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3 Startup Financing Myths You Should Avoid

Leading Blog

I personally blame my MIT classmate Aileen Lee, formerly with Kleiner Perkins, who coined the term Unicorn , a private company valued at over a billion dollars. He is a successful entrepreneur, video game pioneer, and venture capitalist and founder of the startup accelerator Play Labs @ MIT.

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Can Design Save Silicon Valley?

Harvard Business Review

I didn’t take their interest seriously until I saw the news in December that John Maeda, the former President of the Rhode Island School of Design, joined venerable VC firm Kleiner Perkins. He’s the Valley’s first-ever Design Partner. That’s a serious step into the mover-shaker circle for the design profession.

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Practical Advice for Raising Early Stage Venture Capital

Harvard Business Review

There are some helpful resources out there on venture terms , good venture funds vs. bad ones , and questions you may want to ask a venture capitalist if you meet one. The notes below are practical working tips on how to go about navigating venture capitalist conversations. Politely decline.

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Alphabet Isn’t a Typical Conglomerate

Harvard Business Review

But it is not another Silicon Valley venture capital firm seeking extraordinary returns from small number of bets with short time horizons. Venture capitalists help entrepreneurs to scale their companies for an IPO or acquisition by another company. A talent magnet.

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Should Everyone Be Allowed to Invest in Private Tech Companies?

Harvard Business Review

Many public traded companies, such as Alphabet, Intel, and Apple are, in part, venture capitalists in disguise. The median age of technology firms, backed by venture capitalists, doing an IPO has reached eleven years and is increasing.

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The Best Entrepreneurs Are Missionaries, Not Mercenaries

Harvard Business Review

The big news in the venture capital world is that John Doerr, legendary partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is moving into a new role as the firm’s first chair, where he’ll be what he describes as a “player coach” to support the firm’s next generation of leaders.

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How VC John Doerr Sets (and Achieves) Goals

Harvard Business Review

Since joining Kleiner Perkins in 1980, venture capitalist John Doerr has helped fund Intuit, Amazon, Google, Twitter, and a host of other well-known tech companies. HBR Staff/Steve Jennings / Stringer/Getty Images.

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