Tech investor Dave McClure explains what cities must do to compete with Silicon ValleySpeaking at the eMerge Americas conference today in Miami, tech investor Dave McClure urged cities to drop their Silicon Valley inferiority complex, and start building a startup ecosystem of their own. "What's not important is whether you're in Silicon Valley," he said, "but you can't just expect innovation to happen waiting around." [ CNBC ] 232 Startup Failure Post-MortemsElsewhere, we have dug into the data on startups that died (as well as those acquihired) and found they usually die 20 months after raising financing and after having raised about $1.3 million. So we thought it would be useful to see how startup founders and investors describe their failures. While not exactly “50,000 ways it cannot be done,” below is a compilation of startup post-mortems that describe the factors that drove a startup’s demise. [ CB Insights ] Initial portfolio investments include insurtech firm One, Inc. and digital identity firm Jumio. Centana Growth Partners, L.P (Centana), a unique growth equity firm focused on the future of financial services; today announced the successful, oversubscribed close of $250 million for its first fund. The firm is now investing capital in innovative companies across the financial services ecosystem. [ Morning Star ] CrowdFlower raises $20M to accelerate the adoption of AI within the enterpriseCrowdFlower, an essential human-in-the-loop AI platform for data science and machine learning teams, today announced its recent $20M venture funding. The investment round was led by Industry Ventures, with new investor Salesforce Ventures participating alongside existing investors Canvas Ventures, Microsoft Ventures and Trinity Ventures. "We're at the beginning of a Cambrian explosion of AI applications within the enterprise," said Robin Bordoli, CEO at CrowdFlower. [ PR Newswire ] Jessica Alba's The Honest Company can't catch a breakJessica Alba's Honest brand made its name by selling nontoxic, eco-friendly products to parents. Last week, the company agreed to pay $1.55 million to settle a nationwide class action lawsuit claiming it misled buyers about ingredients in its laundry detergent and dish soap. The company continues to deny wrongdoing in that case. But it's one in a series of highly publicized lawsuits and recalls that has hurt the brand's image, experts say. [ CNN ] Altice USA Files to Raise Up to $1.4 Billion in IPO
Altice USA Inc., the American cable-TV unit of billionaire Patrick Drahi’s Altice NV, aims to raise as much as $1.4 billion in its initial public offering, with some of the proceeds earmarked for potential acquisitions. The company and select holders plan to offer 46.6 million shares at $27 to $31 each, according to a filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Altice USA plans to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, but has made plain it’s seeking to grow through deals. [ Bloomberg ] [ SEC ] Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Conference Was As Kooky As You Expected It To Be–And That’s Exactly What Fans WantedThis past Saturday in Culver City, California, a group of four women–clad in their finest athleisurewear–sat on pillows, in a circle, as a crystal-wielding shaman analyzed their futures beneath a cloudy afternoon sky. Ten feet away, two blondes merrily chatted away as IVs dripped vitamin B-12 into their bloodstreams. [ FastCompany ] Former MySpace CEO Makes A Comeback As A Mobile Gaming HitmakerChâteau-Crème-a-Lot is a digital fortress of giant wafers, dipped cones and marshmallow swirls. It's one of several dessert islands where the bright-eyed Chef Panda solves puzzles with shaped chocolates to earn ingredients to make everything from cookies to cake pops on a quest to be the best confectioner. [ Forbes ] Uber to Add Independent Director as Board Responds to Crises
As Uber Technologies Inc. looks to address a series of management and cultural failings, the ride-hailing company plans to appoint Wan Ling Martello, an executive vice president at Nestle SA, to the board, people familiar with the matter said. [ Bloomberg ] Morning Report: Tech’s Big 5 Shed $60B In Market Cap As All 2016 And 2017 Tech IPOs SlipIt’s another bad morning for tech stocks, with mid caps, recent IPOs, and the biggest tech shops taking a beating. Today’s selloff of tech stocks comes after something similar happened on Friday, when leading tech companies dove, and their smaller compatriots followed them into the pool. [ CrunchBase ] Marketing startup Rokt expands February funding to close US$26 million Series B roundMidCap Financial, Silicon Valley Bank Boost Spectranetics Credit Facility by $30MM [ SEC ]Safety first: VCs set for record-breaking year in US cybersecurity spaceGoogle is God, Facebook is love and Uber is ‘frat rock,’ says brand strategy expert Scott GallowayDigital pharmacy startup ScriptDash rebrands as Alto, inks $23 million for nationwide expansionVenture capitalists jamming on the brakes in 2017: UK fintech chiefSydney startup InDebted looks to update traditional debt collection processesAmazon will be the first company worth $1 trillion, NYU’s Scott Galloway saysEnterprise Cloud Company Tintri Files For $100 Million IPO [ SEC ]Sway Ventures targets $165 mln second fund [ SEC ]The internet is finally going to change the movie business, and it could cost theaters billionsMeet The New Breed Of Activist Investors Who Are Trying To Give Silicon Valley A Conscience |