Deal Radar 2009: Publicity Guaranteed

Today’s Deal Radar looks at a company that seems to be attempting to change the direction of an industry that has been notoriously difficult to measure. Publicity Guaranteed allows companies seeking publicity to pay for results as they go along, rather than having to pay a retainer or for billable hours. The company has introduced a performance-based model to public relations, a model which has so far been popular in online marketing.  >>>

The Future Of Venture Capital: Trinity Ventures Partner Gus Tai (Part 7)

SM: What is the future of venture capital?

GT: It will go back to its roots. It will be a smaller industry with fewer firms practicing it as a craft. There will be smaller fund sizes. I do not believe there is evidence that venture capital is an industry that scales. >>>

Deal Radar 2009: Life:WIRE

Life:WIRE offers a cost-effective solution for users to proactively manage their disease and health conditions by giving any regular cell phone the capability to be a health management tool. This web-driven solution is gaining traction in the market through case management trials and research studies.  >>>

The Future Of Venture Capital: Trinity Ventures Partner Gus Tai (Part 6)

SM: A third major area in which I would like to see leadership is in education. What do you think needs to happen for that momentum to build up?

GT: We are seeing innovation on education in two fronts. One innovation trend in education is the notion of crowdsourcing education in modules. >>>

Deal Radar 2009: Convio

Convio provides online constituent relationship management (eCRM) solutions for nonprofit organizations. Founder Vinay Bhagat noticed the lack of automation and [high] member attrition rates while volunteering at a public television station pledge drive, and saw that the traditional nonprofit engagement channels of direct mail, telemarketing and individual solicitation suffered from limitations that often conflicted with the mission of the organization. Bhagat founded Convio in April of 1999, believing that the Internet could transform how nonprofits build relationships and raise funds. >>>

The Future Of Venture Capital: Trinity Ventures Partner Gus Tai (Part 5)

SM: There was a time when VCs stepped into uncharted territory even though they did not understand the risks. The disruptive potential made all the risk worth it. Today, if we need to break open new areas of potential, my guess is that they will be in territories which require cross-domain innovation. That will require visionary investing. I don’t see anybody doing that right now. What is your take?

GT: I would say that I see less of that today than I did in the late ’90s. It does still take place, even for capital intensive businesses. Trion World Network announced publicly that it has raised $90 million on a pre-revenue basis. >>>

The Web Startup Success Guide (Part 2):
Case Study of Mint.com

By Guest Author Bob Walsh

[Bob’s interview with Aaron Patzer, founder and CEO of Mint.com, continues with a discussion of the company’s funding and how it tackled the security issue. For more information, see Bob’s new book, “The Web Startup Success Guide”, which will be published on July 22.]

Bob: OK, let’s talk more about money. Specifically you’re saying that when you talked to VCs, they were of the attitude that this is never going to fly because nobody is going to give you any personal financial information. >>>

The Future Of Venture Capital: Trinity Ventures Partner Gus Tai (Part 4)

SM: Since the dot-com crash we have seen a few different things come together. The SaaS market has really developed, and the Web 2.0 and cleantech markets have also developed. SaaS and Web 2.0 are not capital intensive areas which have had a lot of investment while cleantech is very capital intensive. What is your evaluation of trends now? A classic model like the one your firm follows will have a hard time with cleantech because it is so capital intensive and has such a long gestation period. Clearly you have a different thesis; what is that thesis?

GT: We view the name cleantech as equivalent to the label ‘information technology’. It encapsulates a bunch of different types of market sub-segments. We will look at companies that will fall under the cleantech umbrella as long as they are specific. We will look at companies around consumer-oriented services [that] enable consumers to have an affiliation with green tech. >>>