Conserving Cash: Veodia CEO Guillaume Cohen (Part 4)

SM: Can you give me an example of an application Veodia is supporting?

GC: We built a plug-in for Clearspace that allows you to record a video from within Clearspace. Any employee can create video and share it internally with other employees, as well as sharing or receiving videos from clients. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: iForem

At the cusp of SaaS and content protection sits today’s Deal Radar company, Redwood Shores, California-based iForem. It is a digital archiving company that delivers innovative tools for intellectual property (IP) and critical content protection based on its Automatic Retention Management (ARM) platform. iForem was conceptualized by Stephen A. Pieraldi, iForem’s CEO, in 2006. Pieraldi’s own experience of losing important information prompted him to create a unique way to safeguard it. >>>

Conserving Cash: Veodia CEO Guillaume Cohen (Part 3)

SM: Did you have any VCs talking to you, or just the angels?

GC: At the time I took the money from the angels, I had some offers from VCs. We ended up going with the angels as it allowed us to build more value and wait to raise VC money under better terms. Angels were ready to go with a convertible note. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: PivotLink

The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry has matured in the last 3 years, and many compelling companies have emerged, showing strong growth, clean execution, and robust customer adoption. Amidst the financial crisis, it is also important to note that the industry is likely much more recession-proof than most others. I dedicated two of my Forbes columns to the issue: A Recession-free Corner of the Tech Sector and SaaS-ing Back At The Economy. In this installment of the Deal Radar, we look at a SaaS company, Pivotlink. >>>

Where Would The Jobs Come From?

Against the backdrop of the financial crisis, with a bailout package that is as large as the cost of the Iraq war, economic policy emerges as the most important campaign issue for this election. The new American president will need to be extremely careful to not choke up the entrepreneurship engine with a tax policy that raises taxes to pay for the monstrous, ballooning deficit. I heard nothing, absolutely nothing last night from either candidate on where the jobs would come from, and I still think stimulating entrepreneurship is the only viable solution. >>>

Conserving Cash: Veodia CEO Guillaume Cohen (Part 2)

SM: How big did Envivio become, and what was your evolution with them?

GC: I stayed with them for five years. They now have 120 employees; when I joined there were 15. At some point they were involved in too many markets and they had to focus. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: Challenge Games

Challenge Games creates short, online games for both serious and casual gamers that are exciting and easy to play. These games are browser-based and can be played from any computer. Most of the games are multiplayer, and take only 3-10 minutes per game. They provide instant entertainment, unlike other popular games such as World of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings. All the games developed by Challenge are free. >>>

Silver Lining In The Financial Crisis

Amidst the financial crisis, some 40,000 of New York’s 185,700 Wall Street jobs could be lost. The bailout is not exactly offering a great deal of confidence to the financial markets. We are all losing a lot of money. Fear runs through the system like a chilling shiver in the middle of the night.

In these turbulent times, it may be a good idea for finance professionals to look at Entrepreneurship as an alternative way of life. >>>