Family Learning Center

Posts Tagged ‘Doomsday’

2010 VC market outlook: No cash for clunkers

(Editor’s note: Don Rainey is a general partner at Grotech Ventures and author of the  “VC in DC” blog. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

Throughout the financial crisis of 2008-09, most venture capitalists wisely advised startups to hunker down. The best bet, they said, was to lower expenses and, above all else, avoid fundraising in 2009, since all eyes were on 2010 as the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. 

The advice, as it turns out, was somewhat short-sighted.

We are now 18 months past the height of the financial crisis. Back then, it didn’t require a doomsday-oriented PowerPoint presentation to know that difficult times lay ahead. The same, frustratingly, can be said today. This is a different capital environment, but it’s not necessarily any better. It’s just different – and it may be worse.

Because so many companies avoided fundraising last year, there is currently a glut of companies that likely need cash. Accordingly, the competition is fierce, and it includes many companies that didn’t grow much (if at all) in 2009. Many companies seeking funding in 2010 are (or soon will be) out of money, and as a result they’re in poor negotiating positions. Even good companies are fighting for one of history’s toughest investment pools.

For all the back and forth, thrust and parry, and plain old bitching by, between and about entrepreneurs and their investors, we all are sailing in the same boat. Most investors were once entrepreneurs and many entrepreneurs will become investors.  And, together, we are facing a great shakeout at a time when the country needs the innovation and the job growth that startups provide to the economy. It demands that we, as VCs, exercise great caution in identifying companies to back or continue backing in 2010.

In this environment, there is no cash for clunkers unless, of course, we’re talking about the government. The downward pressures of a year like 2009 push good companies (meaning ones that would have done well or reasonably well in a typical year) and the bad ones (meaning ones that wouldn’t have done well even without the downward environmental variable) into the same pool.

You could argue they’re always in the same pool and that only the great companies stand out. That’s true. It’s just truer right now. And distinguishing the two is the difficult task faced by VCs.

If your startup needs cash in 2010, present the facts to potential investors without apology and don’t gloss over the need. You may not get the deal you had hoped for, but you will keep your dream alive.

Look for investors that have complementary portfolio companies, which heighten the chances of an exit via merger or acquisition. And if you’ve previously secured initial funding, you’ll always do better staying with your current investors, since they have already supported the vision.

VCs, in the meantime, need to look forward, not back. Companies need to be judged, above all else, on their potential to succeed in the future. The past is important, but as all good investors know, past performance does not guarantee future results.  The companies that are most likely to succeed are the ones that did the most with the least in 2009. They typically have a nimble business model, a clear vision for success and an obvious market need – and those qualities should be at the fore of any 2010 investment discussion.

Photo by shawn.miller via Flickr

Tags: Venture Capital

Companies: Grotech Ventures

Read the whole story…

Evolving robots navigate a maze, help each other, plot descruction of mankind
You’ll say the whole Robot Apocalypse meme is played out. We say it’s your lack of focus that’ll eventually be the downfall of society. Gurus at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems in the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne have been working on “evolving robots” for quite some time, but the latest breakthrough is easily the most astounding (and in turn, terrifying) of all. According to new research that was just made public, a gaggle of robots programmed to use Darwinian selection in order to learn, evolve and mutate have now successfully moved sans collisions through a maze and helped each other push tokens around in order to achieve a common goal. Moreover, some of the creatures even displayed early signs of a predatory-prey relationship, which effectively assures mankind that these cute little learners will one day assimilate to rule the world however they please. Keep laughing if you must — it’ll probably make the painful sting of reality a bit easier to take when Doomsday rolls around.

Continue reading Evolving robots navigate a maze, help each other, plot descruction of mankind

Evolving robots navigate a maze, help each other, plot descruction of mankind originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashdot  |  PLoS Biology  | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…

Physicists calculate the end of Moore’s Law, clearly don’t believe in Moore’s Law

If you’re looking for pundits with an end date for Moore’s Law, you don’t have to look far. You also don’t have to look far to find a gaggle of loonies who just knew the world was ending in Y2K, so make of that what you will. The latest duo looking to call the demise of the processor mantra that has held true for two score comes from Boston University, with physicists Lev Levitin and Tommaso Toffoli asserting that a quantum limit would be achieved in around 75 to 80 years. Scott Aaronson, an attention-getter at MIT, expects that very same limit to be hit in just 20 years. Of course, there’s plenty of technobabble to explain the what’s and how’s behind all this, but considering that the brainiacs of the world can’t even agree with Gordon Moore’s own doomsday date, we’re choosing to plug our ears and keep on believin’ for now. Bonus video after the break.

[Via Slashdot]

Continue reading Physicists calculate the end of Moore’s Law, clearly don’t believe in Moore’s Law

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Science

Physicists calculate the end of Moore’s Law, clearly don’t believe in Moore’s Law originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…