Disqus - Latest Comments for gellert14

Re: http://bryce.vc/post/2151529046

gellert14 — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:28:52 -0000

Great post Bryce. Dave Morgan gave me a great response back in January of this year when I told him we were raising an angel round in order to step on this gas. He said something of the effect of right now "you are still in the driveway - stepping on the gas will make you go right through the garage." Stuck with me ever since.

Re: Mobile Apps & the missing links

gellert14 — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:43:32 -0000

We just recently launched a deal with KAYAK which integrates the GateGuru contest into their app. Within their app, there is a GateGuru link which, when tapped, opens up GateGuru (or our landing page in the app store if GateGuru isn't installed on their phone). It can be done, but like you suggest, they can't open a specific page within GateGuru (ie to see user tips or reviews for Legal Seafoods in BOS). Plus, in order for this to work, KAYAK obviously had to submit a new binary to Apple and we needed to wait on their approval. Like anything with apps, many more hurdles versus the open web, but it is certainly possible.

Re: The Venture Diet Is Working

gellert14 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:34:10 -0000

I think the 4th quarter, which saw $6.3BN in invested capital (according to DJ Venturesource), is the most relevant data point here (which isn't good, as it points to the $25BN in invested capital). Few funds were actively investing in the 1st half of 2009, so I think it is tough to look at that time period. That being said, various funds are now being rightsized and there will be more to come. It will be interesting to see where the 1Q10 numbers end up. That will be a very telling data point.

Re: Craigslist Blocking Bit.ly

gellert14 — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:49:59 -0000

Interesting. I am guessing it is one of options 2 - 4. Keep us posted, would be nice to hear what you find out.

Re: Hotpotato: Life (or TV), uh, Finds a Way

gellert14 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:42:47 -0000

HotPotato is a very cool company and I totally agree with you - every network (cable or broadcast) should be trying to get in front of Justin and the HotPotato guys. HP significantly enhances the value of live TV. There are a lot of dollars at play here. It has been tried before as a Twitter feed on the screen, and that was a bombed, but HP is the right mix between letting me watch the show and letting me chat with my friends about the show.
Solid post Jon.

Re: Is the Market (and Tech Scene) Rebounding?

gellert14 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:43:48 -0000

Definitely agree that things are getting better. Several of those headlines only talk about earnings growth though. You can manage earnings growth through cost cutting, but that only works for so long. When we see revenue growth (sans Apple and Sandisk which are their own animals) I will firmly believe we are on the upswing.

Re: Nuances of Twitter Financing

gellert14 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:38:33 -0000

Great points - was thinking many of these things myself. The $1BN is not meaningless as it tells you how much your $100MM investment gets, but it is a senior security and there is no way Twitter doesn't sell for $100MM. While this money is good for all investors, the Series A guys (USV) put their investment at risk (even only a tiny bit) with this round.

The other thing that I would add - while everybody is talking about how USV didn't participate because of their fund size - that is certainly the primary reason - another just as valid reason could be that they think the valuation is too rich and they don't believe that putting in $11MM for 1% of the company is worth it.

Don't agree with #2 (in part - there is no way there is a 2x liq pref on these shares) and #6 (Twitter is probably burning north of $2MM a month with the SMS fees which definitely add up - not as expensive as photos / videos, but it adds up). Overall great post

Re: Climbing the wrong hill

gellert14 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:00:40 -0000

Ellie - great comment. The part that really struck a cord for me was about how entrepreneurs talk about the amount of capital that they have raised over their career as a badge of honor. As a former VC, it would internally bother me when an entrepreneur talks about how he has raised "$xMM in capital" (and normally the number is above $25MM). All that means to me, especially if they don't have the total $s achieved on exits, is that you have prior experience in burning through money. I never saw it, but I was always waiting for the CEO who came in and told me, in aggregate, that he has raised $3MM and exited for north of $50MM. That would be much more impressive than having raised huge amounts of capital. Anyway, off topic, but Chris that could be your next blog post (great job lately btw).

Re: Climbing the wrong hill

gellert14 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:56:55 -0000

Re: My Life and Digital Musings

gellert14 — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:13:01 -0000

Jason,
Thanks for the comment. I have nothing against you - I think you are a talented, scrappy entrepreneur who has an impressive track record. That being said, I do think Techcrunch's coverage of OVN has been pretty blatantly biased. The only thing Mike has printed has been negative coverage. I just dont agree with that (note that i said I not Time Warner as most people understand that my tweets are solely my opinion and not that of TW's (to put it in legal jargon). Print a fair, balance article (with positives and negatives) and nobody can complain. Instead, Mike trolls on OVN (and we know how Mike hates trolls). That was the only point in my tweet. Maybe the link wasn't you and maybe it was just that Mike for some reason dislikes OVN. My tweet clearly states that the smear job / TC is pathetic - nothing against you. In terms of your points above i never suggested a, b or c. In terms of d, if I were you I would want the job, nothing wrong with that, but I will believe you that you dont.

Re: Private Equity Markets: Not Today, Perhaps Tomorrow

gellert14 — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:10:08 -0000

I agree with the fact that secondaries today are often guys that are looking to hit up LP positions and buy everything for $.40 - $.60 on the dollar. However, with a viable and liquid secondary market they could reshape their business to be less scalpers in busted portfolios and more buyers of decent to great companies from funds that desire (because they think that 80% today may produce a better IRR than 100% in 5 years) or are in need of an exit (due to fund cycles). This could become the real opportunity for them over the next several years and I think that first few to get into the private markets in this way could emerge as real winners.

Re: Private Equity Markets: Not Today, Perhaps Tomorrow

gellert14 — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:27:04 -0000

Roger -
Great post. I agree with almost everything said - I think the biggest issue is the documentation around any venture investment (the "Not a Technology" point). For this to happen at scale, ROFR, Co-sale and often several other provisions in venture documentation have to basically become non-existent or waived in most cases, neither of which will happen. These terms were put in there because companies and other investors want to know and be comfortable with the other owners of preferred stock. Also, the companies have various confidentiality clauses with regards to investors - these would have to be waived for the diligence to happen, something that is, at the very least, going to make the company rather uncomfortable.

The one point that i dont necessarily agree with is the lack of demand. I think secondary funds would be all over this, if there was actually inventory (or demand on the supply side). Right now secondary funds have no great way (that i know of) to find new opportunities, other than relying on a network or cold calling funds. I believe i read somewhere that $15BN was raised for secondary funds in 2007 - that is some pretty sizeable demand. I know that in my group we get calls with relative frequency from secondaries who are looking to see if we are looking to sell any of our positions - what if they could just tap into Second Market and see all the available positions in various companies by stage and industry. I would have to think that would be a pretty attractive offering to bring demand into the market.

Re: Learning from Failure - SIIA Keynote Presentation 2009

gellert14 — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:04:11 -0000

Great insights. Would you ever invest in a business that had co-CEOs? Do you think that in general that structure doesn't work?

Re: Why Can't We Admit That...

gellert14 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:31:32 -0000

Awesome, post. A few of my thoughts that I would add:
..numerous other retailers will go the way of Circuit City?
..the venture capital business that we knew to date ($800MM Series A funds) is an antiquated model that doesn't work in today's times of smaller exits and funds need to change?
..we got ourselves into this situation with massive over leveraging and only when the US consumer and businesses delever will we be able to get ourselves out?
..the system of complex financial instruments and off-balance sheet financial engineering needs to be significantly more regulated or else this will just happen again?
..things will not get better just because the stock market bounces (if it ever does)?
...due to the internet, technological innovation and smart people there are tons of opportunities out there in times like this, people just need to look out for them instead of being caught up with TARP, GM, jobless claims, etc?

Re: Social Networking for my "Inner Circle"

gellert14 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:42:20 -0000

I agree with that, it wouldn't be purely around a popularity contest - for instance, why should other people be able to see how many friends i have, how many people are following me, etc. Problem obviously is the scalability of such a service. Multiply is trying to do something like this, scale a social networking service but one that is built around truly strong relationships and not just soft, dotted line relationships. They have had success, but obviously no where near what FB has.

Re: Social Networking for my "Inner Circle"

gellert14 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:51:56 -0000

Great post Rob that I think is an issue most people think about, but inevitably just keep the status quo, resulting in these services not being personal enough. One thing that I was thinking about doing was creating a new Tumblr and Twitter account and keeping that to only close, personal acquaintances. It would be sort of a stealth blog. I am going to do that for Tumblr, but for Twitter, the stuff I tend to post is just random anyway, and many people I am really close with use it, so I will probably just keep my one account and leverage it for self-promotion!

Re: Media Confusion

gellert14 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:47:30 -0000

That makes sense, it is just funny how the media can open the same story in two completely different ways depending on the perspective they want people to take.