Notes from a Successful New England Venture Summit – 2009 Edition

I think one would have that yesterday’s New England Venture Summit in Dedham was one of the more successful east coast venture events of 2009. Kudos to Joe Benjamin and his team at YoungStartup Ventures for producing a conference which had great energy. Judging by the estimated attendance at the door, the event also appeared to have had a record turnout, in spite of all the uncertainty currently permeating the venture industry.  The panels were good, the presenters on a whole quite solid. It was really a pleasure serving again as co-chair for the event.

Although I haven’t had a lot of time to process my thoughts coming out of the Summit, here are a few of my first-blush takeaways.

2009 New England Venture Summit – Last Day for Online Registration!

Just wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to register online for this year’s edition of the New England Venture Summit, being held next Tuesday, December 8 at the Hilton Boston-Dedham.  With the Boston region’s resilient innovation community showing clear signs of bouncing back, it should be an exciting event.

I understand that places are almost sold out.  However, as Co-Chairman of the event, I’m able to offer readers of my blog a special discount of $200 off the current rate – feel free to use the following code and you’ll save $200 off the current fee.   Discount Code: “absventures”. 

But this is for today only.

To register now and confirm your place visit, follow this link:  http://www.youngstartup.com/newengland09/overview.php

Hope to see you at the event!

Qualys CEO on SaaS and Cloud Computing

Philippe Courtot, CEO of Qualys, recently penned a nice piece on SaaS and cloud computing for IT Advisor, the official journal of the UK’s National Computing Centre. IT Advisor is not widely distributed in the States, so I thought I’d give it a mention here.

Is IT Spending Ready to Bounce?

At the Dow Jones PEA Conference a couple weeks ago, Jim Breyer gave an interview in which he questioned the short-term optimism that has swept up many observers of the current economic recovery. But Jim also noted that, over the longer term, pent up demand will lead to a surge in IT infrastructure spending, as corporate IT budgets loosen again. Jim felt that this surge, starting perhaps as soon as next year, will be particularly good for those mid-stage venture-backed companies positioned to take advantage of it.

My sense of what’s happening with our own portfolio companies suggests a similar perspective.

Why M&A Will Lead the Way

There has been much discussion over the last several years lamenting the state of the IPO market and the trauma of taking a company public. The prevailing wisdom is that the cost of going public (SarbOx, etc) and the unattractiveness of the market are forcing companies to sell out. It is a sad story but only partially true.

Puttin’ on the Hits (Part 3): The Impact of Hit Centric Venture Capital on Tech Companies

Extending the argument I’ve made in previous posts on the same subject (Part 1 and Part 2), this post explores the impact of the hits model of venture investing on early and mid-stage tech companies

The Innovator’s Immigrant Dilemma

Sometime in the next twelve months Congress will again begin debate on comprehensive immigration reform. Much of that debate will likely center on illegal immigration. But for those of us in the startup/venture world, it is the immigration policies related to skilled foreign nationals where the focus is most needed. The current rules and regulations that govern whether a skilled foreign professional can legally work in the United-States have an impact on the country’s ability to compete globally. If the U.S. wants to maintain its status as the world’s leading innovator, changes need to be made. The world’s leading innovator has an immigrant dilemma.