October 2006

Web 2.0 consolidation begins in earnest [Posted on October 31, 2006 - 12:44 PM]

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First news readers, now wikis and travel social networking. Despite headline stealing acquisitions of MySpace and YouTube, purchases of Web 2.0 companies have been rare. And, purchases with disclosed... Continue Reading

Yelp grows through extortion and bribery [Posted on October 26, 2006 - 6:47 PM]

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I dropped by a Yelp party last night and gained some insight into how a user-generated content site focused on local markets can succeed; namely, through extortion and bribery:... Continue Reading

Founders buy Odeo from VCs, launch Studio 2.0 on the Sand Hill Strip [Posted on October 26, 2006 - 2:06 PM]

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In an unusual move, Odeo's employees are buying the podcast search engine from the VC and angel investors and launching a new company. Two things are notable about this... Continue Reading

VC Rating: Sugar Publishing [Posted on October 17, 2006 - 1:58 PM]

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Company: Sugar Publishing Description: Blog network and social network Competitors: Glam, InStyle, Us Weekly Location: San Francisco Amount Raised: $5 million Round: First Date Announced: N/A VC Firms: Sequoia... Continue Reading

The science of social networking [Posted on October 16, 2006 - 10:21 AM]

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Why do some social networking Web sites grow popular like YouTube or MySpace while most others struggle through obscurity? This was the question I sought to answer in a... Continue Reading

Does Google have an integration plan for YouTube? [Posted on October 14, 2006 - 1:43 PM]

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Adam Lashinsky interviewed two of the YouTube's founders in this week's issue of Fortune. Aside from doing a great job of showing how frustrating it is for a journalist... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: Listen to a recording of the Internet dealmaking panel [Posted on October 13, 2006 - 3:36 PM]

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Anyone interested in social media, Internet M&A, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace or consumer venture capital should listen to the recording of the discussion held last week during the Internet dealmaking panel... Continue Reading

Wrapping up the Silicon Valley Summit with a Mercedes McLaren [Posted on October 12, 2006 - 7:11 PM]

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Below is the Silicon Valley Summit attendee that won the raffle and walked off with a $450,000 Mercedes SLR McLaren. Well, not really. Actually, not at all. The McLaren wasn't... Continue Reading

Judy's Book CEO tallies local advertising challenges [Posted on October 12, 2006 - 5:04 PM]

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Judy's Book founder and CEO Andy Sack has written a good post about what is and isn't working at his startup. The online community enables users to post their... Continue Reading

Yahoo's future turns on fixing its advertising system, not buying a social network [Posted on October 11, 2006 - 6:41 PM]

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The New York Times followed up on the news of Google's acquisition of YouTube with a story pointing out how Google and a number of Silicon Valley startups are... Continue Reading

PodTech.net's coverage of The Silicon Valley Summit [Posted on October 10, 2006 - 4:18 PM]

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PodTech.net sent its podcasters to The Deal's Silicon Valley Summit last week and they interviewed a few of the attendees (and one of the organizers). Visit their site and... Continue Reading

Does the YouTube sale vault Sequoia to the top VC slot? [Posted on October 9, 2006 - 6:23 PM]

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I don't know the answer. But, it's a question worth exploring in the coming weeks. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has long been regarded as the world's best venture... Continue Reading

It's official: Google buys YouTube for $1.65 Billion: 10 quick takes [Posted on October 9, 2006 - 5:01 PM]

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Here are my initial thoughts on the deal: 1) YouTube is the first startup to ever build a billion dollar valuation based on Romanian pop music, lonely girls and... Continue Reading

8 Google-YouTube talking points for CNBC's Power Lunch [Posted on October 9, 2006 - 3:02 PM]

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I was a guest on CNBC's Power Lunch show this morning to discuss the ramifications of a possible acquisition of YouTube by Google. Here are some of the themes... Continue Reading

Sevin Rosen's capitulation is not indicative of VC industry problems [Posted on October 7, 2006 - 2:47 PM]

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Sevin Rosen's message to the venture world today is: It's not us. It's you. In explaining why it's ceased to raise a tenth fund, Sevin Rosen wrote that there... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: Brocade and Juniper's rules for competing against Cisco [Posted on October 6, 2006 - 2:37 PM]

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TJ Grewal, vice president of corporate development at Brocade, explained at The Deal's Silicon Valley Summit that the first rule of competing against Cisco is: "Don't play their game."... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: Two VC terms entrepreneurs should be wary of [Posted on October 6, 2006 - 2:15 PM]

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Speaking on the VC-Corporate Faceoff panel, Sanjay Subhedar, a general partner at Storm Ventures, said that there are a few terms that entrepreneurs should be wary of when raising capital... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: Oracle to continue dealmaking pace [Posted on October 6, 2006 - 11:43 AM]

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Reuters reported from yesterday's Silicon Valley Summit that Oracle will maintain its torrid pace of acquisitions. Reuters reported the following: Vishal Bhagwati, an Oracle vice president whose responsibilities include... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: Rackable looking for international acquisitions [Posted on October 5, 2006 - 7:20 PM]

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Only a few months after announcing its first ever acquisition, Rackable Systems is looking again. Speaking at The Deal's Silicon Valley Summit, Rackable CEO Thomas Barton said the server... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: Why aren’t more Web 2.0 startups being bought? [Posted on October 5, 2006 - 5:42 PM]

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For all the new services being launched each day by the hundreds of Web 2.0 startups out there, there has been precious little acquisition activity. If you remove the... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: Why some social networks flourish while others flail [Posted on October 5, 2006 - 5:15 PM]

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Greylock Partners’ stake in Facebook, Digg and LinkedIn furnishes it with a unique perspective on social networking. So, while moderating the Internet panel at The Deal’s Silicon Valley Summit... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: MySpace not worried about YouTube [Posted on October 5, 2006 - 4:40 PM]

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Mike Lang, executive vice president of business development and strategy at Fox Networks Group, said he’s not that worried about YouTube. While participating on the Internet panel at today’s... Continue Reading

@SVSummit: VCs look for more China IPOS [Posted on October 5, 2006 - 3:13 PM]

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