Exclusive : Yik Yak’s Biggest Investor Sequoia Is Trying to Sell the CompanyAnonymous messaging app Yik Yak is up for sale, according to sources familiar with the situation. Sequoia Capital, the company’s biggest investor, has in recent weeks held deal talks with potential buyers for the Atlanta-based startup. Yik Yak has the option to sell to a few different acquirers, sources say, but none of the deals will provide a return for the company’s investors. More likely, the company will strike an acqui-hire-style deal for its technology team in exchange for stock in the acquiring company. Yik Yak has raised $73.5 million in venture funding, the biggest chunk of which came from Sequoia in 2014, valuing the company at $400 million. [ Fortune ] Startup like a girl: why investors should pay more attention to female entrepreneursWhile only one in four startups are led by women and the investment gender gap is widening, those who fund women see greater returns [ The Guardian ] Silicon Valley's Spooked by Trump and Mexico Sees an Opportunity There’s a tech-loving governor in Mexico who sees opportunity in the hassles the Trump administration might create for companies eager to hire foreign engineers and coders: He’ll find cubicles for them. [ Bloomberg ] 'Flyover Country' Founders on How to Compete With Silicon ValleyAt a Washington, D.C. summit organized by Steve Case, entrepreneurs swapped strategies for nurturing successful startup communities when you're not on either coast. [ Inc. ] Kevin Rose is going back to Cali — and joining True Ventures as venture partnerEntrepreneur-investor Kevin Rose is relinquishing his role as CEO of Hodinkee, a New York-based site for wristwatch enthusiasts, and moving back to California. According to a newly published Medium post, Rose will work as a venture partner at the early-stage venture firm True Ventures. [ Tech Crunch ] Silicon Slopes Vs. Silicon Valley: Four Tech Unicorns, Thousands Of Startups, No FrenzyBack in 2004, when Aaron Skonnard founded Farmington, Utah-based Pluralsight, an online tech education company, venture capital firms weren’t paying much attention to the Beehive State. So Skonnard and his cofounders bootstrapped the company. Times have changed. Pluralsight – now one of Utah’s high-profile unicorns – has drawn nearly $200 million in venture funding and serves clients that include Comcast, MetLife, Disney and Dell. [ Forbes ] The rise and fall of J.Crew is deeply intertwined with Jenna Lyons’s creative vision. |