Recording Zoom Meetings or “Play It Again, Sam!”
In this current environment of sheltering in place and virtual meetings, everyone in the investment community is well aware of the challenges of not meeting with people face-to-face. It takes longer for personal connections to be created. There are fewer sidebars and casual interactions where we traditionally begin to feel comfortable with people. Non-verbal clues […]
Full ArticleMost of our Portfolio CEOs Say “See You at The Office in 2021”
We recently held a zoom conference with our CEOs to discuss reopening the office and to share what people were learning, thinking, and how they were preparing. 100% of participants are business-to-business software start-ups and almost 100% of employees are college educated with salaries averaging above $100k, so their perspectives will be very different from […]
Full ArticleWatch Out for the Next Gray Rhino – Beware the Coordinated Cyber-Attack
In this time of COVID-19, many people have used the term “Black Swan” to describe the pandemic and its global and national impact. But “Black Swans” are defined as “Events that are highly improbable, difficult to predict, and have massive impact.” Our current situation has had massive impact, but it certainly wasn’t improbable or difficult […]
Full ArticleInvesting in a Time of Near Complete Uncertainty
People have begun speaking about the new normal that will exist after the Covid-19 period subsides and how many things will change – how will we recover and take care of the people affected directly and indirectly, how we will work, how we will educate, how medicine will be delivered, how much we will or […]
Full ArticleBroad Option Distribution? No Debate – the Answer is Yes!
There is a debate that often happens among investors, management, and other board members about the value of options for non-executive employees in start-ups. Sometimes investors worry about the dilutive effect and ask the question. Other times it is founders who see the impact of additional refreshes of the option pool on their ownership. I […]
Full ArticleTwo Great Reads and Three Trends to Drive Innovation
Two things I have read recently have stayed with me and lingered in my mind. The first is Ed Glaeser’s Triumph of the City, which focuses on the history of urban development, the impact of regulation and industry structure on urban success, and the future for cities. Glaeser outlines several trends that suggest that in […]
Full ArticlePACT Enterprise Awards: Proud of Philly, Proud of our Collective Grit, Proud of our Companies
The 2019 Enterprise Awards were held last night at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. True to the resurgence of Philadelphia, this event has returned to Center City over the last five years after being held for several years in the hotel and casino landscape of City Avenue and King of Prussia. This black-tie event does […]
Full ArticleRethinking Venture Debt During Periods of Economic Headwinds
I began my career at Chemical Bank (now JPMC) in New York and spent my first year going through the well-regarded credit training program. It was not too long after the early 1980s and people still remembered high inflation and high interest rates. We were trained to run financial projections on the ability of a […]
Full ArticleThe Winding Down of Venture Investments
A certain percentage of companies that venture funds back fail. Everyone knows this. Depending on their investment strategy and success, funds lose most of their capital on 25% to 50% of portfolio companies. Of these, some percent are sold for very little value, but the sale provides a home for the technology, the customers, and […]
Full ArticleTurning Over Another Card Is for Poker, Not Technology Investing
I was with a co-investor recently and we were discussing our mutual investment. It is a situation where we have been frustrated with progress, both in terms of developing a scalable product and in getting early customer traction (these are certainly correlated). My colleague made the statement that if one thing or another happened, he […]
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