Remember them? Iridium Satellite Goes Public through Reverse Merger - Matt Desch, Iridium Satellite CEO

Iridium Satellite begins trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol IRDM, with Matt Desch, Iridium Satellite CEO.

LS9 Secures $25 million from Chevron, Khosla among others

LS9 completed a $25 million round of funding. Participating investors included CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures LLC; Flagship Ventures; Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

In May this year, LS9 announced a strategic partnership with Procter & Gamble to support the joint development and commercialization of LS9 technology to produce key chemicals used within the P&G portfolio of consumer products.

"LS9 is proud to attract recognized leaders in consumer products and transportation fuels," said Bill Haywood, CEO of LS9. "This clearly illustrates the future potential of LS9 in both the sustainable chemicals and renewable transportation fuels sectors."

LS9's revolutionary technology uses a one-step fermentation process to convert renewable plant-based materials into a portfolio of UltraClean(TM) fuels and high-value, sustainable chemicals. "LS9 represents one of the cleanest and most efficient technologies available in the production of high-value, low-carbon, cost effective fuels, and this funding will accelerate our ability to demonstrate commercial level production," said Stephen del Cardayre, Vice President, Research and Development, LS9.

LS9 is currently producing UltraClean(TM) Diesel at its pilot facility. UltraClean(TM) Diesel has achieved U.S. and Brazilian performance standards for on-road use, and achieves an 85% reduction in green house gas emissions. In addition, LS9 UltraClean(TM) Diesel contains no carcinogens, such as benzene, and only trace amounts of sulfur.

LS9's technology also makes it possible to create superior products that can uniquely achieve optimal overall performance. LS9 has demonstrated its ability to modify the genetic makeup of its microorganisms and precisely tailor LS9 end products to have improved fuel properties such as cetane, volatility, oxidative stability and cold-flow. LS9 will have demonstration scale production of UltraClean(TM) Diesel in 2010.

In addition to low-carbon transportation fuels, LS9's one-step fermentation process is capable of producing chemicals used in making industrial and consumer products. LS9 previously announced a partnership with Procter & Gamble to jointly develop and commercialize LS9 technology for use in the production of key consumer chemicals within the Procter & Gamble portfolio.

LS9 is engineering a wide range of DesignerMicrobes™ that are used in a proprietary 1-step fermentation process to produce renewable fuels and sustainable chemicals.

Renewable Fuels: LS9 Renewable Petroleum™ technology enables the rapid and widespread adoption of renewable transportation fuels. Patent-pending UltraClean™ fuels are custom engineered to have higher energetic content than ethanol or butanol; to have fuel properties that are essentially indistinguishable from those of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel; and to be distributed in existing pipeline infrastructure and run in any vehicle.

Sustainable Chemicals: Using the same technology platform, LS9's 1-step fermentation process enables the production of industrial and consumer chemicals using sustainable feedstocks that are significantly less carbon-intense and extremely cost competitive.

Google Ready to go on a Shopping Spree - 1x a month deals. Who is in their cross - hairs? Adbrite, Kontera, EveryZing, VuClip, Sezman, Yandex

Google is flush with cash and ready to go on a shopping spree. John Aiken, of Majestic Research, has a list of potential targets.
3 main buckets:
Geography - Yandex, $300MM 80% y/y growth. Eastern Europe; Sezman
Mobile/Video - EveryZing, VuClip
Technology bolstering ad exhanges - Adbrite, Kontera
Stock hits 500, first time since August 2008. How do investors like stock?

Big Spenders in Tech? Roger Nusbaum and Michael Yoshikami Discuss Cash Warchests and Possible Deals

$260 billion in their coffers from the big tech co's. . . Where's it all going to go? The verdict from Roger Nusbaum - storage is the most obvious.

Dell's Perot Deal - Mini HP, IBM - Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, and Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Perot Systems, discuss the deal

Dell agrees to buy Perot Systems for roughly $3.9 billion.

Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, and Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Perot Systems, discuss the deal

Tim Armstrong, CEO of the Time Warner online unit, AOL, about its business

Tim Armstrong, the CEO of the Time Warner online unit, AOL, chats about its business

Dave Vieau, A123 CEO talks about the company and its successful IPO (Nasdaq: AONE)

Strategist: Markets Will Drop 7-17% in October

Mike Rubino, president of Rubino Financial, and Paul Schatz, president of Heritage Capital, discussed how investors should position their portfolios for the end of the third quarter.

Vator.tv event: JuicePitcher event for techstartups

See you there!

Vator.tv and TheFunded.com are please to anounce Juice Pitcher event, where the hottest seed and early-stage companies in Silicon Valley mix it up with leading investors and entrepreneurs in the Valley.

We're excited to welcome Mint.com CEO Aaron Patzer along with startup guru and Like.com founder, Munjal Shah..

Ten of the hottest early-stage companies will get to give a 3-minute pitch and demo. Presenting founders are selected by their peers via the Juice Pitcher Competition on Vator and will strut their stuff in front of an audience of 300 founders, press, and investors. One lucky presenting company will get to give a shortened 90 second pitch and be reviewed onstage in the “Juice Box,” a special edition of VatorNews' Vator Box show, where the founding member of TheFunded, Adeo Ressi, Vator founder Bambi Francisco and Vator regularEzra Roizen (digital media investment banker and Vator Box regular) and will critique the presenters.

Check out the program below, and sign up early, as space at the venue is limited. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks!

The Agenda:

6:00 - 6:30 Welcome and Socialize with Food

6:30 - 7:00 Munjal Shah of Like.com

7:00 - 7:30 First 5 Early Stage Stratup Pitches (3 mins each)

7:30 - 7:45 Break

7:45 - 8:15 Second 5 Early Stage Startup Pitches (3 mins each)

8:15 - 8:45 Aaron Patzer of Mint.comv

8:45 - 9:00 Juice Box - Panel reviews one startup voted by audience

9:00 - 9:30 Conclusion and Socialize with Beer and Wine

Bullish China.com blog: Global VC Blog-The Top of Top List (www.bullschina.com)

The Global VC Blog Directory (# of Subs)

1. Guy Kawasaki, Garage Technology Ventures, How To Change The World (24,356)
2. Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures, A VC (21,881)
3. Paul Graham, YCombinator, Paul Graham: Essays (16,721)
4. Bill Gurley, Benchmark Capital, Above The Crowd (8,897)
5. David Hornik, August Capital, VentureBlog (8,037)
6. Brad Feld, Foundry Group, Feld Thoughts (7,543)
7. Marc Andreesen, TBD, Blog.pmarca.com (5,727)
8. Ed Sim, Dawntreader Ventures, Beyond VC (4,162)
9. Josh Kopelman, First Round Capital, Redeye VC (4,071)
10. Jeremy Liew, Lightspeed Ventures Partners, LSVP (3,512)
11. Seth Levine, Foundry Group, VC Adventure (1,569)
12. David Cowan, Bessemer Venture Partners, Who Has Time For This? (1,526)
13. Christopher Allen, Alacrity Ventures, Life With Alacrity (1,419)
14. Dave McClure, Founders Fund, Master of 500 Hats (1,417)
15. Multiple Authors, Union Square Ventures, Union Square Ventures Blog (1,365)
16. Peter Rip, Crosslink Capital, EarlyStageVC (1,107)
17. Rick Segal, JLA Ventures, The Post Money Value (1,043)
18. Mike Hirshland, Polaris Venture Partners, VC Mike’s Blog (1,038)
19. Jeff Bussgang, Flybridge Capital Partners, Seeing Both Sides (1,018)
20. Mendelson/Feld, Foundry Group, Ask The VC (1,017)
21. Tim Oren, Pacifica Fund, Due Diligence (924)
22. Jeff Clavier, SoftTech VC, Software Only (878)
23. Mike Speiser, SutterHill Ventures, Laserlike (869)
24. Matt McCall, DFJ Portage Venture Partners, VC Confidential (661)
25. Stu Phillips, Ridgelift Ventures, Soaring on Ridgelift (597)
26. Eric Friedman, Union Square Ventures, Marketing.fm (572)
27. Jason Caplain, Southern Capitol Ventures, Southeast VC (531)
28. Jason Mendelson, Foundry Group, Mendelson’s Musings (522)
29. Nic Brisbourne, Esprit Capital Partners, The Equity Kicker (517)
30. Scott Maxwell, Openview Venture Partners, Now What? (483)
31. Albert Wenger, Union Square Ventures, Continuations (477)
32. Ryan McIntyre, Foundry Group, McInblog (463)
33. Larry Cheng, Fidelity Ventures, Thinking About Thinking (433)
34. David Beisel, Venrock Associates, GenuineVC (429)
35. Raj Kapoor, Mayfield Fund, The VC In Me (415)
36. Will Price, Hummer Winblad, Will Price (412)
37. Howard Morgan, First Round Capital, Way Too Early (401)
38. Dan Grossman, Venrock Associates, A Venture Forth (365)
39. Matt Suster, GRP Partners, Both Sides of the Table (355)
40. Christine Herron, First Round Capital, Christine.net (354)
41. Baris Karadogan, Com Ventures, From Istanbul to Sand Hill Road (349)
42. Fred Destin, Atlas Venture, Fred Destin’s Blog (343)
43. Rob Day, @Ventures, Cleantech Investing (323)
44. David Feinleib, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Tech, Startups, Capital, Ideas. (319)
45. Saul Klein, Index Ventures, LocalGlo.be (315)
46. Vineet Buch, BlueRun Ventures, Venture Explorer (313)
47. Ouriel Ohayon, Lightspeed Gemini Internet Lab, MYBLOG by Ouriel (307)
48. Bijan Sabet, Spark Capital, Bijan Sabet (296)
49. Steve Jurvetson, DFJ, The J-Curve (274)
50. Philippe Botteri, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cracking the Code (263)
51. Andrew Parker, Union Square Ventures, The Gong Show (257)
52. Mark Peter Davis, DFJ Gotham Ventures, Venture Made Transparent (237)
53. Rob Finn, Edison Venture, Ventureblogalist (236)
54. Marc Goldberg, Occam Capital, Occam’s Razor (233)
55. Allen Morgan, Mayfield Fund, Allen’s Blog (231)
56. James Chen, CXO Ventures, PureVC (228)
57. Daniel Cohen, Israel Venture Partners, Israel Venture Capital 2.0 (223)
58. David Aronoff, Flybridge Capital Partners, Diary of a Geek VC (222)
59. Max Bleyleben, Kennet Partners, Technofile Europe (219)
60. Jason Ball, Qualcomm Ventures Europe, TechBytes (213)
61. Jeremy Levine, Bessemer Venture Partners, Nothing Venture, Nothing Gained (210)
62. Rob Hayes, First Round Capital, Permanent Record (206)
63. Michael Eisenberg, Benchmark Capital, Six Kids and a Full Time Job (194)
64. Pascal Levensohn, Levensohn Venture Partners, pascalsview (193)
65. Chris Fralic, First Round Capital, Nothing To Say (187)
66. Sagi Rubin, Virgin Green Fund, The Grass is Greener (182)
67. Richard Dale, Sigma Partners, Venture Cyclist (176)
68. Steve Brotman, Silicon Alley Venture Partners, VC Ball (167)
69. Dan Rua, Inflexion Partners, Florida Venture Blog (160)
70. Paul Fisher, Advent Venture Partners, The Coffee Shops of Mayfair (159)
71. John Ludwig, Ignition Partners, A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way (157)
72. Sarah Tavel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Adventurista (156)
73. Martin Tobias, Ignition Partners, Deep Green Crystals (152)
74. Stewart Alsop, Alsop-Louie Partners, Alsop-Louie Partners (150)
75. Rob Go, Spark Capital, Rob Go Blog (148)
76. Matt Winn, Chrysalis Ventures, Punctuative! (148)
77. Ho Name, Altos Ventures, Altos Ventures Musings (147)
78. George Zachary, Charles River Ventures, Sense and Cents (145)
79. Jacob Ner-David, Jerusalem Capital, VC In Jerusalem (144)
80. Kent Goldman, First Round Capital, The Cornice (144)
81. Satya Patel, Battery Ventures, Venture Generated Content (140)
82. Ed Mlavsky, Gemini Israel Funds, GOLB: Is This Israel? (139)
83. Michael Greeley, Flybridge Capital Partners, On The Flying Bridge (138)
84. Rich Tong, Ignition Partners, Tongfamily (136)
85. Sid Mohasseb, Tech Coast Angels, Sid Mohasseb (133)
86. Rachel Strate, EPIC Ventures, Wasatch Girl (129)
87. Marc Averitt, Okapi Venture Capital, OC VC (128)
88. Peter Lee, Baroda Ventures, Seeing Eye To Eye (128)
89. Mo Koyfman, Spark Capital, Mo Koyfman (127)
90. Justin Label, Bessemer Venture Partners, Venture Again (126)
91. Ted Driscoll, Claremont Creek Ventures, Evolving VC (126)
92. Adam Fisher, Bessemer Venture Partners, Savants in the Levant (124)
93. Gregoire Aladjidi, Techfund Europe, Investing In What’s Next (123)
94. Todd Dagres, Spark Capital, Todd Dagres Tumblelog (123)
95. Multiple Authors, Foundry Group, Foundry Group (121)
96. Santo Politi, Spark Capital, This and That (121)
97. Multiple Authors, True Ventures, Early Stage Capital (120)
98. Lee Hower, Point Judith Capital, Venturesome (118)
99. Robert Goldberg, Ridgelift Ventures, Tahoe VC (117)
100. Multiple Authors, Highway 12 Ventures, Highway 12 Ventures Group (109)
101. John Abraham, Arrowpoint Ventures, JMA’s Views On Everything (105)
102. David Dufresne, Desjardins Venture Capital, Dav-Generated Content (101)
103. Brad Burnham, Union Square Ventures, Unfinished Work (100)
104. Charles Curran, Valhalla Partners, VC Blog (99)
105. Brian Hirsch, Greenhill SAVP, New York VC (99)
106. Max Niederhofer, Atlas Venture, Life In The J Curve, baby (97)
107. Multiple Authors, Brightspark Ventures, Let the Sparks Fly! (97)
108. Jon Seeber, Updata Partners, Jon’s Ventures (96)
109. Todd Klein, Legend Ventures, Media VC (96)
110. Adi Pundak-Mintz, Gemini Israel Funds, Adisababa’s Weblog (95)
111. Don Rainey, Grotech Ventures, VC in DC (94)
112. Art Marks, Valhalla Partners, Entrepreneurial Quest (90)
113. Multiple Authors, Founders Fund, Founders Fund (90)
114. Rob Schultz, IllinoisVENTURES, Go Big or Go Home (88)
115. Allan Veeck, Pittsburgh Ventures, Pittsburgh Ventures (87)
116. Greg Foster, Noro-Moseley Ventures, SouthernVC (83)
117. Tony Tjan, Cue Ball Capital, Anthony Tjan (69)
118. Cem Sertoglu, iLab Ventures, SortiPreneur (67)
119. Ryan Spoon, Polaris Venture Partners, ryanspoon.com (67)
120. Anupendra Sharma, Siemens Venture Capital, So Little Time, So Much… (25)
121. Steve Jurvetson, DFJ, Uploads from Jurvetson (25)
122. Jeff Joseph, Prescient Capital Partners, Venture Populist (21)
123. Gil Dibner, Genesis Partners, TechTLV (18)
124. Multiple Authors, Tech Capital Partners, Tech Capital Partners Blog (15)
125. David B. Lerner, Columbia Seed Fund, David B. Lerner (12)
126. Multiple Authors, Walden Venture Capital, Walden Views and News (11)
127. Simon Olson, DFJ-Fir Capital, Venture Capital Thoughts and Reflections (11)
128. Derek Pilling, Meritage Funds, Non-Linear VC (8)
129. Josh Sookman, RBC Ventures, Ubiquitous Startups and the VC (6)
130. Vishy Venugopalan, Longworth Venture Partners, Longworth Venture Partners Blog(2)
131. Chip Hazard, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hazard Lights (new)

Next Shoe to Drop? Really?

Todd Canter, CEO of La Salle Investment Management Securities, explains why the worst is over for real estate investment trusts. He also addresses concerns about the U.S. commercial real estate sector, with CNBC's Amanda Drury.

cnbc: CPI Details: Where the costs are rising

The Consumer Price Index, a measure of the average price level of a basket of consumer goods and services, was up 0.4% for the month of August, while the core CPI rate, excluding energy and food, rose 0.1%. On a year-over-year basis, consumer prices were down 1.4%.

Here is a breakdown of the inflation benchmark to show you where costs are rising most.

• CPI: Up +.4%
• Ex Food & Energy: Up +.1%
• Food: Up +.1%
• Energy: Up +4.6%
• Housing: Up +.1%
• Apparel: Down -.1%
• Transportation: Up +2.3%
• Medical Care: Up +.3%
• Recreation: Up +.1%
• Education & Communication: Up +.2%
• Other Goods & Svcs: Up +.1%

The change in core CPI figures show that at least for now, inflation is not an issue.

Resource-Hungry China on Buying Spree

There has been no lack of Chinese firms trying to do deals in resource-rich Australia in order to support growth back home. Michael Langford, senior strategist at Quam Securities tells CNBC's Oriel Morrison & Cheng Lei how the China's buying spree has changed.

Meredith Whitney on Rebuilding Credit Markets

Guest Blog Author Tips: How To Save Money When Hiring a Lawyer

How To Save Money When Hiring a Lawyer

By Patricia Rowe, Esq. CPA

A lot of people are afraid to even call an attorney because they think it will cost too much money. I'm an attorney and I'm afraid to hire an attorney.There are some things you can do to make sure you don't get ripped off or over-charged:

Get a Referral- Ask someone you trust if they can refer you to the type of attorney you need. This could be a friend or someone who works with attorneys on a regular basis, like a financial advisor, certified public accountant or banker. Make sure the attorney works in the area of law for which you need legal services.

Once someone passes the bar exam a lawyer can practice any kind of law and perform any legal service he or she wishes. Oftentimes attorneys take on clients that entail doing work for which they have no experience.

For some types of legal issues, such as to incorporate your business, you won’t need a “specialist.” However, it behooves you to choose an attorney, who does incorporations on a regular basis; who also understands the tax consequences of different entities and can explain the pros and cons of each entity to you. If, however, you are planning to take your company public now or in the future, you must hire an attorney or firm that specializes in Securities and Exchange Commission compliance law. This area of law is complex, requires extensive reporting to a government agency and an error in compliance can be costly.

Some of the legal issues with which you may need help are:

Incorporation- whether to operate as a C corporation, S corporation or an LLC, set up of board of directors, appointment of officers, tax elections for small business stock, employee benefit plans, stock option plans- business attorney, tax attorney, securities attorney

Acquiring Venture Capital- sale and distribution of capital interests in the company in the form of stock or LLC membership interests, stock subscription agreements, private placement memorandum, Regulation D filing, confidentiality agreements - business attorney, tax attorney, if you plan to go public in the future- securities attorney

Set Up of Accounting Systems and Internal Controls- capitalization and depreciation of equipment and software purchases, tax elections to expense capital items, tracking and recording capital investments and capital accounts, depreciation elections of leasehold improvements, Section 83(b) elections for stock options, international tax issues - along with your CPA you might want to have a tax attorney or securities attorney

Protection of Intellectual Property- protecting your work product from theft by employees, outside contractors or joint venture firms, confidentiality agreements, licensing agreements, use of open source software, creating trademarks, logos and service marks- patent attorney, intellectual property attorney

Operation of the Business- contracts with joint venture companies, independent contractor agreements, non-disclosure agreements, contracts with suppliers, leases for real property and equipment, employment agreements, employee stock ownership plans, employee benefit plans, buy-sell agreements- business attorney, contract attorney, intellectual property attorney

Interview at Least Two Attorneys- Find at least two attorneys who will tell you about themselves, their practice and the type of work they do. Make it clear when you call that you are interviewing to choose an attorney, that you are not asking for information about your business or legal issues, and confirm that there will be no charge for the call.

If the attorney is willing to give a brief phone interview, tell him or her some of the facts of your situation. Ask if their firm has experience with that kind of law. Then he or she will be able to tell you whether or not they perform those kinds of services and whether they will give you a free initial consultation.

Ask If They Give A Free Initial Consultation- Many attorneys give a free half-hour initial consultation. Ask for it. Sometimes the attorney will talk about your legal issue for one half hour or an hour and will credit it towards your job if you hire them. Example: talk for 30 to 45 minutes about your product or software, and then pay the flat fee for the patent if you hire them. If you don't hire them you pay for the 30 to 45 minutes at the attorney's hourly rate.

Ask For A Flat Fee- Many kinds of legal jobs can be done for a flat fee, that is, not at an hourly rate. Things like incorporating your business, obtaining a patent or trademark, or writing a consulting agreement can be done for a pre-arranged amount. Even jobs that are normally billed based on an hourly rate can be done for an agreed upon amount.

Set A Time Limit- Even if the job is the type that is normally charged at an hourly rate you can limit the amount of time to be spent on your job. You can ask that the firm spend X number of hours on your job and that you be contacted when the firm has reached your limit to see if you want them to continue. Just ask!

Send Your Documents Ahead for Review- If you have something like a consulting agreement or independent contractor agreement to be reviewed send it to the attorney before your meeting. Ask how long it will take for the review. Then you can meet for an hour to discuss your document.

Give Stock in Exchange for Services- Offer to give stock or an ownership interest in exchange for payment of some or all of the legal services. There are strict rules about this but it is the attorney’s responsibility to make sure he or she does not violate any attorney-client ethics rules.

Use a Small Local Law Firm- There are medium- to big-sized law firms that perform these services. The bigger they are, the more people work on your job and the more you have to pay. Look for a small local firm that has been around for a while that performs the services you need. It will save you money.

It’s true- this all costs a lot of money. However, getting good legal advice along the way will save you money in the long run by avoiding costly mistakes and resulting lawsuits the against which the company will have to hire an attorney to defend itself. Writing these costs into your projections and business plan will prove to potential investors that you are business savvy and smart enough to know when to hire the expertise you need to make your business successful.

Content copyright 2009. Law Offices of Patricia Rowe. All Rights Reserved.

To Contact Pat:

Pat Rowe

Law Offices of Patricia Rowe

1350 Arnold Dr., # 200

Martinez, CA 94553

Ph. (925) 256-1000