CB Insights has published summary data regarding recent venture capital trends, together with a full report available to paid subscribers.  In terms of investments by VCs, the report indicates that US$7.0B was invested in 807 deals in the second quarter of 2013, representing a small increase in dollars invested (versus US$6.9B in first quarter) but a decrease in the number of deals of approximately 4%. The chart below shows quarterly dollars invested and deal volume going back to fourth quarter of 2010.  See the full release by CB Insights
Continue Reading Recent Venture Capital Trends: CB Insights Q2 2013 Data

Ban on General Solicitation Lifted with Respect to Accredited Investors

Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules to lift the ban on general solicitation of funds or general advertising for certain private offerings of securities.  Once the rules become effective (60 days after publication in the Federal Register), provided that certain requirements are met, startups, fund managers and other companies will be able to utilize general advertising to offer to sell stock to “accredited investors” as defined in Rule 501 of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933 (typically wealthy individuals with liquid net worth in excess of $1 million or investment funds; see our discussion of the recently revised accredited investor standards here as well as information on the SEC’s site http://www.sec.gov/answers/accred.htm). Continue Reading SEC Issues Rules Lifting Ban on General Solicitation in Unregistered Fundraising

Eve Riskin.pngMegan Muir.jpgCONTRIBUTED BY
Megan Muir
@megan_muir

Dr. Eve Riskin is one woman in tech who is actively working to “change the ratio” by increasing the number of women faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  As Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the University of Washington College of Engineering, Professor of Electrical Engineering, and Director of the ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change, she is a leader and a mentor for other women considering academic STEM careers (or second careers, following work in industry).

Eve received her bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT and her graduate degrees in EE from Stanford.  She joined the EE Department at the University of Washington (UW) in 1990.  As Director of UW ADVANCE, Eve works on mentoring and leadership development programs aimed to increase the participation of women faculty in STEM fields.  Her research interests include image compression and image processing, with a focus on developing video compression algorithms to allow for cell-phone transmission of American Sign Language.  Eve was awarded a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, a Sloan Research Fellowship, the 2006 WEPAN University Change Agent award, the 2006 Hewlett-Packard Harriett B. Rigas Award, and the 2007 University of Washington David B. Thorud Leadership Award.  She is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Read on as Eve discusses her career path, provides advice for young women interested in STEM fields and shares her suggestion that you find a “ventor.”Continue Reading Women in Tech: Dr. Eve Riskin, Professor and Assoc. Dean of Engineering

Megan Muir.jpgCONTRIBUTED BY
Megan Muir
@megan_muir

Thumbnail image for Jenny Lam TVA.jpg

Jenny Lam is a co-founder of Jackson Fish Market, a small software startup focused on making beautiful software experiences. The company has shipped over 20 software products in the past 5 years. Their latest product is A Story Before Bed – the first (and only) service that lets parents, grandparents, and children record video of themselves reading children’s books and play it back as often as they like on the Mac, PC, or iPad.

Before Jackson Fish Market, Jenny worked at Microsoft from 2001–2007 as Creative Director of the Windows User Experience team. When she isn’t running her startup, she serves on the board as Experience Director of the AIGA Seattle chapter (the professional association for design) and works with national and local organizations to foster the next generation of creative design talent headed for the tech industry. She was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Technology by the Puget Sound Business Journal and was awarded Seattle 2.0 Best Startup Designer in 2010.  You can follow Jenny on Twitter (@helveticagirl).

In this piece, Jenny answers our questions about her work, how she wound up doing what she does so well and her thoughts about women in tech.Continue Reading Women in Tech: Jenny Lam, Award Winning Designer

Mary Meeker 2.jpg

Eric Savitz of Forbes has a lengthy interview with Mary Meeker up on the Forbes.com site, a companion piece to his profile of Ms. Meeker in the August 6 print edition (which you can read online here).  In the interview, she talks about venture capital, her work investing a $1 billion tech growth fund for Kleiner Perkins (half of which has been deployed to date), the influential reports she produced as an early Internet analyst, and some of the companies that interest her now.  She is someone who has
Continue Reading Mary Meeker – Forbes.com Interview and Profile

CB Insights released their Q2 2012 Quarterly VC Report today, showing $8.1B was invested in 812 deals, the highest funding level since 2001.  One interesting trend in Q2 this is year is that 20% of the VC deals were for “seed” round investments (very early stage deals, usually with relatively small investment amounts).  The mobile and Internet sectors were very strong, including a bump in photo and video related companies (perhaps post-Instagram excitement).  And on a local note, Washington State had its highest quarter in over a year, with dollars
Continue Reading VC Funding Levels Highest Since 2001 – Q2 2012 Report

Marissa Mayer Yahoo.jpgThe short list of Silicon Valley female CEOs at well-known tech companies just got a little longer.  Andrew Ross Sorkin and Evelyn M. Rusli of The New York Times Dealbook broke the story today that Yahoo has named Marissa Mayer as CEO (its fifth CEO in five years).  Mayer comes to Yahoo from a prominent executive role at Google, having been hired originally as employee number 20 and the first female engineer at Google.  Yahoo’s press release announcing Ms. Mayer’s appointment as President, CEO and a member of the board
Continue Reading Yahoo Reaches into Google – Marissa Mayer New CEO

Vanessa Fox July 2012.jpgVanessa Fox, CEO of Nine by Blue (software, training, and strategic consulting relating to search), has a great post on her blog today about why she is volunteering as a coach for Seattle Startup Weekend’s Women’s Edition.  Her key points:

  • Our Network is Based On Who We Know (And Who Our Network Knows)
  • Even Without Discrimination, There Can Be Unconscious Bias
  • You Feel More Confident When You Feel Less Alone

Her story explaining the title makes me laugh every time I think of it.  And her post reminds

Continue Reading Where’s The Man Who’s Paying For All Of This?

Online and social media have revolutionized the way companies interact with their customers – allowing them to target customer interests and engage customers much more directly.

Entering into the world of social media, however, may pose reputational challenges. On-line stores and e-commerce platforms encourage customers to post reviews about the products they offer. Numerous companies directly prompt their customers to “like” them on Facebook or to comment on Twitter about their consumer experiences. But what if the responses customers post are less than glowing? What if a company is the

Continue Reading Ten Tips for Navigating Defamation Issues in Social Media

As noted in today’s Geekwire, CB Insights has released its Q1 2012 Corporate Venture Capital Activity report showing that corporate venture funds are still making investments on a regular basis, but at a somewhat slower pace than over the prior year.  See graphic below with data from the past 5 quarters.  Review a summary of the data here or download the full-length report (54 pages) for free by registering with CB Insights here.

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Continue Reading Corporate Venture Funding – Q1 2012