venture capital

Entrepreneurship 101: A Guide for New College Grads

Today's challenging job market has many recent college grads contemplating life as an entrepreneur. Some have dabbled in self-employment, but most will going into it essentially relying on instinct. So we asked some experienced entrepreneurs what every would-be small businessperson needs to know.

Impact Investing: Making Your Money Count

For some time, investors who wanted to put their money where their morals were have chosen socially responsible investing -- steering their cash away from firms whose practices they disapproved of. Now comes impact investing, which uses invested funds to solve social or environmental goals and earn competitive returns, too.

How a Google-Backed Startup Aims to Save Energy

Billions of dollars of electricity is wasted annually by inefficient power-conversion systems. But a fledgling company called Transphorm believes its technology can cut electric bills significantly -- and hike mileage for hybrid electric cars and boost output flowing from solar panels.

Where's the Surge in Social Media IPOs?

Given recent valuations for the likes of Zynga, you'd think investors would be frothing at the mouth for any IPOs in this sector. But only a few players look serious about going public soon, and investors aren't putting as much pressure on them to jump as you'd expect.

Groupon IPO Could Value Coupon Company at $15 Billion

Groupon is planning an initial public offering that would value the three-year-old online coupon distribution site at as much as $15 billion -- more than double what Google reportedly bid on the company last year -- The New York Times reported.

Is NeXt a Better Way to Buy Into Facebook Before the IPO?

Unless you're ultra-wealthy or willing to chance the vagaries of the secondary markets, you can't invest yet in hot social networking companies like Facebook, Zynga or Groupon. But soon there may be an alternative: a new fund called NeXt BDC Capital that will take stakes in top-quality venture-backed firms like those.

India's Internet Comes of Age with First $1 Billion Dot-Com

When tech writer Alex Salkever issued his five tech predictions for 2010 last year, he boldly proclaimed that India's nascent tech sector would see its first blockbuster startup emerge. That blockbuster turns out to be MakeMyTrip.com, and it's likely to be followed by many more in 2011.

What Facebook's Goldman Deal Says About Tech IPOs

Facebook and many other tech startups have realized that the hassles and headaches of an IPO in the U.S. aren't always worthwhile. Thanks to willing venture capitalists and private investors, it's easier than ever for tech companies to avoid the lure of going public.

What Groupon Will Do With That Extra $950 Million

Already the global group-buying leader and growing much faster than its competitors, Groupon is getting a lot more funding. For what? For world domination, of course. . .and here's how Groupon is likely to put that new-found cash to work.

Why Is New York VC Fred Wilson Raising So Much Money?

Wilson is known as the dean of New York City venture capitalists, an emerging community that has tracked nicely with the rapid uptick in startups in the Big Apple. Now, the word is out that he's raising a new $200 million seed-stage venture fund. Here's why.

SEC Looking Into Social Networking Giants' Stock Trades

The biggest names in social networking -- Facebook, Twitter, Zynga and LinkedIn -- haven't yet gone public, but their stock does get traded by the very rich on private exchanges. Now, some of those transactions have raised the interest of the Securities and Exchange Commission.