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…
ANGEL ROUND SIZE DROPPING
Angel-funded companies saw increasing valuations during the first half of the year, but the size of a typical round has dropped.
PE Hub: Angel Round Sizes Head to Earth
The article cites a recent study of Angel activity, The Halo Report.
FIRST ROUND PLATFORM APPROACH
Kent Goldman of First Round Capital gave an interview about the firm's approach to building a “platform” in the VC industry.
TechCrunch: Kent Goldman Interview
He says that First Round’s belief is that the highest value add they provide to entrepreneurs is to facilitate discussions between the founders of their portfolio companies.
WHY INVEST?
Volition Capital recently invested in Ensighten, an enterprise tag management technology company.
Larry Cheng: Why Volition Capital Invested
The post shares the five main reasons that the firm decided to move forward on the investment – it’s a concise and valuable case study for entrepreneurs looking to learn why VCs invest.
FACEBOOK IPO FALLOUT
The bungled Facebook IPO has affected more than just the public markets, according to secondary market investor Hans Swildens.
VentureBeat: Secondary Market Impacts
Swildens is "bullish" about the secondary market as "retail investors and high net worth investors have left the building" after getting burned purchasing consumer Internet investments during 2011.
IPO RESULTS UP LAST WEEK
IPO Renaissance Capital has highlighted a positive report card for IPO results:
IPO Renaissance Capital: All Five Deals Trade Up
The IPO-focused financial site says that following a 35-day lull starting late August, the IPO market has indicated welcome signs of improvement.
STARTUPS AND GROWTH
Y Combinator accelerator founder Paul Graham posted a thought-provoking piece about why startups exist:
Paul Graham: Startup = Growth
Fred Wilson: Growth
Successful Internet VC Fred Wilson echoed his thoughts and expanded on the concept with a post of his own.
AUSTIN INVESTMENT DOWNTURN
Austin, Texas has been a steady, reliable outpost of tech investing. However, according to Thomson Reuters, recently the region has been seeing less technology investment activity.
PE Hub: Austin Gets Upstaged
One entrepreneur cited in the article says the problem is the region's focus on enterprise technology, which has not been a big growth area in recent years, compared to the consumer Internet.