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Archive for the ‘Board Of Intellectual Capital’ Category

Firefly Winks Out As Cleantech Shakeout Continues

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, tagged , , , , , , on March 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here is an article from Venture Capital Dispatch.

“The latest sign of a shakeout in the clean-technology sector is news that battery company Firefly Energy Inc. is shutting down after failing to raise a $20 million round of fresh capital. VentureWire has the story. The company, whose backers include cleantech powerhouse Khosla Ventures, developed a technology for replacing conventional lead plates in batteries with carbon-based foam. Expect more such stories as companies that raised capital when VC enthusiasm for cleantech was boundless find that the bar is now much higher.

Venture capitalists can keep breathing easy on the regulatory front as the latest effort to rein in the financial industry largely exempts them. Revised legislation submitted by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, requires hedge funds with more than $100 million of assets under management to register with regulators, but still exempts private equity and venture funds, VentureWire reports. Of course the game isn’t over yet, but Dodd’s bill is easier on private equity than the House and Obama administration versions and, as anyone following the health-care debate knows, crafting a bill that can pass muster in the Senate is the hardest battle.

Across the Atlantic, similar regulatory matters continue to provoke controversy, as European finance ministers delay plans to vote on a directive regulating hedge funds, private equity and venture capital investment. The proposal has the potential to decimate the venture capital industry in the European Union, critics say.”

Read the full article here.

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Do Companies Like Facebook Still Need To Go Public?

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, tagged , , , , , , , on March 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here is an article from The Big Money.

“That’s not the frame of this insightful Wall Street Journal story, but it could be. Journal reporter Ben Worthen flags the widening gap between cash-rich tech companies—Cisco (CSCO), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and Oracle (ORCL)—and everybody else. By keeping tens of billions of cash on their balance sheets, Worthen writes, “these companies can afford to take risks that smaller companies can’t at a time when the economy remains fragile.”

This notion is so far outside of conventional wisdom that it can’t even get in the same room. For decades we’ve been told that the nimble startup would run circles around the corporate dinosaur. But Worthen’s piece is a great reminder that a crucial way for companies to obtain and maintain their advantage in rapidly developing fields is through acquisition. And in order to make the right acquisitions, you need currency (cash is best, but stock is also a valid currency under the right conditions).

This issue is too often ignored in discussions of a Facebook IPO, which the company’s investors have publicly ruled out for 2010. There is a line of thinking that says that Facebook is already flush with cash, and since it is now cash-flow positive, it ought to be able to stay that way. Other tech startups, too, argue that open-source technology and cloud computing keep their costs substantially lower than those of their ‘90s counterparts and therefore they don’t need to go public.”

Read the complete article here.

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U.S., U.K. Move Closer to Losing Rating, Moody’s Says

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, tagged , , , , on March 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here is an article from Bloomberg.

“The U.S. and the U.K. have moved “substantially” closer to losing their AAA credit ratings as the cost of servicing their debt rose, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The governments of the two economies must balance bringing down their debt burdens without damaging growth by removing fiscal stimulus too quickly, Pierre Cailleteau, managing director of sovereign risk at Moody’s in London, said in a telephone interview.

Under the ratings company’s so-called baseline scenario, the U.S. will spend more on debt service as a percentage of revenue this year than any other top-rated country except the U.K., and will be the biggest spender from 2011 to 2013, Moody’s said today in a report.

“We expect the situation to further deteriorate in terms of the key ratings metrics before they start stabilizing,” Cailleteau said. “This story is not going to stop at the end of the year. There is inertia in the deterioration of credit metrics.”

The pound fell against the dollar and the euro for the first time in three days, depreciating 0.8 percent to $1.5090, while the dollar index snapped a four-day drop, adding 0.3 percent to 90.075.

The U.S. government will spend about 7 percent of its revenue servicing debt in 2010 and almost 11 percent in 2013, according to the baseline scenario of moderate economic recovery, fiscal adjustments in line with government plans and a gradual increase in interest rates, Moody’s said.

Under its adverse scenario, which assumes 0.5 percent lower growth each year, less fiscal adjustment and a stronger interest-rate shock, the U.S. will be paying about 15 percent of revenue in interest payments, more than the 14 percent limit that would lead to a downgrade to AA, Moody’s said.

U.K. Debt Service

The U.K. is likely to spend 7 percent of revenue servicing debt this year and 9 percent in 2013, rising to almost 12 percent under the adverse scenario, Moody’s said.

Financing costs above 10 percent put countries outside of the AAA category into a so-called debt reversibility band, the size of which depends on the ability and willingness of nations to reduce their debt burden by raising taxes or reducing spending. The U.S. has a 4 percentage-point band, while the U.K. has a 3 percentage-point band.

“Those economies have been caught in a crisis while they are highly leveraged,” Cailleteau said, referring to the level of private and public debt as a percentage of gross domestic product. “They have to make the required adjustment to stabilize markets without choking off growth.”

The U.S. would be the “most affected” under the adverse scenario, as the only country that would face a downgrade, Cailleteau said. The company’s baseline scenario assumes that all current AAA sovereigns will keep their ratings over the next three years, he said.

‘Warning Shot’

“On balance, we believe that the ratings of all large Aaa governments remain well positioned, although their ‘distance-to- downgrade’ has in all cases substantially diminished,” Moody’s said in the report.

None of the current Aaa rated countries are likely to lose their ratings, said Peter Chatwell, a fixed-income strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in London.

“This report is a warning shot to governments, setting out the line that they can’t cross with their budgets,” he said.

While the U.S. is likely to benefit from economic growth more than other AAA nations, weak public consumption is likely to weigh on GDP this year, the ratings company said.

“The pattern of growth and the high rate of unemployment raise the question of how strong the recovery will be going forward,” Moody’s said. “The ability of the U.S. economy to grow more rapidly and, therefore, for government revenues to contribute to fiscal consolidation, will have to depend on a revival in the growth of consumption.”

Read the full article here.

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2nd Annual Middleberg/SNCR Survey of Media in the Wired World Published by Middleberg Communications, Inc., Marketwire and the Society for New Communications Research

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Don Middleberg, Founder and Principal of Middleberg Communications, LLC is a member of Gerbsman Partners Board of Intellectual Capital.

Journalists’ Use of Social Media Is Surging, According to 2nd Annual Middleberg/SNCR Survey of Media in the Wired World – Nearly 70% of Journalists Surveyed Are Using Social Networking Sites to Assist Reporting

Use of social media tools by journalists is surging, growing in double-digit percentages in some cases. This is among the key findings of the 2nd Annual Middleberg/SNCR Survey of Media in the Wired World, conducted by the Society for New Communications Research team of Jen McClure, SNCR founder and president, and SNCR Senior Fellow, Don Middleberg. The study was made possible in part by Marketwire.

Major objectives of the study included an examination of:

* The impact of new media and communications tools on the way journalists work
* Online resources and social media that are considered the most valuable tools and how they are being used by journalists
* The frequency of use and preferences for a variety new media and communications tools and technologies
* Attitudes of journalists toward the impact and value of these new tools and trends in journalism

Another goal of the study was to provide insights as to how public relations professionals can understand these changes in order to work more effectively with journalists, and provide more value to the journalistic community.

Three hundred forty one journalists participated in the survey. Top findings include:

* Nearly 70% of journalists surveyed are using social networking sites, a 28% increase since the results of the 2008 Survey of Media in the Wired World were released
* 48% are using Twitter or other microblogging sites and tools, a 25% increase since 2008
* 66% are reading blogs
* 48% are viewing videos online
* 25% are listening to podcasts
* Nearly 80% of journalists surveyed believe that bloggers have become important opinion-shapers in recent years
* 91% of journalists surveyed agree that new media and communications tools and technologies are enhancing journalism to some extent

When asked to share their thoughts about how social media is changing the profession of journalism, participating journalists provided a wide range of responses. One respondent answered, “Social media is changing the profession. It has enhanced the dialog between audience and writer and expanded the scope of those who can participate in disseminating news.” Another commented, “It is full of peril and promise.”

“This study indicates that there is now a large and growing percentage of journalists who view social media and the participation by the public in the journalistic process to be a necessary, and in most cases, positive step in the evolution of journalism,” said Jen McClure, founder and president, Society for New Communications Research. “They understand the future of journalism to be a highly participatory, collaborative and dynamic process.”

SNCR Senior Fellow Don Middleberg, CEO of Middleberg Communications, added, “While companies are increasingly paying more attention to social media for revenue generation, employee productivity and enhanced consumer loyalty, many do not yet understand the true scope and depth of these new communications tools for journalistic usage. As a result, some companies are losing share of voice among journalists to their competitors. Social media presents a new opportunity to communicate and develop relationships with a whole new generation of journalists through these new channels of choice.”

“The definitions and roles of journalists and public relations practitioners have changed significantly over the past few years,” commented Paolina Milana, EVP, Marketing/Editorial Operations/Media Relations at Marketwire, corporate sponsor of the study. “Social media is immediate, it is accessible, and it has irrevocably changed the relationship between makers, reporters and consumers of news. The more that all journalistic participants understand each other’s needs, how they use various media channels at their disposal, and how they want to work with PR professionals, the better the entire communication process will be.”

About Middleberg Communications

Middleberg Communications is a full-service, independently owned public relations agency with specialized expertise in the consumer, corporate and financial services, media, and technology markets. The agency focuses on delivering tangible results that help clients grow their businesses. Hallmarks of the firm are smart, creative strategic thinking; targeted media relations; and unbridled enthusiasm for clients’ business goals, all supported by good old-fashioned hard work. For more information, visit http://www.middlebergcommunications.com.

About Gerbsman Partners

Gerbsman Partners focuses on maximizing enterprise value for stakeholders and shareholders in under-performing, under-capitalized and under-valued companies and their Intellectual Property. Since 2001, Gerbsman Partners has been involved in maximizing value for 60 Technology, Life Science and Medical Device companies and their Intellectual Property,, through its proprietary “Date Certain M&A Process” and has restructured/terminated over $790 million of real estate executory contracts and equipment lease/sub-debt obligations. Since inception, Gerbsman Partners has been involved in over $2.3 billion of financings, restructurings and M&A transactions.

Gerbsman Partners has offices and strategic alliances in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Alexandria, VA, San Francisco, Europe and Israel.

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Patents’ growing role in battle of mobile

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here is a article from SFgate.com.

“Apple’s patent lawsuit last week against Taiwanese smart phone manufacturer HTC was just one complaint aimed at a rival trying to outdo the iPhone.

But the case shines a new light on the growing use of technology patents to mark turf and battle competitors in the fast-growing field of mobile.

Experts are unclear on Apple’s ultimate intent in suing HTC, whether it’s to explicitly stamp out what it calls theft by HTC or to sound a warning to the entire smart phone industry – including newfound rival Google – that it could be coming for them next. But analysts and observers agree that intellectual property litigation in this arena is heating up, and consumers could eventually be affected by the growing friction.

“I’m seeing more, larger patent cases in the last couple years,” said Paul Andre, a partner with law firm King & Spaulding. “It does appear that companies that were more hesitant to file lawsuits in the past are filing today.”

For years, patents have been a way of life for technology companies, which amassed them as a defense against competitors. There have been eras of heavy litigation such as during the early personal computer years and occasional clashes of behemoths such as Intel vs. AMD.

But in most cases, corporations have been content to avoid using their patents in draining battles that can stretch for years. Apple, for example, hasn’t filed a major patent suit in many years.

But the rise of smart phones has touched off a new land rush as companies jockey for position. Before Apple sued HTC, Nokia sued Apple in October, prompting a countersuit from Apple. Apple was also sued last year for its multitouch technology by a Taiwanese firm. Kodak sued Apple and BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion in January for camera phone patents.

“It’s economics. There’s a ton of money flowing into the mobile space; it’s the new platform,” said Jason Schultz, director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley. “Laptops, many think, are a thing of the past. Anytime you have a platform shift, you’re going to have a lot of lawsuits over who owns the platform.”

Schultz said previous cell phone patent suits have focused largely on hardware. But with smart phones evolving with sophisticated operating systems, companies are finding a whole new set of patents to tap.

In Apple’s case against HTC, 14 of the patents deal with user interface and six are concerned with the lower-level operating system.

Protecting their turf

Clement Roberts, a founding law partner at Durie Tangri, said companies seem to be turning to patents to protect their territory and keep competitors on their toes. In the case of Apple, he said the company is probably singling out HTC to eliminate a more vulnerable competitor but also give the industry pause as it tries to follow in Apple’s footsteps.

“If you just cause everyone in the industry to become aware of eight to 10 patents and everyone has to design around them, you lengthen the product (development) time frame for everyone else,” Roberts said. “That can have an enormous indirect benefit to Apple and you can earn back the cost of the litigation tenfold.”

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