Venture capital

Realizing the full potential of this evolving sector requires three things.

Three lessons, based on a study of more than 200 senior-level executives.

Take a cue from venture capital and increase the appetite for taking chances.

More data isn’t always helpful.

It could reduce friction and costs.

Most entrepreneurs understand that if the fundamentals of a business idea—the management team, the market opportunities, the operating systems and controls—are sound, chances are there’s money out there. The challenge of landing that capital to grow a company can be exhilarating. But as exciting as the money search may be, it is equally threatening. Built […]

My job is to fund companies with high growth prospects. When we evaluate prospective investments, one of the things we hear from time to time is, “My company could be profitable if we wanted it to be, but we’re just investing for growth.” Really? To test this assertion, do this simple litmus test. Take out […]

In Silicon Valley, exciting new business ideas rapidly attract capital and talent away from less worthy ventures. But in big companies, ideas, capital, and talent are stagnant—prisoners of traditional bureaucratic ways of allocating resources. To capture the Valley’s entrepreneurial magic, your company needs to move from resource allocation to resource attraction.

Corporate CFO’s and venture capitalists have a common problem. They give teams large amounts of money and other resources in the hopes of creating a new disruptive innovation. For the first few quarters, everything’s on track: milestones are hit, schedules are met, and new features are developed. Since everything’s also private, hopes are high. Then, […]

When companies stay private longer, stock options are less appealing.

With a venture buyout, an established company partners with a VC firm to spin out an internal startup.

Rapid growth is more dangerous for entrepreneurs than starting from scratch.

One of the "golden rules" of investing we have at our firm, Cue Ball, is that we value the business model over the financial plan. In fact, we value the...

Between 2006 and 2008, more than $1 billion venture-capital dollars were channeled into startups focused on solar, wind and biofuel technologies. In the last year, however, early-stage investments in clean energy production technologies have fallen substantially (see the table at the end of this piece for more detail). Many venture capitalists are limiting their investments […]

The more rivals you outbid, the more likely you are to have paid too much.

A recent report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation raises serious questions about the degree to which venture capital deserves emulation. The report, provocatively titled “We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us” [PDF], summarizes its findings thus: Limited Partners — foundations, endowments, and state pension funds — invest too much capital in underperforming […]

It's not enough to be lean.

A study of Swedish startups.

An inside look at an opaque process

In a year of uncertainty, VCs acted like funding female founders was risky - but the real risk is in leaving them behind.