austinpreneur

FundingSleuth.com sends email alerts when companies raise money

First Round Capital released a cool new tool for entrepreneurs and investors called FundingSleuth.com. It lets you enter in companies to watch and automatically sends an email alert if that company files a sale of securities with the SEC.

If you work for a funded company, you should sign up and watch your employer. If you are an entrepreneur, you should watch your own company so that you know when your fundraising becomes public information. If you're an investor, you should watch your portfolio so that you know about other fundraising. If you're just really interested in a particular startup, you might want to monitor their fundraising.

Thanks for this cool, free tool!

Venture-backed IPO recession?

This BusinessWeek video clip points out that there were only 5 venture-backed IPO's in the first quarter of 2008 and ZERO venture-backed IPO's in the second quarter. The VC's blame Sarbanes-Oxley, picky entrepreneurs and globalization as the cause and suggest that we make a concerted effort to save venture capital by raising awareness and easing some expensive accounting requirements.

Hat tip to Barry Thornton