Rajeev Motwani – We will miss you…very very much.

 

Rajeev Motwani – We will miss you…very very much.

This is sad, very very sad. My deepest sympathies and condolences to his whole family. This is not only their loss but a loss for all of us too, whom he touched in his own special way many times over the years. 

I remember meeting him at the TIECON 2009 (May 15th 2009) where he was sporting a FbFund T-Shirt and proudly talking about it. The last time I saw him was as he walked hand-in-hand with his wife Asha all dressed up towards the TIECON 2009 Dinner Hall. 

Though I never had the opportunity to work with/for him, we did meet several times. The first time was in August 2003 was when I was pitching my Email Management Outlook based product Zytes Mail. We have been in touch ever since.

I always saw his as a great visionary, a simple honest man always willing to advise, help and mentor in every possible manner. A simple saint of knowledge. 

His passing way will leave a void which will be impossible to fill up.

Rajeev Motwani – We will miss you…very very much.

This is sad, very very sad. My deepest sympathies and condolences to his whole family. This is not only their loss but a loss for all of us too, whom he touched in his own special way many times over the years. 

I remember meeting him at the TIECON 2009 (May 15th 2009) where he was sporting a FbFund T-Shirt and proudly talking about it. The last time I saw him was as he walked, hand-in-hand with his wife Asha & all dressed up, towards the TIECON 2009 Dinner Hall. 

Though I never had the opportunity to work with/for him, we did meet several times. The first time was in August 2003, when I was pitching my Email Management Outlook based product Zytes Mail. We have been in touch ever since.

I always saw his as a great visionary, a simple honest man always willing to advise, help and mentor in every possible manner. A simple saint of knowledge. 

His passing way will leave a void which will be impossible to fill up.

Rajeev Motwani – We will miss you…very very much.

The Churchill Club’s 2009 Tech Trends: Energy, Data And More Energy

This is an annual event that is worth watching! Liked it this time as they got the audience involved in the selections. Maybe next year, they would let audiences all over the world pitch in using the web.

Follow the excellent coverage at TechCrunch…

May be…just may be…the investing community is seeing some fludity…

Check this article on the WSJ today…

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Acquirers Back In The Game, But VCs Advised To Tread Carefully

While venture capitalists search for a way to jumpstart the market for initial public offerings, corporate acquirers appear to be coming back on their own and giving investors a way to reap returns – if they can survive the negotiations, according to an investment banker.

The M&A market has slowed down considerably since last September when the financial markets tumbled in the wake of Wall Street’s collapse. The fourth quarter saw just 65 M&A deals involving venture-backed companies, the lowest on record for a quarter, while the first quarter didn’t fare much better at 68 deals, according to industry tracker VentureSource.

Follow the rest of the story at :

Acquirers Back In The Game, But VCs Advised To Tread Carefully

VC’s should invest now…let the American entrepreneurial spirit fly again!

Venture funding is at all time lows! Just take a look around at the web and you will see all kinds of articles which show that VC’s are just NOT investing and are instead holding tight to their cash wads. That’s not what the common wisdom says. Per that, they should be investing like mad these days.

I especially liked Sarah Lacy’s article on TechCrunch: Venture Capital Down 50%. It’s Not Just the Recession, Folks. 

That’s why I was so glad to hear about the TechFellow Awards started by Reid Hoffman and his colleagues at the Founders Fund. Kudos to all of them for doing the right thing at the right time!

So, to all ye VCs out there, venture out, invest now and let the American entrepreneurial spirit fly again!

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Other interesting articles:

TechCrunch Poll: How Much Did VC Investing Drop In The First Quarter? 

VC Financings For Internet Startups Down 16 Percent in Third Quarter 

VC Dollars Dropped 33 Percent In The Fourth Quarter, Down 8 Percent For All 2008

Jasper Design Lands $7M, Bucks EDA Trend

Jasper Design Automation Inc., a provider of integrated circuit verification software, has secured $7 million in its Series D round, an increasingly rare accomplishment in the electronic design automation industry that has been largely abandoned by venture capitalists

Don’t be a Lone Ranger…

Its not that you are not qualified enough or don’t have “it” to get a startup going but know and realize that you are not “God” and you simply cannot have it all. And that’s exactly how people (read as investors, potential customers, partners) will see you. Thus if you are indeed a one-man shop, stop wasting your time and get real.

Get yourself a trust worthy, reliable, dedicated-to-the-cause-as-much-as-you-are Partner. If you cannot, don’t work on the startup till you find one.

Your partner should compliment your skill set. (If you are an engineer, make sure that your partner is into sales or business development.)
Your partner should be your sounding board. (So that if hear eerie voices in your head at 3:00 am as you clunk away in your garage, ask your partner to drive them away!)
You and your partner should make the startup look complete, rounded and full.

Don’t be a Lone Ranger! Giddyup with a Partner!

Aster Data Systems Raises $12 Million in Series B Funding

Aster Data Systems, a proven leader dedicated to providing the best analytic databases for frontline data warehousing, today announced it has completed a $12 million round of equity funding led by JAFCO Ventures. Joe Horowitz, Managing General Partner of JAFCO Ventures, has joined Aster’s Board of Directors. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Cambrian Ventures and First Round Capital also participated in the round.