THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY
Every day, cyber crime makes headlines. This week, Barnes & Noble announced that PIN keypads in 63 of its stores were hacked, leaking customers card information and PIN numbers. Earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned the country of the possibility of a cyber attack comparable to Pearl Harbor, and all but laid the blame of … [Read more...]
By Igor Sill, Geneva Venture Management With the US economy continuing to suffer from one of the longest economic downturns since the Great Depression, some countries are enjoying far better economic times and using our ingenuity to fuel it. Where is that economic fuel coming from, and why aren’t we exploiting it? The US economic July … [Read more...]
By Igor Sill The recent capital markets have reinvigorated investor confidence in venture-backed companies to the levels of 2004, when the IPOs of Google and Salesforce debuted. The pent up current IPO pipeline represents a significant liquidity window and exceptional returns for Venture Capitalists and their Limited Partner (LP) … [Read more...]
By Igor Sill The venture capital industry is undergoing a major change from its elitist past of restricting investor access to “friends of the firm only.” As Wall Street embraces dozens of new initial public offerings (IPOs) of venture-backed companies, hopeful investors are flocking to this asset class. These venture capital investments … [Read more...]
By Andrew Sobel and Jerry Panas Nine Power Questions to Help You Stand Up to Discount Pressure (Without Caving In or Alienating the Customer) Though the economy has experienced a slight uptick since the harried days of the Great Recession, many businesses, big and small, are still operating in penny-pinching mode. The pressure to do more with … [Read more...]
By Igor Sill Virtually all of the start-up presentations I see given by first time entrepreneurs fall well short of their intended goal, getting funded. Essentially, these presentations are primarily nothing more than “yet another idea” delivered via 50+ slides. Though a great deal has already been published on the subject, I continue to … [Read more...]
By Craig A. Newman* When Twitter Inc. announced its decision last week to censor tweets that offend country-specific content restrictions, the backlash from free speech advocates and users alike was prompt and unequivocal. Twitter, critics charged, was losing its way and compromising its commitment to free speech in favor of corporate expansion … [Read more...]
By Igor Sill* Venture capital investing is in the midst of a revival and change. It is certainly creating a different story from its past based on Wall Street’s new-found appetite for venture-backed technology companies. To many investors, the silver lining in 2011 was Wall Street’s initial public stock issuance of venture backed Linkedin, … [Read more...]
The number of mobile Internet devices will outnumber people by the end of the year, Cisco reported in its Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update. “By the end of 2012, the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the number of people on earth, and by 2016 there will be 1.4 mobile devices per capita,” the report stated. “There will be … [Read more...]