Category Archives: Deals

The Newspaper Industry and Digital Ads

Posted on July 4, 2012 by

 Newspapers are probably never completely going away.   In fact, they are never going away.  Newspapers have traditionally supported themselves through advertising. Advertisers pay newspapers to publish their ads, which gives the papers the money they need to publish the paper, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Deals, Newspapers | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Building a Shopping Solution

Posted on June 13, 2012 by

I have been involved in ShopCo Holdings just about two months now as the Chief Executive Officer.   I figured it is about time I start sharing a bit about it. ShopCo Holdings is a company backed by 12 large US Media companies … Continue reading →

Posted in Deals, FindnSave, GSD, Silicon Valley, Wanderful Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ben Smith, Mark Boslet: Career Building Like A Startup: Thoughts On Reid Hoffman’s “The Start-up of You”

Posted on April 23, 2012 by

In the 40 years since the publication of What Color Is Your Parachute, the job market has collapsed, collapsed again and changed almost unrecognizably. The time has come for a new job hunter’s bible. Our vote goes to Reid Hoffman’s … Continue reading →

Posted in A.T. Kearney, Deals, Personal, Relationships, Silicon Valley, Spoke Software | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Tony Scott, Ben Smith: So They’ve Offered You The CEO’s Job. Here’s What You Need To Know Before Jumping With Joy | peHUBpeHUB

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

Tony Scott, Ben Smith: So They’ve Offered You The CEO’s Job. Here’s What You Need To Know Before Jumping With Joy So you’re in the running for the CEO’s job at a startup. Already a creeping sense of uncertainty has … Continue reading →

Posted in A.T. Kearney, Deals, Relationships, Silicon Valley, Startups | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Grace Chan, Ben Smith: Building An Online Community Is Hard Work | peHUBpeHUB

Posted on April 2, 2012 by

Grace Chan, Ben Smith: Building An Online Community Is Hard Work We have seen it all. We’ve seen entrepreneurs set out to build loyal communities for newly minted products only to forget that they are more than just sales assets. … Continue reading →

Posted in Deals, MerchantCircle, Product, Spoke Software | Tagged , , , , , ,

Victor Belfor, Ben Smith: We’ll Trade 100 Employees For One A-Player | peHUB

Posted on March 18, 2012 by

Mark Zuckerberg famously commented that a great engineer is worth a 100 average engineers (something every developer knows deep in her heart). He was talking about A-players, and in our opinion the worst thing any startup can do is accept … Continue reading →

Posted in Deals, MerchantCircle, Silicon Valley, Startups | Tagged , , , , ,

Maximilian Schroeck, Ben Smith: Unlocking Value From A Portfolio’s Walking Dead | | peHUBpeHUB

Posted on February 6, 2012 by

We have all seen it. A startup has initial success with an innovative business concept, an early product, a first or second round of capital and a spurt of revenue growth. Then suddenly, its momentum stalls. More than 50% of … Continue reading →

Posted in A.T. Kearney, Deals, Investments, Silicon Valley, Spoke Software, Startups | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Tom Klaff, Ben Smith: A New Spin On Corporate Venture Capital; How Big Businesses Can Encourage Innovation | peHUB

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

Corporate venture capital comes and goes in waves. In good times, money flows easily into startups. When times turn bad, most corporate investors disappear, and the waves they create crash violently on the shore. It doesn’t have to be this … Continue reading →

Posted in A.T. Kearney, Deals, Investments, Relationships, Silicon Valley, Startups | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

peHUB » Doug Kilponen, Ben Smith: First They Ignore You, Then They Want To Buy You: Managing The Startup-Big Company Relationship

Posted on January 3, 2012 by

Every entrepreneur has met them. Big company executives with big company swagger. They ignore you. They dismiss the business problem you spent your life solving. They think they can crush you. Then the tables turn. They push for strategic relationships. … Continue reading →

Posted in Deals, Investments, MerchantCircle, Startups | Tagged , , , , , ,

Victor Belfor, Ben Smith: Why Startups Innovate Better Than Big Companies | peHUB

Posted on December 19, 2011 by

With all their resources and talent, why do big companies have trouble innovating? How can a Blekko exist when there is a Google? Or a Tapulous when there is an Electronic Arts? Even more puzzling, why couldn’t Yahoo create Facebook … Continue reading →

Posted in Deals, Investments, Silicon Valley, Startups | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,