sevenload

Vator Box guest host Mayfield Partner Raj Kapoor says HearPlanet is in a hot space For those who're not familiar with Vator Box, it's our version of Siskel & Ebert meets American Idol. We take one company's video pitch and put it in front of a guest host and our VB regular Ezra Roizen, digital media investment banker, and myself. The three of us then analyze the company's prospects. And, in some cases, the guest host gets very excited about the company.

• 12/15/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Prolific angel investor Aydin Senkut is our guest host analyzing the Wikipedia for business contactsThis week, we take a look at Jigsaw, a leading provider of business card and company data services that leverages user-generated content contributed by its community of some one million members. Our guest host was Aydin Senkut, an early-Google employee-turned angel investor, is becoming known as one of the more prolific seed-to-early-stage investors in Silicon Valley, having invested in 40 companies since 2006. Here are some observations made by myself, Adyin and Ezra Roizen (Vator Box regular and digital media investment banker):- Jigsaw CEO and founder Jim Fowler gave a solid pitch. - It's clear they're addressing a key pain point. The big challenges for marketers and business professionals are data mining and getting clean data. Jigsaw is helping to ... [http://vator.tv/n/c16 read more]

• 12/1/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Angel investor Aydin Senkut is our guest host analyzing Thread, the dating site leveraging FacebookThe online dating market is a $1 billion annual business. One company - Thread - is trying to go after that market by leveraging the connections on Facebook by creating a dating filter on top of the massive social network. The value proposition? Why not meet friends of friends rather than some random person considered psychologically compatible? We take a look at Thread in this week's Vator Box, with Aydin Senkut, an early-Google employee-turned angel investor, who is becoming known as one of the more prolific seed-to-early-stage investors in Silicon Valley, having invested in 40 companies since 2006, such as Mint, which was recently sold to Intuit for $170 million, Aardvark, Disqus, Dogster, BrightRoll and Rapleaf. Full disclosure: Aydin tried ... [http://vator.tv/n/be6 read more]

• 11/18/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Vator Box guest host Mayfield Partner Raj Kapoor says QLess has promiseFor those who're not familiar with Vator Box, it's our version of Siskel & Ebert meets American Idol. We take one company's video pitch and put it in front of a guest host and our VB regular Ezra Roizen, digital media investment banker, and myself. The three of us then analyze the company's prospects. And, in some cases, the guest host gets very excited about the company.

• 11/14/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Startup Sessions talks mobile video and plays pinball with Chrys Bader, founder of VidlyThere certainly isn't a shortage in services to upload videos on the Web.

• 11/14/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Vator Box takes a look at SharesPost, an online marketplace to trade private company sharesWith the IPO market in the doldrums for some time, and merger activity still scarce, shareholders of venture-backed companies have had trouble getting liquidity for their stock. The dearth of exits has created a new opportunity for companies such as SharesPost, which launched in June 2009, and SecondMarket, both of which are trading platforms for buyers and sellers of private securities. It's an active sector. Recently, SecondMarket just acquired its competitor InsideVentures for an all-stock purchase.In this week's Vator Box, Ezra Roizen (Vator Box regular and digital media investment banker) and I take a look at the prospects of SharesPost. Our guest host is Lorenzo Carver, whose expertise is in understanding valuations of startup companies through his company, Liquid Scenarios.

• 10/29/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Startup wants to be the next-generation local services marketplace, combining Yelp and eBayThumbtack was given the People's Choice award at the Juice Pitcher last week. The local services startup was chosen after presenting alongside nine other companies at the event, which showcased 10 startups chosen by their peers during the Juice Pitcher competition. Presentations by Mint CEO Aaron Patzer and Like CEO Munjal Shah about building startups were also given. (See links to all the coverage below)

• 10/22/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Vator Box gives AirBnB a thumbs up for noveltyThis week, we take a look at AirBnB, a startup that wants to be the eBay of space by being the conduit for couch or bed rentals as well as entire apartments, hotel rooms or villas in Malaysia. AirBnB facilitates the transactions and takes a 10% booking fee, which it collects once the traveler checks in. Noah Doyle, managing partner at early-stage venture firm Javelin Venture Partners, was our guest host for this episode, joining myself and Ezra Roizen, digital media investment banker and Vator Box regular.

• 10/22/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0