How Becoming a Dad Helped Me Become a VC“Don’t stop asking me what it’s like to be a mom and an executive, just start asking dads the same question.” I can’t recall the conference or, unfortunately, the specific woman, but I remember being struck by this answer (which was in response to some rote ‘so, what’s it like being a CEO and a mom?’ question). This was before I became a parent myself but it felt right. More honest and open than pretending we’re not impacted, in all sorts of ways, by becoming a parent. [ Hunter Walk ] How littleBits grew from side project to Star WarsLike many of the most compelling startups, littleBitsbegan life as a side-hustle — no expectations, no early push for venture capital. Just a bit of tinkering to pass the time. Ayah Bdeir was a recent MIT grad with a fellowship at New York City architecture design firm I-Beam when the seeds of the company first sprouted. [ Tech Crunch ] A WOMEN’S HISTORY OF SILICON VALLEYOn a recent Sunday morning, a friend texted me a photo from the checkout line of a Palo Alto Whole Foods. It was the cover of a Newsweek special issue entitled “Founding Fathers of Silicon Valley.” Seven faces graced the cover: Bill Gates. Mark Zuckerberg. David Packard. Bill Hewlett. Jeff Bezos. Elon Musk. Steve Jobs. Three words for you, Newsweek: What the hell? Ok, put aside the fact that three of those men don’t live in the Bay Area. At least one of them wasn’t born when the valley’s orchards were first being transformed into ground zero for the computer revolution. And any history that holds up seven white men as the founders of the computer revolution obscures the true collective nature of innovation. [ WIRED ] Ron Conway sued by former venture capital partnerVenture capitalist David Lee has sued former partner Ron Conway for millions of dollars Lee feels is being improperly withheld by Conway, according to a complaint filed last week in Marin County Superior Court. Why it matters: Lee and Conway co-founded one of Silicon Valley's most prominent seed investing firms, backing such companies as Airbnb, Pinterest and Snapchat. But their split in 2015 was not nearly as amicable as initially portrayed, and now threatens to get even uglier via litigation. Backstory: Lee is the former managing partner of SV Angel which he co-founded with Conway, a Silicon Valley investing legend, having pumped early money into companies like Google and PayPal. [ Axios ] Quantifying the driverless startup boomFor driverless car startups, raising capital seems to happen on autopilot. Investors and acquirers have put billions into the space over the past couple of years in the race for early mover advantage. They’ve shown no desire to hit the brakes lately either, as indicated by a spate of recent deals, including last week’s $450 million sale of autonomous driving software developer NuTonomy to Delphi Automotive. [ Tech Crunch ] Blockchain project Tezos hit with lawsuitA class-action lawsuit was filed last week against the founders of Tezos, a blockchain project, over its July initial coin offering (ICO), alleging they violated securities laws and defrauded participants in the fundraise. The lawsuit comes just days after Tezos' founders revealed a dispute with the Swiss foundation set up to manage the funds it raised. The project is also significantly delayed from the original timeline shared with investors. Why it matters: Regulators have been cautiously examining ICOs and issuing warnings to the industry precisely to avoid such situations in which investors could feel misled. Tezos's ICO is one of the largest thus far, raising over $230 million at the time (now worth about twice as much), which will surely be watched closely by regulators. [ Axios ] Tech’s favorite royal — Prince Alwaleed bin Talal — has been arrested in Saudi ArabiaIn a move sure to shock the business world, Saudi Arabia last night announced the arrest of at least eleven princes, including renowned billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, as part of a sweeping corruption investigation. Prince Alwaleed controls the investment firm Kingdom Holding and is one of the world’s richest men, owning or having owned major in satellite TV networks, as well as in News Corp. (a stake it has since mostly sold), Citigroup (shares of which it has owned since 1991), and a growing number of tech companies. [ Tech Crunch ] |