Briac

* NY Times reports that the SEC is investigating whether civil charges should be brought against the private equity firms that paid "finder's fees" to Hank Morris, in order to get access to NY Common Retirement Fund. Seems like SEC is mostly concerned with if the firms disclosed the Morris relationship, which will be hard to prove one way or the other, given that the forms were "lost" by Morris' alleged co-conspirator David Loglisci. I wonder if the SEC also has the authority to look into how political contributions affected fund commitments. If so, it should do so. * Jim Cramer says he was set up by Jon Stewart. * Pete Lattman identifies the PE firms that offered to help Skype's founders buy their ex-company back from eBay. * Morning Call: U.S. futures lower as investors digest Goldman issue plan, London up in early trading, European shares rise, the Nikkei slips on autos and Hong Kong soars to four-month high. * Matt Asay: It's time for payback on VC open-source investments. * Joe Weisenthal live-blogged this morning's Goldman Sachs earnings call. * Speaking of Goldman, Felix Salmon wants no part of that $5b capital raise -- saying that the cure for Wall Street's ills is to get smaller, not larger.

It's been a busy day for venture capital firm Accel Partners. First, partner Jim Breyer agreed to join Dell's board of directors. Just a few hours later, Accel was identified as one of the investors helping StumbleUpon's founders to repurchase the company from eBay. So I spent a few moments on the phone with Breyer, and here's an edited transcript: Why join the Dell board of directors? Breyer: We are very big believers at Accel in founders becoming more and more important over time -- not just at the inception of the business. The very best companies are led by founders for a long period of time, and Michael Dell has obviously done so many of the right things in the right that that he is a model for entrepreneurial founders that are building their businesses. Michael and I spent time together at the World Economic Forum in Davos this past January, and had a series of conversations. I went back and spoke to many of our entrepreneurs and my partners. The feeling was unaninous that working with Michael and Dell would be very valuable for the portfolio companies. We strongly believe that there are still enormous opportunities in some of the platforms being created today, like social networks and cloud computing and storage. Dell, in many ways, sits at the intersection of those things.

Forty U.S.-based venture capital firms raised just $4.3 billion in the first quarter of 2009, according to data released this morning by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association. The downside is that this represents the lowest number of funds to raise capital since Q3 2003. The upside is that the actual amount of capital raised was higher than the $3.5 billion raised in Q4 2008 (slight solace, but solace nonetheless). Just three of the funds were first-timers, while the largest raiser was August Capital ($650m for Fund V). In a prepared statement, NVCA president Mark Heesen said: "First, the majority of venture firms are not actively fundraising at this time because they have either recently raised a fund

* The Boston Globe turned down an early opportunity to invest in Monster.com. Ouch! Says Monster founder Jeff Taylor: ""The Globe is as important to me as anyone. I never created this business with any malicious intent." * Valero keeps betting on ethanol production, in part by acquiring the assets of bankrupt ethanol companies like VersaSun. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London and European markets still on Easter holiday, the Nikkei dips and Hong Kong shares climb 3 percent. * Skype's co-founders want to buy the company back from eBay, and are seeking private equity backing to do so. Who are we thinking? Elevation? Silver Lake? * U.S. Shipping Partners sues The Blackstone Group. No, it's not about pirates. * India's Tata Group is launching its first private equity fund this year, with a VC effort to follow in 2010. * Moody's and selective use of the First Amendment. * Obama's Economic Recovery Board has yet to hold a formal meeting. I guess it's hard to get Paul Volcker, John Doerr, Mark Gallogly and David Swensen in the same room at the same time.

Highland Capital Partners has begun raising its eighth venture fund, with a target of around $400 million. That’s pretty large for a typical VC fund, but small for a firm whose past two vehicles came in at around $800 million (it also raised $300m for a consumer-focused fund). So, what gives? The basic answer seems to be that Highland might be putting common sense above fee-mongering. I know, they might get kicked out of the club (at which point they can just retreat to Wyc’s Lexus Club in the Boston Garden). Here’s what I mean: Both fund-raising and deal-making volumes are deflated right now, due to things like LP liquidity constraints and decreased valuations. So Highland will raise less now and, if the environment improves, go back out for a larger fund sooner than it normally would. If times stay tough, then it’s sized appropriately for a normal investment cycle.

* Silicon Valley VC Confidence Index: A small increase after five straight quarters of decline. * Judge Richard Posner last Friday rejected Equity Office shareholder claims that they were ill-served by the company's sale to Blackstone Group. The Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Forum examines the decision. * Morning Call: U.S. futures indicate more April showers, European shares dragged down by banks and commodities, London down in early trading, the Nikkei loses 2.7% and Hong Kong falls 3 percent. * Cleantech companies announced more than $115 million in new VC funding yesterday (Fisker, SW Windpower, OPX, etc.) -- the same day that Merrill Lynch cleantech analyst Steven Milunovich lowered his sector rating. * What interview questions did D.E. Shaw ask Larry Summers? * Hedge funds gained 1.8% in March. * Is Microsoft embracing its inner NERD?

* So much for "private" investment: Fifteen state pension funds have talked to the FDIC about their ability to participate in the PPIP (i.e., toxic asset dump). They include New Jersey, California, Florida and Pennsylvania. * Scott Kirsner: How a software company's recent layoffs unfolded on Twitter, with some people even getting job offers. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point upwards, European shares rise in early trading, the Nikkei keeps gaining and Hong Kong hits another 3-month high. * Hexion vs. Huntsman, Part Deux. * Sounds like IBM and Sun have broken up. It's always about the money... * What Obama could learn from Jet Blue. * The Economist: "Some of this cheating has been of an old familiar sort: building Ponzi schemes and bribing politicians to secure favourable deals. There are greyer areas, in which the rich hide their cash in tax havens and get tax law written to their advantage—witness the indefensible treatment of private-equity profits." Let me repeat: THE ECONOMIST!

* James Surowiecki on the furor over the Obama Administration's seeming double standard for Detroit and Wall Street: "There is an obvious explanation: it’s relatively easy to see how the banks can return to profitability, while it’s much harder to see how the automakers can become profitable again, at least in the absence of the kind of radical restructuring you’d get through bankruptcy or some kind of deal with the bondholders." * Mark Reiboldt: Is venture capital a fading asset class? * Bill Gross: The future of investing, revolution or evolution? * Morning Call: U.S. futures fade, European shares dropped by falling oil and bleak econ data, the Nikkei rises on U.S. auto woes and Hong Kong dips on telco drops. * Conficker is turning out to be a dud. * VC-backed exits were hard to come by in Q1. Zero IPOs, and just 56 acquisitions.

* Platinum Equity has agreed to buy The San Diego Union-Tribune. Even if the price was extremely low, what does Platinum know that the rest of us don't? Or, more to the point, what does Platinum know that Avista Capital didn't, when it bought out the (now bankrupt) Minneapolis Star-Tribune a couple of years back. Or that the PE buyers of the (now bankrupt) Philly Inquirer didn't know? Etcetera, etcetera. * Forget Grand Theft Auto. The must-have videogames of the season are Layoff and Bailout. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point to lower open, European shares pare early gains, the Nikkei and Hong Kong both dip. * Should ad buyers follow a VC model? * Joe Weisenthal: Aggressive acquistions won't help boost tech stocks. * Some Catalonian teens capture an amazing space image with just $75 and a balloon. NASA should recruit them.

* Call off Depression 2.0: The U.S. economy shows signs of digging out of its hole. * Ed Liddy: Our mission is to safeguard AIG's future. Remember, he's not just AIG's CEO. He's also a partner on leave from Clayton Dubilier & Rice. * Morning Call: U.S. futures down despite news that IBM plans to buy Sun Microsystems, European shares up early, the Nikkei hits a five-week closing high and Hong Kong jumps 1.9 percent. * Glenn Hutchins: What comes after the panic? * Dennis Berman: Private equity's golden age will be remembered for the jobs it cost, not for the ones it created. * How to tweet your way out of a job. * Portfolio gets political: "Sarah Palin says she’s building a $40 billion gas pipeline, which even President Obama wants. The only problem: It isn’t there. And it’s her fault."