Category Archives: Silicon Valley

Getting Shit Done The key to success in business is execution, whether you run a sprawling multinational or a 12-person startup. So measuring how your company stacks up against the best and brightest in your space is crucial. If you … Continue reading →

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV | 2 Comments

After seeing where I put my blog content change, I have decided to start posting my blog content to my own blog. This should be an interesting process.

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV | Comments Off

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

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

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 A.T.Kearney, Carnegie Mellon, corporate investors, corporate venture capital, intel capital, Mergers, Startups, ups and downs, venture capitalists | Comments Off

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

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Ben T. Smith, IV

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 Disney, enterprise innovation, game show network, investment, mesmo, ringcentral, Startups, tapulous, venture capitalists, yahoo 360 | Comments Off

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

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Ben T. Smith, IV

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 borland software, company mergers, GSD, integration, merger integration, Mergers, Startups, venture capitalists | Comments Off

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

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Ben T. Smith, IV

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 ecosystem, game show network, investment, iphone, sustainable advantage, venture capitalists, web entreprenuer | Comments Off

Ben Smith: Building Startups Is Cheap But Never Run Out of Cash | peHUB

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Ben T. Smith, IV

Internet startups have been getting cheaper to build for 10 years. So why is it more important than ever not to run out of cash? We built MerchantCircle into one of the 100 most trafficked U.S. sites and I honestly … Continue reading →

Posted in A.T. Kearney, Deals, Investments, MerchantCircle, Relationships, Silicon Valley, Spoke Software | Tagged A.T.Kearney, Cash, deal and no deal, google, internet startups, investment, SimpleGeo, Startups, UrbanAirship | Comments Off

peHUB » Will Startup Jumpers Hit It Big? Silicon Valley’s Latest Debate Is Portfolio vs Persistence

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Ben T. Smith, IV

When gambling on high-risk startups, the more bets you place the better, right? Maybe not. There is an unspoken discussion going on in Silicon Valley now about the value of “Portfolio” versus “Persistence,” especially among people who have never started … Continue reading →

Posted in Deals, Relationships, Silicon Valley, Startups | Tagged facebook, hot startups, portfolio model, relationships, Startups, venture capitalists, web entreprenuer | Comments Off

peHUB » Why Great Entrepreneurs Take Big Risks And Sometimes Get Fired

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Ben T. Smith, IV

I never met a great entrepreneur who was afraid of failure. Or who didn’t take over-sized risks to win big. This is why many get fired. I spent the first 10 years of my career at A.T. Kearney, a long … Continue reading →

Posted in Fired, MerchantCircle, Silicon Valley | Tagged A.T.Kearney, Fired, GSD, Risk, Startups, web entreprenuer | Comments Off

peHUB » Ben Smith: Silicon Valley Is A Multi-Inning Game, Relationships Are How You Play

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Ben T. Smith, IV

I heard two things recently. “Silicon Valley is a multi-inning game, relationships matter.“ And. “I am all business, I don’t care about relationships.” The first statement came from a seasoned venture capitalist with 20 years of experience. His point is … Continue reading →