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Venture Capital

  • Sequoia Scouts, Fidelity Cuts Value of Unicorns

    Sequoia has been funding pre-angel investors called Scouts: the point isn’t to make money, but to gather information and build relationships. Then, Fidelity is marking down startups: is the sky falling?

  • Atlassian Files for IPO, Square Prices IPO Below Last Round

    Atlassian is a very remarkable company, particularly from a financial perspective. In fact, they may be so unique that they are one of a kind — and that has risks. Plus, most folks are drawing the wrong lessons from Square’s IPO pricing.

  • Dropbox Paper, Dropbox’s Missed Opportunities, Google Apps Stagnation

    Dropbox just announced a major new product, Paper. However, I think it is far too little far too later. Meanwhile, Google is using pricing gimmicks for Apps, which speaks to how little the core product has evolved.

  • Meituan-Dianping Merge in China, Facebook Messenger’s Business Model, Facebook and Teens

    China’s O2O market is in the consolidation phase, and the competition is fierce. That, though, helps highlight why an advertising business model is sometimes so attractive, like, for example, the one that Facebook has. Plus, why the “Facebook has a problem with teens” narrative really isn’t a big deal

  • Venture Capital Follow-up, Square Files for IPO, Concerns About Theranos

    A follow-up and some much needed specificity to yesterday’s Venture Capital article, then why Square’s IPO may be a better opportunity than it first appears. Plus, there’s concerning news about Theranos, a company with significant potential.

  • Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact

    Venture Capital has been transformed by a surprising source: Amazon. Ultimately, no industry is safe from the impact of the Internet.

  • What is Medium Doing?, Facebook Updates Notes

    Medium just raised $57 million on a relatively modest valuation, but lots of folks aren’t still sure what the company is trying to accomplish: today I give it my best shot. Plus, Facebook has updated Notes, which look a lot like, well, Medium posts. The appearance, though, isn’t what will make them succeed or fail.

  • Onshape and Disruption, Office 365 and Sustaining Innovation

    Onshape is CAD software making a bet that starting with the cloud is fundamentally disruptive. However, disruption includes an economic component, and as Office 365 v Google Apps suggests, if that doesn’t exist the incumbents will respond

  • Okta is a Unicorn, BlackBerry Acquires Good Technologies

    Okta is an important company in part because what their existence says about Microsoft’s challenges in the enterprise space. Plus, Blackberry acquires Good Technology, making them the market leader in device management.

  • Aggregation and Antitrust, BuzzFeed Makes News, BuzzFeed’s Valuation in Perspective

    The differing approaches to antitrust in the U.S. and Europe could mean completely different outcomes in the long run for aggregation companies. Meanwhile, BuzzFeed has raised a new round and seems to be doing better than ever, which is great news for journalism. Plus, how to think about startup valuations.