Dan Primack

Omidyar Network, the philanthropic venture capital firm formed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, has laid off several staffers, including members of its investment team. In an email to friends and colleagues, one investor wrote: "The organization has gone through some restructuring to better reflect current market conditions and support its evolving investment model. Several positions have been eliminated, including my own." I've left a message for Omidyar Network's spokeswoman, in order to get more details. Specifically, I'm interested in how the group views the "current market conditions," given that it hired six new staffers just seven months ago.

Last week, peHUB reported that eCast Network founder Samuel "Mouli" Cohen had been sued for allegedly defrauding a charitable organization out of approximately $18 million. We incorrectly identified the suit's plaintiff as the charity itself, Vanguard Public Foundation, rather than the correct plaintiffs: Samuel Mills and Mary Dalsin Mills, self-described Vanguard benefactors, in their individual capacities and as trustees of the Mills Family Trust. According to the suit, the Millses indirectly purchased shares in eCast, via investor groups set up by Vanguard president Hari Dillon and Vanguard co-chairman Danny Glover. Mills also allegedly paid Cohen directly for various fees and expenses related to a purported acquisition of eCast by Microsoft. We note that Vanguard Public Foundation did not invest in eCast, nor did it file suit against Cohen or make any public allegations of fraud against Cohen. It also is worth noting that we happily make these corrections at the behest of Cohen himself, who has threatened litigation against us (read letter here). In that spirit, after the jump is an updated post -- with the names changed where appropriate. peHUB stands by its assertion, based on multiple sources, that Microsoft had not agreed to acquire eCast Network. Finally, we did send an email to an old email account affiliated with Mouli Cohen (ea@moulicohen.com), and received a reply. We replied with a request to speak with Cohen, but never heard back.

Personalized genetics company 23andMe Inc. has secured $11 million of a $24.26 million venture round, according to a regulatory filing. This is the company co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, which had raised around $9 million in Series A funding from Google, Genentech, New Enterprise Associates and Mohr Davidow Ventures. Probably best described as one part personalized medicine, one part online informatics. No investor info is disclosed on the filing, including if any new Google money would have come from Google.org or Google Ventures. The latter's Rich Miner said Friday that all future Google venture investments would come from Google Ventures, but given

Greetings from rainy Nantucket, where the 2009 Nantucket Conference is underway. We were supposed to hear this morning from Skype COO Scott Durschlag, but he's apparently stuck in London because of the upcoming IPO (I may use that excuse this weekend). Stepping up as an overly-qualified pinch-hitter is Rich Miner, of the newly-formed Google Ventures. My plan is to live-blog the Q&A, which is set to begin at around 10:45am ET. Get it after the jump.

Still here at the NVCA Annual Meeting, and I'm about to live-blog a cleantech panel: NVCA Annual Meeting: Cleantech Panel

Here at the NVCA Annual Meeting in Boston. What follows is a live-blog of five legends of healthcare VC investing: Brook Byers (Kleiner Perkins), Jim Blair (Domain Associates), Jean Deleage (Alta Partners), Tony Evnin (Venrock) and Grent Heidrich (Mayfield). Get it after the jump.

The National Venture Capital Association this morning released a four-point plan to revive the slumped market for VC-backed IPOs. Two of the pillars are aimed at public authorities (tax incentives & SOX/RegD reform), while the other two are aimed at the private sector (ecosystem enhancements like helping form more botique I-banks & creating new liquidity paths via secondary direct markets like InsideVenture, SecondMarket, etc.). What's important to realize about NVCA's presentation (posted after the jump) is that it argues that VC-backed problems are systemic, rather than recessionary. For example, the Spitzer-prompted separation of research and investment banking has caused massive drainage of the analyst pond, thus making it far more difficult for VC-backed companies to obtain coverage. And as much as I hate relaxing regs that were designed to protect investors, I'll concede that small-cap companies should not be under the exact same rules a large-cap companies. Or at least they should have a more streamlined process (particularly vis-a-vis SOX compliance). But let me also make a few additional points:

This post originally reported that eCast Network founder Samuel “Mouli” Cohen had been sued for allegedly defrauding a charitable organization out of approximately $18 million. We incorrectly identified the suit’s plaintiff as the charity itself, Vanguard Public Foundation, rather than the correct plaintiffs: Samuel Mills and Mary Dalsin Mills, self-described Vanguard benefactors, in their individual […]

I’ll be on CNBC's Squawk Box program tomorrow morning at 6:40am ET (ugh!), to discuss the dreary capital markets situation for VC-backed companies. Specifically, Dixon Doll and I will debate whether the problem is systemic or recessionary. I think it's a little bit of both, but will aim for greater clarity once the red light goes on. In related egocentric news, I'll be moderating two upcoming panel discussions. First up is a VC panel this Friday at the Nantucket Conference (which I believe is sold out). Second is next Thursday, at an ACG Boston event called: Emerging Professionals - Tips for Managing Your Career in a Recession (which I think still has tix available). Finally, I'll be hanging around the NVCA Annual Meeting later this week in Boston, so I hope to run into a bunch of you there...

Our latest peHUB Internship Rodeo has begun, for first-year MBA candidates in search of summer internships in the private equity market (defined very broadly). More than 40 listings are up so far, including shops that focus on venture capital, growth equity, leveraged buyouts, funds-of-funds, investment banking, M&A and more. We've even got opportunities in Brazil, China, India and the UK. Listings can be found in the MBA Forum section of peHUB.com, under the Summer Internship folder of the Employment section. To access the MBA Forum, you must have an Access Code specific to your business school. If you do not have such a code, please contact the head of your PE/VC Club. If that fails, you also