Quick Bytes – 1 Sep: A New Trick for Reluctant Tech Unicorns and More

A look at the most interesting startup and business-related news stories of the week.

How Sexism Works in Silicon Valley

Quick Byte

 “Women have to pull up a chair and sit at the conference-room table rather than clinging to the edges of the room because no one gets to the corner office by sitting on the side.”

The Full Story

Less than a year later, I would take those words to heart. I had been working for six years at the Silicon Valley firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as a junior partner and chief of staff for managing partner John Doerr. Read the Full Article Here

Show Authors More Love

Quick Byte

With “claps” being introduced earlier in the month as a better way to show article/author appreciation and a paid Partner Program being launched, it would be interesting to see if this form of paid content can be a legitimate alternative to advertising focused media.

The Full Story

Remember that time you saw a really amazing live show? You couldn’t help but jump out of your seat and clap so hard your hands felt raw afterwards. Or when you heard a great lecture or stirring speech, and felt connected to the people around you by joining in with their applause? Read the Full Article Here

New Trick for Reluctant Tech Unicorns – Bring the IPO to Them

Quick Byte

Is this alternative route to public ownership what tech startups have been waiting for?

The Full Story

A group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs plans to launch an investment vehicle that will offer a richly valued technology startup an alternative route to public ownership. Read the Full Article Here

Is Social Capital Trying to End-Run Banks By Creating IPO 2.0?

Quick Byte

“Venture is good, but venture firms are not really well built to make successful companies,” said Palihapitiya in an interview in May. “We want to look less like an investment firm and more like a company with capital as a service.”

The Full Story

The investment firm Social Capital filed an S-1 form today to create what appears to be a financial vehicle that could allow startups to go public without the help of banks. Read the Full Article

Saying No 100 Times a Day

Quick Byte

Founders need to understand what it means to be a VC investor and what the job entails. Quickly analyzing an email, pitch deck or phone convo and making a decision is what they have to do every day, it’s their job. If they don’t do it quickly they cannot see as many deals each day/week.

The Full Story

Given my role in the world, I say no a lot.
I get hundreds of unsolicited emails a day, often asking me to get together, invest, or look at something. Lots of VCs and execs who I know simply ignore and don’t respond to these emails. I’ve always tried to at least respond to them unless they are clearly a mass email. Read the Full Article

Resource Constraints

Quick Byte

”I believe that excess capital makes companies weak and unfocused.

I believe limited capital makes companies strong and focused.”

The Full Story

Most of the companies I work with tell me that they are resource constrained and do not have enough capital and engineers to do everything they want to do.

I tell them that is a blessing not a curse.They look at me like I am crazy and rationalize it as me being an investor and not an operator. Read the Full Article