Ben's Blog

JUNE 18, 2011

In reading my friend Steve Blank’s arguments, I found the bubble definition quite compelling: “A tech bubble is the rapid inflation in the valuation of public and private technology companies that exceeds their fundamental value by a large margin.&#. Next, Mr Blank states, “The LinkedIn IPO valued the company at $8.9

Technical Review 74

Technical Review IPO Silicon Valley Valuation 74

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 8, 2008 Waves of technology platforms I still remember the first time I switched to LAMP. I was building a new startup in 1999, and wanted to do it right. That startup didnt turn out so well, but not for lack of technology. Seth Godin: How often should you publish?

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Technology Continuous Deployment Lean 68

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

The key reason for the explosion in capital flowing into the industry, and therefore the large increase in practitioners, had nothing to do with 1970’s performance, early stage investing, or technology. So contrary to the piece, it wasn’t VC were good at early stage technology, it was that they had newfound capital and a big exit window.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. Brad on blogging. How did you start blogging? “My Human Computer Interaction.

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

Calxeda is on track with its business and ARM-based product development plans, moving toward providing first samples of its industry-changing technologies in 2011. This is within our reach with technologies we are developing at Calxeda. The response from customers and technology partners validates we are onto something big.

Naming 59

Naming Hiring Technical Review Virginia 59

Growthink Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Try these statistics on for size, from 1999 to today Asia’s share of the world’s Initial Public Offerings grew from 12% to 66%. In that same time frame, United States IPO volume declined 75% in real terms and now accounts for less than 11% of the global total. 7 Companies in China have raised more than $1 billion in an IPO this year.

Africa 104

Africa Brazil China India 104

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

A 1997 vintage is likely to perform much better than a 2000 vintage because the former got to ride the dot com bonanza and likely saw some quick IPOs and crazy trade sales while the latter is more likely filled with many companies that never reached the promise land (or are still trying). Why does vintage matter to you?

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Early Stage Software Review 269

VC Cafe

JANUARY 20, 2014

Last year, the VC industry partied like its 1999. last year, more than any other major index), and the IPO market is booming. New data from research firm Pitchbook makes it official: valuations are at an all-time high. Some of the frenzy is driven by Wall Street. Seed-stage deals now require $5.1 million; Series A rounds reached $9.4

Venture Capital 155

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation IPO 155

Seeing Both Sides

APRIL 10, 2011

In May 1996, Open Market completed a successful IPO and more than doubled on the first day of trading, ending with a $1.2 If investors observing this extraordinary phenomenon in 1996 were to have concluded that the technology market was in the midst of an unsustainable bubble, they would not have been wrong. We had recorded $1.8

IPO 48

IPO IRR Brazil Government 48

Pascal's View

AUGUST 28, 2010

6) The most efficient fuel for this IPO engine is venture capital. v) “Since 1999, over 60% of IPOs have been VC-backed. Of the 85 IPOs priced so far this year, only 28 are up. Conclusion: If we don’t fix the IPO problem in America, we will not fix the job problem in America. GDP growth, the U.S.

Venture Capital 56

Venture Capital America Initial Public Offering IPO 56

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 16, 2018

The company had gone public in 1999 and the market cap rose to just under $3 billion ($55 / share, up from $10 / share at the IPO). Like many, I’m fascinated by them and the potential implications of both cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. ” In 2000 I was co-chairman of a public company called Interliant.

Stock 134

Stock IPO Finance Technology 134

Pascal's View

AUGUST 12, 2009

It boggles the mind that Washington would enact new policies sure to prolong this (IPO) drought and strike at the heart of American innovation.” IPO drought testifies to a systemic liquidity crisis for emerging growth companies that is putting at risk an entire generation of innovative American companies. from the WSJ editorial).

IPO 28

IPO Silicon Valley Merger Sweat Equity 28

VC Cafe

MAY 21, 2021

We at Remagine Ventures completed a new investment deal, continued working with our portfolio companies and in general saw IPOs, startups fundraising and succeeding at unprecedented levels. Everybody continued to work from home or the office. Israel’s high-tech industry did the same back in 2014, during the last major conflict with Hamas.

Iran 148

Iran Cofounder Germany 148

Scalable Startup

DECEMBER 15, 2011

amazing shining examples of success and IPOs, even though they a 1 in a thousand. when many vaporware and vapor-businesses crash or fade away they leave damage, possibly fueling the recession (remember 1999-2000? funding is more prevalent than ever for early early (read “ideas”) stage companies. micro funding ($25K).

Angel Investor 24

Angel Investor Startup IPO Software Developers 24

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 19, 2014

My second company, DataVision Technologies failed. I didn’t have success until my third company, Feld Technologies. In the late 1990s, what looked like my biggest success at the time, went public, peaked at an almost $3 billion market cap, and then went bankrupt three years after the IPO. I’ve had many more.

IPO 195

IPO Technology Community Software 195

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 26, 2012

For a technology startup company to launch an initial product and survive long enough to gauge its success, requires two-orders-of-magnitude less money today than at the start of the previous decade. There used to be the Four Horsemen of the IPO world, back in the '80s and '90s. Brown & Sons, Montgomery Securities. Number of U.S.

IPO 115

IPO Stock San Francisco Lean 115

Version One Ventures

JUNE 7, 2016

It’s common for SaaS start-ups to be bought by large enterprises for the technology/product. When Amazon acquired Bibliofind (a competitor to my company AbeBooks ) in 1999, they expected to switch all of the Bibliofind sellers over to Amazon. This means that an IPO is the exit option for the most successful marketplaces.

IPO 60

IPO Distribution Channel Business Model 60

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

If you take a snapshot during an extraordinary surge in valuations, M&A activity, IPOs and thus wealth creation you’d echo John Doerr’s famous quote from 1999 that, “The Internet is the greatest legal creation of wealth in history.&# That’s how it felt then and a bit how it feels in May 2011.

IPO 391

IPO Finance Valuation Naming 391

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 25, 2015

I take my hat off to people like Adam Miller , the CEO of LA-based Cornerstone on Demand, who started at the exact same time as I did (November 1999) and is still the CEO but now of a public company valued at around $2 billion. I asked Jason one important question before he made up his mind: Do you really want to IPO this company?

Silicon Valley 150

Silicon Valley IPO Demand Revenue 150

David Teten

APRIL 16, 2012

Since 1999, our partners have made over 150 investments in over 55 companies. Among our most successful seed investments that have reached maturity are Cornerstone OnDemand (which raised $137m in a March 2011 IPO, ticker CSOD) and Quigo Technologies (sold to AOL for a reported $340m in 2007).

Cofounder 133

Cofounder New York Venture Capital B2C 133

online.wsj.com

JULY 11, 2012

Technology. Personal Technology. TECHNOLOGY. Craig Walker, co-founder and CEO of Firespotter Labs, a technology incubator, said it feels unnatural to bestow so much voting power on one executive. This time around, technology entrepreneurs are being more assertive. WSJ Classroom. Ran gold Resources Ltd. My Journal.

Silicon Valley 42

Silicon Valley Founder Software Review Technical Review 42

Ben's Blog

JUNE 26, 2011

Technology stocks currently trade at an all time low vs. industrial stocks based on forward P/E ratios. Nonetheless, the esteemed and brilliant Mr. Blank argues that we are in a technology bubble. Nonetheless, let’s look at the prices of the new technology IPOs that Mr. Blank highlights in his argument: LinkedIn—Mr.

IPO 76

IPO Stealth Stock Technology 76

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

We had scrambled to get a product to market, built our first website, rapidly hired a technology team, raised our seed round of capital ($1.5 million … yes that was seed in 1999!) There was talk of an IPO in 12 months. Tags: Start-up Advice startup technology. Goldman release a report on us. We were hot.

South Africa 310

South Africa Europe Disintermediation Poland 310

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Decades ago, the thesis of Yossi Vardi , a prolific technology entrepreneur who has invested in 75 Israeli startups, was that Israeli entrepreneurs should seek quick exit opportunities through global corporations interested in buying a window into Israeli talent and technology. We think so. Today, this thesis is less relevant.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review United States 20

Lightspeed Venture Partners

MAY 5, 2016

Not a big red rotary dial phone; thankfully, technology has evolved since the 70s. Over the years we’ve had the privilege of working with amazing founders and helping them grow from infancy to IPO or acquisition in many cases. At Lightspeed we invest in the entrepreneur and the first thing we do is install a Batphone.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Advisory Board Flash Pennsylvania 60

Austin Startup

MAY 11, 2011

Austin is about to witness a wave of financial liquidity in the technology community not seen since 1999. Please join me in wishing and hoping that unforeseen circumstances don’t disrupt a hallmark in the chapter of Austin history.

Austin 83

Austin Community Sales Technology 83

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

IPO markets had burned an entire cycle of retail stock investors and many institutional investors to boot. In 1998 it was 150 million, 1999 250 million and by 2000 it had crossed 350 million. This world of local meets retail meets digital advertising portends to technology disruption and with it VC opportunities.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Austin Startup

MAY 3, 2017

Today’s economy is substantially more freelance for one, but as it pertains to technology and innovative entrepreneurship, we find ourselves in an era that is bringing tech to traditional industries that have yet to have fully embraced what the internet has caused: data, connectivity, globalization, scalability, and efficiency. Imagine that.

Texas 48

Texas Startup Silicon Valley Bootstrapping 48

Growthink Blog

JULY 23, 2012

Try these statistics on for size, from 1999 to today Asia’s share of the world’s Initial Public Offerings grew from 12% to 66%. In that same time frame, United States IPO volume declined 75% in real terms and now accounts for less than 11% of the global total. How do you market to them? • They Place Culture Above All Else.

Africa 76

Africa Brazil India China 76

Pascal's View

MAY 13, 2011

This is a good example of technology driven market change being accelerated by new securities regulations). 1999 : Provisions that prohibit a bank holding company from owning other financial companies were repealed on November 12, 1999, by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. cents or 6.25

Equity 31

Equity Securities and Exchange Commission IPO Marketing 31

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

The pressures of lofty paper valuations, massive burn rates (and the subsequent need for more cash), and unprecedented low levels of IPOs and M&A, have created a complex and unique circumstance which many Unicorn CEOs and investors are ill-prepared to navigate. If 1999 was a wet (read liquid) bubble, 2015 was a particularly dry one.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

At some point, this breaks if their isn’t an exit or IPO. Coupled with my participating preferred from 1999 and 2000 I had more than $55 million of liquidation preferences. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital. I think it breaks for most people after 3-4 years.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Seeing Both Sides

MAY 26, 2009

  In VC, it’s considered more naturally a young person’s game (perhaps because we’re always dealing with waves of new technology, young founders).    It is scary to reflect on how few of the 7,000 professionals active in the industry today were general partners before Netscape’s IPO in 1995. (3)

Private Equity 20

Private Equity Boston Massachusetts IPO 20

Scalable Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Marc Andreessen: So the computer industry started in 1950 and basically ran for 50 years with the same model, which was a model where all of the new computers, all the new technology, all the new software started out being sold for the highest prices to the biggest organizations. So originally the customer was the Department of Defense.

Software Review 22

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Stock 22

BeyondVC

JUNE 8, 2004

I have always been a big believer of the hosted software or ASP (application service provider) model since we made our first investment in LivePerson in January 1999. RightNow Technologies is another company in the CRM space that is delivering an “on-demand” solution, filing for an IPO last month.

Demand 60

Demand Bandwidth Hosting IPO 60

BeyondVC

JANUARY 10, 2004

.” So if Microsoft, known for its high gross margins from software, cannot even generate a profit how are other technology companies selling Plasma TVs and other consumer electronics going to make money? The post CES-Show me the money! appeared first on BeyondVC.

Strategic Investors 60

Strategic Investors IPO Channel Global 60

Scalable Startup

MAY 16, 2015

Each circle represents one of the fifty largest technology companies in the city, the size of each circle determined by the number of the company’s employees. They begin on the eastern edge of the city near the Ferry Building and spread westward along Market Street. First Street and Market Street by Leo vanMunching.

San Francisco 20

San Francisco Silicon Valley California Oakland 20