Blog

Scaling is Hard, Case Study: Akamai
Thursday, August 9, 2012 Jeff Bussgang - General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners
I have been thinking lately about how hard it is to scale start-ups.  The Lean Start-Up movement, as exemplified in Eric Ries' book The Lean Start-Up, has appropriately focused a great deal...
Read more >
Best Practices, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Lessons Learned, Voices
Series on Trust: When Entrepreneurs and VCs Break Up
Friday, August 3, 2012 Jo Tango - Partner, Kepha Partners
We met with some of our large investors recently, and one of them mentioned: “VC is a trust business.”  He was saying that he trusted us.  I’ve been thinking...
Read more >
Best Practices, Entrepreneurship, Expert Advice, Lessons Learned, Voices
Customer References: Why Investors Need Them and How to Make Sharing Them Less Painful
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Ricky Pelletier - Associate, OpenView Venture Partners
So you’ve decided to raise capital and have figured out what your ideal partner would look like – great! If you’re still toying with theidea of raising or trying to figure out...
Read more >
Entrepreneurship, Expert Advice, Voices
One of the coolest startups - Recorded Future
Friday, July 27, 2012 Shobhit Chugh - Associate, McKinsey & Company
When I use the phrase ‘cool startup,’ what comes to your mind? Facebook? Instagram? Twitter? For me, one of the coolest startups in the world is Recorded Future...
Read more >
Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Technology Trends, Voices
Social and eCommerce
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 Sean Marsh - Co-Founder and General Partner, Point Judith Capital
In the wake of the Pinterest round valuing the company at $1.5B from the Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten, it is hard not to notice that social and ecommerce have...
Read more >
Lessons Learned, Opinions, Technology Trends, Voices
The Slog Continues…
Monday, July 23, 2012 Michael Greeley - General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners
Last week the National Venture Capital Association (where I am on the Executive Committee) and Thomson Reuters announced the 2Q12 fundraising data for venture firms...
Read more >
Funding, Innovation, Lessons Learned, Voices
Big Idea vs. Lean Idea
Friday, July 13, 2012 Jeff Bussgang - General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners
“Seems niche.  How many people want to tell everyone randomly what they’re doing and how many really want to look at it?”  - My entry for Twitter, as recorded in early 2007...
Read more >
Entrepreneurship, Expert Advice, Innovation, Voices
Why do bad deals happen to good people?
Friday, July 6, 2012 Sarayu Srinivasan - Venture Capitalist
Every technology investment is made in the belief that this will be the big one. The deal that will produce not just a great return but a stark, raving, mad return with multiples that...
Read more >
Funding, Innovation, Opinions, Voices
What is Really Behind Consultative Selling?
Thursday, July 5, 2012 Frank Belzer - VP of Corporate Training, Kurlan and Associates
The difference between the average salesperson and the great salesperson comes down to what?  We could try to select one thing, but chances are that we would fail because...
Read more >
Expert Advice, Lessons Learned, Voices
The Biggest Problem Facing Consumer Web Companies in Boston
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 Rob Go - Co-Founder and Partner, NextView Ventures
A lot of ink has been spilled about the challenges of building large scale consumer internet companies in Boston. Here’s a recent example that is quite thoughtful although misses...
Read more >
Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Opinions, Voices