Start-ups have no room for VPs
You’ve heard the advice before: You’re a small company, act like one. Yet more and more entrepreneurs tend to think of their businesses as a small version of a large company – and they plan and hire accordingly.
Serial entrepreneur Steve Blank, in this entrepreneurial though leadership lecture at Stanford University, points out the folly of this path and explains why segregating your company early on can be disastrous.
Does your company really deserve VC money?
Investment firms hear from thousands of entrepreneurs every year, so making your company stand out from the crowd is crucial. Beth Seidenberg of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers lays out the five factors her firm looks at when deciding whether a start-up deserves funding in this entrepreneur thought leader lecture given at Stanford University. Key among those factors? Strong leadership.
Emerging trends in the future of technology
While the plethora of tech companies might make some entrepreneurs fear that the field is closed to them, Steve Ballmer says the field is still wide open. In an entrepreneur thought leader lecture given at Stanford University earlier this year, the Microsoft CEO said the dynamic nature of tech means the players are always changing – and there are a lot of areas, such as human-computer interaction, that haven’t been tapped.
That NDA might be hurting more than it helps
For many entrepreneurs, secrecy is the watchword. Jeff Hawkins has a different philosophy, though.
The founder of Palm and Numenta encourages entrepreneurs to involve people in their problems and to solicit as many qualified opinions as they can. Getting caught up in non-disclosure agreements, product secrecy and idea ownership too early can cost you. Instead, he suggests, talk openly with people and learn from their experience – and if you have investors, have them involved as much as… Continue Reading
Market research vs. gut instinct
Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm Computing and the inventor of the Palm Pilot, knows a thing or two about innovation. In this segment, from Stanford University’s Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lectures, Hawkins discusses how to balance market research with your intuition.
Focus groups can only take you so far. Listening to customer wishes and demands helps more. But sometimes, you simply need to ignore what the data is telling you and follow your gut.
Customer loyalty company Satmetrix Systems buys Informative
Satmetrix Systems, a Foster City, Calif. company that provides a customer loyalty service software, has acquired Informative, a South San Francisco online customer loyalty company, according to PE Wire.
No financial terms were disclosed. Satmetrix has raised around $30 million in VC funding from firms like Aspen Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Stanford University and Siebel Systems.
Informative had raised around $75 million from firms like New Enterprise Associates, Walden International, Apex Venture Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds, Crystal… Continue Reading
Azureus soaks up $12M and launches Zudeo, but not simple
Azureus, a Palo Alto company that delivers a popular application to distribute video files, launched a new service named Zudeo, which it apparently hopes will become the next YouTube for high-quality video.
It has raised $12 million in a second round of capital, led by Redpoint Ventures, which also included Greycroft Partners and previous investors Jarl Mohn, chairman of CNET Networks, BV Capital, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
At Zudeo, users can… Continue Reading
Cisco acquires “quadruple play” company, Orative, for $31M
Cisco Systems, the Internet communications giant, said it has agreed to acquire privately held San Jose company Orative Corp for $31 million — as part of its effort to offer the so-called quadruple play: voice, video, data and mobility to businesses.
Earlier this year, Cisco Cisco launched what it called the “Unified Communications system,” which enables businesses of all sizes to integrate all of their communications systems with their IT infrastructure.
Orative’s technology allows Cisco to… Continue Reading