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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kemble s. matter who wrote (158721)	7/23/2000 10:47:04 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 176387

Hi Kemble! I thought this was interesting, from CNBC, about Adam Dell. Leigh Casting off a brother's shadow Can Adam Dell do for VCs what Michael did for PCs? By Renay San Miguel CNBC NEW YORK, July 23 — They have the same eyes and dark curly hair and of course the same last name. But Adam Dell is certainly not as well known as his older brother Michael who used direct sales of PCs to build a successful computer empire. Adam, a 30-year-old venture capitalist, is working hard to blaze his own trail in technology. "IT WOULD be foolish to think the last name didn't help…but the venture capital business is an interesting one where very quickly people either rise in it or fall in it…You have to prove your value each day," said Adam. He is trying to do just that. After moving from Silicon Valley to New York City last fall, he founded Impact Venture Partners an Internet venture capital firm. "Coming to New York was a smart thing because it's an underserved market, VC-wise," said Duff McDonald, investor editor for Red Herring, a magazine covering the Internet business. Brother Michael Dell has invested in the $100 million fund, but that's reportedly where his involvement ends. Funding also came from the Hewlett Foundation, Frank Quattrone of Credit Suisse First Boston and John Mumford of Crosspoint Venture Partners, a Silicon Valley VC firm. Adam took an indirect route to the VC world. He grew up in Houston, Texas and earned a bachelor's degree at Tulane University and a law degree at the University of Texas. Dell worked as a corporate attorney before jumping to the West Coast in the '90s to work for two VC firms. He started Impact with the idea of investing in Silicon Valley companies he knew, such as Open Table, an online restaurant reservation service. "There are too many companies that all try to focus on business-to-business and the industry is way too crowded. What we've done is invest in the guerrilla opportunities. We're interested in companies that we think can achieve the dominant position in their market," said Dell. Today, Impact has positions in 15 companies including Buzzsaw.com, CarsDirect.com and Referrals.com. In the last several months Dell has helped a handful of his start-ups go public, including online recruiting site Hotjobs and wireless Internet services provider GoAmerica. Although the stocks of those companies are down, along with many other Internet plays on the Nasdaq, industry watchers say Dell still has a good eye for promising investments. "Impact has done a very strong job of identifying a sector and focusing on the leaders in that space. They have generally made very good investments," said Jonathan Cohen, director of Internet research, Wit Soundview, an Internet-focused investment banking firm. And although Adam, who has had a competitive streak from an early age, clearly wants to succeed on his own, he does admit his brother's influence is profound. Michael "showed what is possible if you dare to try. He certainly raised the bar on the horizons you could achieve if you really went out there," said Adam. msnbc.com