Image via WikipediaAdam Twist bills himself as “astute businessman and product innovator” on the Velocix site – sounds as if he should be on The Apprentice. In the 90s, he started Zeus Technology from his University of Cambridge college room and built it to over 200 people before missing out on the top of the dot com market whilst hanging in, I guess, for the big time.
His latest ideas use P2P technology in the same way as Skype to get large video files humming round the net. 3i is an investor so hopefully Continue Reading »
Bill Janeway is a successful VC with Warbur Pincus and maintains that it is better if there is only one VC in a deal as they can move faster. Fine if you have passed the entrepreneurial/founder stage and are backing professional managers but not all entrepreneurs and founders want to put their faith in a VC.
In the Cambridge Cluster, Equity Fingerprint shows that the successful Active Equity Companies are multi-founders, multi-investors (money and people) in multi-stages. But then Equity Fingerprint is interested in founders and entrepreneurs whilst Bill Janeway is interested in building businesses using options to reward the professionals. Perhaps that is the reason that Warbug Pincus does not rank in the top stream of the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists. However I am sure that Bill Janeway keeps his partners happy with his carry percents and the investors keep the funds rolling in.
Image via WikipediaNESTA is making a break from the past and there is an excellent video at the FT Enterprise site. The FT site is “old fashioned” and just provides a URL and not an embedded video link as you would find on YouTube. There are other interviews by leading entrepreneurs, none from the Cambridge Cluster but all with a good story to tell.
Jonathen Kestenbaum was recruited as CEO of NESTA to shake it all up and get away from funding small start-ups which were not innovative. Now it is about funding larger deals where the NESTA funds make a difference. Kestenbaum sold the family silver (well, the family firm) so he has experience in building and selling a business and the inclination to make a difference.
NESTA are funding a research project with Equity Fingerprint to see if equity funding does make a difference.
It is a tough world out there and the problem is to keep the talented on your side. Google has grown so big so quickly but with the stock price sticking it is time for Googlers to “rest and vest”. Then to follow their friends to Facebook, grab onto the coat-tails, pick up their options and do it all over again.
Will Zuckerberg stay at the top or recruit a CEO as did Google? Zuckerberg “has also confided to Facebook investor Roger McNamee, a partner at Elevation Partners, that the chief executive job is more difficult than he thought”. But he has done pretty well for a 24 year old. It is reported that he wants to go public in 2009 or 2010 so it is time to get the top team on side.
Anyone from Cambridge wanting to go get some share options?
Always the best way of increasing sales is for the government to introduce legislation that moves your product from the desirable category to the necessity. 90% of Artimi sales for its search software are driven by regulation and the business will do well from the crisis engulfing the financial services sector, according to Mike Lynch, founder and chief executive.
It reminds me of the 80s when Domino Printing “date stamping” ink jet printing technology was spot on for tremendous growth fueled by new legislation.
Perhaps Artimi should open an office near the home of Norther Rock in Newcastle to offer work to the thousands who will lose their jobs hope.
General Motors’ new plug-in Volt will give the users headaches. The batteries are great for short commutes but then the charging motor is never used and will slowly cease up and the fuel with deteriorate. You need to have aged friends who will take it for a Sunday run to keep it fresh. But more power stations will be required to charge the batteries and will everyone be able to use off-peak times to charge. 220v halves the charge time compared to 110v users who will have to wait six hours for a full charge.
The best way to stay green is to live close to work and play and walk or cycle. I must remember to turn the computer off and not use the mobile phone or that will need charging. It is a tough call and easy for those “Leaders” who fly around the world to tell us all how to live! What happens to all the batteries? Aerodynamics is the key to low fuel consumption so perhaps this will be the end of “White Van Man!”.
It could only be English. Watchmaker Christopher Ward raised funds from Mike France and Peter Ellis to produce the cheapest “most expensive” watches in the world. Having crossed the initial chasm and charmed early adopters in many countries (5,000 sold in 2007 at an average price of £200), CW now is now trying to cross the next chasm to the broader market. The “most expensive” watches achieve this with extensive marketing and product endorsement by celebrities which all adds to the cost of the watch.
Woodworm Cricket Bats took the opposite approach and invested Continue Reading »
They are changing the guard at the top of BT. Ben Verwaayen leaves with his most impressive figures being the increase in broadband users from 167k to 12million and counting by cutting the wholesale price of broadband down from £30 per month to £14.75. Thanks, I could not post without it whilst watching the Master on the Internet and looking forward to my next iPlayer programme from the BBC.
But it might be time to move to a phone USB stick for broadband so I no longer need to look for wireless hotspots.
Nic Frances MBE (47) founded Cool NRG after learning the hard way in Australia. Frances makes money out of social enterprise projects such as providing low energy light bulbs for the Sun to give away. On 19 January, the Sun gave away 2.5million light bulbs and sold an extra 400,000 extra copies. So everyone was pleased. Tony Blair is writing the foreword to Frances’s new book The End of Charity.
But best of all Cool NRG has an Equity Fingerprint with the 14 0ther employees holding a 20% stake and turnover forecast at £200million.
An Active Equity Company with profitable greenback credentials. But then Frances comes from a successful rich family that floated their hotel business. So he has first hand experience of Equity Fingerprint.
The Spring 2008 Business Briefing from Hewitsons lists the preliminary issues that vendors need to sorted out at early stage. They do not mention share agreements, options and VC terms so let us get these in first.
Surprisingly top of the list is the website. It is the first thing the purchaser will look at so make sure it is easy to find and gives a good impression. It does not need many or jpgs! Then it is all about the paper chase and making sure that everything is in order from the IP to the staff contracts. When establishing a business, try not to have any contracts, excluding shareholder agreements, which have any clauses about change of control or else you may have to show your hand early and ask permission of third parties.
And take good legal advice along the way.
Image via WikipediaAdam Twist bills himself as “astute businessman and product innovator” on the Velocix site – sounds as if he should be on The Apprentice. In the 90s, he started Zeus Technology from his University of Cambridge college room and built it to over 200 people before missing out on the top of the dot com market whilst hanging in, I guess, for the big time.