Agile VC

DECEMBER 13, 2011

My partners and I would be thrilled to support this founder in general, but we don’t have enough conviction about the market opportunity he and his co-founders are pursuing to proceed with an investment. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010. Read More ».

Seed Stage 185

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 185

Agile VC

JUNE 30, 2016

As an investor, I am also bullish about the innovation wave already in its early innings around mobility and autonomy. In fact it was marketed as “Auto-Pilot” and a Popular Science article from 1958 about the car carried the headline “Like it or not, the robots are slowly taking over a driver’s chores.

Virginia 100

Virginia Acquisition California Global 100

Agile VC

OCTOBER 27, 2011

But in the next 5 years the web and mobile app stores will increasingly be a force in selling and customer acquisition for busines software. InsightSquared is tackling business intelligence software (hardly a sexy market) with an incredibly sexy product that incorporates Facebook style timelines and other features. Read More ».

Software 100

Software B2B Silicon Valley Acquisition 100

Agile VC

JANUARY 22, 2014

2) Self Learning Market is Enormous – We’re bullish on online learning generally, and the self learning market in particular. Self-improvement content alone is a $10B+ market and self learning more broadly is a couple times that, so there’s ample space to build a very large, transformative company.

Term Sheet 173

Term Sheet Cofounder Mobile Cloud 173

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

Furthermore WhatsApp users are predominantly in markets which have lower mobile ad spend, though Facebook similarly has a large portion of it’s base in these markets. in annual mobile ad revenue per MAU. 1) $2.34B in quarterly revenue, of which 53% was mobile is $1.24B, which is $5.0B billion for it.

Valuation 159

Valuation Acquisition Mobile Revenue 159

Agile VC

OCTOBER 1, 2013

The macroeconomy has been stuck in a tepid recovery in the US, a period of decelerating growth in emerging markets, and a double dip recession in much of Europe. Facebook will do $7-8B in revenue this year, essentially none was from mobile ads last year and now >40% of their ad revenue is from mobile ads.

IPO 147

IPO Cloud Valuation Mobile 147

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

Furthermore WhatsApp users are predominantly in markets which have lower mobile ad spend, though Facebook similarly has a large portion of it’s base in these markets. in annual mobile ad revenue per MAU. 1) $2.34B in quarterly revenue, of which 53% was mobile is $1.24B, which is $5.0B billion for it.

Valuation 127

Valuation Acquisition Mobile Revenue 127

Agile VC

JUNE 12, 2012

Mobile Payments: The Trillion Dollar Industry That’s Never Happened. Mobile payments are the trillion dollar industry that everybody’s been waiting for but has never materialized. But nearly everyone has wrongly placed emphasis on the mobile technology part and not on the payments aspect. June 12, 2012.

Mobile 250

Mobile Disintermediation SMS Government 250

Agile VC

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

The emergence of mobile platforms has broadened the array of internet-enabled businesses somewhat, and overall it obviously marks a massive shift in computing platforms. But at its base level, ubiquitous computing or “mobile” hasn’t actually changed that much from the desktop web when it comes to fundamental business models.

IPO 194

IPO Aggregator B2B Internet 194

Agile VC

AUGUST 9, 2012

Zynga’s faced a lot of pressure in the public markets recently. Mobile Monetization – as consumer usage shifts from browser/desktop casual games to mobile devices, opportunities for both virtual goods and ad revenue may decrease. market cap minus $1.6B Draw something… other than this painful chart.

Stock 160

Stock LBO .Net Valuation 160

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2011

Groupon’s become a juggernaut in the immense local marketing space. 3) Groupon’s Business is Like An ATM: Groupon is currently unprofitable on a GAAP basis thanks to acquisition related expenses in 2010 as well as ongoing marketing spend to acquire customers. But even in Boston & Chicago it remains above $20.

North America 100

North America Chicago Boston Silicon Valley 100

Agile VC

JUNE 24, 2013

Today you can buy an Audi or a Dodge Ram pickup with a wifi hotspot (connected via mobile broadband) and you’ll see similar capabilities from other manufacturers in the next 1-2 years.

Internet 153

Internet Caching Aggregator Audio 153

Agile VC

APRIL 27, 2012

We love meeting entrepreneurs who take this blank canvas approach when thinking about disrupting markets. This is how new markets get created. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010. Read More ».

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 124

Agile VC

JULY 15, 2015

This company will remain in stealth mode for at least a little while and it isn’t my place to divulge their plans, but we’re very excited about the founding team, market opportunity, and syndicate we will be part of.

Internet 100

Internet Stealth Cofounder Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

JULY 15, 2015

This company will remain in stealth mode for at least a little while and it isn’t my place to divulge their plans, but we’re very excited about the founding team, market opportunity, and syndicate we will be part of.

Internet 100

Internet Stealth Cofounder Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

How They Do It : Operate a social network at Facebook.com, through Facebook’s mobile apps, and the Facebook Platform which lets other websites extend Facebook’s tools for authentication and social sharing. They don’t even run ads in the FB mobile apps. Headquarters : Palo Alto, CA. Read More ».

IPO 100

IPO South Korea Venezuela Revenue 100

Agile VC

JANUARY 27, 2012

There’s one school of thought that the paradigm has changed, and startups that achieve a market value of tens of billions or more will be more frequent than in decades past. Multi-billion dollar valuations for late stage startups like Dropbox, et al. I’m not so sure that’s the case. Read More ».

Hockey Stick 113

Hockey Stick Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate 113

Agile VC

JANUARY 18, 2012

2) The Pyramid Scheme of Startup Equity - Just like multi-level marketing schemes, in startups it pays to get in on the ground floor. Nearly all founders though are seeking to fix a market or industry that’s broken, and occasionally create whole new industries in the process. Read More ».

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Cofounder Silicon Valley Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

DECEMBER 5, 2011

There’re lots of reasons why we’re pleased to be involved, from the market opportunity and product and beyond, but of course team is central for all startup investments. Objective Logistics just closed a $1.5M seed round from NextView, Atlas Venture, and Google Ventures, and angel investors. Read More ».

Silicon Valley 100

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 100

Agile VC

MAY 16, 2012

Thematic investing is where VCs research a macro trend or specific market, form a thesis around why this trend/market will serve as a good basis for building great startups, and then pursue as many exceptional investments in this theme as appropriate for the VC’s strategy. Read More ».

Seed Stage 124

Seed Stage Silicon Valley B2B Syndicate 124

Agile VC

MARCH 8, 2012

It’s taken more than a decade since the tech bubble’s inflation and bursting but to me all of this is part of a long-term normalization of the tech IPO market. What are the implications for other late-stage private companies thinking of making the transition to public markets in the near to midterm future?

IPO 100

IPO Silicon Valley Revenue Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

MARCH 18, 2012

Most mass market usage of Twitter is by and for the media and celebrities. Those of us in the tech ecosystem think of and use Twitter in slightly different ways, but the mass market usage of the product is consumers seeking exposure to news, celebrities, and sports stars. It’s probably not a huge market though.

Media 113

Media Advertising Silicon Valley Revenue 113

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

But for more urban markets with fast broadband, most Netflix subscribers will only want DVD/Blu-Ray for recent movie releases (if at all). And presumably pay TV providers may step up their marketing efforts along these exact lines as they seek to avoid the “dumb pipe” fate. older movies) and TV shows. Author howerl.

Silicon Valley 100

Silicon Valley Private Equity Seed Stage Syndicate 100

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2013

More recently acquiring Quattro Wireless created the iAds mobile ad network and Siri was of course a technology acquired from SRI. On paper it makes sense… ~$10B market cap, deals with lots of content owners, a nascent library of Netflix developed content, and a happy/loyal consumer base.

Hungary 168

Hungary Dividend Vertical Preferred Stock 168

Agile VC

JANUARY 13, 2016

Potential for instant global distribution (mobile app stores, Facebook, etc). Many people valued Zynga and Groupon at $20-30B+, both buyers of shares on secondary markets and investment banks during the run up to IPO. Large & liquid supply of human capital as more and more talented people want to work for startups.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review .Net Revenue Software Review 157

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

If you’re contacted by an associate at a firm you’ve wanted on your own radar (based on their knowledge of your market, the firm’s reputation, whatever), then by all means speak to them. My perspective is basically to make an informed decision on a case-by-case basis. Read More ».

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley 100

Agile VC

JUNE 25, 2012

And Cloze’s product is designed from the get go around mobile usage in addition to the desktop web (>20% of LinkedIn traffic today is smartphones & tablets). So in addition to our enthusiasm about the product & market opportunity, we were thrilled to support an experienced pair of co-founders who really executed from Day 0.

Cofounder 140

Cofounder Stealth Silicon Valley Mobile 140

Agile VC

AUGUST 12, 2011

2) Demonstrable market size – Sometimes it’s obvious to potential investors your startup is pursuing a large market oppty (TAM measured in billions). If a tiny startup can get a few dozen paying customers in one small segment of a larger market, then there probably is a larger market. Read More ».

Seed Stage 113

Seed Stage Silicon Valley B2B Acquisition 113

Agile VC

APRIL 13, 2012

And for non-founder employees, as the broader employment markets even for college grads has gotten softer, the opportunity costs of a joining a risky startup have never been lower. I think the long-tail (size in terms of market cap, revenue, employees etc – pick one doesn’t matter) is moving towards the city. Read More ».

Silicon Valley 185

Silicon Valley San Francisco San Jose Startup 185

Agile VC

MAY 10, 2012

wheat, corn, etc) but livestock alone represents a massive market opportunity for the company. Coordinates Recent Posts The Rise & Fall of Great Venture Firms [Part 1] 11 July 2012, 1:57 pm Our Investment in Cloze 25 June 2012, 5:36 pm Mobile Payments: The Trillion Dollar Industry That’s Never Happened 12 June 2012, 4:19 pm.

Silicon Valley 223

Silicon Valley Cofounder Seed Stage Syndicate 223

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

In the modern age public market investors, whether they be focused on equities (stocks), fixed income (bonds), currencies, commodities, or derivatives of these, all have access to essentially the same investment choices and the same body of information. The VC industry is a competitive business. Read More ».

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Framework Silicon Valley Early Stage 100