Gus Tai is a General Partner at Trinity Ventures and joined the firm in 1996. He focuses on consumer-enabling technologies and services and enterprise software. His past investments include Blue Nile, eSurance, Photobucket and Sygate. He has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Harvard and an MS in engineering and an MBA from MIT.
SM: Gus, as far as I remember you entered the venture business in 1996. What was it like, and what were the rules of the game? Why did you enter the venture business?
GT: I entered the venture business in 1996 after several years of observing it. I probably knew more about the business than most people outside of the industry. Read the full article »
With telecom operators slowing purchases, depleting inventories and reducing IT spending, optical component providers JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ:JDSU) and Finisar (NASDAQ:FNSR) are having a tough time. Let’s take a closer look. Read the full article »
SM: Earlier you explained how you made a transition from your core business to a much wider variety of businesses. One area that seems like an obvious opportunity for you is in the software-as-a-service business. SaaS does carter to a lot of small businesses with various solutions, including email marketing and CRMs. Have you considered that from a strategic perspective?
RK: You are absolutely right. The company that is the market leader in email marketing solutions for small businesses touts themselves as a software-as-a-service company. We have a product which is functionally equivalent. Read the full article »
Last week, the leading payroll processing company, Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) reported fourth quarter and fiscal year 2009 results that missed analyst estimates as the weak economy and rising unemployment — according to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, new unemployment claims were higher than expected — finally take a toll. Let’s take a closer look. Read the full article »
Deal Radar returns to a hot topic, enterprise open source, via an area that it has not covered recently: business process management. South America-based Colosa develops software solutions that help companies automate approval-based workflow processes by interconnecting people and systems across the organization. The company offers a free open source application, ProcessMaker®, which is an AJAX-enabled, SOA, web-based application that allows users across single and multiple sites to create and share workflows, create custom forms, route processes, and improve management control. Read the full article »
CNN’s ratings soared last Thursday evening as viewers tuned in to coverage of Michael Jackson’s death, demonstrating that traditional broadcast news still has a strong pull. But when it’s not a case of breaking news, broadcasters, advertisers and publishers are still trying to figure out what forms twenty-first century media and its distribution will take. Tonight’s Deal Radar company is one answer to that question. Founded in 2002, Critical Media provides real-time broadcast media capture, search, syndication and information services. Headquartered in New York City, the company was founded by Sean Morgan, one of the founders of Pinnacor (formerly known as Screaming Media). His experience with Pinnacor taught him that TV was a powerful medium for forming public opinion around products, people and competitors, yet the ability to track broadcasts in real-time was unavailable. Read the full article »
