Connie Loizos

Investor, entrepreneur and uber-promoter Jason Calacanis is using the New Year as reason to blast his friends, colleagues and followers with an exhaustive list of the tech products he uses -- all of which he says he is trying to invest in. Calacanis says in a related aside that he’s trying to become the “most sought-after angel investor on the planet.” He writes: “It's a lofty goal and it's going to create a massive amount of conflict for me as an pundit, but you know what they say: no conflict, no interest." (No false modesty, either, apparently.) If you’re interested, here are the three technologies Calacanis loved most in 2009, in his own words. It’s a good list, though reading number two, you have to feel pretty alarmed for anyone who lives in or visits the Calacanis home(!):

Happy New Year, peHUB readers! As many of you know, I’ve been away on maternity leave over the last five months. It’s been joyously fulfilling, though I’m also very happy to be back at work, especially after the last couple of weeks. (I love the holidays, but let’s face it: when they involve small children, they age you. I’m still exhausted.) I promised to give complete attention to my family over these last months, which means I’m a little behind on life in the Valley. I’ve taken notice of some of this fall’s biggest stories -- Michael Arrington smacking down OfferPal for its shadier advertisements on social gaming platforms, the Canopy Financial debacle, etc. --but I’d love your help in getting caught up on what’s what. If you’re a VC or entrepreneur in the Bay Area and want to grab coffee or to just give me a call to discuss story ideas, trends, or, ahem, gossip, I’d love to hear from you at connie.loizos@thomsonreuters.com. Much thanks, and here’s to a happy, prosperous, and action-packed 2010!

The National Venture Capital Association just published a dozen videos offering an overview of various aspects of the industry to better educate Tim Geithner -- I mean, anyone wanting to better understand the origins of venture capital and "the unique relationship between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs." I just watched a handful of these roughly minute-long montages and found several of them interesting. Others, particularly those featuring some of the biggest, and earliest, names in the business -- including Bill Draper (Draper and Johnson, Draper Richards), Pete Bancroft (Bessemer), and Pitch Johnson (Draper and Johnson, Asset Management Co.) -- also reminded me of all the great hair in the venture business.

It’s probably not as desperate a ploy for ratings as when the Fonz jumped over a shark while water skiing on “Happy Days,” but ABC’s “Shark Tank,” premiering Sunday night at 9 p.m., isn’t going to do much to burnish the network’s image, judging by early reviews. The new reality show, which springboards off the Japanese program “Dragon’s Den,” […]

Boston-based Breakaway Ventures has raised just $25 million over the last few years, but the money it has committed has found its way into an array of interesting early-stage retail companies. I talked earlier today with Dennis Baldwin, the firm’s 40-year-old founder and, before Adidas bought the company for $3.8 billion in 2005, the chief […]

According to a February survey from Telework Trendlines, the number of Americans who work from home jumped nearly 75 percent between 2005 and 2008, from 9.9 million to 17.2 million. The trend owes to a variety of factors, from technological innovations to some companies’ greater focus on their employees’ work-life balances.  Yet working remotely has distinct advantages […]

Next Tuesday, for the first time, the National Venture Capital Association will be issuing a broad, first-quarter benchmark report including gross portfolio sector IRRs, thanks to a new agreement struck with Boston-based Cambridge Associates. NVCA members will have access to a more detailed (and free to them) report at the NVCA’s website, too.  For those who […]

Tom Perkins was highly regarded as a venture capitalist but his track record as an investor in ostentatious yachts is looking a bit shabby at the moment. According to the Times of London, Perkins, 77, is finalizing the sale of his 289-foot yacht, the Maltese Falcon, for roughly $100 million after reportedly paying $150 million for it. The boat, which […]

Todd Park, an entrepreneur well-known to Valley VCs, is the latest appointee to the Obama administration. The 36-year-old just accepted the role of CTO of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, working under former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius. Athenahealth, an online services company that handles the administrative headaches of running a physician's office, was founded by Park and the company's current CEO, Jonathan Bush -- George W.'s first cousin -- back in 1997. It went on to raise $49.6 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper Richards, Oak Investment Partners, Venrock Associates, and other firms and individuals before going public in September 2007. Park, who now needs to divest his stock position in the company, stands to make about $45 million off his shares’ sale, according to the Boston Business Journal, which reports that as of April 15, Park

What makes Sequoia India tick? If you're interested in the answer, it so happens that the question is explored in a newly published, nearly 3,000-word article in Outlook Business magazine ("India's business magazine for decision-makers"). Though at times overly glowing, the feature offers many interesting data points. For example, it says that in the last 22 months, Sequoia has invested in 10 start-up firms from its third, $300 million, India-focused fund, making it the most active investor in the country. Perhaps more interestingly, the piece says that of the India-focused venture firms that launched alongside Sequoia India in 2000, Sequoia is the last man standing; the rest have either gone out of