Tag: Tech/Industry

Want To Win Like Amazon, Netflix And Google? Don’t Be Afraid To ‘Look Foolish’

This XSeed blog was written by Executive-in-Residence, Mike Hoefflinger, and originally appeared on Forbes.

There’s something special about breakout Silicon Valley-style innovation. Not the ecosystem that makes it possible for hundreds — if not thousands — of efforts to launch, but the handful that win. And keep

Silicon Valley 4.0: How Apple Will Change Everything (Again)

This XSeed blog was written by Executive-in-Residence, Mike Hoefflinger, and originally appeared on VentureBeat.

Silicon Valley has remained the innovation engine of the world since its consumer beginnings in 1977. After that first wave of innovation, when the Apple II and the Atari VCS/2600 debuted, we’ve been through two more waves of innovation. The second

A Framework To Help Make Sense Of Cybersecurity Tools

This XSeed blog was written by former Principal, Marcelo Manjon, and originally appeared on Network World.

The spate of high profile cyberattacks have raised the awareness of cybersecurity to the board level and encouraged venture capitalists to pour money into this sector. In 2013 the industry received $1.7 billion of VC money across 240 deals,

How To Attack A Crowded Market — And Come Out On Top

This XSeed blog was written by Venture Partner, Jeff Thermond, and originally appeared on Forbes.

In a previous article, I described many unappreciated risks in competing in a crowded market. This article explains when to try and how to succeed in attacking a crowded market.

Research has

It Was The Best And Worst Of Times In Silicon Valley

This XSeed blog was written by XSeed Capital Partner, Robert Siegel, and originally appeared in The Accelerators blog of the Wall Street Journal.

As I recently re-read the opening of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” I realized just how prescient he was about modern Silicon Valley.

4 Key Trends That Are Revolutionizing Enterprise Effectiveness

This XSeed blog was written by XSeed Capital Partner, Robert Siegel, and originally appeared on VentureBeat.

For the last several years, conventional wisdom has been that enterprise software is the exciting area in which venture capitalists should invest.

A large number of celebrated exits have occurred with firms such as Workday

How Venture-Backed Companies Should Think About Exit Events

This XSeed blog was written by XSeed Capital Partner, Robert Siegel, and originally appeared on Forbes.

When XSeed Capital engages initial discussions with a startup, the conversations usually surround traditional topics: what is the size of the market opportunity, how good is the current product/market fit, what skills does the team have or want to

User Photos Will Drive Business Decisions For Brands

This XSeed blog was written by XSeed Capital Partner, Robert Siegel, and originally appeared on Pixlee.com.

In the history of marketing, consumer product companies were the original leaders in understanding how data impacts their organization’s sales. Firms such as Proctor and Gamble and Unilever sold millions of goods across hundreds of product lines, and 

A Different Take On Being Authentic

This XSeed blog was written by XSeed Capital Partner, Robert Siegel, and originally appeared on VentureBeat.

As I was running a mentoring session last week at the FailCon conference in San Francisco, the popular notion that entrepreneurs should be “authentic” kept rattling around in my head.

When I first arrived