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Venture fund to help social-networking startups

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Community, Economy, FaceBook, Gerbsman Partners, Intellectual capital, internet, Investments, Market research, Mobile, Social Networks, Strategy, Uncategorized, Venture Capital, Web 2.0 on October 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Article from SF Gate.

A partnership backed by Facebook, Amazon.com, Comcast and other major technology firms on Thursday established a $250 million fund to invest in startups that hope to capitalize on the growing reach of social networking.

The “S Fund” will be led by powerhouse Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, an early investor in Internet companies such as Amazon, AOL and Google.

The fund’s backers are betting that the success of Facebook, which has more than 500 million members worldwide, is only the start of the next wave of “incredible and disruptive innovation,” Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr said.

So the investors want “to find and fund and accelerate the success of these new kinds of social entrepreneurs,” Doerr said during a news conference hosted by Facebook.

The six initial investors are Facebook; e-commerce giant Amazon; cable TV and broadband service provider Comcast Corp.; social games leader Zynga Games Network Inc.; communications and entertainment giant Liberty Media Corp.; and investment bank Allen & Co. LLC.

Joining Doerr on stage at the event were Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, Zynga chief executive Mark Pincus and Bing Gordon, former chief creative officer of video game publisher Electronic Arts. Gordon, now a partner at Kleiner Perkins, will lead the fund.

“Social is going to be a breeding ground for great CEOs,” Bezos said.

Bezos also said he wants to find startups that will use his company’s platform of cloud computing services, called Amazon Web Services.

“These social apps do tend to be very viral, and when they hit, they hit fast and they can grow violently,” Bezos said. “That really does play to the strengths of Amazon Web Services.”

Zuckerberg said the fund will help entrepreneurs who are trying to build social applications and services “from the ground up.”

“The opportunity is there in the next five years or so to pick any industry and reimagine it in the social Web,” he said.

The fund’s first $5 million investment went to CafeBots Inc., a Palo Alto startup that is working on a “friend relationship management” platform to help consumers make better use of their social network.

The startup, the brainchild of three Stanford University graduates, hasn’t released its product and is still in stealth mode.

CafeBots co-founder Michael Munie, 28, said that in addition to the money, inclusion in the fund gives his startup access to the entrepreneurial expertise of Kleiner Perkins, Facebook and the other investing companies.

As examples of the kind of “social Web” firms that could be funded, Kleiner Perkins trotted out representatives of several companies it previously invested in, including Flipboard Inc., which earlier this year launched a popular iPad app that creates a personalized magazine-style display of Facebook, Twitter and other news media feeds.

Read more here.

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Update to the Bidding Process – Procedures for the sale of certain assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc.

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Distressed Intellectual Property, Distressed IP, Gerbsman Partners, Inetellectual Property, Intellectual capital, Investments, Life Science, Strategy, Technology, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on September 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Update to the Bidding Process – Procedures for the sale of certain assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc.

Further to Gerbsman Partners e-mail of September 22, 2010 and September 14, 2010 regarding the sale of certain assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc., I attach the draft legal documents and wire transfer information that we will be requesting of bidders for certain assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc. All parties bidding on the assets are encouraged, to the greatest extent possible, to conform the terms of their bids to the terms and form of the attached agreements.  Any and all of the assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc. will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis.  I would also encourage all interested parties to have their counsel speak with Merton Gollaher, Esq., counsel to Applied Spine Technologies, Inc.

For additional information please contact Merton Gollaher, Esq., of Wiggin and Dana LLP counsel to Applied Spine Technologies, Inc. He can be reached at 203 498 4362  and/or at mgollaher@wiggin.com

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the Applied Spine Assets. Sealed bids must be submitted so that the bid is actually received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Friday, October 15, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at Applied Spine’s office, located at 30 Cold Spring Road, Rocky Hill, CT 60607.  Please also email – steve@gerbsmanpartners.com – with any bid.

For your convenience, I have restated the description of the Updated Bidding Process.

The key dates and terms include:

The Bidding Process for Interested Buyers

Interested and qualified parties will be expected to sign a nondisclosure agreement (attached hereto as Exhibit A) to have access to key members of the management and intellectual capital teams and the due diligence “war room” documentation (the “Due Diligence Access”). Each interested party, as a consequence of the Due Diligence Access granted to it, shall be deemed to acknowledge and represent (i) that it is bound by the bidding procedures described herein; (ii) that it has an opportunity to inspect and examine the Applied Spine Technologies Assets and to review all pertinent documents and information with respect thereto; (iii) that it is not relying upon any written or oral statements, representations, or warranties of Gerbsman Partners, or their respective staff, agents, or attorneys; and (iv) all such documents and reports have been provided solely for the convenience of the interested party, and Gerbsman Partners (and their respective, staff, agents, or attorneys) do not make any representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the same.

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the Applied Spine Technologies Assets. Sealed bids must be submitted so that it is actually received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Friday, October 15, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at Applied Spine Technologies’ office, located at 30 Cold Spring Rd, Rocky Hill, CT 06067.  Please also email  <mailto:steve@gerbsmanpartners.com> with any bid.

Bids should identify those assets being tendered for in a specific and identifiable way.  In particular, please identify separately certain equipment or other fixed assets.  The attached Applied Spine fixed asset list may not be complete and bidders interested in the Applied Spine equipment must submit a separate bid for such assets.

Any person or other entity making a bid must be prepared to provide independent confirmation that they possess the financial resources to complete the purchase. All bids must be accompanied by a refundable deposit check in the amount of $100,000 (payable to Applied Spine Technologies, Inc.).  The deposit should be wired to Applied Spine’s attorneys Wiggin and Dana LLP.  The winning bidder will be notified within 3 business days of the Bid Deadline. Unsuccessful bidders will have their deposit returned to them within 3 business days of notification that they are the unsuccessful bidder.

Applied Spine Technologies reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, accept or reject any bid, or withdraw any or all of the assets from sale.  Interested parties should understand that it is expected that the highest and best bid submitted will be chosen as the winning bidder and bidders may not have the opportunity to improve their bids after submission.

Applied Spine Technologies will require the successful bidder to close within a 7 day period. Any or all of the assets of Applied Spine Technologies will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis, with no representation or warranties whatsoever.

All sales, transfer, and recording taxes, stamp taxes, or similar taxes, if any, relating to the sale of the Applied Spine Technologies Assets shall be the sole responsibility of the successful bidder and shall be paid to Applied Spine Technologies at the closing of each transaction.

For additional information, please see below and/or contact:

Steven R. Gerbsman
(415) 456-0628
steve@gerbsmanpartners.com

Dennis Sholl
(415) 457-9596
dennis@gerbsmanpartners.com

Kenneth Hardesty
(408) 591-7528
ken@gerbsmanpartners.com

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Bidding Process – Procedures for the sale of certain assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on September 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Bidding Process – Procedures for the sale of certain assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc.

Further to Gerbsman Partners e-mail of September 14, 2010 regarding the sale of certain assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc., I attach the draft legal documents that we will be requesting of bidders for certain assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc. All parties bidding on the assets are encouraged, to the greatest extent possible, to conform the terms of their bids to the terms and form of the attached agreements.  Any and all of the assets of Applied Spine Technologies, Inc. will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis.  I would also encourage all interested parties to have their counsel speak with Merton Gollaher, Esq., counsel to Applied Spine Technologies, Inc.

For additional information please contact Merton Gollaher, Esq., of Wiggin and Dana LLP counsel to Applied Spine Technologies, Inc. He can be reached at 203 498 4362  and/or at mgollaher@wiggin.com

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the Applied Spine Assets. Sealed bids must be submitted so that the bid is actually received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Friday, October 15, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at Applied Spine’s office, located at 30 Cold Spring Road, Rocky Hill, CT 60607.

Please also email steve@gerbsmanpartners.com with any bid.

For your convenience, I have restated the description of the Updated Bidding Process.

The key dates and terms include:

The Bidding Process for Interested Buyers

Interested and qualified parties will be expected to sign a nondisclosure agreement (attached hereto as Exhibit A) to have access to key members of the management and intellectual capital teams and the due diligence “war room” documentation (the “Due Diligence Access”). Each interested party, as a consequence of the Due Diligence Access granted to it, shall be deemed to acknowledge and represent (i) that it is bound by the bidding procedures described herein; (ii) that it has an opportunity to inspect and examine the Applied Spine Technologies Assets and to review all pertinent documents and information with respect thereto; (iii) that it is not relying upon any written or oral statements, representations, or warranties of Gerbsman Partners, or their respective staff, agents, or attorneys; and (iv) all such documents and reports have been provided solely for the convenience of the interested party, and Gerbsman Partners (and their respective, staff, agents, or attorneys) do not make any representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the same.

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the Applied Spine Technologies Assets. Sealed bids must be submitted so that it is actually received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Friday, October 15, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at Applied Spine Technologies’ office, located at 30 Cold Spring Rd, Rocky Hill, CT 06067. Please also email steve@gerbsmanpartners.com with any bid.

Bids should identify those assets being tendered for in a specific and identifiable way.  In particular, please identify separately certain equipment or other fixed assets.  The attached Applied Spine fixed asset list may not be complete and bidders interested in the Applied Spine equipment must submit a separate bid for such assets.

Any person or other entity making a bid must be prepared to provide independent confirmation that they possess the financial resources to complete the purchase where applicable. All bids must be accompanied by a refundable deposit check in the amount of $100,000 (payable to Applied Spine Technologies, Inc.).  The winning bidder will be notified within 3 business days of the Bid Deadline. Unsuccessful bidders will have their deposit returned to them within 3 business days of notification that they are the unsuccessful bidder.

Applied Spine Technologies reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, accept or reject any bid, or withdraw any or all of the assets from sale.  Interested parties should understand that it is expected that the highest and best bid submitted will be chosen as the winning bidder and bidders may not have the opportunity to improve their bids after submission.

Applied Spine Technologies will require the successful bidder to close within a 7 day period. Any or all of the assets of Applied Spine Technologies will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis, with no representation or warranties whatsoever.

All sales, transfer, and recording taxes, stamp taxes, or similar taxes, if any, relating to the sale of the Applied Spine Technologies Assets shall be the sole responsibility of the successful bidder and shall be paid to Applied Spine Technologies at the closing of each transaction.

For additional information, please see below and/or contact:

Steven R. Gerbsman
(415) 456-0628
steve@gerbsmanpartners.com

Dennis Sholl
(415) 457-9596
dennis@gerbsmanpartners.com

Kenneth Hardesty
(408) 591-7528
ken@gerbsmanpartners.com

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9/20 Applied Spine Intellectual Property follow up information

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on September 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Updated information piece/ppt.- which highlights the IP landscape of Applied Spine.

This information is available as a follow up to the “Date Certain M&A Sales Letter” regarding the sale of the assets and Intellectual Property of Applied Spine.

Key points discussed in the power point are:

1.  Unique IP covering Inter Pedicular Travel and Center of Rotation

2.  Unique and potentially ‘blocking’ IP respecting Range of Motion

3. Unique and potentially blocking IP relating to Travel Limiting or Travel Controlled structure

4.  IP relating to an articular sphere at the head of a pedicle screw allowing for motion at the rod/screw interface

5.  Unique and potentially blocking IP covering spring based travel components

6. Comprehensive ‘defensive’ IP preventing similar technology from market entry

Craig Corrance, CEO of Applied Spine is available, to have a “big picture” discussion.  Based on continued interest in the assets and IP of Applied Spine, and upon signing an NDA,  interested parties are welcome to schedule an appointment to perform due diligence at the Applied Spine “due diligence war room”.

Please call Steve Gerbsman (415 456 0628), Ken Hardesty (408 591 7528) or Dennis Sholl (415 457 9596) to set up a call with Criag Corrance and/or confirm a time to perform due diligence.

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Oracle surpasses profit, revenue forecasts

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on September 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Article from SF Gate.

Oracle Corp. reported profit and revenue that beat analysts’ estimates as sales of database software and Sun Microsystems server computers helped it capitalize on a recovery in information-technology spending.

First-quarter earnings excluding acquisition costs and other expenses were 42 cents per share, Redwood City‘s Oracle said Thursday in a statement. That topped the 37 cent average of projections compiled by Bloomberg.

The world’s second-largest software maker is taking advantage of improvements in corporate spending by offering a wide range of software products it’s assembled through acquisitions. Oracle also gained computer hardware with its $7.3 billion purchase of Sun in January. The hiring of Mark Hurd as co-president this month may help the company manage Sun and expand into new areas of hardware, analysts said.

“Oracle is probably the best indicator in the software space of the overall spending environment in IT right now,” said Yun Kim, an analyst at Gleacher & Co. in Greenwich, Conn., who recommends buying the shares and doesn’t own any himself. Most software projects at companies require database programs, which benefits Oracle, he said.

Oracle rose 4.1 percent to 26.40 in extended trading after closing at $25.36 at 4 p.m. on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has gained 3.4 percent this year.

The company reports sales that include deferred revenue from acquired companies and don’t conform to generally accepted accounting principles. On that basis, sales in the period ended Aug. 31 jumped 50 percent to $7.59 billion. Analysts on average predicted $7.32 billion.

Oracle is the largest seller of database software, second to SAP AG in business applications, and the No. 2 provider of application-connecting middleware after IBM Corp. Its goal for Sun, a money loser at the time of the acquisition, is to contribute $1.5 billion in operating income during its first year in the fold.

The company will unveil “two high-end systems that combine Sun hardware with Oracle software” at next week’s Oracle OpenWorld show in San Francisco, Hurd said in the statement.

Read more here.

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