venture capital

Is Twitter Worth $3.7 Billion? Not in the Real World

That's the value a $200 million venture investment led by Kleiner Perkins this week implies. But that means Twitter would have a price-to-sales ratio of 840 compared to Facebook's 26 -- or Google's 8.7. And Twitter's growth may be stalling.

Groupon Looks to Raise Funds After Spurning Google Bid

Groupon, the online social coupon site launched in 2008, is looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in expansion-related funding after rejecting a bid from search giant Google worth as much as $6 billion, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the process.

Standing Cloud Aims to Put the Cloud in Easy Reach

Cloud computing is the new hot trend, but anyone business that has tried to move itself into the cloud has generally been in for a shock. Yes, the cloud may be cheaper than owning servers, but it has its own painful issues. Enter startup Standing Cloud, which wants to make the jump to the cloud into a cake walk.

Twitter May Raise Money as Web 2.0 Values Soar

Twitter is mulling a new round of funding that could value the company at over $3 billion. This news comes just as Google is in negotiations to buy Groupon for as much as $6 billion. Other large Web 2.0 companies have also been given lofty valuations as well.

Groupon Rival LivingSocial Bags $175 Million from Amazon

Just a few days after Google reportedly offered $6 billion for the top group-buying site, Groupon, the service's biggest rival, LivingSocial, has scored a $175 million investment from Amazon. But how long will these hot deals last?

Ex-CEO Says Twitter Has Plenty of Money in the Bank

Amid rumors that Twitter is considering pursuing another round of venture funding, the microblogging site's co-founder Evan Williams said his company has "a lot of money in the bank," and that its advertising efforts are paying off better than expected.

Can Groupon Find Itself a Good Venture Capital Deal?

After rumors last month that Yahoo had offered to buy coupon service Groupon for between $1.5 billion and $3 billion, the company is seeking an undisclosed amount of venture-capital funding at a valuation of between $2 billion to $3 billion.

Job Creators: 10 Companies That Are Hiring Now

Yes, many U.S. companies -- particularly small ones -- are hiring now. And they plan to keep hiring. What can other companies learn from the outfits that have figured out how to grow in this economy? Plenty. Here are their stories.

Crooked Angels: Top Tech Investors Accused of Collusion

Top Silicon Valley blogger Michael Arrington has leveled explosive charges at some of the most influential angel investors in technology, alleging they are engaged in a conspiracy to collude and fix price levels for early-stage investments. At least two of the investors involved have denied the account.

Venture Capital 3.0: InLab's Radical Cure for the VC Blues

This week, Greg Doyle and his cohorts at InLab Ventures dropped a bomb on the struggling venture capital sector with the public launch of a radical new model for VC. Dubbed VC 3.0, it could revolutionize the game -- but it gores a host of Sand Hill's sacred cows in the process.

Why Foursquare Is Beating Gowalla: Location

Check-in phenom Foursquare just passed 3 million users, a milestone that cements its growing lead in mobile social networking. But how did it outrace competitor Gowalla, which was born at the same time and with arguably better technology? By having the right real world social networks, of course.

Angels, Not VCs, Are Giving Tech Startups Wings

Web startups are now so cheap to build out and can fail so quickly that very early stage funding, when angel investors tend to participate, has risen in prominence. Venture capital, which usually enters at a later stage, is playing a shrinking role.

What's Needed to Create a Virtuous Economic Cycle

Until companies start hiring American workers, banks make affordable credit available for deserving consumers and institutional investors start providing more capital for start-ups, the U.S. economy will limp along -- or maybe worse.