon Valley.

Seeing Both SidesVC Trend... Outside Silicon Valley

Bussgang is a longtime partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, a mid-sized firm located outside Silicon Valley…

 

VC MONEYBALL

In the Internet space, 500 Startups has a well-known approach of investing in large numbers of opportunities.

500 Startups: MoneyBall Approach to Angel Investing (Slideshare)

500 startups partner Paul Singh has a presentation about how, as he puts it: "It's not spray and pray. It's a process."

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