The Multibillion-dollar China Question: Should a mid-sized tech company tempt fate in China?
Didi Chuxing, the largest ride-hailing service is China, confirmed today that it will acquire Uber China. According to reports, the two companies will keep distinct brands, apps, and business operations, but the backends will be merged. The deal ends a long, costly battle between the two rivals: Uber had been spending $1B + a year […]
Company building: how to transition from short-term survival to long-term sustainability
About two to three years post launch, companies typically undergo an interesting transition: they’ve made it through the survival phase and are maturing. It’s time to focus on building a company long term. For most companies, this is a hard transition to make. In the early days, the goals were crystal clear: Survive! Find product-market-fit! […]
Some of our favorite investment themes right now: AI and machine learning
At Version One, we take a thematic approach to investing and are very focused on start-ups with strong network effects, like marketplaces and social platforms. This year, we’ve been writing about the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and the potential for strong data network effects to emerge with these companies – particularly when start-ups […]
Not every decision can be made quickly: how to approach your mega decisions
The ability to make fast decisions often means the difference between good and great – this is true for both entrepreneurs and investors. At Version One, we usually know within a few days whether we should invest in a company or not. After we get this initial feeling, we can spend weeks doing more due […]
Go Big or Go Home: It’s a binary outcome for marketplace start-ups
It’s typically a binary outcome for marketplace start-ups at the beginning: either you figure out the chicken-and-egg problem or you don’t. But, marketplaces can face a binary outcome at the other end too: either you scale your marketplace into a large, stand-alone company that can go public, or you find yourself with few other exit […]