Accel Cautions Startups to Play Nice With Traditional CompaniesAccel Partners, the venture-capital firm behind startups like Dropbox, Slack and Facebook, summoned its portfolio companies to a meeting at a San Francisco museum and gave them a little advice. First, tamp down the disdain for established, non-technology companies that startups traditionally try to disrupt, because based on recent experience, a company like that might end up your acquirer. Second, the days of going public based largely on dazzling growth are over — startups need to make sure their earnings are passing muster, too. [ Bloomberg ] Munchery’s Struggles Show How Hard the Food Delivery Business IsOver a two-year period, the startup’s San Francisco kitchen produced a lot of meals that went unsold. Munchery, a San Francisco startup that cooks and delivers meals to hundreds of thousands of customers in a handful of U.S. cities, has begged its cooks to bring down the cost of the ingredients, according to current and former employees. That often meant no organic chicken. No wild salmon. Nathaniel Faggioli, the company's chief operating officer who’s a former Goldman Sachs banker, has pushed his employees to find ways to improve its margins as the startup tries to attract another round of financing, according to the people. [ Bloomberg ] Flying Cars Are Closer Than You Think Marc Andreessen may be the most dedicated optimist in Silicon Valley. During a year when the public’s attention was often focused on international conflict, mass shootings, and a bitter election, the co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has insistently pointed toward progress. Until it fell silent in September, Andreessen’s hyperactive Twitter feed served as a guide to the good news: people rising out of poverty, the surprising durability of the US economy, and all manner of fast-growing tech products and services. [ The Verge ] This 35-year-old started his company in his college dorm ... and just sold it to Oracle for more than $600 millionOn Monday, Oracle announced that it bought Dyn. Dyn is one of those old-fashioned Silicon Valley Valley startup stories, particularly for its 35-year-old former CEO founder Jeremy Hitchcock — only this tale took place in Manchester, New Hampshire, rather than Silicon Valley. While Oracle didn't announce the terms of the deal, former Fortune editor Dan Primack is reporting that Oracle paid "just north of $600 million" for the company. (Oracle declined to comment on the sale price.) [ Business Insider ] The stealthy Eric Schmidt-backed analytics firm that worked for Hillary now has a real websiteFor a long time the firm, called The Groundwork, was known only to a handful of Democratic data and digital operatives. If you went to its URL you saw just a mysterious gray page with a triangular logo that suggested some secret society. Now the firm appears to be broadening its horizons in the wake of the defeat of its main client—Hillary Clinton— in the presidential race. According to the web page, The Groundwork can help clients from charities to political campaigns find blocks of voters or donors, organize events, and handle donations. [ Fast Company ] Harry Weller, prolific East Coast venture capitalist, dies at 46Harry Weller, a prolific technology investor known for shepherding some of the East Coast’s most successful technology companies to fruition, died Nov. 19 at his home in Washington. He was 46. As a partner at New Enterprise Associates, a multibillion-dollar technology investment firm with an office in Chevy Chase, Md., Mr. Weller scouted for promising technology companies in emerging hubs outside Silicon Valley and made strong investments in the Washington region, among other places. [ WP ] Snapchat's Spectacles are now on sale in New York CitySnapchat's Spectacles are on sale in New York City. The city was announced Monday as the newest location for one of Snap Inc.'s quirky vending machines — still the only way you can officially buy the sunglass-mounted cameras. The latest vending machine is located inside a pop-up shop at 5 East 59th Street, near Central Park in Manhattan. [ Business Insider ] VENTURE CAPITAL JOBS Director - Venture Capital - SeedInvest, New York CityAnalyst Program - AngelList, San FranciscoData-Driven marketing internship - Angeloop, Oakland,Sales Consultant - Corkerbec Venture Partners, Atlanta,Grant Writer - Corkerbec Venture Partners, Atlanta, RemoteInvestment Analyst / Associate - DTA, Los AngelesProduct Manager, Co-founder - Investment Deal Sourcing Marketplace, SF, Menlo Park,Designer, Cofounder - PersonalVC, Boston Mobile Lead - AngelList, San FranciscoVP Engineering - EQUIDATE, San FranciscoFundraiser (possible producer) - Empire Pictures, Los AngelesHuman Resources Generalist - AngelList, San Francisco, NY,Corporate Counsel - EQUIDATE, San FranciscoStrategy & Operations - EQUIDATE, San FranciscoCurated by Venture Pulse Team. Find us on : [ Venturepulse.org, CrunchBase, AngelList ] |