Well, that seemed like an eternity.? I took over a year off from blogging for a variety of reasons and am now preparing to jump back into it… with a brand new look and URL!? I will do my best to port content over but suspect some posts will get lost in the the transition.?

Well, it's that time of year again.? That's right, VC in the OC is back next Tuesday (May 24th) from 7am to 6pm at the Hyatt in Newport Beach.? This year promises to be a major event with over 500 attendees.? I've heard that the Real Housewives of Orange County will be in attendance, but

While the title of this post might harken some back to the days of the Grateful Dead, it is meant as a shout-out to William Quigley at Clearstone Ventures and his recent presentation about the revival of the venture capital industry (for certain types of funds).? If you haven't seen it, see below.? Enjoy Quigley

I am often asked what VC look for when making their investment decisions and while I truly believe that it is at least 80% "art" and only 20% "science" I thought I'd quickly share 3 main, objective criteria (which then require subjective analysis) with the hope that it helps you assess how you stack up

At the beginning of every year, I look back and reflect on what the "highs" and "lows" were for me for the year and what life lessons I learned.? I have been doing this since high school and occasionally write about it (privately)…so this is a rarity for me to share my 2010 reflection with

I'm a bigger believer in thinking "outside the box" and routinely analyze situations keeping that belief in mind…so I thought I'd share a moment of levity with you.? My son's kindergarten class was given a piece of paper that stated: "If I had a turkey, I would _______." and asked to write in their answers.?...

In light of our recent mid-term elections, I have been spending a fair amount of time thinking about leadership the past several weeks.? It has been said that leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management thinks is possible.? I couldn't agree more.? In fact, I have been reflecting a lot

I believe in butterflies.? The kind you get in the pit of your stomach at certain eventful times in your life.? You know, that "fluttery feeling" before you make a big decision, close a big deal, take a big test, etc.? I've had that feeling a handful of times in my life and have learned

I have posted on this topic before, but feel compelled to re-post it based on some recent experiences I've had.? For those of you new to OC VC, it will probably be refreshing.? For you "old timers", this is worth a re-read…especially in these economically challenging times.? Hope you enjoy. Hi, my name is

Well, it's that time of year again as I'm all packed and ready to schlep up to Rancho Palos Verdes for Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference this year, D8.? As I packed this morning, I had to laugh as every year I debate whether to attend and always end up registering after

Well, for those few brave (bored) souls that care about these such things I'm finally back from the land of "no time to post to my blog" having finally fired myself as CEO of one of my portfolio companies and closed the sale of our first portfolio company (not one in the same).? I will

I've been buried since December but can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Stay tuned for my "return to OC VC"…

I have been looking at the "water sector" (broadly defined) for awhile now but haven't seen many investments being done thus far… so I was pleased to see fellow local VC, SAIL Ventures, announce that they recently made such an investment.? In fact, I reached out to Walter Schindler and asked him to send me

I am writing to you today as a concerned citizen with a truly global perspective who also happens to be a co-founder and managing director of a small (~$30M) venture capital fund that invests in promising seed and early-stage technology and life science companies in Southern California.? I want to relay to you my deep

Despite the odds, My Damn Channel continues to produce the goods and prove just what a "small, extremely focused, capital efficient rebel-media-army" can do…even in a downturn of today's magnitude.? If you aren't already hip to the MDC crew, check ‘em out at www.mydamnchannel.com.? If you like what you see, please make sure to spread...

For those of you that know me, you know I have always been a big fan of disintermediation (i.e. removing the middleman or intermediary) - both from a cost reduction perspective as well as from an operational efficiency perspective.? In fact, I am always intrigued by start-ups claiming to truly disintermediated an industry in a

Well, I was going to write a post about angel funding to go along with my "Start-Up Tool Kit" post from this past Thursday (see post immediately below)…but I'm a BIG believer in not inventing the wheel for the sake of doing so.? I will, therefore, simply point you to a great piece I found

Most of you know I am a "reformed" or "recovering" (take your pick of adjective) attorney and have written before about them in my posts (e.g., click here).? Most of you also know that I am friends with so many great attorneys that I never play favorites — I simply send people to My Attorney

Well, I've returned from an absolutely refreshing two weeks in Maui and am recharged and ready to go.? Seems my timing is good as recent M&A and IPO numbers have been showing some signs of life (relatively speaking) and folks I have been meeting with seem to have a new spring in their step.? Let's

One of my investment thesis is that the continued convergence of computing and communications technologies will drive innovation and adoption in the healthcare industry.? I'm a big believer in convergence and multidisciplinary science and technology.? In fact, you could say that I'm putting my money where my mouth is here. If you're similarly inter...

I had an interesting conversation this week about Twitter.? I explained to a friend that I have an account, used it for awhile, abandoned it for awhile, and have revived it in an attempt to learn more about it as a social medium.? Here is how I view it and my three self-imposed rules of

I was at D7 the other week and spent a fair amount of time discussing the "value of free" with attendees.? The juxtaposition of traditional media and consumer Internet hinges on this concept so I thought I would explain a bit about what I am referring to.? At the risk of oversimplifying here, a vast