Mark Boslet
If you were to pick the third key product theme after tablet computers and 3D televisions at last week’s CES 2011 it would be the connected TV. Of the three, it may be the most explosive. Connected TV, of course, is the shift to televisions with Internet connections that open up access to third party […]
This year is the year of the tablet computer at CES …and the year the war broke out among makers of tablet operating systems. The question I have is whether the chaos and conflict will create opportunities for startups. Most every major consumer electronics vendor has been talking up iPad-like tablets at the nation’s largest […]
Tablets, tablets and more tablets. A swarm of iPad competitors is what we should expect from this year’s CES, the nation’s largest consumer electronics trade show held this week in Las Vegas. I arrived at the show last night for the opening event, and most vendors seemed singly focused on the expected hockey stick like […]
Groupon Inc.’s announcement last Thursday that it raised $500 million of equity financing on the way to a $950 million round is not, in fact, new news. What is new is the man who predicted it. MerchantCircle co-founder Ben Smith IV and I chatted a couple days prior to the unveiling and he was adamant […]
Cleantech to get more green, as investing is on the upswing and there may even be a boost in IPOs in 2011
A tale of two M&A markets: valuations lagged in 2010, but deal volume spiked and venture investors see a better 2011
Cleantech investors expect a better year in 2011. More money will flow to startups, a new crop of better performing IPOs should come to market and M&A might even pick up. Less noticeable but perhaps as important, strategic corporate investors could become more active. All of this comes against a difficult backdrop. The year gone […]
Xpert Financial Inc., with high-profile backer Tim Draper behind it, is to unveil its private company stock exchange on Friday with a vow to revolutionize the secondary market. The San Mateo company, which changed its name this month from XChange, says it won approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to operate an online electronic trading […]
One surprise investment story of 2010 has been the rebound in Midwest venture. Some expect 2011 to be better. Many regions of the country still struggle to top weakened 2009 investment totals, Silicon Valley included. But Midwest venture, known for its health care focus and now its fledgling commitment to cleantech, passed the mark with […]
I often wonder whether venture capitalists fully grasp the emotional side of cleantech investing. Intellectually, they comprehend the immense challenge of innovating in the energy field. Emotionally, they seem to hold out hope of unrealistic Moore’s Law like progress. Until one comes to terms with the other, expectations may outrun reality. Moore’s Law, of course, […]