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
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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
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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
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Startup Sessions takes an inside look at JamLegend, the startup behind a popular online music gameHave you ever looked at your computer keyboard as a musical instrument?

• 11/14/09
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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
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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
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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
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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
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What am I Missy Episode 35 - Juice Pitcher, Microsoft poaching Apple employees, and SmuleThis episode is brought to you by our sponsor Smule. For those of you who have the Ocarina app on your iPhone or iPod touch, Smule has just released a new songbook. Head over to Smule.com to download it and learn to play folk songs from around the world!"The newest event in Silicon Valley is shaping up to be a hot one. Juice Pitcher, hosted by TheFunded and Vator.tv is being held on the evening of Oct. 6. Since launching the competition to find the 10 startups to present that night to an audience of some 300 people, more than 100 participants have entered the contest. The competition has been heating up and votes are becoming more intense. The five ... [http://vator.tv/n/ad2 read more]

• 10/22/09
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What am I Missy Episode 33 - Disney and Marvel; Aloqa's mobile discovery; Smule's contestThis episode is brought to you by our sponsor Smule, the creators of

• 10/3/09
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Adeo Ressi, founder of TheFunded, is guest host analyzing the No. 1 social gaming company on the WebZynga, the hottest social gaming company with 100 million users, is believed to be raising another round of financing, which will most likely result in a significant valuation for the hot social gaming company. And, Zynga, which operates games such as Texas Hold 'em, Farmville, and Mafia Wars, should go on an acquisition spree to pick up popular gaming franchises. These are just a couple observations and comments made on this week's Vator Box, which features guest host Adeo Ressi, founder of TheFunded and TheFunded Founder Institute, Ezra Roizen (Vator Box regular and digital media investment banker) and me. In the spotlight this week is Zynga, which on Monday was reported to have settled its Mob Wars litigation. Here's a ... [http://vator.tv/n/a91 read more]

• 10/3/09
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Vator Box and Javeline Venture Partners Noah Doyle take a look at the young photo-printing serviceDuring Noah Doyle's recent vacation, his wife lost about 4,000 pictures she had created a photo album on one of the leading photo-sharing sites and lost their photos. To this end, there's a lot of room for innovation in the crowded, yet promising photo-sharing space. In this Vator Box, Noah, managing partner at venture firm Javelin Venture Partners, helps us analyze Picwing, a young company whose goal is to become the easiest way to print photos online.

• 9/14/09
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What am I Missy, Episode 32 - AOL, the Kindle vs e-Reader, Smule's competitionThis episode is brought to you by our sponsor Smule, the creators of

• 9/4/09
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Chrys Bader on how Vidly completed a round in just over a monthVidly, a San Francisco-based startup, has raised $500,000 in seed funding from several angel investors, including Ron Conway, who has previously invested in Twitter.In this segment of fundRazor, host John Bautista talks to Chrys Bader, founder and CEO of Vidly, a Y Combinator graduate that makes it easy to share videos on Twitter. Bader shares the Vidly story. Like many startups, Vidly's original idea or concept for a company iterated to be something different today. "You have to be very adaptive," said Chrys.Chrys also talks about why he chose to do a convertible-debt round rather than an equity round, and some of the terms in the deal.

• 9/1/09
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Garry Tan and Sachin Agarwal on saving money by raising a $750,000 note rather than an equity roundGarry Tan and Sachin Agarwal co-founded Posterous, whose technology makes it easy to publish and share content on the Web, via email. There are two billion email accounts, but only 200 million blogs, leaving 1.8 billion people to reach with the Posterous technology, said Tan.In fundRazor, host John Bautista finds out how the founders went about raising $750,000, from key angel investors, such as Satish Dharmaraj, founder of Zimbra and Eric Hahn, CTO of Netscape. And, he explores the advantages of raisimg a convertible round with a fixed valuation cap rather than a seed round.

• 8/26/09
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Startup Sessions features the founders of Picwing who share thoughts on print photos and beyond"Memory is pretty visual to me, and photography is kind of a way to freeze in time the memories you may have of something," explained Edward Kim, co-founder of Picwing as he took me on a photo-shoot through his neighborhood near Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco.

• 8/26/09
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What am I Missy, Episode 31 - VCs predict Zynga, LinkedIn will IPO soon and Smule competitionThis episode is brought to you by our sponsor Smule, the creators of

• 8/26/09
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What am I Missy Episode 30 - NYTimes should keep Boston Globe, Friendfeed and Smule competitionCash-strapped New York Times Company has an offer for the Boston Globe. California Private Equity is bidding $35 million dollars and the assumption of $59 million in liabilities. It really

• 8/18/09
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Twitter patent infringement; Palm Pre's advertising; Smule's competitionThis segment was brought to you by Smule, the popular iPhone app maker.Smule, the creators of awesome iPhone apps like Ocarina, has a cool "Feel the Love" contest running. Users who have Leaf Trombone can register to win $500 at Smule. You just need to sign up, and get as much love from your friends as possible.

• 8/18/09
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Distress brings opportunity; Stick to what you're good at; Be cool and use SmuleDuring times of distress, great startups often emerge. Hewlett-Packard rose up at the end of the depression and FedEx was born during the oil crisis. Recently, tiny Airbnb came to be.

• 8/2/09
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San Francisco-based Airbnb is making cash by helping people rent out their extra space to travelersJoe Gebbia, Brian Chesky, and Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founders of Airbnb decided to quit their jobs to become entrepreneurs, their funds quickly diminished.

• 7/29/09
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Nimbuzz has $25 mln invested; it's a top social networking iPhone app; but what's its exit?On this week's Vator Box, we look at Nimbuzz, one of the top 20 free social networking apps on the iPhone.

• 7/27/09
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What am I Missy, Episode 27Musician Trent Reznor has three big simple words for unknown artists: “GIVE IT AWAY.” Reznor, in a post on the Nine Inch Nails forums, gave aspiring musicians two options to succeed today. Number one is for those aiming to be pop superstars, go ahead and sign up with a major record label and give up your rights to your music. Number two is to just share your music with everyone across the Web! The upside is that you might build your own following by being on sites like YouTube or MySpace. The downside is you’re going to have to fight hard to rise above the noise and get paid. See: Trent Reznor pushes social media on musicians MySpace's CEO Own ... [http://vator.tv/n/98e read more]

• 7/25/09
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China's great Firewall; Stoned Biz; Tips from GruberWhat does “GFWed” stand for? It means the “The Great Firewall in China”. Yes, China this week put up a firewall to block its citizens from accessing sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The move, as you can imagine, caused a fury across the blogosphere! But come on China. It's "Social" media. We're not talking about "capitalist-pig, free-market" media. It's social!See: China blocks Twitter, Facebook, most Web 2.0 Want some marijuana? Go to Twitter. Apparently, some California pot sellers are living the high life on the micro-blogging site. Artists Collective is the largest weed seller, which uses Twitter to promote its products. Co-founder Biz Stone was not available for a comment. Now it is legal to sell marijuana for ... [http://vator.tv/n/955 read more]

• 7/15/09
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Co-founder AJ Asver shares fundraising tips and why Y Combinator is a good home for startupsScoopler is a graduate of the Y Combinator program in Silicon Valley. The real-time search engine, which came together in 2008, has just closed its seed round of funding. In this segment, John Bautista talks to Scoopler co-founder AJ Asver about how he and his co-founder Dilan Jayawardane raised their initial round of funding, and why they chose to do a debt round rather than an equity round. He also talks about why being backed by Y Combinator is like "being put into a bazooka and shot out." Y Combinator is a high-profile and respected venture capital company focused on investing no more than $20,000 at the earliest stages of a company's life cycle.

• 7/11/09
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Yahoo slims down; You Tube's Journalism school; No one is a visionaryAfter being bloated with under-performing assets, Yahoo is definitely going on a strict diet. CEO Carol Bartz has been shutting down units left and right. The latest is its video advertising unit, which was created through the acquisition of Maven Networks for 160 million dollars last year. Seems Bartz is sending a message to the world:Yahoo time to slim down.See: Yahoo shutters video ad network YouTube launched an online Journalism school of sorts for anyone wanting to learn how to be a reporter. The “YouTube Reporters Center” has tips from CBS Katie Couric, Washington Post’s Bob Woodward, and other top journalists, sharing their wisdom on what it takes to get a good story out or do a good interview. It’s a great idea – a repository ... [http://vator.tv/n/936 read more]

• 7/5/09
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Part II of a look at Xoopit's fundraising lessons and adviceXoopit had a chance to take more than its initial round of $1.5 million when it was just getting started. But rather than take the money upfront, Xoopit said "no." Bijan Mirashi, co-founder and CEO of Xoopit, which was formed in the fall 2006, tells John Bautista, host of fundRazor, that he thought raising 12 to 18 months work of capital was a more prudent route than taking in capital for a few years. Taking just enough cash would give Xoopit the opportunity to build a product, iterate a few times and figure out hte right product market fit, before scaling, said Mirashi."Sometimes having too much money too soon can be distracting for the business b/c it could lead etnrepreneurs ... [http://vator.tv/n/8e7 read more]

• 6/24/09
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What am I Missy, Episode 24MySpace has slashed its bloated staff by 30%. It is often said that being smaller means being more nimble and hence innovative. And, the startup culture of innovation is just what new CEO Owen Van Natta is trying to usher in. It must have been tough to make that hard decision, like cutting staff. But unfortunately, it may be the easiest thing Van Natta does. After all, can MySpace really overtake Facebook now?

• 6/20/09
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