Author Archive
Selling Patents and Intellectual Property Part 1
In connection with our restructuring services, our firm recently sold certain assets of a fabless semiconductor company. The sale included physical assets as well as intellectual property (“IP”). As can be expected from technology companies with significant expenditures on research and development, the majority of the value was embedded in the intellectual property: the design database and the patents.
The project reminded me of how much the landscape of acquirers of IP has changed in recent years as the market for buying, selling, and licensing IP becomes more mature. There are a host of different players with very distinct interests and operating models. (more…)
Add comment February 24, 2010
Where have all the public companies gone?
It’s no big news that there weren’t a lot of IPOs in 2009, and hardly any in 2008. In general, IPOs were few and far between in the years after the dot-com bust. Most pundits make the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 responsible for this dearth of new offerings. (more…)
Add comment January 17, 2010
How Long Does It Take to Sell a Company?
Depends. It can take a couple of weeks for a hot technology company, or many months, if the buyers aren’t lining up around the block, which is a rare occurrence these days. (more…)
Add comment December 23, 2009
Are VCs Bad at Math?
Pepperdine University recently published its first Private Capital Markets Report, and it is chock full of useful information for entrepreneurs and investors alike. (more…)
Add comment November 12, 2009
Bigger isn’t better Part 2: The right size for the Venture Capital Industry
In my last post, I discussed size considerations of individual venture capital firms.
If VC firms ought to be smaller, what does that say about the VC industry as a whole? (more…)
Add comment October 12, 2009
Bigger isn’t better Part 1: Size considerations for Venture Capital Funds
What is the right size for venture funds?
Veteran investor Alan Patrikof is musing in a recent piece in The New York Times about the “good old times” when venture funds were $100 million at most.
So why should VC-Firms be smaller? (more…)
3 comments September 29, 2009
Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Most indicators for the venture capital industry are down significantly. As indicated by the latest Moneytree Report, funding is down (Q1/09 investments are at the lowest level since 1997), valuations are down (87% of Q1/09 venture rounds are flat or down, as reported by Cooley Godward Kronish), and the industry is in a slump and is trying to reinvent itself (as remarked earlier).
Curiously, the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index for the Q1/09 actually rose to 3.03 from 2.77 (with 5 indicating high confidence and 1 indicating low confidence). This is the first substantial uptick in eight quarters. (more…)
July 7, 2009
It’s a Buyers’ Market for Assets and IP
Bankruptcy-related mergers and acquisitions have hit their highest level globally since August 2004. (more…)
June 8, 2009
Turnaround Issues for Distressed Tech Companies
In a recent whitepaper Strategic Options for Distressed Technology Companies I discuss how turnaround management for venture-backed technology companies is different from that for companies in more traditional industries. (more…)
April 17, 2009
Going…going…GONE! Selling a Company or Assets via Auction
Clients often ask us if they should consider selling their company (or certain assets) in an auction or through individual negotiations. Depends. (more…)
February 23, 2009

