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September 28, 2004
Media Watch: I have something to say to Om Malik, Business 2.0’s star reporter: stick to writing about broadband, dude!
Om is a dear friend, but his cover story in the latest Business 2.0 is giving away way too much good information.
His article, "The New Road to Riches," partly describes an approach that is a key part of my plans...
And it goes to the root of precisely why I left the Financial Times--because I see excellent opportunities to create small, very profitable ventures that can be developed relatively quickly, sold, and the money used to finance more ventures.
That’s why I chose the name atomicVentures for this business project:
It is a play on my name. It refers to something small but with an explosive nature.
Plus, I can have fun with the logo (thank you Chris Dichtel):
In my case, media ventures are my interest, since that’s what I know something about, and what my team knows a lot about. But, I’m certain the same type of approach can be applied to many things in the “web services” world.
And because there are virtually no capital costs, or long development cycles, there is much less need for venture capitalists and their money.
It’s a new type of world that is better suited to being bootstrapped, or financed by savvy Angel investor groups.
Silicon Valley Angel investor groups such as TIE, and Silicom Ventures have been growing tremendously, and are doing very well, as I mentioned in a recent Financial Times column. Granted, those groups are still mostly investing in traditional type startups, because they have taken over the seed investment part of the financing cycle as the VCs have become more risk averse and moved into later stage financing. But, in what I like to call an increasingly “atomic world,” it is the angel investment groups that will really come into their own, because:
1) They can bring financing into a venture far faster than a VC firm.
2) The combined personal networks of Angel investors can help assemble a management team faster, and with way more experience than Vinod can load up his minivan outside Stanford's Business school.
3) Many small ventures have revenue prospects that are way below the $1bn threshold most VC firms target with their investments.
4) Angel investors know how to flip a company. There are many people at TIE, and at Silicom Ventures that have founded and sold two or more companies in their time.
September 28, 2004 12:11 AM
