Today Acquia, the company I co-founded in 2007 with Dries Buytaert announced that a majority investment in the company had been acquired by Vista Equity Partners. This is a dramatic next step for the company and team, and I could not be more pleased. I have always wanted to build a cornerstone company: one that would lastContinue reading “Reflections on Acquia following investment by Vista Equity Partners”
Tag Archives: entrepreneur
Angel Invest Boston podcast, with me and Saleh Daher
I was recently invited by Sal Daher to be interviewed for his Angel Invest Boston podcast series. Sal’s series invites various tech angel investors from around the city and asks them a variety of questions about their own background, how their background influences their investment, and about things they commonly see in, and suggest to startupContinue reading “Angel Invest Boston podcast, with me and Saleh Daher”
Should the interest on convertible notes be paid in cash in some cases?
When startups raise capital from outside investors, one financial structure commonly used is called a convertible (promissory) note. There are several motivations for startups & investors to use this arrangement. One thing is coming back to bite me, though, and makes me wonder if the terms of it ought to change in common use: conversion of the interest intoContinue reading “Should the interest on convertible notes be paid in cash in some cases?”
Why zero-revenue companies can be worth billions
In a recent blog post, Fred Destin of Atlas Ventures (again) added sanity into the discussions about why zero-revenue companies can receive valuations of many billions of dollars. I agree with everything he said. There’s one more point I’d add: Large scale audiences have a valuation-per-engaged-user. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all started out as zero-revenue companies. ButContinue reading “Why zero-revenue companies can be worth billions”
Minimize use of CxO titles at early company stages
I’m about 10 months into helping a bunch of startups through organizations like TechStars, MassChallenge, and others. And I’ve seen an emerging trend among startups that I want to discourage: The over – and inappropriate – use of “Chief (fill-in-the-blank)” titles. “What’s the problem,” you ask? “Why not give people CxO roles?” There are a bunch ofContinue reading “Minimize use of CxO titles at early company stages”
JAB Ventures 