A VC Reveals the Metrics They Use to Evaluate StartupsSo what actually happens before a VC decides to invest in your company? Susan Liu looks at hundreds of startups every year for B2B software investor Scale Venture Partners. She explains the top 5 metrics they look at, and how a company can prepare to pass the investor diligence with flying colors. Dropcam cofounder Aamir Virani joins Felicis, becoming a VCLast week, we learned that Dropcam cofounder Greg Duffy has headed over to Apple. Today, Felicis Ventures, the early-stage venture firm, is disclosing it has brought aboard Dropcam’s other cofounder, Aamir Virani, as its newest partner. The move seems a perfect fit for both sides. Felicis wrote one of the earliest checks to Dropcam, an internet-connected security camera company that was sold to Nest Labs in 2014 for $555 million, months after Nest was itself acquired by Google for $3.2 billion. [ Tech Crunch ] Uber C.E.O. to Leave Trump Advisory Council After CriticismTravis Kalanick, chief executive of Uber, plans to step down from President Donald J. Trump’s economic advisory council, according to an email that the executive sent to employees on Thursday that was obtained by The New York Times. “Earlier today I spoke briefly with the president about the immigration executive order and its issues for our community,” Mr. Kalanick wrote. “I also let him know that I would not be able to participate on his economic council. Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that.” Peter Thiel won’t be involved in YC’s work with the ACLU Y Combinator’s recent mashup with the American Civil Liberties Union has raised some questions and concerns. The main concerns are around how YC and Silicon Valley influences will mix with the ACLU and its mission, as well as YC’s connection with Peter Thiel, a part-time partner at YC. [ Tech Crunch ] January averaged $6.1B in M&A deals per dayJust how big was January for global M&A? In short, "yuge." The deals announced last month represent $189.22 billion in total value, some $33.92 billion more than January 2016 and roughly double that of January 2010, according to data from the PitchBook Platform. It’s easy to see a big step up and lose track of the real story: There’s no doubt that global M&A is booming, but it’s not exactly bumping. Last year saw deal volume contract and still account for a near-record total transaction value of $2.7 trillion. As consolidation and market uncertainty persist, that trend should hold through this year. Indeed, it’s already taking shape. January clocked 22 deals worth at least $1 billion and averaged $6.1 billion in total announced transaction value per day. [ PitchBook ] Venture Capitalist Kara Nortman On ‘How To Push Your Limits And Reap The Rewards’If you hang out in “Silicon Beach” (Santa Monica, CA), you already know the name Kara Nortman. She’s the co-founder of Seedling and partner at Upfront Ventures, the largest and most tenured venture capital fund in Los Angeles. Investing in well-known companies like Ulta, TrueCar, Parachute, and FabFitFun, I was eager to hear more about Nortman’s career path and personal journey to success. $700 million startup Wealthfront is doubling down on robots running your financial life — as rivals embrace humansForget the humans, and trust the robots. That's the mantra that Wealthfront, the five-year-old online financial advisory service is touting in the increasingly crowded market for finance apps. $700 million Wealthfront is the only “robo-advisor” pioneer that is still totally human-free, and it’s doubling down by releasing an automated financial planning feature, called "Path," which helps you understand when you’ll be able to retire, and how your current spending and saving impacts that. [ Business Insider ] Why East Coast VCs are better protected if the market slipsA new trends report published by the law firm Cooley report suggests that the venture market remains largely healthy for now. In the fourth quarter, for example, Cooley handled 187 “disclosable” (versus stealth) deals that represented more than $2.7 billion of invested capital. That’s 18 percent more deals than it closed in the fourth quarter of 2015 — though the amount of money involved fell 23 percent from the year-earlier period. (VCs were writing smaller checks into a greater number of startups.) [ Tech Crunch ] |