Tag Archives: venture capitalists

Full circle: consulting, Silicon Valley start-ups, co-founding the TSA, venture capital, and back to Kearney

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Ben T. Smith, IV

Full circle: consulting, Silicon Valley start-ups, co-founding the TSA, venture capital, and back to Kearney. The story of how I ended up around Kearney for 25 years from a small town in Alabama.
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2012: A Year of Building

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Ben T. Smith, IV

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 →

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

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

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 Ben T. Smith, IV

  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 →

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

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

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 →

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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 Ben T. Smith, IV

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 →

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

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

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

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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