I’ve presented at a few conferences lately on AI in financial services, particularly on how investors are using AI. I’ve posted here an expanded version of my slides. I provide an overview of why AI is a tool that so many people are exploring; what I think increases the odds of success for companies using AI;...
[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]Our new Harvard Business Review article: Time for Investors to Get Social
I’m excited to report that we’ve started to release the results from our first-ever study on best practices in private equity and venture capital deal origination. My coauthor Chris Farmer (formerly Vice President, Bessemer Venture Partners) and I published a summary in the current issue of Harvard Business Review. Evalueserve, a global research firm and...
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