Forbes Column 08: An S.O.S. To Silicon Valley

Zero-in on this week’s Forbes issues An S.O.S. To Silicon Valley. Readers: Do me a favor, and email this article to everyone you know in Silicon Valley. Who knows where the next Brian Jacobs, Marc Andreesen, Jeff Bezos and the rest are hiding? We need to find them.

Vision India 2020: NCTV

I am going to make a detour from Healthcare and switch to Sports for this column. NCTV is a media company that we built around the core concept of non-cricket television. As in prior years, India had put up a pathetic show in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Athletes were sent to compete in Archery, Athletics,

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Pioneering Data On-Demand: Salary.com CEO and Serial Entrepreneur Kent Plunkett (Part 7)

SM: Did you enter the competency arena organically or through acquisitions? KP: We moved into the competency area by acquiring some libraries. The ITG Competency Group library is, in our view, the largest standalone productized library of competencies.

Pioneering Data On-Demand: Salary.com CEO and Serial Entrepreneur Kent Plunkett (Part 6)

SM: What are you using your IPO proceeds for? KP: We continue to favor a philosophy of growth with internally generated cash. We are using IPO proceeds mostly to acquire small companies that are good strategic fits with our product line. I am probably one of the few people you talk to who thinks going

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Pioneering Data On-Demand: Salary.com CEO and Serial Entrepreneur Kent Plunkett (Part 5)

SM: Aside from your on-demand aspect, how else do you differentiate from the consulting firms? KP: We do not charge on an hourly basis for customer service and the help desk. Our customers call us all the time and ask for help pricing a job – we try to help our customers with those problems.

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Pioneering Data On-Demand: Salary.com CEO and Serial Entrepreneur Kent Plunkett (Part 4)

SM: What was the competitive landscape like when you started? Besides consultants, was there anyone else in that space at the time? KP: Even today the competition is fairly scant. Back then there was no one doing it. We were alone in the consumer and enterprise business for a solid three or four years.

Vision India 2020: Oishi

During the dotcom heydays, two companies had caught my eye: online diamond jewelry retailer BlueNile and online gift retailer RedEnvelope.

Pioneering Data On-Demand: Salary.com CEO and Serial Entrepreneur Kent Plunkett (Part 3)

SM: It was easy to raise money in 1999. It was not easy to raise money in 2001. What was your experience raising angel money during that time window? KP: I have never had a problem raising angel money. It was extremely easy in 1999. We did talk to some venture capitalists, but they did

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