A Blog from Gerbsman Partners Board of Intellectual Capital on “Maximizing Enterprise Value” for technology, life science, medical device and cleantech companies and their Intellectual Property
The Mountain View-based flying car startup backed by Google and Alphabet cofounder Larry Page this week unveiled a new, sleeker flying vehicle that it says is safe enough to hand over to flight tests with the public — no previous flight experience required.
Kitty Hawk invited a reporter from CNN to take the new Flyer out over Nevada’s Lake Las Vegas, the company’s current testing grounds. Unlike last year’s prototype, which looked like a motorcycle-sized drone, the Flyer has 10 rotors, two pontoons and a stripped-down cockpit with simple controls.
CNN reporter Rachel Crane said she took about an hour’s worth of lessons before taking flight.
The Flyer is classified as an ultralight aircraft, which means it needs to weigh less than 254 pounds, and can’t be flown at night or over people. It runs on electricity, hovers around 10 feet above the water, reaches speeds of 20 mph and delivers about 20 minutes of flight before its batteries need to be recharged.
The move would mark Netflix’s second — and likely largest — acquisition in its history. The company’s only other purchase was of Mark Millar’s comic-book publisher Millarworld for an undisclosed amount.
Netflix is just one of the bidders for the West Hollywood firm, owned by Drake and Brian Kennedy, sources told Reuters, and the brothers could accept another offer.
Regency’s billboards fill Southern California, with locations at LAX, on the area’s major freeways, along the Sunset Strip, in Westwood Village near UCLA and “in sight of” Edison Field in Orange County, where the Anaheim Angels play, according to the company’s website.
The report on its possible acquisition falls in line with Netflix’s plan to increase spending on marketing this year. In a letter to shareholders in January, the company said it would boost its marketing budget by more than half from $1.3 billion to $2 billion.
“Big hits like ‘13 Reasons Why’ and ‘Stranger Things’ result from a combination of great content and great marketing,” the note said. “We’re taking marketing spend up a little faster than revenue for this year … because our testing results indicate this is wise.”
No turkeys in flock of best Bay Area venture returns of all time
By Cromwell Schubarth – TechFlash Editor, Silicon Valley Business Journal
“Returning the fund” is the phrase used in the venture world for investments whose returns cover all the bets a firm made from a particular fund.
But not all bets that “return the fund” are equal. In a week when Americans gather to thank their blessings, here is a CB Insights ranking of the 10 all-time best venture returns involving Bay Area-based companies.
The returns are based on how much was invested before a company’s IPO or sale, compared to its valuation at the time of the exit.
A few deals by Bay Area investors that returned the fund but involved companies that aren’t headquartered here have been left out.
That includes Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN), which provided the third biggest venture return of all-time and was backed early by Accel Partners and New Enterprise Associates. It went public six years ago at a valuation of $12.7 billion after raising about $700 million in funding.
It also includes Snapchat parent Snap Inc., which was the fifth biggest return and was backed early by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Institutional Venture Partners. It went public this year at a valuation of about $33 billion after raising about $3.4 billion in funding.
In both those cases, however, the current market caps of those companies are a lot lower than they were on their Wall Street debuts — $3.1 billion for Groupon and $14.9 billion for Snap.
Let that be a reminder that it’s OK to push away from the feast before you overindulge.
Apple and Stanford team up to study how Apple Watch might detect stroke condition
Chances are, you’re probably not wearing a dedicated heart monitor capable of measuring abnormal heart rhythms. If you have an Apple Watch, you just might be.
Apple Inc. is partnering with researchers at Stanford Hospital and Boston-based telemedicine vendor American Well to launch a new study into whether the Apple Watch can accurately detect irregular heartbeats, which can be a precursor to strokes, CNBC reports, citing two unnamed sources.
One of Apple’s goals with the Apple Watch was “performing some measurements of your health that people were not measuring, at least continually,” CEO Tim Cooktold Fortune in an interview published this week. “Like your heart. Very few people wore heart monitors. We’re extremely interested in this area. And yes it is a business opportunity.”
Earlier this year, San Francisco-based startup Cardiogram gathered 139 million heart rate measurements from 6,158 Apple Watch users and found they were able to detect irregular heartbeats with 97 percent accuracy.
Apple has a vested interest in turning the Apple Watch from a nice-to-have fitness gadget into a must-have health monitoring wearable. On an earnings call in August, Cook said Apple Watch sales had grown 50 percent year-over-year, but declined to provide specific numbers.
In June, Apple hired Sumbul Desai, the executive director of Stanford Medicine’s center for digital health, to help lead the company’s Health division. Part of Desai’s work at Stanford centered around the Apple Watch and how its sensors could be used to detect specific health conditions.
How bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrencies can be a safe haven in times of crisis
What is your safe haven? What precautions do you have in place for that “Oh, my goodness” time where you need some protection?
Safe havens are needed in several areas of life. One is your home and the shelter you have in times of dangerous weather. In the Midwest, where I grew up, tornadoes were common, and it was normal to have a cellar or basement stocked with supplies for the family for a few days.
Blockchain is not only accepted around the world, but many people also see it and… more
Getty Images (MF3d)
Financial planners advise their clients to have a safety fund for times of emergency. This would include a few months of living expenses, the proper types of insurance, some cash on hand in case ATMs are inoperable, and more.
I like a site called Organize-You.com that gives checklists and guides on essential documents and preparation steps to take for wills, health-related matters and more. Economist Mary Kelly, Ph.D., a professor at the United States Air Force Academy, has put together a valuable checklist that you will want to see.
People in countries like Venezuela, Cyprus, Poland, Argentina and others are vividly aware that their money in the bank is not completely safe. Those funds in the bank can be, and have been, confiscated by governments when a time of crisis comes.
You think it couldn’t happen in the USA? I remind you about Executive Order #6102, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made it illegal to own gold in the United States. Those who did not turn in their gold were arrested by the Secret Service. Yes, it can (and did) happen in the USA.
A safe haven
A popular safe haven today for many is cryptocurrencies related to blockchain. In countries like Venezuela, people are losing their currency (the Bolivar) to inflation. Many are using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to have a safe haven in times of food shortages, riots and destruction. Those who had savings in bitcoin were able to survive the “bail in” when banks confiscated their funds in Cyprus in 2013.
We’ve seen an increased acceptance of cryptocurrencies this year as never before. More than 200,000 retail stores in Japan are accepting bitcoin for payment. Countries like Russia, China, Australia, Canada, England and others are studying cryptocurrencies and blockchain to determine the best way to blend that technology into their system.
Blockchain is not only accepted around the world, but many people also see it and cryptocurrencies as safe havens. There is no doubt that blockchains and bitcoin are important factors today and can help you with your safe haven planning.
You don’t want all of your portfolio in cryptocurrencies by any stretch of the imagination. However, since cryptocurrencies have been much more mainstream and are accepted worldwide, it is a good idea to explore the possibilities. Check with your financial adviser about having at least a small amount of your safe haven resources in cryptocurrencies.
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