Steve Jurvetson, the venture capitalist who currently sits on the boards of Tesla and SpaceX, is leaving his role as partner at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Recode reports.
His resignation comes after DFJ began investigating allegations of sexual harassment against the founding partner in August. DFJ announced Jurvetson’s departure in a letter to the firm’s limited partners today… Read More
Category: Venture Capital
Senate plans disastrous tax on vesting that could kill stock compensation
A proposed tax that charges people as their startup equity vests instead of when they cash it out and actually have money to pay the taxes could wreck how tech companies recruit talent. And the industry doesn’t have much time to mobilize to get this tax changed. The U.S. Senate released its proposed tax reform bill late last week under the aggrandized “Tax Cuts and Jobs… Read More
Female VCs from Sequoia, Cowboy, Benchmark and others launch female founder office hours
A group of female venture capitalists are launching a series of office hours for female founders. The idea is to host free, quarterly events that explore topics across the range of company stages — from early to hyper-growth. The first event, on November 30 in San Francisco, will be geared toward helping seed-stage female founders finesse their pitches. It will kick off with a talk, by… Read More
SoftBank looks to finalize Uber investment today
After months of talks, SoftBank Group is close to finalizing its investment in Uber. Multiple sources tell TechCrunch that the deal is expected to be signed later in the day on Sunday. SoftBank plans to lead a $1 billion investment directly in th…
View More SoftBank looks to finalize Uber investment today70 years of VC innovation
How old is venture capital? Probably as old as the first hunter/gatherer. Yet, until the mid-20th century, it was mostly practiced by wealthy individuals and families. Modern VC was initiated by French-born American Georges Doriot in 1946, who founded the world’s first publicly owned VC firm. Since then, VC has not stopped finding new ideas to provide an edge for success. Read More
Thrive Capital leads health tech startup Welkin Health’s $8 million Series A
Digital patient relationship platform Welkin Health has landed $8 million in Series A financing, led by Jared Kushner’s Thrive Capital. This now brings the total in the VC piggy bank to $12 million for the company. Welkin launched in 2013 as a digital monitoring system for diabetics. It joined Rock Health in 2014 to create a disease management platform with robotic coaching tools… Read More
Where venture capitalists invest and why
Entrepreneurs looking to raise capital are often told that investors like to keep things close to home. Is that true? The question influences where people locate companies. After all, if investors are only willing to invest in their own backyard,…
View More Where venture capitalists invest and whyFamed VC Jim Breyer on finding the next Mark Zuckerberg (and much more)
Yesterday, at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, we caught up with Jim Breyer, among the most famous venture capitalists in Silicon Valley thanks to a decades-long track record of smart bets, most notably in Facebook. Breyer was the managing partner at Accel Partners, which invested $12.7 million in Facebook in 2005 when the company was priced around $100 million; that bet proved to be… Read More
What happens when you sell your startup?
This is the final installment in the series “A Startup Takes Flight.” We started by creating a company — the Internet of Wings, a provider of drone-delivered chicken sandwiches that pivoted into general food delivery — and examined some of the most common financing terms entrepreneurs and VC investors discuss. It’s time to get our investors a liquidity event… Read More
Hayley Barna just became the first female GP in First Round’s history
Founder turned investor Hayley Barna is now a general partner with the early-stage venture firm First Round Capital. The appointment comes roughly one-and-a-half years after Barna — who cofounded the seven-year-old Birchbox, a start-up that mails monthly packages of beauty samples to subscribers — joined First Round as a venture partner.
Barna is based in New York and focused… Read More
VC Shervin Pishevar sues GOP opposition research firm for “smear campaign”
Sherpa Capital co-founder Shervin Pishevar has filed a lawsuit against Definers Public Affairs, a Republican opposition research firm that he believes is being paid to spread rumors about him.
The Uber investor and Hyperloop One co-founder is accusing former Mitt Romney presidential campaign manager Matthew Rhoades and his business partner, Joseph Pounder, of aiming to convince reporters of… Read More
Quantifying the driverless startup boom
For driverless car startups, raising capital seems to happen on autopilot. Investors and acquirers have put billions into the space over the past couple of years in the race for early-mover advantage. They’ve shown no desire to hit the brakes lately either, as indicated by a spate of recent deals. Read More