Tag Archives: venture capitalists

2012: A Year of Building

Posted on January 8, 2013 by

If you think about it, every year takes on a character, or theme, of its own depending upon goals we’ve set, decisions we’ve made and unplanned events that take place along the way.  2011 was driven by a few great … Continue reading →

Posted in Investments, Personal, Silicon Valley, Startups, Wanderful Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Billions in Local Ad Dollars Surge to Online — But Just a Trickle to News | Street Fight

Posted on July 26, 2012 by

Tom Grubisich wrote a great piece on the failure of local news sites to capture the boom in revenue happening in local online.    He made a great point on the news market not capturing this local revenue.  ”The issue that no one … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, FindnSave, Groupon, MerchantCircle, Newspapers, Silicon Valley | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Victor Belfor, Ben Smith: Backing A College Dropout Might Be Your Smartest Investment Strategy

Posted on May 29, 2012 by

  I recently invested in two companies whose founders either had little interest in school as students or who dropped out of grad school: MixRank and Influitive. Both management teams are driven, hard working and well prepared for the difficult road … Continue reading →

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

the less discussed, other sinister plot at groupon. – surya says too much. – surya says too much.

Posted on April 17, 2012 by

For all the critics from the sidelines of any game, politics, business, investing, startups, parenting, charity, and even football.  Some people are hitting Groupon now. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal, Silicon Valley, Spoke Software, Startups | 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 , , , , , , ,

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 , , , , , , , ,

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 , , , , , , , , ,

peHUB » Ben Smith: Eight Steps To Mastering Small Company Acquisitions

Posted on December 5, 2011 by

One of the biggest misconceptions in technology is that small acquisitions are less risky and require less attention than large ones. It is not true. When Reply bought my company, MerchantCircle, in May it put several of my top execs … Continue reading →

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

How to Blow Up an Ecosystem (and Prosper Within One)

Posted on December 4, 2011 by

How to Blow Up an Ecosystem (and Prosper Within One) Are you a part of an ecosystem or do you plan to destroy one? You must decide before plotting a path to success During the four years we spent building … Continue reading →

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