Top 10 tech trends: Smart phones, alternative energies, Boomer technologies
Where is technology headed?
The Churchill Club of Silicon Valley just wrapped up one of its most anticipated events: the Annual Top Ten Tech Trends Debate. Five well-known and opinionated venture capitalists weighed in on what trends will take flight and what trends will fizzle out in the months ahead.
(The VCs are pictured, from left to right: Steve Jurvetson, Vinod Khosla, Josh Kopelman, Roger McNamee, Joe Schoendorf.)
The audience of around 300 people was asked whether it… Continue Reading
Conversation with McNamee: Three fit the bill — RIM, Palm and Apple
VentureBeat talked last night with Roger McNamee (pictured left), asking him why his firm, Elevation Partners, would want to buy into Palm, a company that many people see having a tough time ahead, given intense competition.
Some doubt its chances of survival as a standalone company.
[See our initial coverage of Elevation's $325 million in investment into Palm. Also see the Mercury News coverage. The Elevation-Palm deal comes amid a wave of M&A activity -- see coverage... Continue Reading
KKR’s single golf hole on Sand Hill Road — never visited
Here’s an entertaining video taken of Roger McNamee, of Elevation Partners by Kara Swisher.
McNamee’s office is ensconced in the middle of Silicon Valley’s Sand Hill Road, center of venture capital and the region’s large private equity firms.
McNamee turns around about two minutes in, and points to a golf hole right outside his office built by George Roberts of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. McNamee of Roberts: “…he can afford to bring up the entire grounds crew from… Continue Reading
The private equity bubble
Forget the Web 2.0 bubble, which is in the process of bursting.
Start worrying about the private equity bubble instead.
Our capitalist system has a habit of swinging between fear and greed (see Stu Phillips’ column today), and right now we’re seeing it lean toward greed • at least in private equity. Wealth has accrued, and investors — many of them public pension plans — are searching for places to put their excess capital. So they’re parking… Continue Reading
Metacafe sold?, Common Sense raises $, Calacanis joins Sequoia, AskCity & more
(Update: Apologies, we’d meant to put a questionmark in the headline, so we’ve fixed. We’re checking on this rumor, but now we’re getting more doubts about this supposed sale)
Here’s the latest in Silicon Valley tech world:
Video site MetaCafe to be sold for $200 million? — That’s what this site says. We reviewed Metacafe, which recently moved to Palo Alto, here.
Common Sense Media, a site where families can review movies, films, TV shows, games, raises $4.25… Continue Reading