Deal Radar 2008: Care.com

Care.com is described as a “Family 2.0” company that helps users find caregivers for children, pets and the elderly. It was founded in 2006 as a result of owner and CEO Sheila Lirio Marcelo’s personal struggle to find quality care providers. Before starting Care.com, Marcelo was part of several Internet ventures like TheLadders.com and Upromise.com. >>>

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. We give about 10 hours of that service to each of our clients annually. It is a nice way to take care of your customers, and it generates a lot of customer loyalty. >>>

SaaS: Omniture and Citrix

Omniture declared their second quarter earnings on July 23. Net loss was $6.5 million or $0.09 per share, compared with $4.1 in the second quarter of 2007. GAAP revenues for the same period were $71.6 million, compared with $63.2 million in the previous quarter and $33.5 million for the same period a year ago. This larger second quarter net loss is mostly due to acquisition-related costs and other expenses. >>>

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. >>>

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 not understand subscription software back then. >>>

Infineon: Valuation

By Vijay Nagarajan, Guest Author

Last month, we discussed in detail the various businesses of Infineon and also peeked into its strategy. We noted that Qimonda was the cause of most of its miseries. We also suggested acquisition and growth possibilities for the German company. Against this background, it is time for us to look at its valuation.

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Top Seven SaaS Startups

In the recap mode, here are the top seven SaaS startups that I am tracking:

* Qualys – Managed security and compliance; Interview with CEO Philippe Courtot; Forbes Column: The Next VmWare. >>>

Pioneering Data On-Demand: Salary.com CEO and Serial Entrepreneur Kent Plunkett (Part 2)

SM: What was the genesis of Salary.com?

KP: Right before I started Salary.com I was building software for What Color Is Your Parachute?, which is also in the career management space. There we ended our process with a recommendation as to what would be a good career fit for an individual. The goal was to identify where people would be able to succeed based on their skills, attitudes and interests. There were no readily available data sources as to how much jobs or careers in those areas would pay. >>>