Mark Boslet

Want mentoring to build your startup? Here is a New York City program that appears to creating a name for itself. The program is run by the First Growth Venture Network and is accepting applications for a six-month session that will begin at the end of January. Two earlier waves of companies and entrepreneurs went […]

I couldn’t help but be taken by this out of the box way of thinking about broadband access. Perhaps it is my soft spot for potentially do-good business plans. The startup is called BoxTop Solutions Inc. and it asks the question of how corporate America can bring broadband access to people who can’t afford it. […]

The energy industry is wrestling with the challenge of motivating indifferent homeowners to become interested in home energy management–so far unsuccessfully. The killer app has not been found. Sure, companies such as VC-backed OPower have demonstrated some success engaging consumers and reducing power use. But what will turn niche market into mass market? Accel Partners’ […]

Venture capitalists are surprisingly upbeat about next year’s fund returns. This is the case despite the prolonged downturn, relatively lukewarm exit markets and a restless base of limited partners. The optimism was a key finding of a Pepperdine University Private Capital Markets study released on Tuesday. The study found that VCs expect to offer LPs […]

Human gene sequencing is getting faster and cheaper. Since the milestone of the Human Genome Project, the tools that permit it have steadily improved. So isn’t it time to build on the accomplishment with applications that allow for more data driven health care? This indeed is a key investment thesis at Mohr Davidow Ventures and […]

The “crazy” pace of investing in Internet companies may continue next year, but cleantech fundings could lag. On the other hand, life sciences could turn in a solid performance. There is no shortage of interesting companies. This was the conclusion of a panel of VCs Thursday night at an investment forecasting event held by the […]

If big company R&D is down, what alternative is there but to stoke the fires of small company innovation? Seems like such an obvious statement. And yet who is providing the kindling? The Obama Administration stepped up this year and last year with billions of dollars for cleantech development. A lot of the money went […]

Motorola Inc said it will buy venture funded cleantech and home media startup 4Home Inc. The deal’s value was undisclosed. The cell phone giant made the announcement on Wednesday. It said the transaction would close by the end of the year. 4Home of Sunnyvale, Calif., makes software that gives homeowners centralized control over appliances and […]

First there was the ethanol bubble, then the solar bubble and now the electric car investment bubble. Could the energy storage bubble be next? I think it is a possibility. Cleantech investors are clearly focused on the space and the potential of breakthrough technology is whetting their appetites. Talk to just about any green VC […]

Cisco Systems Inc. said Wednesday it plans to acquire privately held LineSider Technologies Inc. of Danvers, Mass. LineSider develops network management software designed to help organizations deploy cloud computing infrastructure. Cisco said the acquisition will allow it to more rapidly provision network services. PRESS RELEASE SAN JOSE, Calif. – Dec. 1, 2010 – Cisco today […]