Unicorns Are A Hungry Lot, But The Appetite for Acquisition is WaningIt’s tempting to think that big private tech companies built themselves on their own, but that isn’t usually the case. Throughout the lifecycle of a typical unicorn, a private tech company founded after 2004 worth $1 billion or more, there are plenty additions to the team along the way. And not only from traditional hiring. More often than not, unicorn companies grow by gobbling up other, smaller companies. How? By acquiring talent through an “acquihire,” adding features to the core product developed by the acquiring company, or by using the business assets of the acquired company to boost revenue and scale faster. Imagine a Silicon Valley of the Sea In 2008, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel gave half a million dollars to a Google engineer named Patri Friedman, the grandson of economist Milton Friedman. The money was to establish the Seasteading Institute, which aims to spearhead the development of politically autonomous, floating “seasteads” in unregulated international waters. This was to be the beginning of a long experiment in civilization building. It also turned out to be the origin of many, many puns. Nearly a decade in, this experiment has yielded more theory than practice. Nevertheless, the institute has published a wildly optimistic book called Seasteading: How Floating Nations Will Restore the Environment, Enrich the Poor, Cure the Sick, and Liberate Humanity From Politicians. Written by staff “aquapreneur” Joe Quirk, with an assist from Friedman, [ Bloomberg ] Investors Explain Why ‘Men Pitch Unicorns and Women Pitch Businesses’While women are making progress in many segments of the business world, there's one—very important—area where they still lag: raising money. In fact, the latest stats from funding database Pitchbook reveal that women-led companies landed a minuscule 2.19% of venture capital funding in 2016, down from the previous three years. Speaking on a panel at South by Southwest in Austin on Monday, a trio of female investors—all of whom are also successful entrepreneurs—discussed some of the reasons those numbers have remained so measly. One issue: Female founders sometimes shy away from pitching a grand vision—or, in the words of panelist Susan Lyne, president and managing partner, BBG Ventures: "I see men pitch unicorns and women pitch businesses." 500 Startups will keep investing in Latin America with new $10M fund500 Startups is increasing its commitment to global investing with a new Latin America fund, targeting $10 million, going by the name of Luchadores II, the Spanish word for wrestlers. The fund is 500’s second aimed at the region and one of a growing number of its seed investment vehicles targeted at underserved markets across Europe, Asia and The Americas. Now We Know Why Microsoft Bought LinkedInSix months after Microsoft announced plans to pay more than $26 billion for LinkedIn, we now know even more about why the career-focused social networking site was so valuable. Today, Microsoft revealed that LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman has joined its board. It’s impossible to overestimate the significance of this move for Microsoft. CEO Satya Nadella is three years into a turnaround that few people believed possible. When he was promoted to CEO in February 2014, Microsoft was in a bad place. Six months earlier, the company had posted its first-ever quarterly loss. Steve Ballmer announced he would step down, but before leaving, he pushed through the acquisition of Nokia. It was a costly mistake. Microsoft ended up paying $7.9 billion for the Finnish cellphone maker, according to an April 2015 SEC filing; the company wrote off nearly the entire sum in the final quarter of 2015. Bill Maris’s next gig after GV is a $100 million health and biotech fundIt was happening, then it wasn’t — but now it seems Bill Maris’s venture fund might actually be more than vaporware. Maris, founder of Google Ventures, now called GV, is raising money again for a new healthcare, biotech and tech-focused venture capital fund, according to sources familiar with the matter. What was initially thought to be a $230 million fund has evolved into a
smaller $100 million fund with the same focus. [ Tech Crunch ] Uber Technologies Inc. did something out of character in France recently. It sat down to negotiate with drivers over work and pay conditions. LOSSES FOR FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2016. $2.2 billion That's sort of how an employer would act, right? But as Uber has said in courtrooms around the world, the ride-hailing app doesn't employ drivers. They're all self-employed, responsible for paying their own car, gas and insurance expenses and working whenever they want. Uber doesn't pay labor taxes or make social security contributions, nor does it give sick leave or ensure a minimum wage. All it does is collect a 20-30 percent commission for connecting driver to passenger. [ Bloomberg ] Slack is adding Square CFO Sarah Friar as its first independent board memberSlack, the popular business communications platform, has added Square CFO Sarah Friar as its first independent board member. She will also become its first female director. In an interview, while stressing diversity has been an important aim in expanding its board, Slack CEO and founder Stewart Butterfield noted that Friar’s extensive background in enterprise and finance was the key reason for her selection. [ Re/code ] A Harvard researcher invented these $139,000 stackable homes that can be built in under three weeks |