I was interviewed today for a Facebook Live session at the Harvard Business Review. The simplicity of the technology involved floored me. HBR used a camera and a laptop to stream live the interview. They also had two people moderate the comments and tee them up near real-time. It was fascinating to engage with a
Category: Technology and VC
Risk
Risk is an interesting thing. It’s always there, and how you divide it is the key question. I this morning read about Spotify’s $1 billion convertible note financing. Some interesting terms have been leaked, though I don’t know why the company would want those out in the market. And, I’m sure, there are other terms.
Square Cash, Orvis, and FedEx Customer Support
Square Cash and Orvis have great online customer support. FedEx really bombed. As a recovering ENTJ, I strive for max. efficiency when dealing with companies. So, I try to use online channels whenever possible. Over the past week, I’ve had to deal with three companies’ support groups and thought I’d note how they went. SQUARE
The Most Important Four Numbers in a Board Deck
I attend many board meetings and have done so through multiple market cycles. Regardless of your business model, I think ultimately four numbers are the most important. I call them The Big Four. The numbers may reflect whatever is most relevant for your companies: they could be pageviews, active number of users, or revenues. But, to
Trust
Do you “like” and “respect” someone? But, do you “trust” that person? I learned about that today. This morning, I spoke with a potential executive hire for one of our companies. I asked him what he thought of that company founder. Without hesitation, he said, “I like, respect, and trust that person.” At Kepha, we
New Investment: Mavrck
I am really excited to write about a new and recent investment, which is in Mavrck. We recently led their $5MM Series A financing, and it was announced about 30 min. ago. More here. We have been meeting with CEO and Co-Founder Lyle Stevens for quite some to time. I first connected with him in 2013,