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Venture Capitalists Investments soar to $28.4 Billion!

VC Investing Soars 22 Percent To $28.4B In 2011, Internet Sector Reaches Highest Levels In A Decade

Double-digit increases in investment dollars in 2011 were spread across a number of industries, including the Clean Technology and Internet sectors. Investment dollars also increased across every stage of investment categories, with the exception of a 48 percent decrease in seed stage investments.

Tracy T. Lefteroff, global managing partner of the venture capital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers observes that investors “are acting prudently and not chasing excessive valuations” and we’re “unlikely to see these sectors overheat like we saw in the 1999 to 2000 era.”

The Software industry brought the most VC dollars by sector for the year, with the amount raised up 38 percent over 2010 to $6.7 billion in 2011. VCs invested into 1,004 software deals, a 7 percent rise in volume over the prior year. Reflecting the fourth quarter decline, software investing was down in the last quarter of 2011 with $1.8 billion going into 238 deals. Despite this decrease, software was also the number one sector for dollars invested and total number of deals in Q4 and counted more than double the number of deals during the quarter than the second largest sector, Biotechnology.
Internet companies also saw a significant increase in investing in 2011 with $6.9 billion going into 997 deals. That’s a 68 percent increase in dollars and 24 percent increase in deals from 2010 when $4.1 billion went into 807 deals. In fact, 2011 marked the highest level of Internet investment over the past decade.


Early Stage investments experienced double-digit increases, rising 47 percent in terms of dollars and 16 percent in terms of deals in 2011 to $8.3 billion in 1,414 deals. For the fourth quarter, Early Stage investments increased, with $2.3 billion going into 364 deals, an 11 percent increase in dollars in Q3 while the number of deals was flat. Early Stage companies attracted 29 percent of dollars and 38 percent of deals in 2011 compared to 24 percent of dollars and 35 percent of deals in 2010.
Expansion Stage investments increased in 2011 by 9 percent in dollars and dropped 8 percent in deals with $9.7 billion going into 999 deals. Expansion funding dropped in the fourth quarter, dipping 9 percent from the prior quarter to $2.4 billion. The number of deals also decreased during the quarter, falling 21 percent to 222. Expansion Stage companies attracted 34 percent of dollars and 27 percent of deals in 2011 compared to 38 percent of dollars and 31 percent of deals in 2010.
In 2011, $9.5 billion was invested into 864 Later Stage deals, a 37 percent increase in dollars and a 5 percent increase in deals for the year. For the fourth quarter, $1.8 billion went into 178 deals, which represents a 26 percent decrease in terms of dollars and a 9 percent decline in terms of deals from the third quarter of 2011. Later Stage companies attracted 33 percent of dollars and 24 percent of deals in 2011 compared to 30 percent of dollars and 23 percent of deals in 2010.






Reblogged via Techcrunch

Paypal India : Good News

Effective October 13, 2011, the RBI has raised the limit on international payments to be received in India to $3000 from the meager $500. Though a lot of industries (including gem & jewelry industry, fine handicrafts, painters, artists etc.) are still not so happy. But Neils Armstrong said, "It is a big step for e-commerce in India".

GO India!


Reference : https://www.thepaypalblog.com/2011/10/great-news-for-our-merchants-in-india/

How SOPA & PIPA Acts affect non-americans

A lot of non-americans in touch with me, a lot of them Indians with
e-startups, are not really concerned about SOPA & PIPA. But I think
there are reason to be concerned about.
If you do not know, these acts are giving ISPs, the Government &
Domain Registars the power to pro-actively censor any website, not
just content, they deem as piracy with 'considerable evidence' or 'in
good faith'.
Sounds close to internet dictatorship?
1. The acts do not just cover US businesses & websites but also
foreign websites located on US servers (like this blog) as well as any
foreign website that has 'piracy content' from being accessed from
within the United States.
2. This is a deadly blow to user-generated content, crowdsourcing &
e-businesses.
3. It gives dictator-ly powers to ISPs & domain Registrars.
4. Similar laws might be enacted in other countries on the same lines.
5. It 'awards' ISPs & Registrars that pro actively take action in good faith.
6. It has a clause to take down the whole website & not just the
acclaimed pirated content. i.e. If one piece of your content is
pirated, your whole site can be taken down & not just the 'pirated
content'
7. It places the responsibility of action on the website. which in
simple words means, if you post some 'pirated content' on Facebook,
then Facebook not you, will be penalized.
Impact - Websites will discourage user-generated content as it is
impossible to check all user-generated content being generated on a
big website. This could also lead away investors & venture capitalists
from internet startups. So much, for the golden era of the internet.
All in all it could mark the beginning of the end of free & open
internet that we enjoy today.
Hope that helps clear why even Wikipedia blacked out today. Wikipedia
might become illegal under the acts & we will have to live without
Wikipedia if the acts are passed!
--

Best regards
Sambhav Karnawat
JeweloveTM
K.K. Exports
The Ruby King
+91-9828012999
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Philosophy of Life - Birthday Special

Not that I consider birthdays any more special than I do every moment,
but I just realized this today in the context of birthday, so this
post is The Birthday Special.

Philosophy :
Every moment of mine is only mine to enjoy.

--

Best regards

Sambhav Karnawat

JeweloveTM
K.K. Exports
The Ruby King

+91-9828012999
Connect with Jewelove [image: Facebook]
<http://www.facebook.com/Jewelove> [image:
LinkedIn] <http://in.linkedin.com/in/jewelove> [image:
Blogger]<http://blog.jewelove.in/> [image:
Twitter] <http://www.twitter.com/JeweloveIndia> [image: Google
Plus]<https://plus.google.com/100481229995468376393#100481229995468376393/posts>
Contact Jewelove [image: Google Talk] JeweloveIndia [image:
Skype]Jewelove. [image:
Y! messenger] JeweloveIndia
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail!
IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and any attachments are
confidential. They are intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you
have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender immediately
and do not disclose the contents to anyone or make copies thereof.

Cost of Failure - Good Reason to Start Early!

This post is a prelude to an upcoming post on 'Failure Funds - Way to
spur Entrepreneurship & Innovation in Indian Universities'
Cost of Failure
One of those weird terms that I very often come up with. When I say
cost of failure, I mean the loss you have incurred, because you tried
something (usually new) & it was unsuccessful, in terms of lost money,
time & peace of mind (aka financial & other security)
Why is it important?
Lot of IITians (in particular because I've had interactions with quite
a few of them) think the cost of failure is high when they are just
around graduation.
The general consensus amongst most IITians is that if they do not take
up a corporate job (I am not talking about the almighty researchers
that we nurture because they are (few) gods walking amongst us humble
men), & start something new aka startup & they 'FAIL!' they would have
screwed up their life & (dramatically) 'Condemned their souls to the
raging fires to hell for all eternity'
Now my point (scientifically speaking, hypothesis) is, that it is
quite not true, rather if at all, it is quite the opposite. i.e. The
cost of failure is VERY LOW early on & there is a very good chance it
might be very high by the time you are in your late thirties & early
forties (mark important, will explain why, in next post)
Proof : (my favorite part, #MTH101)
Consider a (read daring) IITian who starts a company (or at least
starts working on an idea) early, let's say his sophomore year or
maybe third year. He works on it for a month or two, but does not
achieve success.
(sad story) & he 'quits'. (he stops working on that idea & starts
working on another idea)
Now, consider what people think he has he 'lost' :
1. 3 months of time.
2. Some peace of mind (maybe)
3. Some parties
4. Some money (maybe)
5. Grades (maybe)
6. Confidence - you might lose a little confidence, but dude, get over
it & work on the next big idea that will change the world.
Now, let me explain what he has gained :
1. 3 months of work experience. These 3 months would have otherwise
been wasted boozing around & in hangovers.
2. In 3 months, he would have had at least 6 surprise quizzes & a
midsem, so I don't think he'd have had a peaceful mind all the time
anyway.
3. 3 months of internship in working hard & trying to make an idea work.
4. He may lost some money, eg. Booking a domain, travel expenses etc.
but otherwise it would have been spent on Domino's pizza etc.
5. You may have a lower grade on your transcript but definitely a
much-more-important self-motivated work experience which would help
you throughout your life.
6. Confidence - You will gain a lot of confidence in the long run
(with the help of your friends & mentor maybe) because you dared to
venture into an unknown territory. It will help you in the long run
because life belongs to those who dare to venture into unchartered
territories. (reference - Han Solo, Star Wars)
So, overall I don't think you lost a lot.
Living Example - Me & my initially successful idea. I started working
on an in idea in the 4th semester which was initially a decent
success, but as times changed, it sort of 'died'. In the business
terms, you'd call it a failure, but for me it was a success! I was
able to pay my mess & canteen bills independently. It gave me such a
boost of confidence that even today when I am raising capital for
Jewelove & trying to venture into a relatively unknown territory I
feel confident. I know that, God Forbid, but if I do not succeed, I
can make my living independently doing something that I love to do.
For me, that is life.
More on the cost of failure in the next post, 'Failure Funds - Way to
Entrepreneurship & Innovation in Indian Universities'
Stay Tuned!

Future is a communist chocolate hellhole - Man from "Future" at Large Hadron Collider

A would-be saboteur arrested today at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland made the bizarre claim that he was from the future. Eloi Cole, a strangely dressed young man, said that he had travelled back in time to prevent the LHC from destroying the world.
The LHC successfully collided particles at record force earlier this week, a milestone Mr Cole was attempting to disrupt by stopping supplies of Mountain Dew to the experiment's vending machines. He also claimed responsibility for the infamous baguette sabotage in November last year.
Mr Cole was seized by Swiss police after CERN security guards spotted him rooting around in bins. He explained that he was looking for fuel for his 'time machine power unit', a device that resembled a kitchen blender.
Police said Mr Cole, who was wearing a bow tie and rather too much tweed for his age, would not reveal his country of origin. "Countries do not exist where I am from. The discovery of the Higgs boson led to limitless power, the elimination of poverty and Kit-Kats for everyone. It is a communist chocolate hellhole and I'm here to stop it ever happening."
This isn't the first time time-travel has been blamed for mishaps at the LHC. Last year, the Japanese physicist Masao Ninomiya and Danish string-theory pioneer Holger Bech Nielsen put forward the hypothesis that the Higgs boson was so "abhorrent" that it somehow caused a ripple in time that prevented its own discovery.
Professor Brian Cox, a CERN physicist and full-time rock'n'roll TV scientist, was sympathetic to Mr Cole. "Bless him, he sounds harmless enough. At least he didn't mention bloody black holes."
Mr Cole was taken to a secure mental health facility in Geneva but later disappeared from his cell. Police are baffled, but not that bothered.

Reblogged via CNet