As Others Pack, Some Millennials Commit to Puerto Rico Two young graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology did the unthinkable last summer: They quit enviable jobs in New York and moved back to beleaguered Puerto Rico, bringing their plan for a start-up with them. “People were like: ‘Are you crazy? Why would you ever do that? Go back way later; you’re basically going into a hellhole right now,’” said one of the graduates, Eric Crespo, 25, who helped create Lunchera, a fast-growing online food delivery and logistics company in Puerto Rico.
Markets are strong, but big startup M&A deals just aren’t happening Public markets are riding high, and many big tech acquirers are flush with cash. However, it’s a very dull year for big acquisitions of private technology companies. Seven months into 2017 and we’ve seen just one big unicorn M&A deal: Cisco’s $3.7 billion purchase of AppDynamics. And that was back in January. Two other one-time unicorns acquired this year, data management technology provider SimpliVity and Middle Eastern online retailer Souq.com, sold for well below their peak private valuations. [ Tech Crunch ] China’s Silicon Valley: Meet the Chinese counterparts to 11 of the most popular US tech companiesThe Great Firewall of China has blocked even the mightiest companies. Go online in China and you’ll find an internet that looks very different than the one you’d see in most other countries. The mainstays of the Web — Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc. — are either unavailable or on the periphery, hindered in large part by a government that’s made censorship and surveillance the norm. And the Western tech powers that aren’t internet-based have still struggled to grow in a country that tends to favor its own, and in a market where consumer habits often differ than those in the US. [ Business Insider ] Kalanick Took Steps to Regain Board Control at UberFormer Uber CEO Travis Kalanick recently asked some former colleagues, including early employees still at the company, whether they would support him in a potential shareholder battle, according to one person with direct knowledge of the effort and two people briefed about it. The requests were the latest indication that Mr. Kalanick has explored how to reassert control over the company and its board after he was forced to resign six weeks ago. Last week, Uber’s board approved rules forbidding board members from contacting Uber employees for information or assistance unless otherwise approved by the board. The decision followed a formal request in the form of a letter to the board from Uber’s management team. The management letter was triggered by Mr. Kalanick’s discussions with former colleagues that alarmed some employees, a person familiar with the matter said. [ The Information ] WHEN SHOULD CEOS ASK THEIR VC FOR HELP, WHEN DO COMPANIES REALLY NEED A BOARD & WHAT THE SERIES A EXPANSION MEANS FOR STARTUPS WITH MAX GAZOR, GENERAL PARTNER @ CRVMax Gazor is a General Partner @ CRV, one of the nation’s oldest and most successful VC firms now on their 16th fund and with a prior portfolio consisting of the likes of Twitter, Yammer, Zendesk and ClassPass just to name a few. As for Max, he has led deals in the likes of Airtable, Simplivity, Xamarin and many more incredible companies. Prior to CRV, Max led acquisitions and investments across enterprise and emerging technologies for Cisco’s Corporate Development team. [ 20 VC ] A big shake-up is going on at Kleiner Perkins, as old-guard venture firm fights to stay relevant
Hire Women Your Mom’s AgeThere’s something haywire about how women are expected to crunch our most celebrated achievements into a timetable that frequently lasts fewer than 20 years. Find a partner. Raise some chicks. Zoom to the top of your field. Check each box by 50. We may mistake this Acela for our life until it whooshes past, stranding us with other gut-kicked women whose jobs have ended for reasons H.R. never admits are age-related. Going forward, many employers ignore this mature work force, most likely because they don’t want to pay the salaries experience deserves, despite the fact that women earn, on average, 80 percent of men’s wages. [ NY Times ] Fred Wilson’s 6+ years as a Blockchain InvestorBitcoin was introduced more than 8 years ago. Since then it, and its underlying blockchain technology, have gone through cycles of hype and disbelief. Just like with any new advancement in technology, investors have been critical to the ongoing development of blockchain technologies. One of those early investors is Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures. Since 2011, Fred has been bullish, yet critical, on the crypto market. Early investors like Fred know that with high, potential, returns comes very high risks. They know that the road will be bumpy, but that those with resilience will be rewarded handsomely. Well, only if they bet on the right horse. Here at Playbook, we went back on Fred’s incredible blog, avc.com, and found evidence of his resilience and confidence on blockchain technologies at times in which people had already deemed it a failed experiment. How to Raise Your Own Venture Capital FundIn 2015, Shauntel Poulson raised $53 MILLION to co-found her own venture capital firm! Here is the step-by-step playbook explaining exactly how she did it. [ Medium ] |