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Archive for the ‘Microsoft’ Category

Andreessen Horowitz To Win The Foursquare Investor Badge

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, boic, Business models, Economy, FaceBook, google, Investments, Market research, Microsoft, mobile 2.0, Social Networks, Strategy, Technology, Venture Capital, Web 2.0, Wireless 2.0, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here is a good Techcrunch article about Foursquare.

“A months long fundraising process for Foursquare is in its last stages, we’ve heard from multiple sources, and Andreessen Horowitz looks to be preparing to check-in to Foursquare to take an investor badge.

The company has delayed committing to new venture capital as they considered buyout offers – negotiations went deep with both Yahoo and Facebook, and possibly Microsoft. The Yahoo discussions ended weeks ago, and Facebook passed on an acquisition earlier this week, we’ve heard.

That means the company is raising that big new round of financing. And a slew of venture capitalists, including Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital and First Round Capital were all rumored to competing heavily for inclusion despite the $80 million or so valuation, say our sources.

Andreessen Horowitz, despite rumors that they were pulling out of discussions with the company weeks ago over concerns that too much information was leaking to the press, is the last venture capitalist standing. The fact that founding partner Marc Andreessen is on the board of directors of Facebook, a key partner or competitor of Foursquare, may be the factor that put them over the top.

Existing investors OATV and Union Square Ventures will also participate heavily in the new round, we’ve heard. In the meantime they’ve likely already loaned additional capital to the company.”

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Microsoft, Yahoo deal gets regulators’ OK

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Business models, Gerbsman Partners, internet, Microsoft, tagged , , , , , , , on February 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here is an interresting article from SF Chronicle.

“Regulators have cleared the way for the landmark search partnership between Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., creating a unified front in the battle to crack the dominance of Google Inc.

Seven months after announcing the agreement and following several years of merger flirtations, the U.S. Department of Justice and European Commission approved a deal that tightly allies the No. 2 and No. 3 players in the search space. It also marks a pivotal moment in the history of Yahoo, as it cedes territory where it was once a pioneer.

Under the terms of the pact, Microsoft’s Bing search tool will become the exclusive platform on Yahoo’s sites, funneling queries through the Redmond, Wash., software titan’s increasingly popular algorithm. The Sunnyvale Web portal will sell advertising tied to online search for both companies, and Microsoft will pay Yahoo for the traffic it generates.

The deal promises to give the companies control over nearly 30 percent of U.S. online searches, based on the current market share reported by comScore Inc. The combination will deliver improved results for consumers and better returns for advertisers and publishers, the companies said.

“Together, Microsoft and Yahoo will promote more choice, better value and greater innovation,” Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

But analysts are skeptical about how much the deal will really reshape the search industry. Google holds a commanding lead of more than 65 percent of searches, and Yahoo has been bleeding market share for years.

“I don’t think there’s a big shift in power here,” said Carl Howe, analyst with Yankee Group Research Inc.

Rather, he said the agreement provides incremental benefits, opening up a bigger channel of advertisers for Microsoft and lowering research and development costs for Yahoo.

Yahoo previously estimated the agreement would add $500 million to its annual operating income and save $200 million in capital expenditures, though not until two years after the deal was approved.

Implementation will begin in the coming days and could be complete in the United States by the end of the year. The goal is to transition U.S. advertisers and publishers to the new platform before the holiday season, but the companies acknowledged it may take until 2011.

“This breakthrough search alliance means Yahoo can focus even more on our own innovative search experience,” Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said in a statement. “Yahoo gets to do what we do best: combine our science and technology with compelling content to build personally relevant online experiences for our users and customers.”

Read the whole article here.

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Microsoft buys systems management start-up for $60M

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Business models, Economy, Investments, Market research, Microsoft, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Here is some tidbits around MSFT aquistion of Opalis Software Inc. from Computer World.

“Microsoft Corp. has acquired systems management vendor Opalis Software Inc. for about $60 million, according to an analyst report.

Brenon Daly, an analyst at The 451 Group, blogged earlier this week about the deal, citing unnamed financial and industry sources.

The VC-backed Mississauga, Ontario, start-up was making about $10 million annually from sales of software for automating IT processes, according to Daly. It also partnered with Microsoft in the spring (download PDF), integrating its software into Microsoft’s System Center management platform.

Daly’s report was echoed by blogs and tweets.

Through a spokeswoman, Microsoft said it is not commenting on rumors and speculation. Opalis, meanwhile, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Opalis’ CEO, Todd DeLaughter, was previously general manager of Hewlett-Packard Co.’s OpenView systems management division.

Daly said the Opalis acquisition would be the fourth in this market in the past two years. HP bought Opsware for $54 million in 2007, while BMC Software Inc. acquired RealOps for $53 million. CA Inc. bought Optinuity last year. One key difference, he said, is that Opalis’ revenue appeared to be higher than its counterparts’ at the time of acquisition.”

Read the full article here.

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Microsoft-Yahoo merger under review

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Business models, Economy, Gerbsman Partners, internet, Investments, Market research, Microsoft, Strategy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Although a few days old, I found this article for todays post. It´s old news that Yahoo and Microsoft is partnering up – but what just hit me is that the forced antitrust review needed for the advertising deal might just be the precursor for a forthcoming merger.

Here is a Associated Press piece by way of The Eagle.

“WASHINGTON — Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. hope that by joining forces, they can tilt the balance of power in Internet search away from Google Inc. First, however, Yahoo and Microsoft have to convince regulators that their plan won’t hurt online advertisers and consumers.

As the U.S. Justice Department reviews the proposed partnership, approval figures hinge on this question: Will the online ad market be healthier if Google’s dominance is challenged by a single, more muscular rival instead of two scrawnier foes?

The first step toward getting an answer came this month when Microsoft and Yahoo filed paperwork with federal regulators to comply with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, an antitrust law governing mergers and alliances between competitors. The Justice Department has until early September to approve the agreement or — as is likely in this case — request additional information.

European regulators are also expected to review the deal. Microsoft and Yahoo are bracing for the probes to extend into early next year, and the outcome is far from certain.

Just nine months ago, Google abandoned its own proposed partnership with Yahoo to avoid a showdown with the government, which had concluded that Google was already too powerful in the lucrative market for selling ads alongside search results.

Google had hoped to extend its reach even further by selling ads next to some of Yahoo’s search results, and in the process, keep Yahoo out of Microsoft’s clutches. Microsoft aggressively lobbied against the partnership.

With the Google-Yahoo inquiry behind them, U.S. antitrust regulators are likely to enter this examination with a clearer definition of the Internet search landscape and a better understanding of how it affects the steadily growing online advertising market.”

Read the full article here.

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Google Gears

Posted in Adobe, Gerbsman Partners, Intellectual capital, Investments, Java, Microsoft, Mobile, Open Garden, OpenSocial, Silverlight, Sun Microsystems, Technology, Venture Capital, Web 2.0, Wireless, Wireless 2.0 on December 26, 2007| Leave a Comment »

holiday07_1.gifTony Fish, a member of Gerbsman Partners Board of Intellectual Capital, posted on his blog Open Gardens, an interesting comment a few days back in regards to Google Gears. Click here for the full entry.

Anit Jaokar, a partner of Tony Fish, discusses Google Gears. Google Gears is comprised of a local database, local processes and a web server – with the logic being written in Java script. Hence, Gears potentially fits in well with Mobile Ajax and Gears as well as with Mobile Web Widgets (and by that I mean Widgets created using Web standards as opposed to Widsets and similar products).

It’s a very intriguing thought in regards to mobile offline browsing. When looking on Java, Mobile Flash, Adobe Air, and MS Silverlight – something emerges. The thought of synchronizing online applications onto mobile device or desktop for later access is what web services and online services have missed out on. It is in fact so, that everyone is not online all the time – and most people unplug to get productive.

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