Insight Venture Partners, the New York-based venture capital-private equity hybrid firm, has raised $2.57 billion for its eighth fund, according to reports.  To date, the firm has raised $7.6 billion across eight funds, with 190 investments and 24 IPOs.  The firm focuses on technology investments focusing on the software and Internet sectors.  The firm has investments in Twitter, Tumblr and Flipboard to name a few.

To me, this demonstrates the success Insight has had with its model, and also shows the bifurcation of fundraising in the venture market: the haves and the have-nots.  Those established firms that have consistently achieved superior returns for their funds are able to raise money quickly, while those firms that are new or don't have superior track records are left to fight with the sharks.

Here's a link to the Insight Venture Partners website:  
http://www.insightpartners.com/

Here are some links to articles discussing the Insight fundraising:
TechCrunch:  http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/28/insight-venture-partners/

Business Insider:  http://www.businessinsider.com/insight-venture-partners-has-closed-a-massive-new-257-billion-fund-2013-5

ZDNet:  
http://www.zdnet.com/insight-venture-partners-new-fund-2-57-billion-7000016055/

Steve O'Hear's article on TechCrunch this past weekend "Anatomy Of An Undisclosed Investment or Exit" provides an interesting look at the motivations why certain exits or investments are announced but don't contain a valuation or a financing amount.  It's worth a read.  Here's the link:  http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/26/follow-the-money/

Aswath Damodaran, the renowned Professor of Finance at NYU Stern School of Business, is a leading authority on valuation.  My connection with Prof. Damodaran is UCLA, where he received his MBA and Ph.D. in Finance.  I was an undergraduate student at UCLA at the time that Prof. Damodaran was pursuing his graduate degrees at UCLA.  Prof. Damodaran was the teaching assistant for one of my Economics courses, and I still have his TA handouts from that class.  I had the pleasure of saying hello to Prof. Damodaran a few years ago at a Valuation Symposium sponsored by the CFA Institute in New York and mentioned to him that I still had his notes!

If you have the opportunity to hear him as a speaker, please go.  You'll be glad you did.

SeekingAlpha.com has a recent article summarizing some of Prof. Damodaran's valuation rules of thumb that are very interesting.  Here's the link:  http://seekingalpha.com/article/1448791-aswath-damodaran-valuation-in-the-face-of-uncertainty

This article references another article that appears on the CFA Instutute Enterprising Investor Blog.  Here's the link:  http://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2012/09/04/how-does-growth-investing-measure-up/

Here's a link to Prof. Damodaran's NYU Stern website:  http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/

Finally, here's a link to the NYU Stern faculty director page for Prof. Damodaran:  http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/aswath-damodaran

Enjoy!

There's a buzz around the new Spread Pricing Liquidity Act that was introduced to Congress last week by Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ).  Essentially, the act allows public companies that have a public float of $500 million or less and an average trading volume of less than 500,000 shares may have their shares quoted and traded in increments of $0.05 or $0.10, depending on average trading price.  According to Rep. Schweikert's press release, "[t]he bill is in  response to overwhelming evidence that wider ticks for small-cap companies will stimulate liquidity, encourage capital formation, and grow jobs. The SEC has been inactive on this issue."

Dan Primack, of Fortune's Term Sheet blog, reported on the bill and indicated that the change could "affect more than 3,000 companies currently listed on the NASDAQ and NYSE, with hopes that the wider 'ticks' would encourage coverage that has grown progressively sparse since 'decimalization' was introduced in 2001."

Felix Salmon of SeekingAlpha has mixed views on the Act.  He points out moving to a quote in increments of $0.05 and $0.10 will be to the detriment of small investors and to the benefit of the brokerage houses.  He also points out that there is no guarantee that the profits generated by the brokerage houses will be reinvested into deeper coverage of small-cap companies.

In my opinion. I think the bill is an interesting step to address one of the many issues confronting small-cap stocks.  I don't believe this bill is a panacea, but it seems like it would encourage brokerages to undertake research on smaller public companies.  This in turn could help pave the way for more, and more successful, initial public offerings of smaller companies.

Links:
Text of HR 1952:  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1952/text
Rep. Schweikert's press release:  http://schweikert.house.gov/press-releases/rep-schweikert-introduces-tick-size-bill/
Dan Primack's article: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/13/small-cap-stocks-decimalization/
Felix Salmon's article:  http://seekingalpha.com/article/1443041-why-dedecimalization-is-a-bad-idea

"4 Things Your Startup Needs to Attract Venture Capital" which appeared today on Mashable, is short and to the point.  Author Elisha Hartwig identifies four things startups need to attract venture capital:

1. A unique idea with high barriers to entry.  Included in this are ideas that can't be easily replicated and the technology can be patented.
2. A compelling value proposition.  The product/service must have high customer service, be scalable, must address a large market that is ripe for disruption, and must fill an unmet need.
3. Market traction.  Show the market opportunity is sizable and that there is early customer adoption.
4. Having the right team in place.  Management must have domain expertise, the right skill set and ability to evolve as quickly as the market does.

I would add reasonable valuation expectations.  In my experience, many entrepreneurs have inflated valuation expectations that make it hard for VCs to invest.

It's a good article and worth a read.  Here's a link:  
http://mashable.com/2013/05/06/startup-venture-capital/