What do you do when you want to create a software-as-a-service startup but it feels like everything has been built already? You build a product that helps existing SaaS startups. That’s what ChartMogul is currently doing with its subscription analytics platform.The company just raised $2.2 million from Alven Capital, with existing investors Point Nine Capital and angel investors also… Read More
Just a remind that I’m holding one of our patented MicroMeetups in Muscat, Oman on Thursday November 9th from 3pm to 6:30pm. We will meet at the Sheraton Oman. There is no RSVP list so just show up! You can also apply to pitch on stage. If you do not receive an email that you have been chosen to pitch you are not pitching. You can sign up to pitch here. I will pick eight companies to… Read More
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
The Nature Conservancy and Techstars just announced a partnership to create the Techstars Sustainability Accelerator. Amy and I were part of the public announcement this week in Denver. Both organizations are important to us so itâs a joy to be involved in having them work together.
Amy and I have been supporters of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) since we started our relationship in 1990. So has my partner Seth and his wife Greeley, who is currently a trustee on the TNC Colorado board. A key shared value of ours is protecting our planet and we are huge fans of TNCâs science-based approach.
Over the years, weâve been personally involved in a number of projects, such as protecting the Anchor River in Anchor Point, Alaska (the town Amy grew up in until she was eight.) Amy went to Tanzania and Kenya in 2009 with TNC to increase capacity of TNC non-profit partners. We supported an Anchor Point Fellow at TNCâs Berlin office and an internship in Australia through Wellesley College. Heather Tallis, TNCâs Global Managing Director and Lead Scientist for Strategy Innovation, generously participated in our August 2017 Anchor Point Fellowship in Global Leadership Conference. Amy is currently on the TNC Global Campaign Committee and on the TNC Africa Affinity Group for Women and Girls. We also support TNCâs work with indigenous women environmental community leaders in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. TNCâs global reach makes it a very exciting organization to support.
At a TNC event at our house in June 2016, I had a conversation with Mark Tercek, TNCâs CEO, around innovation. Mark joined TNC nine years ago after a long and successful career at Goldman Sachs. One of my favorite ideas of his is that we can ensure more financial resources go toward conservation by getting the world to fully appreciate the opportunity to invest in nature. We had a good exchange about a number of creative approaches TNC taking to conservation and sustainability and I started referring to Mark as Natureâs Investment Banker.
Earlier this year, Amy encouraged me to get together with Brian McPeek, TNCâs Chief Conservation Officer, who is based in Denver. She described the conversation around technology and innovation sheâd had with Brian, and suggested that I should talk to him about Techstars.
Brian and I got together with the goal of batting around a bunch of ideas around what he was trying to accomplish. Without realizing it, he was describing the domain of things that Techstars has addressed for many of our corporate partners. We left the meeting feeling like the idea of a Techstars TNC collaboration could be powerful.
Brian and his team went deep on things very quickly, understanding Techstars and how a Sustainability Accelerator would work. Even though Techstars has expanded around the world, weâve never expanded in Colorado beyond our Techstars Boulder program, which was the very first location in which we ran an accelerator. Weâve talked about doing an accelerator in Denver, but never had a compelling reason to do it. But with Brian and TNCâs involvement, doing an accelerator in Denver became exciting to us â especially given the focus on sustainability that clearly differentiated it from what we were working on in the Boulder accelerator. Itâs now a reality and Mark does a great job talking about our goals and approach in his post about The First Tech Accelerator For Sustainability.
In the tech world, founders (and investors) are always talking about changing the world, with an implication that what they want to be doing is something important, meaningful, and long lasting. In the past few years, there has been increasing dissonance between these words and what results from so-called disruptive innovations, where what we are really creating are companies that improve online ad-targeted by 1%, or create yet another mobile app that distracts our attention from the physical world. This isnât a denigration of those companies, but rather a comment on the disconnect between the desire to change the world against the reality of working on things that time and humanity will likely forget quickly.
Thereâs an obvious question:âAre there opportunities to not just do good, but to have big outcomes?â I have a deeply held belief that large and successful companies can be built while solving global challenges. Itâs not just a feel good thing, but a powerful approach to creating companies. And, if you take it to its natural conclusion, we ultimately are looking for for-profit companies that can be themselves sustainable and important.
For any entrepreneur interested in working on things that improve our planet, thereâs now an accelerator for that. And Iâm excited to be involved in the collaboration to do this between two organizations that are extremely important to me.
Also published on Medium.
Sramana Mitra: Chronologically, we are in the 1996 to 1997 timeframe? Rohith Bhat: Yes. From 1996 to 1998, we worked for, at least, five to six companies. I have not met any of these folks from the...
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Last year I wrote about The Next European Renaissance, in which we explore whether Europe’s recognized enthusiasm for culture in its various forms – food, music, architecture, literature, and many...
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Entrepreneurs are invited to the 375th FREE online 1Mby1M mentoring roundtable on Thursday, November 9, 2017, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/9:30 p.m. India IST. If you are a serious entrepreneur,...
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In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:
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If anyone expected the recent Russia scandal regarding the US election to hurt the profitability or revenue prospects for Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), they couldn’t have been more mistaken. In the...
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Sramana Mitra: Your strategy is to look at the universe as three layers where you have IBM, Azure, or Google underneath. You insert yourself as a middleware. Then you want the domain knowledge of...
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During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Jon Staenberg, Managing Partner at Staenberg Venture Partners, and a Seed Investor in over 300 ventures over the last 30 years. Jon drew from his...
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Consolidation continues to dog the world of on-demand startups — literally and figuratively. In the latest development, Vetted, a startup focused on veterinary services, is acquiring VetPronto, an almost identical peer. Read More
We’ve seen streaming services focused on art movies, horror movies and comedy (R.I.P. Seeso) — so why not romance? That’s the thinking behind Passionflix, a startup announcing that it’s raised $4.75 million in seed funding. It’s not like romantic comedies are missing from theaters, or from Netflix, but Passionflix co-founder Tosca Musk said the genre is dwarfed… Read More
WeWork has money to blow, so the $20 billion startup is putting some of it toward a second headquarters — this time in San Francisco instead of New York, Recode reports. The plan is to locate the HQ in the new 61-floor Salesforce Tower, which is slated to open next year. Read More
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How can companies stop the best employees from leaving? Money. A good corporate culture. But some people are dissatisfied with the skills they’re gaining in their roles. Rallyteam has found that talented millennials often leave companies because the jobs aren’t challenging enough or leading them to their desired career path. The startup is working with corporations to keep… Read More
Just when you thought great burger debate had abated, Snapchat has arrived to pour more lighter fluid on the grill. This week, Snap unveiled a cheeseburger AR filter, and it has the same devil-may-care attitude as its famous sibling, the dancing hotdog. Lettuce catch you up on the drama. On Saturday, author Thomas Baekdal had emoji lovers everywhere scratching their heads when he noticed… Read More
Rohith started a services company in his hometown – a small town on the west coast of Karnataka, India. Fifteen years later, the company is generating $18 million in revenue and has raised two...
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Today’s 374th FREE online 1Mby1M roundtable for entrepreneurs is starting NOW, on Thursday, November 2, at 8:00 a.m. PDT/11:00 a.m. EDT/8:30 p.m. India IST. Click here to join. All are welcome!
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Today’s 374th FREE online 1Mby1M roundtable for entrepreneurs is starting in 30 minutes, on Thursday, November 2, at 8:00 a.m. PDT/11:00 a.m. EDT/8:30 p.m. India IST. Click here to join. All...
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