Mark Bivens
RUDE VC – Warning! this blog post is unrealistically optimistic
I don’t think a week goes by in our office without at least one fundraising pitch employing some variation of the phrase, “These financial projections are conservative.” I understand the well-meaning intent. The entrepreneur’s objectives are often twofold: i) convey us that the market potential for the given startup is enormous; and ii) convince us […]
RUDE VC – Last question: gimme your password
Imagine this scenario: You just completed a full day of second-round interviews at the Company’s premises following your successfully making the first cut at their on-campus recruiting session. It was a long, grueling day, but you feel good about the positive impression you made on everyone. Your well-prepared questions clearly hit the mark, and you […]
RUDE VC: Asking a VC for a job. Do's and Don'ts.
Last week I received a job inquiry which consisted of a CV attached to the following email (translated more or less verbatim): Dear Mr. Bivens Student at [local university], I’m looking for a job in private equity in Paris. Competitive, aggressive, and dominant on the French private equity market, Truffle Capital is the enterprise corresponding […]
Rude VC: YouTube: 1. War criminals: 0.
In the 7-day span since last week’s Rude VC column, the digital world has witnessed the fastest growing video campaign in the history of social media. I’m of course referring to the Kony2012 short film produced by Invisible Children. The human rights organization launched a video with a sole objective to render famous and agitate […]
Rude VC: Europe still has a winner in MWC
Last week Europe hosted the Mobile World Congress, an annual ritual in which over 60,000 people in dark gray and black suits invade Barcelona in an event originally organized by the consortium of mobile network operators. The event used to be called 3GSM, named after the nearly ubiquitous technology standard for mobile communication. The GSMA […]
Rude VC: Unless you're publicly-listed, don’t throttle back
You may have read about how Lance Armstrong raced the half-Ironman triathlon in Panama two weeks ago. His runner-up finish at the inaugural event confirmed that Armstrong has set his sights on the triathlon world as his next competitive battleground. Rumors have swirled periodically since Armstrong’s retirement from the Tour de France that he would […]
Rude VC: Taxing times in French asset management
This article was originally posted on Mark Bivens’ personal blog. Capital Finance (part the Les Echos Groupe) features an article today on the discombobulations affecting the country’s tax-incentivized fund structures: FCPIs and FIPs. I’ve written in the past on the perverse effects that these taxpayer-funded structures can have on the venture capital sector. And for […]