I recently spent a long and exceedingly pleasant weekend in the wine region of the north Willamette Valley.
First and foremost, the Black Walnut Inn (http://www.blackwalnut-inn.com/) in Dundee, OR was fabulous. It has only nine distinct rooms, each with its own character, but all wonderful. It looks like a Tuscan villa that overlooks the red-hilled vineyards.
My favorite …
Read more >
A while ago, I blogged on the decline of Microsoft (http://blog.drosenassoc.com/?p=42). Lately, many people have asked me about the current debt crisis, followed by the S&P downgrade of US credit. There are striking similarities.
Until about 20 years ago, for over 200 years, the US has been in a building mode. We have created the economic engine that …
Read more >
Based on my previous post on Apple and their business practices (http://blog.drosenassoc.com/?p=59), I decided to upgrade my iPhone 3Gs to a Verizon HTC Thunderbolt. Getting on a 4G network was another major draw, as was getting off of the poor-performing AT&T network, with its dropped calls, congestion, and poor signal strength in places that I frequent. This is my …
Read more >
I am a big fan of high-tech companies. People that know me (and my co-investors) know that I like companies that are “changing the world” or “creating new industries” through technology innovation. And they know that I believe that research universities spawn great technologies and deserve public support. Universities do a terrific and efficient job of educating students, organizing research …
Read more >
Many entrepreneurs, when they take outside money into their company, want to protect themselves. This is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
The investors putting the first money into the deal also want some protection, especially when the founders own a vast majority of the overall stock and probably have a majority of the board seats.
One of the items …
Read more >
In my previous post, I noted that the AoA had a great year in 2010. (http://blog.drosenassoc.com/?p=61 or the full release http://drosenassoc.com/AoA%20results%202-23-11.pdf)
Typically, most angel groups or VCs see about 25-40% of their deals die in the first 4 years. (This is called the J curve, since the portfolio value goes negative for the first 3-5 years and gets …
Read more >
In my lifetime, I have witnessed the transformation of communication. When my grandparents were born, electronic communication meant telegrams. A couple of generations earlier, sending a letter from new York to san Francisco required writing a letter, getting it on a ship, and having it sail around South America, taking months. In rapid succession, we deployed railroads, telephones, highways/cars, airlines, …
Read more >
The Seattle Alliance of Angels had a wonderful 2010. To quote the headline: Alliance of Angels Invests Record-high $10.3 Million in 2010; Group hits new milestone with investment in 33 Northwest-based startups; surpasses previous investment record by more than $1 million.
I was quoted:
“Once again, our angels have set a new standard for investing in innovative, young companies,” said …
Read more >
Moammar Gadhafi announced at his press conference that the youth in Libya had been using drugs. He is completely right! Their drug of choice is freedom. And the second is hope. And the third is community/networks. We welcome you to the 21st Century. May freedom spread everyone.…
Read more >
I hope that you all have been following the tiff that has developed between Apple and its app vendors and publishers (see e.g. http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229200215). Nothing like taking wonderful successes like the iPhone and iPad and then let unbridled greed kill an ecosystem. This is exactly the kind of corporate behavior that has killed so many nascent new markets and …
Read more >