Dick Costolo — who is stepping down as CEO of Twitter in July — has, at a couple of recent conferences, described Twitter CFO Anthony Noto as more than an “accountant” and said that Noto was not brought into the company “just be a CFO.” Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal even suggested that Noto has […]
For Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC, a New Partner and Some Deja Vu
Beginning next month, the Bay Area venture firm SoftTech VC will undergo a management change, with partner Charles Hudson beginning a transition out of the firm to start his own fund, and a new venture partner, Andy McLoughlin, who cofounded the enterprise collaboration startup Huddle, joining full time to focus on business-to-business opportunities. For SoftTech […]
Mary Meeker Goes to Bat for Kleiner — and Ellen Pao
In a San Francisco courtroom yesterday, Mary Meeker, the star investment analyst turned general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, took the stand, testifying that she has not experienced discrimination at Kleiner and calling the firm the “best place to be a woman in the business.” Kleiner is currently fighting charges of gender discrimination […]
Elad Gil on Angel Investing, AngelList, and His New, Stealth Startup
By Semil Shah In 2009, Elad Gil sold his company, Mixer Labs, to Twitter, where he worked another two-and-a-half years as a VP before plunging back into the world of startups — and startup investing. Recently we talked with Gil about how, more precisely, he’s spending his time these days. As an individual investor — […]
Elad Gil on the Angel Investing Lifecycle
By Semil Shah Elad Gil is like a lot like other smart, accomplished Silicon Valley angel investors. His credentials include an advanced degree from M.I.T. He has worked at both small and big companies, from Plaxo to Google (where the mobile wireless team he started acquired Android). He’s also an entrepreneur himself, starting Mixer Labs, […]
Ryan Sarver on Life as a VC, Twitter’s Future, and Why Startup Spillover Out of SF is Inevitable
By Semil Shah It’s been nearly a year since Redpoint Ventures appointed Ryan Sarver, Twitter’s former Director of Platform, as a partner. At the time, Sarver was making the occasional angel investment, but he has spent the last 10 months or so getting up to speed as a formal, full-time investor. We caught up with him last […]
VCs and Twitter: A Simple Relationship Turns Complicated
Over the weekend, New York Times reporter Jenna Wortham wrote of Twitter that it “seems to have reached a turning point, a phase in which its contributors have stopped trying to make the service as useful as possible for the crowd, and are instead trying to distinguish themselves from one another.” If Wortham is becoming disillusioned […]
The Origins of Netscape, as Tweeted by Marc Andreessen
As everyone now knows, Marc Andreessen apparently made it a New Year’s resolution to begin tweeting, just as some of the platform’s most prolific users are deciding to dial it down. That’s good news for the roughly 42,000 of us who are following him, given that he usually has plenty of interesting observations to make. […]
A Storyteller Wades Into a Crowded Market
Tristan Walker is a rarity in Silicon Valley. He’s a gifted storyteller who intimately understands mobile and social media, having interned at Twitter before joining Foursquare, where he led business development for three years. Those talents will come in handy, as Walker pulls the cover off his eight-month-old startup, Walker & Company, revealing its first […]
Dick Costolo’s Joke Bombs, on Twitter
Over the weekend, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo finally did something that millions of Twitter users have done before him: He tweeted a comment that’s attracting unwanted attention. The tweet was prompted by a New York Times report that Twitter has just one woman among its top officials. The story includes comments from academic Vivek Wadwha, who ascribed […]