Labour movement - The joys and drawbacks of being able to work from anywhere

From The Economist print edition

"people ... to mingle with others and to collaborate, though not necessarily under fluorescent lights in a cubicle farm an hour's drive from their homes. The crucial difference between telecommuting and nomadism ... is that nomadism combines the autonomy of telecommuting with the mobility that allows a gregarious and flexible work style."

Can User-Generated Content Generate Revenue?

eMarketer

“Show me the money!”

The user-generated content movement is no longer a fad.

In the US, eMarketer projects that the number of user-generated content creators will rise from 77 million in 2007 to 108 million in 2012.

It’s official: Venture investment declined in Q1

Anthony Ha | VentureBeat

"Venture investment fell 8.5 percent during the first three months of 2008 compared to the final quarter of 2007, according to the new MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The report is a big, comprehensive study that reinforces what everyone already kind-of knew, or at least suspected. It tracked a total of 922 venture deals worth $7.1 billion — in terms of dollars, that’s an 8.5 percent drop."

10 Cleantech Deals from Quiet Quercus

Written by Craig Rubens | Earth2Tech

"While Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures are flashy names in cleantech investing, there are plenty of low-key players making adroit moves in the cleantech sector. Few have amassed as large, or as diverse, a portfolio as David Gelbaum’s Quercus Trust."

One Response to Rejection

Essays by Danielle Fong

"YCombinator has it’s own personality. Their opinions are their own. They have perspective and wisdom and the will to apply it. But they have no more dominion over truth than the rest of us, nor are they immune to the blindspots that all beings must endure, nor would they suggest otherwise. It’s taken much for me to fully understand this."

How do we set the valuation for a seed round?

Venture Hacks, Advice and introductions for entrepreneurs.

"A reader asks:

“My question is how do we value a company with no sales? I understand it’s an arbitrary valuation but is there anything we can possibly base it on? Is there a “default” valuation for companies in a seed round?”"

FUN VIDEO AT END OF POST

Bezos On Innovation

Amazon.com's founder discusses his approach to innovation—both how to do it and how to stay focused when critics question high-risk projects

Startup Reactor: Advice From A VC

An Interview with Dan Rua by Steve Spalding | How To Split An Atom

Dan Rua is Managing Partner at Inflexion Partners, a seed and early-stage venture capital fund.

Angel Investors. Done or Dead.

startUPnetwork

"Most of the dozens of startup people I have dealt with don’t understand how to get investment from angels. StartUps seeking investment are afraid that actually asking for a check will abort the very thing they’re about to request - angel investment . The fear becomes convoluted logic -"

Venture Capital 101: Decision-Making and Economics at a VC

by Jeff Bussgang, Seeing Both Sides | VC Perspectives From A Former Entrepreneur

"So what's the VC business model? Raise a fund, get paid 2.0-2.5% annually in fees to manage that fund, and make investments that you hope will generate capital gains. When those returns are generated, the VC funds typically get 20-25% of "carried interest" or "carry" in the capital gains."

Why VCs Aren’t More Brave

Matt’s Homepage | MattMaroon.com

"The proper answer to any question as to why people behave in a certain manner is almost always “because they are incented to”. It’s not that they are stupid or irrational, or even just missing something. It’s that the rules of the game make them. So look at a VC’s incentives and you’ll see why they behave the way they do."

13 Seed Funding Options For Entrepreneurs

Written by Bernard Lunn - ReadWriteWeb

"One of the most difficult parts of starting a startup for any entrepreneur is finding that small bit of seed capital to get things going. As evidenced by small seed funds like Y Combinator, a little can go a long way for startup entrepreneurs, but raising that chunk of change to get started can be tricky."

4 Things to Do After You Get Your First Term Sheet

Burnham's Beat: Articles on Software Technology and Finance

"What is the “end game”? The End Game generally takes place after you have gotten a term sheet, but before you actually sign it. How well you manage this process can make a big difference in the actual terms and pricing you ultimately get, so it pays to approach this process as thoughtfully and diligently as you do any other part of fundraising."

Why There Aren't More Googles

by Paul Graham

"So what's the real reason there aren't more Googles? Curiously enough, it's the same reason Google and Facebook have remained independent: money guys undervalue the most innovative startups."

Built to Last vs. Built to Flip

by Jeff Bussgang
Seeing Both Sides -VC Perspectives From A Former Entrepreneur

"The "easy come, easy go" Web 2.0 start-ups may not be building real, sustained value and so vaporize under an acquirer as quickly as they appear, with "quick flip" entrepreneurs running off to do their next big thing. Meanwhile, the "built to last" entrepreneurs across a range of "long-term value creation" industries -- life sciences, medical devices, enterprise software to name a few -- are more likely to stick it through and help their acquirers see real value through continuous improvement."

We Need A New Path To Liquidity

by Fred Wilson
A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

"Watching all these machinations between Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, AOL, News Corp/MySpace, and their ilk makes me sick. They are playing around with Internet assets like they are toys. And meanwhile the services we have come to rely on like Flickr, AIM, Delicious, Yahoo Groups, FeedBurner, etc are an afterthought.

Where Have All the Bold VCs Gone?

Erick Schonfeld | TechCrunch

"As startups become cheaper to launch, more and more venture capitalists are finding themselves left out in the cold. Either angel investors are beating them to the punch in funding new startups, or Google buys them before any VC even gets to hear the company’s pitch."

The Problem of Overcapitalization

Published by sumon at 9:05 am under Snaptalent

"Techcrunch’s write up about startup FatDoor changing their idea after taking $6.5m of funding puts huge pressure on their founders to turn their situation around."

The Pirate’s Dilemma: To Compete or Not To Compete

[Watch Matt Mason Video at Medici Conference]
Written by Matt Mason | TorrentFreak

"It’s hard for large organizations that move at glacial speeds to compete with individuals taking their content and creating new distribution systems, revenue streams and business models, but the fall of the major record labels taught the rest of the corporate world a lesson. In many cases, piracy it is helping people to innovate and create new legitimate market spaces."

Internet Lessons from Nine Inch Nails and Obama

Posted by Ben Worthen | Business Technology | The WSJ examines the world of technology in business.

"Most business execs probably aren’t familiar with Trent Reznor’s angst-filled industrial rock. But they could learn a lot from the Nine Inch Nails frontman’s experiments with online business models. Last year, Reznor released two versions of an album on the Web: One which fans could download for free and a higher-quality version that cost $5. More than five times as many people opted for the free version, leaving Reznor disappointed."

Wondering Which Partner at a VC Firm to Pitch? TheFunded Now Breaks Out Individual VC Ratings.

by Erick Schonfeld | TechCrunch

"Up until now, if you wanted to see the ratings of individual venture capitalists on TheFunded, you had to be an invited member, which meant that you had to be the CEO or founder of a company (or pay $200 for six months access and prove that you are a senior adviser or consultant). But now anyone who visits the site can see the ratings for 17,000 individual VCs without logging in (before only the ratings for entire VC firms were publicly available). Only members can rate VCs."

How much money should we raise?

Venture Hacks
Advice and introductions for entrepreneurs.

Summary: Raise as much money as possible. With these caveats: (1) maintain control at any cost, (2) monitor your liquidation preference, and (3) act like you don’t have a lot of money. Also understand that if you do raise a lot of money, you will have to (1) “go big or go home” and (2) make a lot of progress if you ever want to raise money again. Alternatively, if you would rather maintain your exit options, at least raise enough money to run two experiments.

Dilbert Mission Statement Generator

The Official Dilbert Website by Scott Adams

VERBS - "maintain, supply, provide access to, disseminate, network, create, engineer, integrate, leverage other's, leverage existing, coordinate, administrate, initiate, facilitate, promote, restore, fashion, revolutionize, build, enhance, simplify, pursue, utilize, foster, customize, negotiate"

How To Chat With Guy Kawasaki

By Steve Spalding August 12th, 2007 | | How To Split An Atom

The Burning Question

"I try to ask all of the entrepreneurs that I interview this. As entrepreneurs, do you have any advice for people who have an idea but just don’t know where to start or how to get it off the ground?"

Guy Kawasaki: The answer is very simple. (a) Do not write a business plan. (b) Do not create a PowerPoint pitch. (c) Do not try to raise money. (e.) Do build a prototype. That’s the way to get off the ground because if you can’t build a prototype, a business plan, a pitch, and trying to raise money is just self-flagellation.

Click through and watch a great video of Guy Kawasaki in action presenting his infamous "Art of the Start" pitch!!!!

When is What Users Want Not Enough for a Business?

Gabriel Weinberg's Blog

"I think that building something that users want is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition, to building a successful business.

Below are some cases where you can build something users want, but still not end up with a successful business. And there are also some suggestions for getting around these pitfalls."

How to get over the fear and start your own business

Melissa Chang | 16th letter

"Starting a business all begins with the first step - the statement, which then turns into a belief, that later turns into a mantra - that I AM STARTING A BUSINESS."

It’s Not the People You Know. It’s Where You Are

By RANDALL STROSS | New York Times

Published: October 22, 2006

"FIBER networks cross the world. Data bits move at light speed. The globe has been flattened, and national boundaries obliterated. Yet in Silicon Valley, the one place that is responsible more than any other for creating the network technology that supposedly renders geography irrelevant, physical distance is very much on the minds of the investors who provide venture capital."

Top 10 Startups Worth Watching in 2008

By Julie Sloane 12.24.07 | WIRED

"Credit crunch? Recession risk? You'd never know it, judging by the frenzy of startup activity. In fact, it's a pretty good time to start a company. Generous payouts from Web 1.0 IPOs and more-recent acquisitions have given rise to a new generation of angel investors and venture capitalists. Plus, getting acquired by Google is an attractive and plausible exit strategy for many entrepreneurs. Those factors have combined to make a startup market almost as frothy as the dot-com bubble."

When Tech Innovation Has a Social Mission

By JOHN MARKOFF - New York Times

"a new style of “hybrid” technology organization is emerging that is trying to define a path between the nonprofit world and traditional for-profit ventures."

A New Venture Animal

by Paul Graham, March 2008

"I was annoyed recently to read a description of Y Combinator that said "Y Combinator does seed funding for startups." What was especially annoying about it was that I wrote it. This doesn't really convey what we do. And the reason it's inaccurate is that, paradoxically, funding very early stage startups is not mainly about funding."