PJC Blog

June is Innovation Month in New England - A Look at The Mobile Sector

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

I was reading Scott Kirsners recent article Innovation Month: Whats It To You and when I read his request for bloggers to write a post about some initiative, dynamic or group that you feel is vital to innovation in the region it reminded me of a presentation I gave a few weeks back to the 128 Innovation Capital Group specifically on a sector in our region that is driving innovation and real value. The title of my presentation was Mobile Innovation in Boston / New England, Entrepreneurial Opportunities for the Future

PE Hub Shindig The Boston Venture Community feels Alive!

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

I attended the PE Hub Shindig last night which was organized and led by the well known Dan Primack and sponsored by .406 Ventures, Second Market, Atlas Ventures, Capital Dynamics and Velocity Financial. I had to take a rather circuitous route into Boston because half of the east / west roads around Boston have been flooded out so I showed up a little late.

The Next Generation of E-commerce innovation - East Coast Leadership & Success

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

With all the talk of the coming tech IPOs and the inclusion of Gilt on most of these lists, I was prompted to reflect on the ecommerce sector on the East Coast. Many of the mega success stories of ecommerce over the past decade are on the West Coast, including such notable pioneers as Amazon, eBay and Netflix. What I find incredibly interesting, however, is the number of big and successful ecommerce companies located in the Northeast. Priceline, Vistaprint, and others were conceived, started and grown by talented East Coast entrepreneurs into multi-billion dollar market leaders.

Internet Subscription Services / Growing Opportunities in the Recession

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

I recently attended the very informative and expansive McGraw Hill Media Conference and there was a lot of discussion about the challenges facing the advertising market (both traditional and digital). Certainly there is a secular shift afoot from traditional to digital media and the time spent on digital media relative to the ad dollars flowing there are mismatched. There are many reasons for this that I wont delve into and I firmly believe the secular shift will continue growing digital media into a much larger industry than it is today. However, one area that I continue to be intrigued by is the subscription model where the consumer pays for the value they derive from spending time with a digital media solution (rather than paying for it by watching ads).

It's all about the people

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Why are healthcare costs rising so fast?This is the underlying question in many topics of conversation, articles in the popular press, election cycles, presidential transition periods, etc. This issue of healthcare spending in the U.S. (or any other country) is incredibly complex. Contributing factors include inefficient and outdated information technology, high administration costs, obesity, healthcare financing (as opposed to cost) issues, higher prices in the U.S. to name a few.But there is one driving factor that seems missing from many discussions and debates: the role of labor in the delivery of care...

Bridging 2008

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

For those who have been held up in a cave for the past few months, the credit markets have been in turmoil. Across all markets, financing companies with debt and equity has become more challenging. While the impact on venture-backed companies has not been as acute as financial institutions, there has clearly been an impact on financing early stage companies. Valuations have contracted, firms have increased capital reserved for existing investments, and the bar has been raised in the minds of many investors.

For companies seeking to raise follow-on capital, this can present a challenge--particularly for those that are close to key milestones ... but haven't quite reached them. In an era of higher bars and lower valuations, this often presents a disconnect between the valuation expectations of new investors and management/existing investors. What to do?

Communications Infrastructure - New England Leadership and Success

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

We all know that The Red Sox, The Patriots, and The Celtics are examples of successful leadership that has arisen from New England, but another New England super star is its Communications Infrastructure sector. The New England entrepreneurial ecosystem has long been identified with communications equipment, storage, life sciences and software. However, a somewhat less visible, but equally robust segment of our innovation fabric is the Communications Infrastructure cluster. These are the companies that build, own and operate the critical communications network infrastructure that enable todays modern Internet, voice and mobile communications services. These are companies operating everything from wireless towers to cable systems to telephone / data networks to CDNs (content delivery networks).

Let's not preempt innovation

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving a womanwho was given a pharmaceutical treatment that resulted in a significantadverse event. While I spend less time thinking about drugs thanmedical devices, the case, its coverage in the media and a discussionat the most recent Dartmouth Device Development Symposium (3D) got methinking about another Supreme Court case decided earlier in the year, Riegel v. Medtronic, which has significant implications for innovation in the device industry.

The essence of the Riegel decisionwas that a company cannot be sued in state court for harm caused by amedical device provided that it was approved under a PMA process andwas manufactured and marketed under FDA guidelines. In other words, theCourt held that challenges to the safety and efficacy of such devicesare "preempted." The decision was 8-1 (on a court not terribly wellknown for 8-1 decisions). So why would someone concerned with theprospects for medical device innovation still be thinking about thiscase? As it turns out, members of congress are apparently draftinglegislation that would preempt preemptionand limit medical deviceinnovation.