"In the middle east, we've seen the power of the Internet in the Arab Spring. I believe we are in for a lot more of that sort of thing and that it will not be limited to repressive governments, but to all large institutions that seek to control people and their free will. This is the cultural revolution that I referred to in my talk with Erick at Disrupt.

I think investors should be aware of what is coming and seek to invest in it where it is investable. I'm curious what the AVC community thinks of this investment thesis and where we should be looking for opportunities that fit into this thesis."

"It amazes me that 50+ people could suddenly come out of the woodwork in an effort to “build a new relationship that’s not really a relationship” thinking it would give them an opportunity, or even an advantage, in the context of a set of hot companies.

When I think about the relationships I’ve developed, whether it be with investment bankers, LPs, co-investors, or anyone else, they evolve over a period of time. They don’t require boondoggles or fancy things; they require sincerity and substantive interaction over a long period of time. Then, when there are moments of opportunity, these are the people that I go to (and hopefully who come to me.)

There suddenly seem to be an abundance of “transaction relationships” out there. Entrepreneurs beware."

"What is the primary difference? Ultimately it comes down to the question of "exit". As a founder, I have no interest in exit or liquidity. I am in business to run a business, not to run away from it. Or as Warren Buffet puts it: Our favorite holding period is forever."

"Think of it this way: if having your development team work this way through sprints, why not board notes? Meeting every 6-8 weeks with no interim communication is like the waterfall software development process!"

"Joel has decided to chase venture capital for StackOverflow, but I can’t exactly figure out why. He lists six benefits that just don’t compute under even light scrutiny"

"However, if this is not done immediately, my group of startup CEOs and angel investors will begin targeting specific groups for elimination.
We will launch competing, fee-free events directly opposite your events. We will encourage angels investors, service providers and startups to boycott your events. You may even find our street teams outside your events handing out flyers.

This isn’t a joke and this is a threat: stop charging startup companies to present or we will do everything we can to put you out of business with a competing, free option."

"While some of my comments next may seem critical, they absolutely are and meant to be."

"*I wonder what’ll happen to our civilization when people realize that financiers don’t really do very much for the privilege of mishandling all the money. They work extremely hard, don’t get me wrong — they just don’t allocate funds very effectively. Societies top-heavy with financiers are in visible, physical decline — empty houses, unhealthy populations, decaying bridges, hollowed-out industries, that sort of thing."

"“37signals will lead the new global movement filled with imaginary assumptions on growth and monetization potential,” he continued. “We’re excited to roll out a list of unconfirmed revenue possibilities that involve crowdsourcing, a robust set of widget creation tools, 3G, augmented reality, social stuff, and an app store. Also, everything we make will include a compass.”"

"Where do we need to go from here? We need to break the link that says (wrongly) VCs, like mutual fund managers and hedge funds, should be paid on the basis of assets under management. Venture fund complexity and cost do not rise linearly with assets, so we need to stop pretending they do. There are many way to fix this, but the easiest would be to make GP budgets a negotiated item with limited partners rather than being tied to assets. As a side effect, it would make more palatable and economical smaller funds, like those running under $30m, that cannot be operated at all on a 2% of assets basis."

"This is a very long explanation, but the punch line is that as these large institutions adjust their portfolios and potentially abandon these more aggressive strategies, the amount of overall capital committed to alternative assets will undoubtedly shrink. As this happens, the VC industry will shrink in kind. How much will it go down? It is very hard to say. It would not be surprising for many of these funds to cut their allocation in the category in half, and as a result, it shouldn’t be surprising for the VC industry to get cut in half also."

“Venture capital is where job creation will be, and venture capital is way behind private equity in developing critical mass in the state,” he said. “If you're really interested in building the Michigan economy, you do what is being done in Ohio and Oklahoma and other states: You spend Michigan money in Michigan.

"A group of student entrepreneurs has opened a small-business incubator in the basement of a downtown Ann Arbor building. They'll spend the summer sharing space, equipment and ideas.

The incubator, called the TechArb, hosts 30 students running 10 different start-ups. The space came together with the help of Ann Arbor venture capital firm RPM Ventures, the University of Michigan College of Engineering's Center for Entrepreneurship, and a new student-run entrepreneurial organization on campus, Maize Ventures."

"Private equity and venture capital to major countries has slowed or fallen in recent quarters, although the long term still looks promising. Ajay Shah, a senior fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, calls India a “pre-modern market economy” that lacks a well-integrated bond market and other financial infrastructure to move money quickly into the system. Large conglomerates such as Tata and other Top 100 firms in India “will tap into all types of cash you’ve never heard of,” he says. But other companies –- especially family-run firms that lack diverse products –- cannot find debt capital and are being pounded by “unprecedented negative shocks to cash flow.”"

"But it comes at a price. When the entrepreneur returns to the VC, an epic battle ensues over valuations. In a climate of fear, the power pendulum swings back to the VCs. The VC knows that an entrepreneur won’t be as likely to get money elsewhere, so he plays hardball. The entrepreneur is more ready to cave in on the valuation. That means when a VC gives the entrepreneur money, the VC can claim more ownership of the company with a given amount of investment (because the company is worth less.) Tension rises, and boardroom fights begin. I saw it all unfold last time, when I started covering venture capital in 2001."