My investment thesis
Fred Wilson’s blog post on Dave McClure’s investment thesis a few weeks ago reminded me that I needed to do a better job on spelling out my own. I had done some preliminary work when I started W Media Ventures almost 3 years ago but it was very high-level only addressing the sector (consumer Internet), […]
Pitching day
The GROW conference has brought dozens of high-profile VC’s and super-angels to Vancouver which presents a wonderful opportunity for many local start-ups to get exposure to out-of-town investors. So today is “pitching day” jointly organized by W Media Ventures and Bootup Labs. 7 companies will take the stage: CompassEngine (location-based gaming platform), EmpireAvenue (influence stock […]
W Media Ventures today. W Media Ventures tomorrow.
Last week’s W Media Ventures CEO summit provided a good opportunity for me to reflect on where W Media Ventures stands today and where I want it to be in the near future. Over the last 2 years, W Media has evolved into one of the leading early-stage consumer Internet investors in the Pacific Northwest […]
The challenge for Canadian VC’s
VC funds go through challenging times world-wide but the situation in Canada is probably worse than in many other places. Most VC’s in this country have been focused on the domestic market, both for raising funds as well as investing their money. Turns out that this created returns that were about 10% below the returns […]
German start-up scene – copycats or innovators, enough or not enough VC money?
Fred Wilson published an interesting post today about the start-up scene in Berlin. Having founded my own start-up in Germany (JustBooks, later acquired by Victoria’s AbeBooks), being currently invested in a successfull Internet start-up based in Berlin (Tripsbytips, an online travel community) and working with one of the leading German VC’s (Munich-based Acton Capital / […]