by Brian Solis on December 23, 2008
by Brian Solis
Recession? What recession? The IPO seems to be making a rare appearance.
According to TechCrunch, FriendFinder Networks, formerly Penthouse Media Group, has filed to go public.
Here’s the S-1.
Renaissance Capital out of Russia is navigating the process. The company hopes to raise ~$460 million which earmarked to pay off the nearly half billion dollars in current debt .
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by Brian Solis on October 8, 2008
by Brian Solis
Panic leads to the further declination and eradication of progress.
Yes the market is slipping.
Yes, the financial market is resetting.
But the U.S economy, actually, the global economy, is a yo-yo on an escalator. It might go up and down, but eventually, it’s always going up.
Those who do not proactively contribute to the economy’s escalation are taking away from its ability to instill confidence and rally support.
So instead of running into a cave, shaking your head in disbelief, crying aloud, or scaring the sh!t out of everyone, ask yourself, “what are you going to do about it?”
VCs are calling for startups to cut expenses.
Entrepreneurs hear that directive clearly as, “cut expenses.”
But, which expenses do they cut?
Here’s a simple answer…Don’t cut or eliminate the expenses that strategically and cost effectively help you and your business engage customers and also the respective influencers who reach them and their social graph.
This is the time for entrepreneurs to realize that this is their opportunity to shine – especially if they have built something that businesses or real people can use to streamline their workflow or improve day-to-day routine.
In a down economy, tomorrow’s leaders are born today. It takes vision, focus, and a hyper-connected sense of what customers are looking for and where.
There is still valuable, helpful, and marketable innovation taking place today that people are willing to embrace.
Blindly cutting expenses for the sake of cutting expenses only fuels the hysteria.
VC’s, help educate the people running your investments on how to best navigate these rough waters.
Remember, any company that intentionally pulls itself from the radar screens of potential and existing customers will find itself on a direct path to the Dead Pool.
The question is, what are you going to do about it?
Sequoia Capital (via GigaOM)
Via Inquisitr
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by Brian Solis on March 18, 2008
by Brian Solis
With the market meltdown underway, or better described as a reset in the financial services industry, people are crying that the sky is falling and predicting that the current tech bubble is about to burst.
Wait, we’re in a bubble?
While the amount of VC money available and deals are steadily rising, we’re still not seeing anything that would resemble a bubble or a resession in the tech sector quite yet.
Most deals are still modest.
No IPOs to really point to.
Although we were set for a scare, our industry barometer, Google (NASDQ:GOOG), is rebounding nicely.
However, there are some interesting things in play that could set the stage for some milestone exits. And, what happens from there is anyone’s guess.
For example, I was watching the news about Bear Stearns, an 80-year old American financial institution, selling for only $236 million. While tech hasn’t necessarily felt the burn of the current or impending recession (however you want to look at it), we’re certainly not teeing things up in a way that make sense to the rest of the world.
Just to give you some perspective:
Widget phenomenon Slide is rumored to have a $500 million valuation.
Ning’s valuation is reported to be $214 million.
Meebo is looking to raise $25-30 million, which could put its valuation somewhere between $200 – $250 million.
We are all well aware of Facebook’s whopping $15 billion valuation.
What’s the exit for these companies? Acquisitions or IPOs of course. Media and also tech companies are keeping a watchful eye on these and many other companies as prime acquisition targets to transcend their existing business into the new economy.
But what’s different this time over Web 1.0 is critical for analyzing what lies ahead for the tech sector.
Companies are using the money to build businesses and communities with many already generating revenue. The focus seems more about strengthening the foundation for scale rather than cashing out.
That’s an important point that reminds everyone that we are still feeling vulnerable and humbled from the last go-round (hopefully anyway).
There are also reports that predict that social media will go unaffected by the recession as companies learn and realize that their marketing and advertising dollars are stretched effectively in social networks over traditional media.
So, for now, it seems like this time, the recession is “theirs” and not “ours.”
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by Brian Solis on January 28, 2008
by Brian Solis
Al Gore-backed Current TV is making a run at a $100 million IPO. Wow
The Emmy award-winning network launched in 2005 banked 2007 annual revenue of $63.7 million, which is up 68% from $37.8 million in 2006.
Current is reportedly the only 24/7 cable and satellite television network and Internet site produced and programmed in collaboration with its audience. Current connects young adults with what is going on in their world, from their perspective, in their own voices.
With the launch of Current.com, a fully integrated web and TV platform, viewers can participate in shaping an ongoing stream of news and information that is compelling, authentic and relevant to them.
I ran into Al Gore at Paragon in San Francisco last year, which is down the street from Current’s HQ. He actually stopped to talk for a bit. That was nice.
Back to the IPO.
The proposed IPO is set for NASDAQ under the ticker “CRTM.” No word on timing or shares yet.
Current is reaching 51 million homes, of which, 41 million are in the US.
More at PaidContent
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by victorkaramalis on October 11, 2007
by Victor Karamalis
Yesterday (10-Oct 07), Om Malik of GigaOm showed an interesting graphic of Facebook’s traffic dropping using Comscore’s information for the first time since February 2007 as shown here on Compete.com. Although this may be too premature to say that all those Facebooks API’s have lost traction, there could be a bunch of factors involved. So, before everyone stops to make Facebook Apps and jump over to other social networks, let us see if it is just an off month with some plausible explanations.
First of all, Facebook has been the social network of choice for most undergraduate students. They have just started the school year. In addition, people that have been away from work for the month of August had to play catch up in the office in September. Also, Compete’s numbers only focus on unique visitors from the United States. This may be the case as well for Comscore’s Media Metrix Service. As of this post, information concerning Comscore’s metrics could not be obtained. Global traffic needs to be taken into consideration (just like global markets in the financial space).
Let’s just make the most obvious point. This has only been for one month. Although Om’s popped out that spreadsheet from his Fedora seems scary for Facebook with more than a nine percent decline (he will contact FB tomorrow on this if it’s true), the primary concern for Facebook is if the bottom line has been affected. This includes any large multi million dollar advertising deals with the likes of Microsoft as reported over the summer that are in the pipeline. Continued traffic decline could hurt future deals like this and potentially jeopardize its multi-billion dollar IPO valuation a few notches down. On the other hand, ambitious Facebook application developers still have over 24 million users to target. But, it is just too soon to get this feeling of panic.
