Merrill Lynch has a fascinating analysis on the various striking similarities between this financial cycle (mostly in the US) and the one in the late 1980s. Have a look at the article – just the charts should be enough to provide a lot of food for thought. The late 1980s was a cycle characterized by […]
Peer to Peer Lending – India feasibility?
At Canaan US, we have invested in a peer to peer lending company – Lending Club. The company launched itself on Facebook and in last three months, it has facilitated $1 million in loans. The value proposition is for people taking unsecured personal loans of smaller amounts (~ $5000) and also for lenders getting higher […]
Great read: SaaSy security suits small businesses
Absolutely credible and intuitive assessment of the consolidated and de-productized information security market by David Cowan of Bessemer Venture Partners. David has hit the bullseye here, beautifully explaining the current and underlying bottlenecks ailing the business of information security. Personally, I feel this is a brilliant take on the future of the IT security industry. […]
Sweat equity in new ventures
I recently read one article about compensation in early stage ventures. One of my friends is planning to invest in a startup where he is one the four partners of which two of them will be running the show while the other two will be just investors. The proposed equity structure is 25 percent each […]
Consumer Push on Mobile
Mint published an article (contributed by WSJ) Why Microsoft, RIM Fight Is Entering the Consumer Market “Already, Apple Inc.’s iPhone for consumers is forcing handset makers to rethink their own hardware designs. Meanwhile, Google Inc. is expected to jump into the mobile-phone market, hoping to court consumers by delivering software to handset makers and phone […]
Compensation in early stage ventures
Folks, I am not sure if this has been discussed before. If so, can you pls direct me to the relevant posting? I would like to know about the standard practices to decide compensation for early stage employees. Consider this example: I am planning to hire a person at the CxO level. My company is […]
Morgan Stanley on Technology
Morgan Stanley released this presentation on current state of technology and internet, and key trends that they see. Besides being a good overview, couple of things that I found interesting: The globalization of technology markets Consumers and not Enterprise is becoming key driver of technology adoption (not just the internet, but beyond that) The shift […]
EVS Report on VC/PE in India
Just saw this report from Evalueserve on Indian PE/VC market. Compared to recent data that we see on a regular basis, this report has a nice perspective on the history of VC/PE and how it has evolved over last 10-15 years. Also touches on the broad themes for investment and growth in India. Interesting read. […]
It’s about the People, People
This is motivated by the Alok’s post on “Miniaturization of VC†that asked what technologies would enable VC’s to manage a large portfolio of companies to moderate exits. My contention is that for such companies no armchair quarterbacking will suffice, no matter how good the remote control is. It is all about human capital – […]
Though-Provoking Radio programs
We have radio stations like NPR (National Public Radio) in the USA that produces and distributes thought-provoking programs related to current affairs. It engages in meaningful debates on all current topics. I always found that station to be most used by folks driving to work (Average of 40 minutes of drive time for any commuter). […]
Miniaturization of Venture Capital
There have been a couple of discussions on venturewoods earlier regarding angel funding models, including Ycombinator. An excellent article on Read Write Web outlines the challenges the venture capital is facing. Amongst the salient ones include: Lowering cost of doing a startup and taking it to critical level Reducing role of distinctive technology in more […]
IAMAI Entertainment 2.0
Digitalisation is changing how entertainment is used, distributed and developed. From gaming to music to video, mobile entertainment is revolutionizing the industry in ways unheard of just a short time ago. What are the challenges and opportunities developing in this market place? Who are the players? Which business models are succeeding? How will content and […]