Comments on: Benchmark Capital Advises Startups To Conserve Capital, Look For Opportunities

By: Entrepreneurs: Get Lean and Mean, Get Funded | The Corner Office | BNET

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:50:18 +0000

[...] this and there’s no shortage of advice there, including a laundry list in an email from Benchmark Capital’s Bill Gurley to portfolio companies. But VCs are an unusually intuitive and perceptive lot. There are quite a [...]

By: R.I.P. Good Times: One Year Later

R.I.P. Good Times: One Year Later — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:52:09 +0000

[...] Benchmark Capital also communicated with their CEOs, telling them to “Be calm, but pragmatic” and “You don’t realize how fast things spin out of control.” Super angel Ron Conway likewise warned his companies, saying of the spreading financial crisis, “we will not be “immune” to its drastic effects.” [...]

By: תענית יום כיפור בסיליקון ואלי, השעות הראשונות» נו בחיאתק…

תענית יום כיפור בסיליקון ואלי, השעות הראשונות» נו בחיאתק… — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:14:30 +0000

[...] שעות אחרי כתיבת הפוסט הזה המצגת של סקויה כבר עלתה לרשת, בנצ’מרק הוציאו אימייל משלהם, לורן שחרר וידאו חזק ותמציתי בעניין, וסיסמיק, אחד [...]

By: Robber Baron Blog by Jason D. Schwartz » Web 2.0 Was About Building Experiments, Not Businesses

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:18:50 +0000

[...] October VCs sent letters to their portfolio companies telling them that now is the time to cut costs [...]

By: ansanelli.com » “To Start or Not to Start”

ansanelli.com » “To Start or Not to Start” — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:21:44 +0000

[...] you are currently running an early stage, pre-profit, private company. Check out what Sequoia and Benchmark have to say. [...]

By: Squace blog » We are living in interesting times

Squace blog » We are living in interesting times — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:59:50 +0000

[...] – learn from this message from Sequoia Capital. Or better, learn from Benchmark Capital – message (not: read the part far down the memo about lessons learned from one of their CEO’s during the [...]

By: Wayne

Wayne — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:59:46 +0000

I guess the folks at Second life took your advice. Sorry they hacked off so many of their clients.

By: Economic crisis shifts focus to business model « Marketing Mystic

Economic crisis shifts focus to business model « Marketing Mystic — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:13:06 +0000

[...] Even the most deep-pocketed VCs aren’t immune to the current economic woes. Earlier this month and again at a recent event hosted by Venturebeat, VCs are advising startups to buckle down, [...]

By: Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive Live video from VentureBeat recession impact on startup event «

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:35:29 +0000

[...] Tolia, the Epinions co-founder who was the unnamed subject of Benchmark partner Bill Gurley’s recent memo to Benchmark portfolio companies (Tolia is the one who laid off 70 percent of his staff during the last downturn but who somehow [...]

By: The Corner Office mobile edition

The Corner Office mobile edition — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:22:17 +0000

[...] to portfolio companies, you were probably horrified. I guess Halloween came early this year. While Benchmark Capital’s email from general partner Bill Gurley had some similar messages, it was also more balanced. The key take-away was: “Financing as we know [...]

By: Bitesize Monday: Israeli startups, market condition | Venture Capital Cafe

Bitesize Monday: Israeli startups, market condition | Venture Capital Cafe — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:24:26 +0000

[...] mean for statrups? Here’s what the VCs have to say: Ron Conway, Sequoia (Rip Good times ppt), Benchmark and Israel’s Walden and Michael [...]

By: Google Employees Watch In Horror As 60 Percent Of Their Stock Options Drown - 深度探索 - Dig Crazy

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:49:52 +0000

[...] stock does not recover. On the other hand, if the economy truly is spiraling into a recession and capital is drying up for new startups, frustrated Google employees might not have anywhere else to [...]

By: qybaby Blog Life [ 人生 . 如戏 ] » 如何解雇员工

qybaby Blog Life [ 人生 . 如戏 ] » 如何解雇员工 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:21:12 +0000

[...] 无论是对职业经理人还是企业家，解雇员工都是一个痛苦的过程。而如今硅谷的很多公司负责人都在经历这个过程。随着美国经济的日益衰退，硅谷也难以自保。红衫的56页slides，标点和著名天使投资人Ron Conway给自己参股公司的信都明确的建议公司CEO们要缩减开支，准备“过冬”。有了2000年的前车之鉴，明智的CEO们都听取了建议，适度的裁掉了部分员工。Mahalo的CEO Jason Calacanis真诚而详尽的总结了自己的裁员过程。我总结一下他的观点希望能对朋友们有帮助。整个过程可以分成四个步骤：分析，策划，讨论和执行。前两个步骤是因人而异的，对于Maholo的情况，Jason给出了自己聪明合理的解决方案。关于讨论，Jason的建议是尽可能的收集核心领导层的建议，但作为CEO本人要能够果断快速的做出决定。接下来重点总结一下如何来执行。这也是最困难的部分。Jason给出了如下的建议 [...]

By: Аутсорсинг-бизнес во время кризиса - krokodil - блог разработчиков

Аутсорсинг-бизнес во время кризиса - krokodil - блог разработчиков — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:34:31 +0000

[...] Как видим, рекомендации довольно радикальные. Также с похожими рекомендациями выступили инвесторы Ron Conway, Benchmark Capital. [...]

By: Some Of These Layoffs Aren’t Really Layoffs

Some Of These Layoffs Aren’t Really Layoffs — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:19:59 +0000

[...] Street meltdown and a string of very public statements by venture capitalists like Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Ron Conway as a way to avoid the negative press and attention around letting employees [...]

By: Weekend Reading

Weekend Reading — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:00:14 +0000

[...] more rational view on the financial crisis from Benchmark [...]

By: How tech start-ups plan on making it | Jacob Madison

How tech start-ups plan on making it | Jacob Madison — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:51:06 +0000

[...] (You can read the rest of his memo here.) [...]

By: Real estate site Zillow cuts 40 employees » VentureBeat

Real estate site Zillow cuts 40 employees » VentureBeat — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:23:16 +0000

[...] backers include Benchmark Capital, whose general partner Bill Gurley sent out an email to portfolio companies last week urging them to bring their finances under control (Zillow competitor Trulia is backed by Sequoia [...]

By: Announcing VentureBeat’s roundtable on “how to manage the downturn” » VentureBeat

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:00:25 +0000

By: Flex and Flash Developer - Jesse Warden dot Kizz-ohm » Blog Archive » The USA Economy and Flex

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:58:51 +0000

[...] didn’t really help in understanding the future. I’ve seen the posts Techcrunch did about investment firms tightening their budgets, lay offs at prominent west coast tech companies (+ the [...]

By: Entrepreneurs! Start Your Engines! - New Comm Biz - New media strategies for business

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:07:31 +0000

[...] that is built on the premise of what VC’s are telling their portfolio companies (Sequoia Benchmark); aka have a low burn rate and be [...]

By: Save Money, Fire Your PR Agency | Pixel Shoppe

Save Money, Fire Your PR Agency | Pixel Shoppe — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:56:11 +0000

[...] and G&A expenses.” (Emphasis mine.) Similarly, Benchmark Capital General Partner Bill Gurley told startups to be more frugal and to “extend the runway” (i.e., get more out of the money they’ve already [...]

By: Tech Capital Partners Blog » Blog Archive » Capital Conservation vs. Business Priorities

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:49:37 +0000

[...] And you probably have seen: Ron Conway: Cut expenses now Benchmark: Conserve Capital [...]

By: Save Money, Fire Your PR Agency | Pixel Shoppe

Save Money, Fire Your PR Agency | Pixel Shoppe — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:24:10 +0000

[...] G&A expenses.” (Emphasis mine.) Similarly, Benchmark Capital General Partner Bill Gurley told startups to be more frugal and to “extend the runway” (i.e., get more out of the money [...]

By: Hitchhiker’s Guide to 650 :: Stop the In-Breeding! :: October :: 2008

Hitchhiker’s Guide to 650 :: Stop the In-Breeding! :: October :: 2008 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:52:18 +0000

[...] this web 2.0 is dead thing. (joining the illustrious rank of Conway, Wilson, Sequoia, Patricof, and Benchmark.) Here is the deal, it sucks for us all – from one end of the spectrum to the other -> being laid [...]