One of the first decisions we had to make in setting up our new VC fund, Versatile Venture Capital, was our CRM and marketing technology infrastructure. I’m very interested in the tech stack of private equity/VC firms, both to improve the efficiency of Versatile VC and also as a focus area for our investing. I...
[Continue Reading]First-ever survey of VC tech stacks
We think one of the industries with the greatest room for improved use of technology is venture capital itself. Blue Future Partners, a fund of funds, and PEVCTech.com are now running what we believe is the first-ever large-scale survey of VC firms’ technology stacks. Filling out this survey should take you no more than 7...
[Continue Reading]Sales 2.0: why can’t sales be as efficient as online dating?
I’m teaching a class for Founder Institute July 8 on accelerating sales with technology. This has been a passion of mine for well over a decade, ever since I realized how inefficient sales was and how technology could be used to speed up the process. This is a core theme of my book, The Virtual...
[Continue Reading]How to get world class experts to support your company
As the former CEO of a professional expert network, I’m a firm believer in the value of speedy access to relevant experts. I was excited to see that GLG (formerly Gerson Lehrman Group), the industry leader, is now offering a professional network service geared to the needs of the startup community: GLG Share. When you’re...
[Continue Reading]Where are the deals? How VCs source winning companies
You’ve probably read dozens of articles about how to raise capital from venture capitalists. However, as a VC, we have the opposite problem: how do we originate companies in which to invest? It might appear that origination is becoming much easier because of new tools like AngelList and the SEC moving toward adoption of rules that will...
[Continue Reading]How Private Equity Funds Are and Should Be Using Social Media
Can professional investors use social media? Or, is social media strictly for teenagers and staying in touch with your friends? Historically, institutional investors kept their investing strategy and their activities very discreet. Today, however, some are aggressively employing social media tools to discuss their strategies, deals in the pipeline, and even their political views...
[Continue Reading]Why We Chose Salesforce CRM Over Zoho
I finally did it: I’ve moved my contact database over to the web. After extensive research of different CRM solutions (thanks BestVendor), we’re working with Salesforce.com. We also used Salesforce heavily at one of my prior companies, Circle of Experts. I’ve been a loyal Act user for my personal CRM system since 1996, and have...
[Continue Reading]