Dan Primack

My weekly Reuters Insider spot this week is about Tesla Motors, which closed its first day of trading up over 40% to $23.94 per share (it was only at around $18 per share when we filmed). Only regret on below video is that I didn't bring up A123 Systems when asked about Tesla's battery building plans. That company also had a $2 billion+ market cap post-IPO (and plenty of gov't backing), but has since tumbled more than 50 percent. Anyway, happy viewing:

Today I received a new study on student-run VC funds at business schools (there are more than a dozen of them), produced by the University of Oxford. It finds that education is considered the primary goal of such efforts, with ROI placing second. That said, over one-third of the funds surveyed have produced a profitable exit. Download the full report here

If I were a venture capitalist today, I’d just be shaking my head at the Tesla Motors IPO. No profits, declining quarter-over-quarter revenue, a bankrupt founder/CEO, proven manufacturing difficulties and all hopes resting on a $50k sedan that won’t begin production until 2012. “Don’t we have unsuccessful companies like that in our portfolio,” I’d ask. “We even have some government loans for our cleantech companies. Is all we’re missing a better marketing department?” I might also wonder why Elon Musk is doing television interviews about the company, whereas other CEOs clam up due to post-IPO "quiet periods." But not everyone agrees with me, as evidenced by the fact that Tesla is trading above its IPO price despite a dismal day on the broader market. Reader Jim sent over the following thoughts via email:

SV Life Sciences today announced that it has closed its fifth fund with over $523 million in capital commitments, busting through its original $400 million target. Looks like the second-largest fundraise of 2010 from a healthcare-focused VC firm (OrbiMed raised $550m), so I spent a few minutes on the phone with SV chairman and managing partner Jim Garvey: peHUB: Many VC firms are having trouble closing on even half of their fund targets, but you were well oversubscribed. Here’s the softball: Why did LPs love you so much? Garvey: One reason is that we’ve been at this for 15 years and our first three funds have demonstrable track records. And I think when times turned tough and LPs were hit with liquidity crises, many of them used performance as the deciding factor on who they were going to keep following. Our strategy is probably a good fit in difficult times, because it’s very broad across healthcare. We’re investing across two continents, early-stage to late-stage and in biotech, pharma and healthcare IT.

Tesla priced its inexplicable IPO today, and parked some of its "product" outside of the Nasdaq in Times Square. Our ad sales star Beth Yannone took a few shots on her way into work. Get them after the jump:

No, this isn't about some sort of charity boxing match. It's about whether or not Washington State will begin charging income taxes on high-net-worth individuals. For the uninitiated, Washington is one of just seven states without an income tax. It also is one of 50 states in the midst of fiscal hardship. So Bill Sr. has spearheaded Initiative 1098, which would charge income taxes on those with annual income in excess of $200k. It also would cut state property taxes by 20% and eliminate the Business & Occupation tax for an estimated 375,000 small businesses. Venture capitalists, however, have launched a "No on 1098" campaign, arguing that the introduction of an income tax would harm the state's entrepreneurial ecosystem (maybe it even would help revive Portland, Oregon's moribund VC market). And, because they are VCs, they even have a Twitter account.

The first half of 2010 is fast coming to a close, so it seems appropriate to rev up the old list-icle engine. This one is the 10 companies that have raised the most venture capital (so far) in 2010. There are a bunch of changes since we last did this, and the threshold to qualify is now $100 million. Overall, venture capitalists have invested around $8.6 billion into 1,123 U.S.-based companies in 2010 (36% increase over this time last year). Get the biggest raisers after the jump:

Fuel cell maker Bloom Energy is seeking $50 million, in what it's telling prospective investors will be their last chance to buy in before an IPO. Existing shareholder Northgate Capital is somehow involved, although I'm not certain if it's as lead investor or as quasi-placement agent (or both). No word on if other insiders plan to return pro rata. Bloom is a fascinating company, because it is so remarkably divisive among cleantech investors. Proponents consider it to be the energy industry's Google, a revolutionary company that will become ubiquitous. They talk about $20 billion as a floor for the post-IPO valuation -- which I hear is slated for late next year -- with $40 billion being within the realm of possibility.

Senate Democrats are all back-slaps and giggles today for getting financial reform out of conference, but they also managed to bungle the carried interest taxation issue. As a client alert from law firm Weil Gotshal sums up the situation: On June 24, 2010, the Senate failed for a third time to pass a procedural vote which would have sent the proposed carried interest legislation (H.R. 4213) to the Senate for a full vote on the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has announced that the Senate is moving on to other matters. Although no further action is currently pending in the Senate on the proposed carried interest legislation, it is possible (and perhaps likely) that the legislation will be re-introduced into the Senate in the not too distant future. We will continue to apprise you of any further developments in this area. The legislation didn't die because of carried interest, mind you, but because Harry Reid and company chose to lump it in with a "Jobs Extenders" bill that ran into unbreakable Republican opposition ("no bailouts when we're not in charge").

My weekly small biz video for Reuters was about legislation that would eliminate capital gains taxes on investment in small businesses. Per usual, filming just a few paces away from the home office (and yes, I really need a haircut):