I am a huge fan of the writings and research of Steve Blank.  But I think that his most recent post on first movers vs. fast followers can be easily misinterpreted.  His uber-point is that fast followers actually win more […]

Sometimes, early stage companies hear investors say that it’s “too early” for them to invest. It’s a puzzling response when most VC’s are considered “early stage”.  The definition of “early” seems to be inconsistent, and the very same investor might […]

The latest funding data from CB Insight came out recently.  Om Malik commented on it here.  Fred Wilson did the same and commented on the vibrancy of the NY internet eco-system.  The data is really great – innovation is alive […]

This post could also be titled “What the heck am I going to do with my life?” I have quite a few folks who follow my blog who are students or are relatively early in their careers (as am I). […]

One of the supposed drawbacks of more seed stage funding in Silicon Valley is that it encourages more “quick flip” exits.  Max Levchin wrote an excellent post on this observation, and my friend and old colleague Bijan Sabet shared his […]

Given all the talk recently about rising seed valuations and AngelGate, I wanted to do a sequel to my old post on how VC’s Value Early Stage Companies.  The valuation dynamics are even more puzzling at the seed stage, where […]

Lots of talk about a “seed bubble”.  Is it true?  The total capital within ALL the super-angel funds COMBINED is still smaller than some individual VC funds, so I don’t think I would call it a bubble.  In the East […]

Ten years ago, I listened to a talk on innovation by Vijay Govindarajan, a professor at the Tuck business school.  He was illustrating how innovation in industries tends to follow a particular pattern.  What he used to illustrate this pattern […]

I was having coffee a few weeks back with a friend who is at a large, very successful VC.  We were chatting about one of the senior partners at his firm, one that I’ve had the pleasure of getting to […]

Probably too much ink is spilled over VC funded companies.  It’s curious… given that these companies represent such a small minority of the entrepreneurial activity in this country.  Perhaps it’s because the stories of ambitious entrepreneurs pitching their dream to […]