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Archive for the ‘Sillicon Valley Business Jouranal’ Category

Whoever’s behind ‘My Startup has 30 Days to Live’ is hitting a chord -Cromwell Schubarth Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Posted in Cromwell Schubarth, Sillicon Valley Business Jouranal, Startups on June 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Jun 26, 2013

Whoever’s behind ‘My Startup has 30 Days to Live’ is hitting a chord

A Tumblr that purports to tell the last 30 days of life at a startup has caught the attention of funders, founders and the media that cover them since it appeared on Tuesday.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

A Tumblr author claiming to be a startup entrepreneur is hooking techies, investors and the press with his My Startup Has 30 Days to Live blog.

Whether the anonymous author is telling a true tale, or whether he’s uncovered as the 2013 version of 2006 YouTube hoaxer “lonelygirl15,” his sad story of dashed entrepreneurial dreams is gripping Silicon Valley.

The writing has a ring of truth. The author claims to have been on the hamster wheel for about two years, getting into a top accelerator. He “hit the top of TechCrunch” and became viewed as a “rising star in the technology world,” the blog claims.

After compromising some vision for funding, the author claims to have gotten traction — but it didn’t keep the funders happy.

“I found myself sitting at my desk, afraid, alone and overwhelmed,” the blog says.

The first day’s blog ends with the author realizing he or she can’t make payroll and needing to fire the company’s first employee before he leaves on a planned vacation.

The second post, which went up today, is headlined “We’re killing it bro.”

“One of the first things you learn as an entrepreneur is that on some level, you’re only as good as your pitch,” it starts out. “The accelerators reinforce this by teaching you the art of storytelling, a skill that helps an investor sign a term sheet as much as it helps the father of a young child decide to take a pay cut to be part of something that’s amazing.”

This one could be the work of a writer hoping for a TV, movie or book deal. There is a lot of entertainment industry industry focus on Silicon Valley, evidenced by Mike Judge’s new HBO show and Bravo’s “Startups: Silicon Valley.”

Eventually, we will likely find out who is behind “My Startup Has 30 Days to Live” and will truly be able to evaluate its worth.

But for now, it has our attention.

Click here to subscribe to TechFlash Silicon Valley, the free daily email newsletter about the region’s founders and funders.

Cromwell Schubarth is the Senior Technology Reporter at the Business Journal.

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Orchard Supply bankruptcy: What’s next? – Silicon Valley Business Journal by Nathan Donato-Weinstein

Posted in Sillicon Valley Business Jouranal, Uncategorized, tagged , , on June 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

 Jun 17, 2013, 6:31pm PDT

Orchard Supply bankruptcy: What’s next?

Orchard Supply Hardware filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Lowe's will pick up the majority of the retailer's stores.

Orchard Supply Hardware filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Lowe’s will pick up the majority of the retailer’s stores.

Real Estate Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Click here for more on the impact of the Orchard reorganization and what’s behind it.

UPDATE: Orchard Supply Hardware’s San Jose headquarters will largely be spared layoffs related to the company’s acquisition by Lowe’s, a spokeswoman said.

San Jose-based Orchard filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, and Lowe’s is stepping in to buy most of the company’s assets — including 60 of roughly 90 California stores — for about $205 million in cash, according to company statements issued this morning.

In a statement, Orchard said the stores would operate as normal during the restructuring and had secured $177 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Wells Fargo to continue meeting financial obligations. Orchard said it would operate as a separate standalone company within the Lowe’s umbrella after the sale is completed.

That “business as usual” status includes the headquarters on Via Del Oro in San Jose, where it occupies 75,000 square feet and has hundreds of workers.

As of Feb. 2, 2013, Orchard counted 5,360 employees, with 533 at Orchard’s San Jose corporate offices, its Tracy distribution center, or part of field operations.

In court records, Orchard said it expected “continued employment for the vast majority of the Company’s employees.”

Spokeswoman Leigh Parrish said there was no list available of which stores Lowe’s was buying. But she said current construction projects and remodels would continue as planned. Orchard also said in court filings it expected most creditors to be paid.

Commercial real estate brokers told me today they expected Lowe’s to retain most if not all of Orchard’s San Jose-area stores given the region’s strong housing market and high barriers to entry.

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Here’s the 5-year-old whose pitch won over 20 VCs – Cromwell Schubarth Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Posted in Sillicon Valley Business Jouranal, Uncategorized, tagged , on May 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Here’s the 5-year-old whose pitch won over 20 VCs

Screen capture of

This is 5-year-old Rhett, who is being treated for acute leukemia and made a special pitch that convinced more than 20 VCs to auction themselves for a lunch to benefit the Bay Area Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click here to watch his video, “Dear Mr. VC.”


Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Your average Silicon Valley VC probably hears hundreds of pitches a month but none more effective than this one made by a 5-year-old named Rhett.

His video plea to, “Help get the bad guys out of my body,” is surely enough to melt even the most jaded viewer on Sand Hill Road.

Young Rhett was diagnosed with acute leukemia after suddenly falling ill watching the San Francisco Giants win the 2010 pennant on their way to becoming World Series Champions. After many treatments since then his prognosis is good. His biggest dream, besides beating cancer, is to meet the Giants.

The “Dear Mr. VC” video he made convinced more than 20 of the top VCs in the region to offer themselves in auctions for lunch dates to benefit the Bay Area Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Reportedly none who saw the pitch turned it down.

Click here to learn more about who those VCs are and how to make a bid to pitch to them. But be forewarned, you will have a hard time topping young Rhett.

Watch Rhett’s plea in the video attached to this story or you can go to YouTube to watch it by clicking here.

Cromwell Schubarth is the Senior Technology Reporter at the Business Journal. His phone number is 408.299.1823.

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Canada pitches startups with lower taxes, instant residency by Lauren Hepler- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Posted in Canada startups, Sillicon Valley Business Jouranal, Uncategorized, tagged , on May 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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powered by the Silicon Valley Business Journal

Canada pitches startups with lower taxes, instant residency

Canada's new immigration-centric pitch to Silicon Valley's many foreign-born entrepreneurs.

Canada’s new immigration-centric pitch to Silicon Valley’s many foreign-born entrepreneurs.
Economic Development Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Canada is pitching Silicon Valley entrepreneurs on northern migration.

The gist: Easier access to visas for foreign-born entrepreneurs, a growing base of engineering talent, R&D tax credits and lower corporate taxes.

Low-tax U.S. states like Arizona, Nevada and Washington have pitched financial incentives to Silicon Valley companies mulling a move for years (read more about some recent attempts here). But Canada has a leg up on one issue near and dear to many in the Valley tech community – a new Start-Up Visa Program offering permanent residency to foreign entrepreneurs, who often encounter U.S. immigration obstacles when coming to the Valley.

Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, was in Silicon Valley over the weekend to attend the entrepreneurship conference TieCon in Santa Clara. Kenney also spoke at a Silicon Valley Business Journal event on Monday, “Start-up Visa and Doing Business in Canada.”

“We know that there are tens of thousands of brilliant young international workers, typically in the stem industries…who cannot get their immigration status figured out,” Kenney said Monday. “We are prepared to take a risk on risk-takers.”

Kenney jokingly referenced the incongruity with Canada’s reputation for polite conservatism when explaining the play for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs: “I apologize for being uncharacteristically aggressive,” he quipped.

The country recently took out a local billboard ad emblazoned with a slogan highlighting Silicon Valley companies’ difficulty obtaining employer-sponsored H-1B visas. The billboard reads “H-1B problems? Pivot to Canada.”

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Angel investing shifted slightly in 2012 by Cromwell Schubarth Silicon Valley Business Journal

Posted in Angel Investing, Series A Investing, Sillicon Valley Business Jouranal, Uncategorized, Venture Capital on April 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Angel investing shifted slightly in 2012

Halo Report: Silicon Valley Bank, CB Insights, Angel resource Institute

Silicon Valley hosts the country’s most active venture capital firms but has only one of the top 10 angel groups from 2012, in terms of the number of deals done.
Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Amid reports of an angel funding boom that threatens to become a Series A crunch, a new report shows early stage investing in 2012 was relatively calm.

The median deal size shrank slightly to $600,000 from $625,000 the year before. Valuations of the companies funded held steady at $2.5 million.

Those aren’t numbers you might expect to see from an overheating market

Meanwhile, only one of the top 10 angel groups that did the most deals in the country last year is based in Silicon Valley — Sand Hill Angels which ranked No. 6.

Here are some other trends found in the annual Halo Report from Silicon Valley Bank, CB Insights and the Angel Resource Institute released on Tuesday, just before the three-day Angel Capital Association Summit kicks off in San Francisco on Wednesday.

— Shift from the hubs: California and New England, which account for two-thirds of venture investing, aren’t as dominant in angel fundings. The regions accounted for about 31 percent of angel deals in 2012, down from 35 percent the year before. The big gainers were the Southwest (13.3 percent in 2012 from 11.4 percent the year before) and the Northwest (9.3 percent vs. 7.8 percent).

— Life science drops: Life science investing sent from 25 percent of deals in 2011 to 21 percent of deals in 2012. The biggest jump was in mobile and telecom deals, which grew to 13.3 percent from 9.3 percent. In terms of money, Internet startups were No. 1 with 27.3 percent and mobile/telecom was No. 2 with 26.5 percent.

Amid reports of an angel funding boom that threatens to become a Series A crunch, a new report shows early stage investing in 2012 was relatively calm.

The median deal size shrank slightly to $600,000 from $625,000 the year before. Valuations of the companies funded held steady at $2.5 million.

Those aren’t numbers you might expect to see from an overheating market.

Meanwhile, only one of the top 10 angel groups that did the most deals in the country last year is based in Silicon Valley — Sand Hill Angels which ranked No. 6.

Here are some other trends found in the annual Halo Report from Silicon Valley Bank, CB Insights and the Angel Resource Institute released on Tuesday, just before the three-day Angel Capital Association Summit kicks off in San Francisco on Wednesday.

— Shift from the hubs: California and New England, which account for two-thirds of venture investing, aren’t as dominant in angel fundings. The regions accounted for about 31 percent of angel deals in 2012, down from 35 percent the year before. The big gainers were the Southwest (13.3 percent in 2012 from 11.4 percent the year before) and the Northwest (9.3 percent vs. 7.8 percent).

— Life science drops: Life science investing sent from 25 percent of deals in 2011 to 21 percent of deals in 2012. The biggest jump was in mobile and telecom deals, which grew to 13.3 percent from 9.3 percent. In terms of money, Internet startups were No. 1 with 27.3 percent and mobile/telecom was No. 2 with 26.5 percent.

— More co-invested deals: The number of fundings where angels co-invest with other types of investors, such as venture firms, in growing dramatically. It made up just 41.4 percent of deals in 2010 but was up to 69.3 percent last year. But the median round size of a co-invested funding actually dropped in that same time frame, going from $3.58 million in 2010 to $2.97 million.

— Revenue first: Most startups that got money in 2012 (63 percent) also had revenue to show before the angels opened their wallets.

— Convertibles are in: The number of deals involving convertible debt, essentially a loan that turns into equity at later rounds, rose. It made up 11 percent of deals in 2012, nearly double the share of the year before.

Cromwell Schubarth is the Senior Technology Reporter at the Business Journal. His phone number is 408.299.1823.

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