>My reference was to fundamentals.
Glenn, are you kidding me? You want to talk about fundamentals on this thread?
That means we must talk about companies who have already broken out into the black!
Btw
I want you to close up shop, move out to California, and join me as a Venture Capitalist. :-)
>Randall Kaplan, the 31-year-old founder of Jump Investors, a network of individuals with $50 million to invest in young companies, is the first to acknowledge that he was in the right place at the right time when he helped write the business plan for the wildly successful Akamai Technologies.
"I'm not the most intelligent guy in the world," he said. "But I don't have to be. I'm a hard worker, and I have a good business gut." The payoff for his yearlong stint with Akamai included options on an estimated three million shares of stock -- now valued at more than $200 million -- and the opportunity to join the leisure class of young Los Angeles investors who have decided to manage their own affairs.
But what Kaplan does best is not what he most wants to be remembered for: networking. If there is any doubt, consider his 13-page, single-spaced, coded correspondence log from 1995. It is a who's who of Hollywood finance -- more than 360 phone calls or meetings -- and shows how organized and determined the young Kaplan can be. Still, in a recent interview, he balked at the comparison, almost with disdain. "I'm not a Hollywood guy," he said.
When Jump takes a stake in a company, he said, he wants to be a hands-on investor who can influence the direction the company takes. And that, he contended, "is different than 'let's do lunch.' "
Kaplan has put about $25 million of his own money into Jump, with the other $25 million coming from 54 other investors. For the privilege of being part of the Jump network, participants must be active investors willing to help entrepreneurs the way a venture capitalist would.
For Kaplan his new wealth gives him access to promising companies and the freedom to pick and choose whom he wants to work with.
"If I called John Doerr, he may not take my call," he said. Then he smiles, rethinking his answer in light of his recent success. "Well, maybe now he will." |
