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.

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

For Startup and Growth Company CEOs: Managing VC Expectations

I’ll be giving another online presentation for Reed Seminars today at 1:30pm EST/10:30am PST, this time on the topic of “How to Manage Expectations with Your Venture Capital Investors: Best Practices for Management Teams of VC-Funded Companies.”  As usual, details on signing up can be found at www.reedseminars.com.

Puttin’ on the Hits (Part 1): Has Venture Capital Become a Hit Factory?

A few years ago, even before the wheels had come off the tech recovery of 2004 to 2007, I was struck by some observations made by Jack Myers, Peabody award winner, Academy-award nominee and media analyst. Basically, Myers described what he saw as the growing resemblance of contemporary venture capital activity to the failed “hits system” that had long dominated the entertainment industry:

What Venture-Backed Companies Need to Know About Raising an Additional Round of Capital in the Next 12-24 Months

I’ve accepted an invitation to give a seminar sponsored by Reed Seminars on the topic of what companies should think about when raising money in the current difficult financing environment.  The seminar will be presented live in webinar format tomorrow, Tuesday, June 9th at 1pm EST. Details can be found at http://www.reedseminars.com.

Earning Our Carry

As I suggested in a previous post, I think that it might be time for us – and by ‘us’ I specifically mean VCs – to stop complaining so much about the markets. There are ways for most (though unfortunately not all) well managed venture-backed companies, even those still burning cash, to survive downturns, and VCs need to earn their carry by helping their earlier stage companies get through the current turmoil.

Instead of bailing on their companies, VCs should pick up a bucket and start bailing with their companies. 

A timely conversation about venture-backed IPOs— is the idea an oxymoron given the disconnect between the companies we’re growing and what the street is looking for?

This Friday, I’m speaking on a panel at the AlwaysOn Venture Summit East titled, “IPOs: A Recovery? How? When? Why?”

This panel could not be timelier (and I’m not just saying this because I’m on it).  This week, after a nine month dry spell, we’ll see two venture-backed IPOs—SolarWinds and OpenTable.