SoftBank Thinks Some Uber Shares Are Worth More Than OthersIf a group of investors led by SoftBank Group Corp. buys some shares from Uber Technologies Inc. at a $68 billion valuation, and it buys some other shares from existing investors in a tender offer at a $50 billion valuation, then how much is Uber really worth? There is an objectively correct answer to this question, which is, "who cares": A willing buyer paid one price for some shares and another price for some other shares and all the willing sellers got the amount of money they agreed on, and putting a headline number on the whole thing is just meaningless scorekeeping. But of course people love scorekeeping, particularly in the Enchanted Forest of the Unicorns: Since Uber's stock doesn't trade on an exchange, there is no public record of its value changing from day to day, and it can point to its last fundraising round as its still-current "official" valuation, whatever has happened since. But if it does a new round at a lower price, it won't be able to play that game any more. And as Uber gets closer to an initial public offering, that game becomes more important: It's harder to argue for an $80 billion IPO after a $50 billion private down-round. [ Bloomberg ] The investor with a $122 billion war chest, and 300-year vision for spending itA $US10 billion ($13.1 billion) investment into Uber has been the talk of Silicon Valley this week. But as exciting as Uber can be, it's the man who will write the cheque that everyone should be focusing on. Japanese wireless carrier Softbank, led by eccentric executive Masayoshi Son, admitted this week it had reached a 'basic agreement' to make a future investment in Uber. The investment is not yet final, but if it happens, it would have all sorts of implications for the ridesharing landscape, including reducing the power of ousted Uber founder Travis Kalanick. [ SMH ] 7 Best Venture Capitalists for Black EntrepreneursThese venture capitalists are not only some of the top investors in the investment community but many of them are committed to spending dollars with black-owned companies. Below are their names and some highlights of companies they’ve invested in. [ Black Enterprise ] The more tech in your job, the more money you makeIt’s no secret that computer software engineers get paid a lot. But how savvy you are with a computer affects your salary in jobs far outside computer science fields, according to a new reportby the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. The study found that in the last decade an increasingly broad range of jobs requires employees to work with computers on a daily basis, whether that’s point-of-sale software used by cashiers or digital tools doctors employ to monitor a patient’s health. Highly digital jobs have seen higher productivity growth. [ Recode ] Sequoia Capital's Jess Lee: Go ahead and call me a “girly investor”When Jess Lee was named general partner at Sequoia Capital, it was a seminal moment for Valley insiders. Decade-after-decade Sequoia has remained a top the Silicon Valley heap, unlike any other firm. It’s managed to transfer power from one alpha-male to another alpha-male in a way few firms have in the history of Sand Hill Road. And yet, until arguably this newer generation of partners started to come into their own, Sequoia wasn’t known for two things: Being particularly founder-friendly or particularly female-founder-friendly. Lee— a bona fide superstar founder who built Polyvore to some $200 million— was hired in the aftermath of Mike Moritz saying they didn’t want to “lower [their] standards” in hiring a woman, and fellow Sequoia partner Alfred Lin saying categorically on a Pando stage, “Yes, we have a gender problem.” Pando CEO Sarah Lacy is spending most of her time on a new company, Chairman MomPando CEO Sarah Lacy has been running a daily tech news site for nearly six years. But recently, she’s been pouring more time into a new site, Chairman Mom. Speaking on the latest episode of Recode Media with Peter Kafka, Lacy said Chairman Mom is the product of several side projects aimed at working mothers, including a new book called “The Uterus Is a Feature, Not a Bug.” [ Recode ] Silicon Valley has turned into the place it hates the most
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