Breakout Performance: Laying Odds on Semel's Successor for the Corner Cube at Yahoo!

Here are Breakout Performance's odds on the front-runners:
Susan Decker: 3 - 2. Positives: Insider; well-respected by most Yahoo!s, well-liked by street. Question Marks: Technical enough?, too 'analysis paralysis'?, technical vision for company.
Dan Rosensweig: 4 - 1. Positives: Insider; technical enough background; COO tenure on the surface makes him first in line. Question Marks: Arrongant?, will the Yahoo!s trust/follow him?, too close to Semel?
Steve Berkowitz, SVP at Microsoft: 8 - 1. Positives: Knows search from Ask, MSN experience, relevant industry leadership experience with views of big and small companies, learned from Diller, Gates, Ballmer. Question Marks: Vision for company?, What are the big accomplishments he can point to on his resume.
Ross Levinsohn, President of Fox Interactive: 9 - 1. Positives: Great Internet track record: Fox, Altavista, Sportsline; Ideal time in his career trajectory to take that next step; He's gone from Hollywood, FL, to Hollywood, CA, and now he's ready for the Hollywood of Northern California; might be burnt out of working for Rupert Murdoch. Question Marks: He's a deal-maker, but can he integrate?, No turnaround experience with a company the size of Yahoo!, Another guy from Hollywood? Would the Yahoo!s get on board?
Shona Brown, EVP BD, Google. 10 - 1. Positives: Rhodes Scholar, PhD, McKinseyite, Best-Selling Business Author before coming to Google -- i.e., bright!; Been studying/working in this industry for 12 years. Question Marks: Too junior for CEO slot; Why leave when Google's on a roll?
Joanne K. Bradford, new head of MSN: 15 - 1. Positives: Got online Ad religion before anyone else at MSFT, helped turn culture around at MSN, big company experience and ad experience, lives in Bay Area. Question Marks: Seasoned enough for top slot?, could use more time leading major team at MSN.
Jonathan Miller, ex-head of AOL: 45 - 1. Positives: Relevant CEO-type experience at Yahoo! competitor; can point to some content innovations and general turnaround of that group; fiercely loved by some ex-employees. Question Marks: Vision?; too slow; could he gain loyalty of Yahoo!s?
Jerry Yang, Chief Yahoo!: 50 - 1. Positives: 1 of the co-founders; well-respected; knows the culture; technical vision. Question Marks: Too junior? (37); Does he want it?; What leadership experience does he have to take on this role?
Guy Kawasaki, The House of Kawasaki: 275 - 1. [Squeaked in ahead of Calacanis.] Positives: Visionary to the extreme; Who doesn't love this guy?; He's local. Question Marks: Not an operator (but a great blogger); Why would he want the stress - he's got a pretty good gig as it is.
Jason Calacanis, ex-AOL: 285 - 1. Positives: Well-known among the Valleywag set; Small & large company experience at Weblogs and AOL. Question Marks: Too young; not ready for prime-time CEO.
Marissa Mayer, Google: 10,000 - 1. Positives: Well-known/respected by tech folks. Question Marks: Too junior; little leadership experience.
Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo! VP: No Chance. No board would ever pick him after leaking the memo.

Bloomberg.com: Citadel Says Hedge-Fund Profit Rose Fivefold in 2006

"Citadel Investment Group LLC, the hedge-fund manager founded by Kenneth Griffin, said earnings at its two largest funds increased more than fivefold on gains from debt and energy investments.
Net income at Citadel Kensington Global Strategies Fund Ltd. rose to $795.6 million in the first eight months of 2006 from $148.4 million in the year-earlier period, the Chicago-based firm told investors this week in a prospectus for its first bond sale. The fund, which has $9.5 billion in assets, had an investment return of 7 percent in the third quarter, compared with 3.1 percent a year earlier, when its corporate-debt and energy bets lost money. "

Reconnex Goes To Channel With Data Leak Prevention - IGuard 2600S, Security - CRN

"Security vendor Reconnex is turning to the channel to sell a new version of its appliance for monitoring and protecting access to sensitive company data.
The three-year-old company on Wednesday unveiled the Reconnex iGuard 2600S, a turnkey version of its iGuard 2600 technology, said Faizel Lakhani, vice president of marketing for the Mountain View, Calif.-based vendor.
Reconnex's data leak prevention technology monitors a company's network traffic in search of specific types of data to ensure that sensitive information is captured and quarantined before it's copied off the network, Lakhani said. "

Light Reading - Google Invests in Indoor Mesh

"Google is working with early-stage startup Meraki Networks Inc. on indoor mesh technology, industry sources tell Unstrung.
Google's invested in Meraki as well. The search giant is said to have made a "relatively small" six-figure investment in the Mountain View, Calif., startup. "They're devloping an in-house CPE [customer premises equipment] type unit that can also mesh," an industry source tells Unstrung. Another source says that Google will test the box with businesses that are within its Mountain View WiFi mesh coverage area."

PEHub: BitTorrent raises $25M from Accel

"Update: We have independently confirmed that BitTorrent has raised $25 million in new VC funding. Accel Partners led the deal, with Accel partner Ping Li expected to take a board seat. Existing backer DCM-Doll Capital Management also participated.
There’s a lot of buzz in the blogosphere about BitTorrent, and the possibility it has raised big bucks from Accel Partners. GigaOM seems to have gotten the scoop, but VentureBeat, TechCrunch and Valleywag also weigh in."

GigaOM » Google Answers Closes Shop (Extended Version)

"The comparisons between the booming Yahoo Answers and the shuttering1 Google Answers2 (see our initial reporters’ log post3 from last night) are pretty stark. Google Answers wasn’t bad — it was an extremely cheap way to outsource random research questions and get a trustworthy result — but it never really took off. Furthermore, the product’s reliance on people didn’t fit with Google’s algorithmic ethos, so cutting it was an easy way to satisfy the company’s newfound desire to trim its product line.
Online community specialist Yahoo, on the other hand, made its own Answers4 product, released5 less than a year ago, open to the public and free of charge. The answers you’ll get on Yahoo are generally about as good as the unfiltered comments on a popular blog — definitely not professional-grade, but usually pretty useful in aggregate, with a few gems."

VC Circle: Travelguru May Get $15 Million From Battery, Sequoia In 2nd Round

"Online travel portal Travelguru is likely to raise $15 million in its second round of funding, according to a report in The Economic Times. Battery Ventures is reportedly leading the round with $8-10 million, and it will be joined by the existing investor Sequoia Capital India with the rest of the capital. An announcement is expected only next week or so. Tarvelguru, a Harvard Business School project, got the first round of funding from Seqouia Capital India early last year. The company had received $10 million in its first round of funding."

Hot Deals in India Net Thin Fees - WSJ.com

"Hoping to cash in on one of Asia's fastest-growing economies, investment banks are increasingly vying for Indian deals. But the rush is eroding the already thin fees, a senior investment banker said.
With Indian companies in acquisition mode, the growth prospects are huge, said Sanjay Nayar, chief country officer for India at Citigroup Inc.
'It has been a record year for corporate and investment banking in India, given the growth in capital-market activity,' Mr. Nayar said."

Yahoo China head quits after barely 40 days | Reuters.com

"Yahoo China's president has resigned after barely 40 days on the job, said its Chinese owner Alibaba.com, which is revamping the Internet search firm in an effort to make it profitable.
Xie Wen, who was chief executive of Chinese financial Web portal Hexun.com before joining Yahoo China, decided to leave his position for personal reasons, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. He had formally joined Yahoo China on Oct. 17."

FORTUNE: First Virtual Millionaire

"Anshe Chung, a real-estate tycoon in the digitally simulated world known as Second Life, has apparently become the first virtual millionaire--i.e., someone whose holdings in a make-believe world are legally convertible into genuine U.S. currency worth more than $1 million.

Chung is the nom de keyboard of Ailin Graef, a former schoolteacher who says she was born and raised in Hubei, China, and is now a citizen of Germany. "

Ideas for future shows - ScobleShow: tech industry video

"Roger Schank
Douglas Hofstadter
Steve Jobs, Apple Computer
Dave Winer, Scripting News
Albert Pascual
Marvin Minsky
Louis Monier, Google
John McCarthy, Stanford
Michael Tippett, NowPublic
Jim Gray, MSR
Bill Gates, Microsoft (Yes Again)
Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church (Seattle)
Leo Laporte, Twit
Philip Rosedale, Linden Lab (Second Life)
Normal bloggers
Scobleshow videoconfrence with other coutries
Tarik Krim, Netvibes
Kristopher Tate of Zooomr
Someone at Podtech, like the ceo/founder - I'm interested in their opinions on this 'new media'
Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report
Robert X.Cringely of NerdTV
James Gosling of Sun Microsystem,Inc.
Om Malik of GigaOM.com
Travis Kalanick of Red Swoosh
Ze Frank
Meebo Team
MobiTV
Sequoia Capital
Last.fm
Pandora.com
Mercora.com
AmieStreet.com
Apple iTunes Team
Tivo
SNOCAP
LimelightNetworks
GridNetworks.com
Solid State Network
Cachefly.com
Parallels, Inc
Will Wright - Creator of Spore - Game Developer
Rod Beckstrom- Coauthor of The Starfish and The Spider book
Elliott Breece of AmieStreet.com
Robert Scoble: What. How. Why."

GoVeg.com // Features // American Idol’s Ruben Studdard Talks to PETA About Being Vegetarian

"American Idol crooner Ruben Studdard’s silky voice, combined with his rotund physique, earned him the nickname “Velvet Teddy Bear.” But one of the big stories about his “Return” this fall was how a chance encounter with a Seventh-Day Adventist leaflet, combined with a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure, inspired the former college football star to “clean up his temple” and adopt a vegetarian diet—a lifestyle change that has helped him shed pounds. "

THE JOURNAL REPORT: TECHNOLOGY - WSJ.com

Cellphones keep getting fancier, but the old problems never seem to go away. Wireless carriers continue to suffer from consumer frustration with their service, both in complaints to regulators and in customers switching to their competitors. Here's a look at how companies are addressing the problems -- as well as some new ones that are cropping up as phones get more advanced.

BinOptics

"BinOptics Corp., a laser manufacturer located in the Cornell Business and Technology Park, has secured $6 million in new financing that it will use to speed up development of its blue-laser technology.
The funding, the company’s third round of financing, came from several venture-capital firms including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Cayuga Venture Fund, FA Technology Ventures, and ArrowPath Venture Partners, all of which were previous investors. A new addition was STIC International, the Palo Alto, Calif.–based, U.S. arm of STIC Investments, a venture capital and financial-equity group based in South Korea. "

Skype Reaches 25 Million Chinese Users - ChinaTechNews.com

"Skype's total registered users in China has hit 25 million, making the nation one of its top markets around the world.
Skype's VoIP software first entered the Chinese market in November 2004. It has been very popular and has seen rapid growth with its advanced voice technology, excellent voice quality and cheap phone calls."

alarm:clock: Intematix Funded For Haitz's Law

"Haitz's Law is the LED equivalent of Moore's Law, which has accurately predicted a doubling of LED brightness every 18 to 24 months.
Intematix is one of the start-ups pushing Haitz's Law and it has raised $16.5M in its series C. Crosslink Capital and Samsung Ventures led the investment in the Fremont company. Presidio STX, a unit of Sumitomo, also gave money as a new investor. Draper Fisher Jurvetson, East Gate Capital and Pacifica Fund - investors from earlier rounds were in as well."

Sonoa Systems Gets Series B

"Santa Clara-based Sonoa Systems has raised a Series B round of funding, according to a regulatory filing. Investors in the firm now include Bay Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Juniper Networks, SAP Ventures, and Net One Systems. Bay Partners and Norwest Venture Partners were prior investors in the firm. According to a report by industry publication Light Reading earlier this month, the round was worth approximately $16M. Sonoa is a stealth startup working in the IT infrastructure and web services area. "

The Mossberg Solution - WSJ.com

"This week, we tested a new, free blogging service called Vox, www.vox.com, from Six Apart Ltd., a blogging software company. One of Vox's best attributes is its ability to label each individual post, or entry, with a different privacy filter, so that instead of setting your blog to be entirely private or entirely public, you can pick and choose what you want to share."

Sony's Grouper site denies copyright-infringement claims - Nov. 22, 2006

"Grouper.com, the online video-sharing company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, has denied charges in a Universal Music Group lawsuit that accuses the company of allowing users to swap pirated music videos.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Grouper denied the copyright-infringement allegations and said Universal was using the lawsuit to boost a rival video-sharing site in which it has a stake."

TechEffect: CBS loves YouTube

"Here's a headline you wouldn't have expected to see about six months ago, 'CBS says YouTube is helping ratings.' Lost Remote ran that headline atop a post today on the success of CBS's deal with YouTube which legally allows limited clips of CBS material to be posted on YouTube. According to Lost Remote, the 300 videos uploaded by the network have been viewed 29.2 million times in the month since the deal was cut. In that time, the ratings for Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show, which make up the bulk of the uploaded videos, have risen 5 and 7 percent respectively. Obviously, there could be other factors which caused the jump, but it's safe to say YouTube is responsible for most of it."

Tech Trader Daily » Google Tops $500; Maybe It’s Time For A Stock Split

"A few quick observations spring to mind from seeing that list:
Google ranks 22nd in total market cap of 4,381 stocks tracked, with a stock market value of about $156 billion.
It ranks 15th in market cap among U.S. companies.
Google has topped both Intel (INTC) and IBM (IBM) in market cap, and now is the third-largest tech stock, trailing only Cisco (CSCO) and Microsoft (MSFT).
No U.S. telecom stock has a bigger market cap than Google. (Vodafone and China Mobile are bigger.)
No airline has a bigger market cap than Google.
Just one retailer - Wal-Mart - has a bigger market cap than Google.
Just one U.S. oil stock - Exxon - has a bigger market cap than Google.
At $534, Google would pass Cisco and trail only Microsoft among tech stocks.
At $658 and change, assuming current stock prices, Google would pass Procter & Gamble (PG) and enter the market cap top 10.
At $962, it would pass Microsoft.
At $1,209, it would pass General Electric.
At $1,392, Google would pass Exxon and have the largest market cap of any U.S. stock.
Isn’t it time for a stock split? There are only a half-dozen stocks with higher stock prices: "

paidContent.org.org: GOOG

"Google goes back to its acq-hire roots, after the big GoogTube deal: it has bought iRows, a small provider of a browser-based spreadsheet service. User of iRows can now migrate their spreadsheets over to Google Docs & Spreadsheets.
This comes soon after it announced buying JotSpot, the wiki and office tools company. Google goes back to its acq-hire roots, after the big GoogTube deal: it has bought iRows, a small provider of a browser-based spreadsheet service. User of iRows can now migrate their spreadsheets over to Google Docs & Spreadsheets.
This comes soon after it announced buying JotSpot, the wiki and office tools company. "

RedOrbit - Technology - Real Girls Media Announces Million Series A and Unique Web 2.0 Publishing Strategy

"Real Girls Media Network, Inc. (RGM), an online publishing company, announced today that it closed its Series A funding with 3i and WaldenVC. Concurrent with the funding, David Silverman, partner with 3i, and Steve Eskenazi, managing director at WaldenVC, have joined the company's board of directors. "

ContentSutra - India's Digital Media News Monitor

"Just saw it on the NDTV Profit ticker. The market buzz is that Sequoia Capital India may be picking up a stake in Geodesic Information Systems, a web technologies company. The news is yet to be confirmed.
Geodesic is an interesting technology company which has an instant messaging system Mundu, which combine AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN, Mundu and Yahoo across the web and wireless devices and platforms. Just saw it on the NDTV Profit ticker. The market buzz is that Sequoia Capital India may be picking up a stake in Geodesic Information Systems, a web technologies company. The news is yet to be confirmed.
Geodesic is an interesting technology company which has an instant messaging system Mundu, which combine AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN, Mundu and Yahoo across the web and wireless devices and platforms. "

Acquisitions Made in 2006 Set New Record: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

"Buyouts are having a banner year. The volume of acquisitions announced this year breaks the record set in 2000, as the dollar total reached an all-time high last week, even before a slew of takeover announcements were made Monday that pushed it even higher.

As of Monday, the total value of announced acquisitions worldwide reached $3.46 trillion for the year, exceeding the $3.33 trillion level of announced deals reached in 2000, according to Dealogic."

Microsoft to face challenge over Linux licenses | Reuters.com

"Supporters of PC operating system Linux are preparing to counter a recent deal penned by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) which establishes for the first time the principle of paying the software giant for the operating system, whose licence requires it to be free.
Microsoft signed a deal with Novell, one of the providers of Linux, in which Novell paid it a lump sum in return for a guarantee that Microsoft would not sue Novell's clients for what it calls a violation of its own patents in the Linux programme."

A VC: Building A Bust Proof Portfolio

So here are the things that those "survivor" companies had in common:
- Lower burn rates
- Business models, revenues, and customers
- Good venture syndicates with real VC firms (as opposed to strategic investors, amateurs, new funds, etc)
- Realistic valuations (as opposed to valuations that could not be sustained when the market broke)
- Committed entrepreneurs who were in it for more than just money
- Long time horizons for everyone involved (entrepreneurs, investors, employees)
- Reasonable exit expectations
- Less capital raised and less preferences on top of the founders

Tech Trader Daily » Bill Gates: The Charlie Rose Interview at The TechNet Innovation Summit

Gates on dropping out of Harvard to start Microsoft: To be clear, I didn’t really leave. I went ON leave. I could go back.
On remaining challenges for the PC industry: The PC I dreamed for myself [when Microsoft started] is far better than what we have today.
On the road ahead for PCs: There are dreams that have been around for a while…a tablet computer for students instead of text books. We’ve wanted that for ages. A computer that can see, that can learn…computing today is really in its infancy.
On the success of the Apple iPod: Phenomenal, unbelievable, fantastic.

VC Ratings: That's more like it; Yahoo buys VCless-MyBlogLog

"After writing how puzzling it is for a venture-backed startup to get acquired within months of its financing for a relatively small multiple of the pre-money valuation, a deal comes around that makes more sense.
Yahoo is acquiring MyBlogLog for a reported $10 million. MyBlogLog never raised venture capital funding, making it a nice payday for co-founders Scott Rafer, Todd Sampson and Eric Marcoullier."

The 'Peanut Butter Manifesto' - WSJ.com

"It is called "The Peanut Butter Manifesto" -- a four-page call to arms from a senior executive of Yahoo Inc., declaring the Internet company is spreading itself too thin and must define priorities and radically reorganize its management structure.
Now the manifesto has attracted the attention of Yahoo's top brass as they scramble to boost revenue and protect the company's status as the most popular stopping point on the Web for U.S. users, amid heated competition from Google Inc. and others. (Read the memo)
Yahoo, which consumers use for email, news and a wide menu of other services, is under increasing pressure to hold its top position. One analyst predicts Google will overtake Yahoo in users in 2007. Microsoft Corp. has stepped up its Internet activities, and Time Warner Inc.'s America Online unit increased usage recently by opening up free, unrestricted access for its services. Sites including News Corp.'s MySpace have rapidly gained visitors and attention from advertisers."
-----------

"An internal document by Brad Garlinghouse, a Yahoo senior vice president, says Yahoo is spreading its resources too thinly, like peanut butter on a slice of bread. Full text of the document is below.
Three and half years ago, I enthusiastically joined Yahoo! The magnitude of the opportunity was only matched by the magnitude of the assets. And an amazing team has been responsible for rebuilding Yahoo!
It has been a profound experience. I am fortunate to have been a part of dramatic change for the Company. And our successes speak for themselves. More users than ever, more engaging than ever and more profitable than ever!"

Microsoft, MetroFi Team for City Wi-Fi: Wireless Week

" MetroFi's planned Wi-Fi network in Portland, Ore., will feature locally focused MSN content and advertising, thanks to a newly forged deal with Microsoft.
As part of the combined effort, the network will feature the Microsoft adCenter platform, which, according to the companies, will help advertisers reach local Wi-Fi users. The adCenter can target these users by analyzing browsing habits, as well as the gender, age and location of a given user. The collaboration with Microsoft marks MetroFi's largest citywide Wi-Fi network project, and will bring free wireless Internet access to Oregon's largest city, which has more than a half-million residents."

Notes (internet.com): "In the me-too world of muni Wi-Fi ISPs, one company stands out with a well differentiated and original offering. Mountain View, Calif.-based MetroFi Inc., an ISP co-founded by Chuck Haas, one of the founders of Covad Communications Group, is building citywide Wi-Fi networks in communities across the U.S. and offering free, advertising-supported service. MetroFi, formed in 2002, turned on its first city, Cupertino, CA, in May 2005. Today, it has six communities up and running and another seven in the pipeline."

More Notes: August Capital, a large investor in MetroFi, probably had a lot to do with the MetroFi / Mister Softie partnership, as Dave Marquadt of August was an early investor in Microsoft. MetroFi has raised over $8M from August and Sevin Rosen, as well as taking in a venture loan from Western Technology. According to OM, the company plans to raise money sometime next year.
This appears to be a big deal for MetroFi, who only recently seemed to be taking in their last deathbed breath. Stay tuned for more possible announcements.

Study: Immigrants founded 20% of venture-backed companies - Nov. 15, 2006

"Immigrant entrepreneurs spur renaissance. Nearly half of today's private, and 20 percent of public, venture-backed start-ups were founded by immigrants despite challenges, study says. A full 20 percent of venture-backed public companies were founded by one or more immigrants, according to the study, released by the National Venture Capital Association. Within the high-tech sector, that percentage rises to 40 percent."

Who Has Time For This?

"7. XML has enabled the rapid development of integrated web services like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, LowerMyBills, and Yelp. For the first time developers can whip together a complex community site that mashes up data and features from across the web. This last point is critical, because it enables consumer-oriented entrepreneurs to do something new and exciting: test a business plan without capital.

This dramatically changes the venture capital model. Consumer ventures used to burn so much time and money that most high tech entrepreneurs focused on carriers and large enterprises. In order to assess demand for their wares, they would need to first develop the technology and a sales force to sell it, a 3 year proposition. If the entrepreneur had a track record of success, we venture investors would take our chances on the market and fund those first three years of operation."

VC Ratings: Good Technology sale to Motorola bad for VCs

"UPDATE: The Deal has reported that Motorola paid $500 million in cash for Good. "

TheDeal.com - Sofinnova closes seventh fund

"Sofinnova Ventures closed its largest venture fund to date, capping Sofinnova Venture Partners VII at $375 million, a 50% increase from the San Francisco firm's 2003 fund.
The new fund will continue Sofinnova's emphasis on life sciences and information technology, with about two-thirds of deals centered on pharmaceutical companies and one-third on wireless technology startups. The firm is maintaining the same management structure it has had for its Sofinnova Venture Partners VI fund, with the additional money going into slightly larger deal size and deals per partners."

Other Sources:
Sofinnova Ventures Closes SVP VII With $375 Million Yahoo! News (press release)
US firm Sofinnova Ventures closes SVP VII on $375m AltAssets
Sofinnova Ventures Closes SVP VII With US$375 Million Earthtimes.org

PayPal founder's photo slideshow site gets funding | Business News | Reuters.com

"Slide Inc., a start-up that allows Web users to publish online slideshows of photos and other digital media, said on Tuesday it had received additional funding from two top Silicon Valley venture firms.
Slide was started by Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal, the world's most popular online payment service which was sold to online auctioneer eBay Inc. in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
Slide's new financing round was led by Mayfield Fund and includes investments from Khosla Ventures and two previous investors, BlueRun Ventures and Founders Fund. Exact terms were not disclosed, but Levchin said: 'It is in the millions.' "

Mark Cuban courts YouTube foe | CNET News.com

"Mark Cuban, one of YouTube's most outspoken critics, has expressed interest in buying a news organization that has filed a lawsuit against the video-sharing company.
The company Cuban is eyeing is the Los Angeles News Service, a relatively small television news operation based in Los Angeles. The company's owner is Robert Tur, a famed helicopter pilot and journalist who alleged in a lawsuit last July that YouTube encouraged users to violate copyright law. Tur filed suit after finding that someone had posted some of his footage, including images from the 1992 Los Angeles riots, on YouTube without his permission."

Cingular investing in mobile banking: FierceMobileContent

"Mobile banking services provider Firethorn Holdings announced today it will partner with Cingular Wireless to launch a wireless banking service available to subscribers in early 2007. The service will enable Cingular subscribers to check account balances, transfer money and pay bills via their mobile handsets. According to Cingular, subscribers will be able to download the necessary application from their bank's website; while the carrier has yet to announce official agreements, it says it's in talks with a number of financial institutions seeking participation in the service. "

VentureWire Pro: More on Sequoia Cisco love affair

"According to VentureOne, Cisco has acquired 62 venture-backed companies, 14 of them backed by Sequoia. Cisco spokesman Piovesan said the company doesn't favor Sequoia-backed startups and doesn't set aside a predetermined amount of money for deals. He said the high percentage of Sequoia-backed acquisitions is 'an interesting coincidence'. "

Notes: Not really an interesting coincidence, as Don Valentine, was one of the original investors in Cisco way back when.

Hedge Manager Is Almost Famous - New York Times

"More than any other investment bank, Goldman Sachs relies on trading gains to drive its profits. Mr. Agus had a very good year in 2005 — he is estimated to have made $10 million to $20 million — and he will surely get a raise in 2006. His year is further evidence that on Wall Street, the real money is being made not by investment bankers cutting high-profile deals, but by anonymous traders making risky, profitable bets with their firm’s capital. "

Pelosi, Kleiner Perkins Push for Overhaul of Sarbanes-Oxley Law

"For Silicon Valley venture capitalists eager to weaken the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate- governance law, it may pay to have friends in high places. The speaker's rostrum of the U.S. House of Representatives, for instance.
Nancy Pelosi, the leader of newly empowered House Democrats, received more campaign money this year from partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture capital firm that helped launch Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., than she got from Democrats' traditional friend, the AFL-CIO labor federation. She in turn has already identified revising the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law as a top priority when she becomes House speaker in January."

» Microsoft says Gmail is a virus | Googling Google | ZDNet.com

It seems that Microsoft has started flagging Gmail as a virus in their virus scanning software Windows Live OneCare. Many people are reporting that every time they open Gmail, a warning is displayed telling the user they are infected with "BAT/BWG.A".

'Borat' victims upset at being duped - Yahoo! News

Duped by Borat.

Cisco to buy Greenfield Networks (undisclosed sum)

"Cisco Systems has agreed to buy Greenfield Networks in a move designed to expand its Ethernet lineup, the companies said Monday. Greenfield, a privately held Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company with 60 employees, develops semiconductors designed to improve Ethernet packet processing for the so-called metro Ethernet market. Telecommunications carriers use the technology to string together a number of corporate networks within a metropolitan-area network, allowing these companies to use VoIP and data over their networks. "

Notes: Another Sequoia-backed company sold to Cisco. It is unlikely Sequoia made very much return back other than their initial investment and some. $40M+ raised since May 2001. Other investors include Global Catalyst, Panorama Capital (led their third round), and Walden Int'l. Greenfield has a proven track record in developing and deploying semiconductors for the Metro Ethernet market. The only listed customers are Huawei-3com. Greenfield's technology is highly complementary to Cisco’s existing line of Metro Ethernet products. Greenfield CEO Bill Rossi, former vice president and general manager of the Wireless Networking Business Unit at Cisco Systems, who joined Greenfield Networks in Nov 05 will now return back to the CSCO.

Other:
Cisco to buy Greenfield Networks ZDNet
Cisco to buy Greenfield Networks San Jose Business Journal
Cisco Announces Agreement to Acquire Greenfield Networks Business Wire (press release)

Waiting for Skype to pay off for eBay - Technology & Media - International Herald Tribune

"But more than a year after the purchase, eBay, one of the world's largest publicly traded Internet companies, is fighting to convince skeptics that the deal, whose final price tag could reach $4.1 billion if bonuses are paid, was indeed a smart move."

"Judging by the numbers, Skype has continued its meteoric rise. The number of registered users, those who have downloaded the free Skype phone software, more than doubled to 136 million by Sept. 30 since the sale to eBay. That is more than half of the world's roughly 206 million broadband Internet users, according to International Data Corp. Each day, 250,000 people download Skype, compared with 130,000 before the sale.
Skype's sales, which are generated mainly from fees when users call or are called from land-line and mobile phones rather than other computers, are set to more than triple this year to $195 million from $60 million in 2005.
With barely any overlap in customers, Skype and eBay are offering new frontiers for each business."

Venture Capital: Startups reach into some deep pockets

"Pelago, a stealthy startup formed earlier this year by former Amazon.com Senior Vice President Jeff Holden and former Amazon.com engineer Darren Vengroff, has raised $7.4 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and Trilogy Equity Partners. The money will be used to continue working on a new mobile service that involves social networking.
Meanwhile, Ontela, led by former RealNetworks group manager Dan Shapiro, has raised $4.5 million from Hunt Ventures, Oak Investment Partners and Voyager Capital. It will use the funds to develop a technology that helps people manage photographs taken on their camera phones."

Flipt - Out of bidness?

flipt - Palo Alto, CA www.flipt.com
Carrier application- Communication- Community application
Provides location-based social networking technology.
$3.4 million
5/1/2006
($1.6 million previously announced)
New Enterprise Associates, Sequoia Capital ...Dead..?

Update: Flipt...not out of bidness. Name changes: Radiate --> Flipt ---> Loopt.

From Michael Arrington 9/05: Mobile presence application Loopt has launched its service tonight. Loopt uses GPS and related data to display the location of a user’s friends along with their presence status (available, away, etc) on maps and lists. Users will be able to request alerts when friends are within a certain distance, send messages to groups of friends within a certain distance and soon will be able to tag and blog physical locations in a way that’s accesible to friends through Loopt. The service is initially available only to Boost Mobile customers.

More from Siliconbeat 5/06: Radiate changes name to Flipt, raises $5M -- We've mentioned Radiate before. It is the stealthy start-up run by 21-year-old Sam Altman, that is developing social networking play that incorporates location-based technology into a mobile offering -- we don't know much more. It has now changed its name to Flipt (it has a placeholder at least). VentureWire (sub req) reports that big-name venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and NEA have backed it with $5 million.

VC Ratings: Veoh's $1.65 billion mistake

but Shapiro explained that the reason for Veoh's slower start was the fact that it spent a lot of its time focused on solving the hard problem of moving large pieces of video data instead of doing what YouTube did, which was to focus on allowing its users to upload and share short clips. "We should have focused on the bigger problem later," he said.

YouTube - Spyware Rubbernecking

New A's ballpark to be high tech - Yahoo! News

"If Cisco Systems Inc. has its way, the Oakland Athletics' new ballpark in Fremont will be the stadium of the future. Fans will swipe electronic tickets stored on cell phones. Bleacher bums will view instant replays at their seats with laptop computers. And digital advertising displays will be able to switch images based on the buying habits of the people walking by through data embedded in their cell phones.
That was the vision that A's owner Lew Wolff laid out to Fremont City Council members this week in a pitch for Cisco Field, a planned ballpark featuring the company's technology, Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman said Thursday."

GigaOM » Social Networking by the Numbers

"SK Communications CEO Hyun-Oh Yoo reports Cyworld2 has 20 million subscribers in Korea, which is 40 percent of the total Korean population, as well as more than 3 million users in non-Korean countries. He claims 96 percent of 20- to 29-year-old Koreans use Cyworld “regularly,” which is kind of fuzzy, but it implies that all of them are members of the service, which is impressive on its own. The site has 22 million unique visitors per month, 20 billion page views per month, and $300,000 in daily sales of digital items. He also said the site sells 6 million songs per month and has 100,000 videos uploads daily (bigger than the publicly reported YouTube numbers)."

Notes: Cyworld just partnered with Double Fusion to deliver branded items into the social networking site. Double Fusion is the Accel, JVP company that competes with in-game ad leader Massive, acquird by Mister Softie (MSFT) earlier this year. This could potentially be a big deal for the startup hoping to get in early with Cyworld's 11wk old US social networking site. As part of the deal, Double Fusion will serve the Cyworld USA community with permission-based brand messages from blue-chip and upstart companies.

Tech Trader Daily » Wal-Mart To Offer 42-Inch Plasma For Under $1,000

Pricing for big-screen televisions have been falling rapidly, but this nonetheless seems kind of shocking: Wal-Mart (WMT) is reportedly planning to sell a 42-inch plasma television for $998 on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season.

Tech Trader Daily » Wal-Mart To Offer 42-Inch Plasma For Under $1,000

Pricing for big-screen televisions have been falling rapidly, but this nonetheless seems kind of shocking: Wal-Mart (WMT) is reportedly planning to sell a 42-inch plasma television for $998 on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season.

TheDeal.com - Silver Lake, Shah join

"Silicon Valley tech buyout firms Silver Lake Partners and Shah Capital Partners plan to join forces and will together be able to target both large and middle-market companies, sources confirmed Thursday, Nov. 9.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Shah Capital will continue managing a $250 million fund it raised in 2004. But Shah will also begin fundraising for a $750 million fund under the Silver Lake umbrella, starting in the first quarter, persons said. Silver Lake, with offices in Menlo Park, Calif., and New York, is currently fundraising for its own $7.5 billion fund. Silicon Valley tech buyout firms Silver Lake Partners and Shah Capital Partners plan to join forces and will together be able to target both large and middle-market companies, sources confirmed Thursday, Nov. 9.

Highlights:
- Silver Lake wants to enter the technology middle market because "that's where the best returns can be earned right now," said Alex Slusky, founder and managing partner of Vector Capital Corp., a San Francisco private equity firm also focused on techs.

- Shah typically invests in middle-market tech firms. Shah, in August, led a consortium to buy Thales Navigation (now Magellan Navigation Inc.), a provider of automotive navigation systems, for $170 million. In July 2003, Shah teamed up with Francisco Partners Management LLC to buy NPTest Inc., a provider of testing and diagnostic products equipment, for $220 million. Shah took NPTest public six months later and then sold the company in 2004 to Credence Systems Corp. for $660 million in cash and stock.

GigaOM » Brightcove raising $55M, $225M post

"With the launch of its service and video network, Cambridge, MA-based broadband video startup Brightcove is looking to raise a substantial round of capital, sources within the investment community say. According to our sources, the company is looking to raise just over $55 million in fresh capital, give or take a few million. That kind of money would give the company a post-money valuation well north of $225 million range, sources say."

For Start-Ups, Web Success on the Cheap - New York Times

“I think it could be a great time to be a venture capitalist,” Mr. Kraus said in an interview. “Like in any competitive market, fear and hope are the two competing forces.” And for venture capitalists, the success of scrappy start-ups may simply be heightening the fear. “I think there is a lot of fear that people won’t get into the best deals,” Mr. Kraus said."

Zvents.com raises $7M

"Zvents, the leading local event search technology firm, announced today that it has secured $7 million in series A financing led by VantagePoint Venture Partners. Previous investors Red Rock Ventures and NetService Ventures Group also participated. The funding will be used to expand Zvents' geographic coverage to major metro areas across the United States, and to grow its technical and business staff. David Carlick of VantagePoint Venture Partners and Laura Brege of Red Rock Ventures will join Paul Martino, CEO of Aggregate Knowledge, Richard Melmon, managing partner of NetService Ventures, and Ethan Stock, CEO of Zvents, on the Zvents Board of Directors.Zvents, the leading local event search technology firm, announced today that it has secured $7 million in series A financing led by VantagePoint Venture Partners. Previous investors Red Rock Ventures and NetService Ventures Group also participated. The funding will be used to expand Zvents' geographic coverage to major metro areas across the United States, and to grow its technical and business staff. David Carlick of VantagePoint Venture Partners and Laura Brege of Red Rock Ventures will join Paul Martino, CEO of Aggregate Knowledge, Richard Melmon, managing partner of NetService Ventures, and Ethan Stock, CEO of Zvents, on the Zvents Board of Directors."

Other Resources:
Startup Zvents.com raises $7m
Zvents Announces $7 Million in Series A Funding
Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Zvents Launches Next Week
Zvents Blog »
Zvents: See what people are saying right now on Technorati

Unstrung:802.11: Fatally Flawed?

"Recent throughput tests on wireless LANs based on the 802.11 networking standard have turned up a surprising fact: The standard, which is the basis for thousands of enterprise LANs, public WiFi hotspots, and municipal wireless networks, is inherently flawed in a way that causes packet losses in a small but significant number of transmissions. The loss, say officials at wireless-LAN testing firm VeriWave Inc. , is both predictable and unavoidable. "

Equities Swing With Harvard MBAs - November 9, 2006 - The New York Sun

"Mr. Soifer tracks how many Harvard Business School graduates choose market-sensitive jobs each year. If 10% or less of that year's class take jobs in investment banking, investment management, sales & trading, venture capital, private equity, or leveraged buy-outs, it's a long-term ‘buy' signal.
If 30% or more take such jobs, it's a long-term ‘sell.'
This year, some 37% of Harvard Business School's graduate found work on Wall Street, up from 30% a year ago and 26% for the Class of 2004. The trend suggests that Wall Street is becoming bloated and the American economy is ripe for a slowdown."

Street Magic - CollegeHumor video

Hilarious....
This video is ten times as entertaining as the real David Blaine.
Street Magic - CollegeHumor video

The Color Of Money - Newsweek

"But this time, Doerr's characteristic hyperbole may be good for the country and the planet. Though KP wasn't the first to embrace the green religion, it now leads an enormous wave of financial and political capital being spent on breaking our dangerous reliance on fossil fuels. U.S. investors are on track to pour $2.5 billion into green-tech start-ups this year, up from $1 billion in 2002, according to the Cleantech Venture Network. None of KP's green companies has produced actual products or revenue yet, so it's too soon to tell whether this is merely another frothy Silicon Valley bubble. But KP's decision to go green, after five years of gradually dipping its toes in the sector, signals even bigger industrywide bets to come. After all, where mighty KP goes, other investors usually follow. "

Network Appliance Acquires Topio $160M

"Network Appliance, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Topio, a privately held Santa Clara, California based company with R&D in Haifa, Israel, for approximately $160 million in an all-cash transaction. Topio, a NetApp Strategic Partner, is highly regarded for its innovative software that helps customers replicate, recover, and protect data over any distance regardless of the underlying server or storage infrastructure. The combination of Topio software and NetApp® proven data management solutions will enable enterprises to safely, reliably, and nondisruptively replicate their production data on any vendor system–including EMC, HP, or HDS–to any NetApp storage system.
The joint capabilities of Topio and NetApp deliver a broad range of solutions spanning data protection, data migration, and data cloning. In addition to providing customers with all the benefits that come with the renowned unified architecture from NetApp, the joint solution is especially compelling in two user scenarios. First, customers with production storage not from NetApp can nondisruptively replicate data to a NetApp system and take full advantage of rapid, storage-free data cloning using NetApp FlexClone™ technology, which provides near-instantaneous creation of multiple clones of data without additional storage requirements. Second, customers with mixed legacy storage environments can unify their disaster recovery (DR) environment on reliable and cost-effective NetApp tiered storage platforms and put the DR copy to active business use. "

Notes: Jeepers, it's another Sequoia backed startup hitting jackpot. Little known Topio, formerly known as SANPro was seeded by Sequoia in March 2001 and raised 2 subsequent rounds of financing in Nov 02 and Apr 05 from Sigma (Pete Solvik, former COO Cisco is on board; Cisco is a big customer) and Star Ventures Management, a German fund, who led the third round.
$21.25M in, $160M cash out. This was a Sequoia Israel deal led by Shmil Levy, Partner and former President of Lucent's Internetworking Systems Division. Finally... a Sequoia affiliate making some money for the firm.

Other Sources:
Network Appliance to buy Topio for $160 mlnReuters
Network Appliance Buying Topio TheStreet.com
Network Appliance To Buy Software Firm, Topio, For About $160 Mln ... Trading Markets
start-up Topio for $160m Globes

Amaranths Other Casualty: The Cabbies - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds - Andrew Ross Sorkin - DealBook - New York Times

"Amaranth’s collapse may not have roiled world markets, but it is taking its toll closer to home. For some local taxi drivers, the fund’s size and location, far from the nearest train stations in White Plains or Greenwich, made it a prime source of fat fares. Now, with Amaranth in wind-down mode, those fares are drying up."

Liz Claiborne to buy Kate Spade for $124 ml: Reuters.comz

Liz Claiborne Inc. said on Wednesday it agreed to buy luxury accessories maker Kate Spade LLC for $124 million, including debt, expanding its reach into high-end department stores such as Neiman Marcus. Liz Claiborne, a leading U.S. seller of clothes and accessories for women, said the deal is expected to close in the current quarter and will likely hurt earnings slightly in fiscal 2007.
Privately held Kate Spade, a designer, marketer, wholesaler and retailer of high-end handbags and other accessories for women and men through its Kate Spade and Jack Spade brands, generated sales of about $84 million for its fiscal year ended July 30.

AV recaps CreditCards.com, names CEO: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

"Austin Ventures recapitalized Austin-based CreditCards.com and named a new CEO.
Elisabeth DeMarse, former CEO of Bankrate, was named CEO of CreditCards.com. DeMarse formerly served in senior management roles at companies such as Hoover's Inc., Bloomberg LP, and Citibank. Austin Ventures brought on DeMarse in April to focus on buying and developing companies in the information services market.Austin Ventures recapitalized Austin-based CreditCards.com and named a new CEO.
Elisabeth DeMarse, former CEO of Bankrate, was named CEO of CreditCards.com. DeMarse formerly served in senior management roles at companies such as Hoover's Inc., Bloomberg LP, and Citibank. Austin Ventures brought on DeMarse in April to focus on buying and developing companies in the information services market."

StartupSquad » Blog Archive » Sharpcast Hummingbird to sync all your files

"Sharpcast today launched a new service, code named “Hummingbird“, that enables users to sync documents, photos, music, and video files located across different devices including PCs, mobile phones, and web. This move from Sharpcast was long expected who had initially launched a service that syncs up photos located on various devices connected to Internet."

Foundation Capital Promotes Charles Moldow To General Partner - 2006-11-06 12:32:06 | Venture Capital News

"Foundation Capital, a venture capital firm committed to early stage company building, today announced that Charles Moldow has been promoted to general partner. Moldow brings 18 years of early start-up experience to Foundation Capital. Currently in his second year with Foundation, Moldow joined as a venture partner in 2005. "

Barnett Takes 2nd Turn vs. Google

"Jim Barnett knows the perils of competing with Google. He saw firsthand how the company's mastery of search vanquished early leaders like AltaVista (where he was CEO) and Excite.

Now, he's striving to take on Google in the online advertising realm, where the Big G boasts the Internet's largest ad network via AdSense, a system that puts links and banner ads on thousands of Web sites."

iTWire - The Linux game has changed forever

"The events of the past two weeks, which have seen the two largest companies in the world enter the Linux space, demonstrates that the party is over and the Linux game has changed forever. Red Hat is making a brave stand but stands little chance against the likes of Oracle and Microsoft."

Big Bonuses Seen Again for Wall St. - New York Times

"On Wall Street, the rich keep getting richer. For a fourth consecutive year, year-end bonuses are forecast to be highly lucrative, with the payouts rising 10 percent to 15 percent from 2005, according to Alan Johnson Associates, a leading executive compensation consultant."

Coming to Xbox 360: Films and TV - WSJ.com

"Microsoft Corp. plans to begin offering movies and television shows later this month that users can download onto the Xbox 360, the company's most serious effort yet to expand the entertainment options available for the console beyond videogames.
As it gears up for what is expected to be an intense, competitive holiday season in the games business, the Redmond, Wash., software giant said it will sell episodes of television shows including the likes of 'CSI' and 'Star Trek' and rent movies such as 'Mission Impossible III' and 'Superman Returns' for users of Xbox 360 to download and watch on their television sets. The service, called Xbox Live Video Marketplace, will launch Nov. 22. Microsoft yesterday said the entertainment companies initially offering content through the service will include CBS Corp., Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks and Paramount Studios, and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Brothers."

Peter Rip to Join Crosslink

EarlyStageVC: "A bit of personal news. As of November 1, I have joined Crosslink Capital in San Francisco as a General Partner. At one level the move is a small transition. I move from two additional VC partners to five. My practice has been centered on early stage, Internet services and software. That’s exactly what Crosslink wants more of.` So nothing major changes, except my commute. So why the change? In a word – Relationships.
Crosslink has consistently been a top-quartile firm with its later stage investments and crossover investments. Their ability to cross the investment spectrum is a huge advantage for limited partners. If you have read my series on Venture Capital 2.0, you know why I believe this is true. That same cross-spectrum footprint is also a huge advantage for an early stage investor like me. Let me explain why. "

Topix.net Gets New Funding - DealBook

"A news aggregator, Topix.net, is set to announce Monday that it has received an additional investment of $15 million from the three newspaper groups that already own a majority stake in the company, CNET News.com reported.
After the latest round of funding, Gannett and Tribune each own 33.7 percent stakes, and McClatchy owns an 11.9 percent stake in Topix.net. The second round of funding boosts their combined total stake to 79.3 percent. "

Unstrung - Mesh Shakeout Looms

"Consolidation in the burgeoning municipal mesh sector is inevitable. The question is not if it will happen, but when and how. Vendors and analysts in the market all agree that, thanks to uncertain business models, a proliferation of startups, and the cost of deploying citywide networks, a shakeout is bound to occur in what is one of the hottest wireless markets around at the moment."

"I see this market quickly becoming a three-player race between Cisco, Motorola and Nortel," says Ben Gibson, director of mobility marketing at Cisco Systems Inc. "I believe that ultimately, Cisco's combination of WiFi, breadth of outdoor wireless portfolio and IP market leadership will carry the day."[Ed. note: Betcha didn't expect to hear that.]


Notes: Look for rapid consolidation in the next 12-24 months. MOT acquired Mesh Networks in 2004 and there has been recent m&a activity on the cellular/RF subsystem side - Andrew's purchase of antenna maker, EMS Wirelss for $50m; Powerwave's acquisition of Filtronic's wireless infrastructure division.

Executives at two of the leading startups in the marketplace -- Strix Systems Inc. and Tropos Networks Inc. -- also agree that consolidation is coming, but both expect to come out on top.

Other related articles:

BelAir And Siemens Partner On Broadband Wireless Mesh And WiMAX
Year-Long Trial of Nortel Municipal Wireless Mesh Network Part of ...
CUWiN: Wirelessing the Revolution with Open Source Mesh Wireless ...

The coming revival in venture capital: 'Clean tech' will lead the way - Blogging Stocks

"The last three decades have oscillated between private equity and venture capital. Right now, VCs are down and private equity is up. But 'clean tech' -- technologies that save energy and otherwise allow for a cleaner, greener world -- could revive VCs in the next decade while private equity licks its wounds."

PeopleSoft Founder Plans New Company - WSJ.com

"PeopleSoft Inc. founder David A. Duffield plans Monday to announce a new company called Workday Inc., he said Friday in a recorded phone message sent to reporters.
In the call, Mr. Duffield described the business as 'a new generation of on-demand ERP,' or enterprise-resource planning, a category of software that PeopleSoft offered. By opting for an on-demand service, Workday is following the lead of such companies as Salesforce.com Inc. of San Francisco and NetSuite Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., which helped popularize the notion of managing business tasks through a Web site rather than using programs installed on their own computers."

The Vowels Are Taken - Forbes.com

"'Plugged,' with the grammatically correct 'e,' would've cost Castro $10,000. The 'e'-less version ran him $8.99.
Castro isn't the only new tech outfit that doesn't want to pay retail for vowels. A not so brief sampling: Gabbr, Blufr, Plurn, Qoosa, Wufoo, Talkr and Faqqly. That kind of penny-pinching (I'm assuming these names were chosen because they were cheap) may be admirable."

RED HERRING | Carlyle Head Blasts China Tariff

"Robert Grady, managing director of the Carlyle Group, came out swinging against tariffs on China during a keynote address Thursday at the China Venture Capital Association’s (CVCA’S) 2006 annual general meeting.

Mr. Grady shared lessons from his experience as chairman of the Arlington, Virginia-based National Venture Capital Association with the still relatively young Chinese industry association.Robert Grady, managing director of the Carlyle Group, came out swinging against tariffs on China during a keynote address Thursday at the China Venture Capital Association’s (CVCA’S) 2006 annual general meeting.

Mr. Grady shared lessons from his experience as chairman of the Arlington, Virginia-based National Venture Capital Association with the still relatively young Chinese industry association."

MobiTV Attracts New Investors - 11/2/2006 10:53:00 AM - Wireless Week - CA6387880

"MobiTV may only be seven years old, but the company has made a name for itself in the mobile television market. To further its efforts in the space, the company has raised $100 million in Series C funding, which includes support from new investors Adobe Systems and Hearst Corporation.
The company plans to use the funds to support future growth. 'Demand for mobile TV is taking off and carriers are understanding the power mobile television has to attract new customers and up sale customers,' says MobiTV Chief Strategy Officer and interim CFO Bruce Gilpin. "

Notes:Blah blah blah. Now show me the money on this company.

Oracle Buys Stellent: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

"Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL - News) today announced that it has agreed to acquire Stellent, Inc. (Nasdaq: STEL - News), a global provider of enterprise content management (ECM) software solutions, through a cash tender offer for $13.50 per share, or approximately $440 million."

Note: Futher enterprise software consolidation led by ORCL.

Compete - MyCompete: Registration

"MyCompete provides highlights and trends on the most interesting places to visit online, an opportunity to participate in paid surveys and access to special offers from our partners. Over time, MyCompete will become increasingly personalized to your interests, especially when you install the Compete Toolbar with Community Share. "

Revolt of the fairly rich - October 30, 2006

"The widening chasm between rich and poor may well threaten our democracy. Yet if that banker's lament staggers your brain as it did mine, you're on your way to seeing why America's income gap is arguably less likely to spark a retro fight between proletarians and capitalists than a war between what I call the 'lower upper class' and the ultrarich."

UPS and Grid Computing

“Using technology to differentiate ourselves from our competitors has always been fundamental to our success, and it’s one of the reasons we’re moving forward with [grid] technology,” Brian Cucci, manager of the Advanced Technology Group at UPS said during a Webcast last week with DataSynapse, the company that supplies the Atlanta-based company its grid software.
The software, called Grid Server, is now in production use at UPS and lets the company distribute a billing invoice application that once ran on an expensive mainframe across a group of cheaper x86 systems running Linux.
“Most of the organizations we spoke to adopted grid in a little different way. They pursued it to solve that killer business problem such as not having enough horsepower with their existing infrastructure,” Cucci said. "

Ikanos’ manufacturing problems continue

"The manufacturing problems that impacted sales for Ikanos Communications in the third quarter still persist and will continue to plague the company in the fourth quarter, the chip maker said during an earnings call today. In fact, those problems are now worse than the company knew when it lowered its third-quarter revenue expectations only three weeks ago."

Venture Firm Is Giving Loans a Try - New York Times

"Charles River Ventures, one of the nation’s oldest venture capital firms, has come up with an unusual program to attract promising entrepreneurs: It will offer loans of up to $250,000 to help them turn their ideas into fledgling businesses.
Doling out small loans is an unconventional strategy for a 36-year-old venture firm that has about $1.8 billion under management. But Charles River said it hoped that the program, to be announced Wednesday, would allow it to tap into a new generation of entrepreneurs who are increasingly starting companies on a shoestring. "

U.S. Law Causing Turmoil in Online Gambling Industry - New York Times

"Many of the largest public online sites, like PartyGaming and Sportingbet, got the majority of their revenue from the United States. PartyGaming suspended its United States business after President Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act on Oct. 13. Bankers, analysts and Internet executives say online gambling companies are now discussing merging with each other. Meanwhile, private equity companies, which are flush with cash, have been wondering whether they can assemble a few of these companies into one, slash their costs and reap the profit.
Traditional casino companies in the United States and Asia are also considering buying up the sites as a way to enter Europe. And British betting-shop chains like Ladbrokes and William Hill are thinking about deals with the online gambling companies, bankers and analysts say. "

Behind the deal: JotSpot price rumored at $50 million - Valleywag

"Word is that Google paid $50 million when it recently bought JotSpot (a deal that was arranged over a month ago but was only announced yesterday). Word also is that JotSpot's technology is a piece of crap -- which its competitors gleefully acknowledge, though in more appropriate terms. So why did Google dump that much money?"

Ticketmaster to Acquire Biletix: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

"Ticketmaster, the world's leading ticketing company and an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq: IACI - News), today announced its acquisition of Biletix located in Istanbul, Turkey. Through this acquisition, Ticketmaster will acquire Biletix from founding partners the Koc Group and TAG Enterprises Limited. Biletix becomes the operating arm of Ticketmaster Turkey and will continue to provide its award winning ticketing services to its more than 400 venue, promoter and sports team clients throughout the country. The acquisition reflects Ticketmaster's continued commitment to strategic international development."

About Biletix
"Biletix is the first and the largest ticket sales and distribution agency in Turkey (founded by the largest industrial conglomerate of Turkey, Koc Group, and TAG Enterprises) currently providing ticketing services to more than 6,000 events each year. Since its establishment in 2000, Biletix has continued to provide event-goers with a convenient, secure and valuable system for purchasing tickets to entertainment and sporting events as well as movie theatres in and around Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Trabzon, Antalya, Konya, Cesme and Bodrum."

Notes: We wonder why Ticketmaster didn't just buy Stubhub instead; and we wonder how well their recent change in business model to better compete against Stubhub and others is going. Rumor has it ebay has offered $300m for the hub - that would be a steal given the tremendous growth and margins for the Stubhub business.