Steer Clear of Corporate Venture Capital Pitfalls

No one needs to be told how crucial innovation is to a business’s survival in a constantly morphing landscape. Corporate venture capital (CVC) is one of three main innovation mechanisms that large companies now deploy, along with internal R&D and innovation M&As. In recent years, CVC units have become increasingly important across geographical borders, industries, and technology sectors, helping companies to stay nimble and forward-looking — and to create new growth engines. In 2022, global CVCs invested almost $100 billion in about 5,000 investment rounds of VC-backed companies. Over 100 new CVCs were created that year alone. READ MORE

VCs will get liquidity in 2024 from the secondary market, not IPOs

If you asked a bunch of VCs at the end of 2023 if the IPO market would finally open again in 2024, most of them would have said yes. We know because TechCrunch surveyed more than 40 of them in December and that’s what they said.

Yet, there are two weeks left in Q1, still no completed major IPOs, and very few in the works. Reddit is the only big-time IPO far enough along to be priced. Otherwise, there is just speculation on who might go public, with very few public SEC documents. For instance, there’s Shein who reportedly filed a confidential S-1 last fall, or car rental marketplace Turo who is still waiting on the sidelines after filing its initial S-1 in 2022. READ MORE

In Silicon Valley, Venture Capital Meets a Generational Shift

Reid Hoffman, a founder of LinkedIn and a longtime venture capitalist, is no longer the public face of the venture firm Greylock. Michael Moritz, a force at Sequoia Capital for 38 years, officially separated from the investment firm last summer. And Jeff Jordan, a top investor at Andreessen Horowitz for 12 years, left in May.

They are among the most recognizable of a generation of Silicon Valley investors who are getting out of venture capital at the end of a lucrative 15-year upswing for the industry. READ MORE

The Rise Of The Solopreneur

We’re officially in the era of the solopreneur, marking the next evolution of early-stage businesses.

These solopreneurs are a one-person show, operating and managing a business independently, handling all aspects from product development to marketing to sales. And, solopreneurship is skyrocketing globally, thanks to tech advancements that make running a business smoother and more cost-effective. READ MORE

A firm that helps kids with autism grew till it had 265 clinics. Then private equity took over.

Like many parents of autistic children, Misty Richard was thrilled in 2017 to find a clinic close to her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that could help her son, Javier Bautista, known as J.J. The facility was operated by the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, a nationwide company that had 265 locations at its peak. Known as CARD, the center specialized in Applied Behavior Analysis, an individualized program that uses reinforcement strategies to help autistic children cope, learn and communicate. READ MORE

How private equity conquered America

Private equity firms are buying up the US economy and stripping it for parts. From healthcare to education, utilities, and more, massive firms like Blackstone and the Carlyle Group have acquired vast holdings across critical industries essential to the health and well-being of everyday people. Instead of seeking to make these ventures more profitable, private equity firms are more likely to orchestrate to bleed their assets for short-term gains—even if those assets are univerisites, hospitals, or nursing homes. Gretchen Morgens0n, author of These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America, returns to The Chris Hedges Report to discuss how private equity came to hold America hostage. READ MORE

Three Ways Venture Capital Will Evolve In 2024

Last year was a challenge for many in private capital. TechCrunch reported that total venture investment in the third quarter of 2023 was $73 billion, falling more than $25 billion from a year earlier and 65% from the record highs set in the fourth quarter of 2021.

As investor focus has shifted from companies that pursued growth-at-all-costs to those with solid traction and a path to profitability, fewer deals met the new threshold for investor appetite. But things are shifting again. The promise of interest rate cuts in 2024 is offering a glimmer of hope, at the same time that many of the startups that last raised at the peak of the market will soon need to raise again. READ MORE

The AI Gold Rush: How Startups Can Stake Their Claim In A Competitive Frontier

Following the debut of ChatGPT, it didn’t take long for AI companies to flood the business landscape. But while AI startups successfully raised $50 billion worth of investment in 2023, there was a clear decline in investments by the end of the year, indicating the initial investment buzz was wearing off.

Rather than casting wide nets of investments over the space, investors are now seeking stronger market fits. To succeed in this new age of AI maturation, entrepreneurs need to focus on building moats — finding unique ways to build a defense perimeter around their offering to fend off competitors or, at the very least, make it difficult to compete with them. READ MORE

Why some investors are charting a different course on AI

There's no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to venture capital investments in the booming artificial intelligence sector.

State of play: Large language model companies are still making headlines for raising piles of cash at eye-popping valuations, but it also appears a growing number of VCs are slinging some of their checks in other directions.

The big picture: At Upfront Ventures' annual confab in Los Angeles this week, a number of top VCs took the stage to share their thoughts on investing in AI. READ MORE

The AI Gold Rush: How Startups Can Stake Their Claim In A Competitive Frontier

Following the debut of ChatGPT, it didn’t take long for AI companies to flood the business landscape. But while AI startups successfully raised $50 billion worth of investment in 2023, there was a clear decline in investments by the end of the year, indicating the initial investment buzz was wearing off.

Rather than casting wide nets of investments over the space, investors are now seeking stronger market fits. To succeed in this new age of AI maturation, entrepreneurs need to focus on building moats — finding unique ways to build a defense perimeter around their offering to fend off competitors or, at the very least, make it difficult to compete with them. READ MORE

The Difference Between Startup Valuation And Round Pricing

On Aug. 20, 2011, Marc Andreessen published the definitive manifesto for a generation of technologists and investors, with “Why Software Is Eating the World.” It kicked off an era of immense enthusiasm for software startups, coinciding with a period of historically low interest rates.

The pace of investment accelerated over the next decade, and without sifting too finely through recent history we can reflect back on a quote from Andreessen’s essay:

“Too much of the debate is still around financial valuation, as opposed to the underlying intrinsic value of the best of Silicon Valley’s new companies.” READ MORE