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To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/8/2009 4:10:09 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

U-M professor's start-up attracts funding as it works on advanced lithium-ion batteries to save auto industry freep.com BY KATHERINE YUNG DETROIT FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER December 9, 2008 In a modest office near Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor, Ann Marie Sastry oversees a small group of engineers racing to create what could become the ultimate savior of the U.S. automobile industry: a next-generation lithium-ion battery. Since its founding last year, Sastry's company, called Sakti3 Inc., has emerged as one of Michigan's most important start-up firms. It's seeking nothing less than making electric vehicles an affordable and reliable reality worldwide. It also hopes to turn Michigan into a major producer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. "This is a moment," said Sastry, a University of Michigan professor of mechanical, biomedical and materials science and engineering. "We're teetering on the edge of electrification." Sakti3 is working on a more advanced lithium-ion battery than the one that is to be used in the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. It's also a Michigan-based company, unlike A123 Systems Inc. and Compact Power Inc., the two firms competing to supply batteries for the Volt. Though they operate offices in the state, A123 is based in Watertown, Mass., and Compact Power is a subsidiary of the South Korean chemical giant LG Chem Ltd. Sakti3 is the 41-year-old Sastry's first start-up. The technology for the next-generation electric vehicle battery comes from research that she and her graduate students did at U-M. One day, as Sastry tells it, she and her students were sitting around their laboratory after generating some exciting research results. At that point, they faced a crucial decision: go forward with creating the battery or write a paper about their research. They chose the harder but potentially more satisfying route and licensed the technology from U-M. "The main thing for us was to really rethink what the role of American technology would be in this space," said Sastry, who willingly admits to being an engineering geek. But Sakti3, which means "power" in Sanskrit, is no ordinary start-up. It obtained $2 million from one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capital firms, Khosla Ventures. Through an acquaintance, Sastry had met Vinod Khosla, the founder of Sun Microsystems and a former general partner at another famous Silicon Valley venture firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. She and her team convinced him that they had some promising technology. Michigan is also betting on Sakti3. Earlier this year, officials at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. awarded the company $3 million, designating it as one of the state's Centers of Energy Excellence. Sakti3 had applied for the grant program, which is part of Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund. "The technology is very good," said Martin Dober, the MEDC's vice president of new markets. In March, state economic development officials also gave Sakti3 tax credits worth $2.4 million over 10 years. Helping homegrown alternative energy companies like Sakti3 grow is a top priority for Michigan. The state wants to become the advanced battery capital of the world, Gov. Jennifer Granholm declared in August. "Advanced battery development and production is critical for the U.S., and our intention is that Michigan be the leader in meeting this need," Granholm said at the annual Center for Automotive Research management briefing seminar in Traverse City. Even though General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC are running out of cash, Sastry believes in Michigan's automotive future. She has resisted pressure to move her company to another state, insisting that metro Detroit's dominance in automotive research and development is critical to her firm. "We placed a bet on Michigan when we located the company here," said the new entrepreneur. Sastry is on sabbatical from U-M until May. The battery expert has spent the last 13 years teaching at U-M and doing research work sponsored by Detroit's automakers, the U.S. Department of Energy and others. Last year, she started the university's first master's degree program in energy systems engineering. Despite all the backing Sastry has received, she knows all too well the enormous obstacles facing her company. Not only must she and her team overcome technological hurdles, they must also create a battery that doesn't cost a lot of money. "We decided to work on a very hard problem," she said. "We may fail." But for the moment, despite the Detroit automakers' struggle for survival, the future looks promising for the U-M spin-off. Only in times of economic turmoil are big companies willing to take daring leaps with new technology, Sastry noted. "This is the moment to make radical change," she said. "The auto industry needs to change radically." Though Sakti3 has fewer than 10 employees, it hopes to grow its workforce to more than 100 in the next few years. Sastry wouldn't reveal when her company's batteries will debut. But if things continue to go well, it could be sooner than five to 10 years from now. "We're moving very quickly," she said. "The pace is extremely fast."

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/8/2009 4:32:44 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

Hedge Funds Lost Record 18.3% on Misjudged Markets (Update1) By Saijel Kishan Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds lost 18.3 percent in 2008, their worst year on record, as managers misjudged the severity of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. A gain of 0.42 percent in December lessened the average loss for the full year, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc.’s HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index. The decline was the largest since the Chicago-based firm began tracking data in 1990. “Hedge funds failed to appreciate the magnitude, breadth and duration of the declines we saw across most markets,” said Michael Rosen, principal at Angeles Investment Advisors LLC in Santa Monica, California, which advises clients on investments. Investment losses and client withdrawals reduced industry assets to $1.1 trillion last month from its peak of $1.9 trillion in June, according to Morgan Stanley. Firms such as Dwight Anderson’s Ospraie Management LLC and Jeffrey Gendell’s Tontine Associates LLC closed funds, while Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp. and Kenneth Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group LLC were among those to limit redemptions. The decline by hedge funds last year compared with the 37 percent drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, including reinvested dividends, the benchmark’s worst showing since 1937. Commodities slumped 33 percent, according to the UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 contracts. The worst previous performance by hedge funds was in 2002, when they lost 1.45 percent while the S&P 500 tumbled 23 percent. Stock Funds Lose Among the major investment strategies, equity hedge funds lost the most last year, an average of 26 percent, Hedge Fund Research said. Event-driven funds, which invest in companies going through changes such as mergers and spinoffs, lost 21 percent. Macro hedge funds, which can bet on securities from commodities and interest rates, returned 5.7 percent. Tontine, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, was among the firms with the biggest losses. Tontine Partners LP fund slumped 91.5 percent, while Tontine 25 Fund lost 64 percent, according to investors. Griffin, 40, who runs Citadel, lost about 53 percent from its two biggest funds. The Chicago-based firm oversees $13 billion. Executives at the firms declined to comment. Last year’s winners include Paulson & Co., run by John Paulson, 53. The New York-based firm, which manages about $36 billion, posted a 37 percent gain in its Advantage Plus Fund Ltd., according to investors. Brevan Howard Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP, Europe’s biggest single-manager hedge-fund firm, produced a 22 percent gain in its main fund, the $15 billion Brevan Howard Fund, investors said. London-based Brevan, founded by Alan Howard, 45, oversees $26.4 billion. Ionic Capital Management LLC, a $3.9 billion fund run by former Highbridge Capital Management LLC executives Bart Baum, Adam Radosti and Dan Stone, returned about 20 percent last year, investors said. “This is a Darwinism moment for the hedge-fund industry,” said Amit Shabi, a partner at Geneva-based Bernheim Dreyfus & Co., which invests in hedge funds. “Investors will be taking note of the managers who were able to preserve capital in 2008. They will form the core of the industry in the future.” Managed futures funds, which rely on computers to decide when to buy and sell securities, outperformed peers in 2008 after betting against stock markets and correctly betting on the direction of commodities. Futures Funds Winton Capital Management Ltd., the $13.3 billion London- based firm started by David Harding, 47, generated a 21 percent return in its $5.5 billion futures fund. Tudor’s $1 billion futures fund, Tensor, returned 36 percent last year. Banks restricted the amount of money they loaned to hedge funds as credit markets froze, while funds cut investments and held cash to avoid losses. Funds held more than $300 billion in cash, according to a December report by Man Group Plc in London. RAB Capital Plc, based in London, and New York’s GLG Partners Inc. were hurt when some of their assets held in the European prime brokerage unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. were frozen after the New York-based investment bank filed for bankruptcy in September. The Lehman division provided lending and brokerage services to hedge funds. Market losses in the second half of the year led funds to limit investor withdrawals. Tudor, run by Jones, 54, out of Greenwich, Connecticut, told investors in November that it would suspend withdrawals until the end of March. Citadel and Harbinger Capital Partners, which is run by 46-year-old Philip Falcone, last month halted redemptions. Funds of Funds Funds that invest in hedge funds lost 20 percent last year, Hedge Fund Research said. Tiger Select Absolute Return Fund LP, a fund of funds overseen by Morgan Creek Capital Management LLC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, lost 51 percent in the first nine months of the year, according to an investor letter. “They’ve shown not to have added any value above the broad market,” James McKee, director of hedge-fund research at Callan Associates Inc., an investment consulting firm in San Francisco, said of funds of funds. “I don’t think it will be the death of the fund-of-funds industry, but there will be a lot of pressure for change.” The industry was hit by the alleged fraud by Bernard Madoff, who last month confessed to employees that his investment company was “a giant Ponzi scheme,” that may have cost clients as much as $50 billion, according to an FBI complaint. In a Ponzi scheme, early investors are paid with money from subsequent participants rather than from actual investments. The hedge-fund units of Spain’s Banco Santander SA and Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privee were among those that had invested in Madoff. Closures About 6.9 percent of the industry, or 693 funds, closed in the first nine months of 2008, Hedge Fund Research said. For the whole year, 920 funds may have been shut, topping the all-time high of 848 closures in 2005, the firm said. Ospraie’s Anderson, 41, closed his flagship $2.8 billion fund in September because of losses in commodities. Gendell said in November it would start liquidating two of its four hedge funds. Carlyle Group, the private-equity firm run by David Rubenstein, 59, began closing its Blue Wave hedge fund in July. Arience Capital Management LP and Sunova Capital LP, both based in New York, also liquidated funds. Hedge funds are private, largely unregulated pools of capital whose managers can buy or sell any assets, bet on falling as well as rising asset prices and participate substantially in profits from money invested. To contact the reporter on this story: Saijel Kishan in New York at skishan@bloomberg.net Last Updated: January 8, 2009 16:18 EST

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/9/2009 12:25:17 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

Geithner Preparing Overhaul Of Bailout _______________________________________________________________ Obama Team Broadens Scope to Secure Final $350 Billion for Rescue By David Cho Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 9, 2009; A01 Confronted with intense skepticism on Capitol Hill over the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team are urgently overhauling the embattled initiative and broadening its scope well beyond Wall Street, sources familiar with the discussions said. Geithner has been working night and day on the eighth floor of the transition team office in downtown Washington with Lawrence H. Summers and other senior economic advisers to hash out a new approach that would expand the program's aid to municipalities, small businesses, homeowners and other consumers. With lawmakers stewing over how Bush administration officials spent the first $350 billion, Geithner has little chance of winning congressional approval for the second half without retooling the program, the sources added. That challenge is underscored by a report from a congressional oversight panel scheduled to be released today that hammers the outgoing Treasury Department for its handling of the financial rescue, including "what appear to be significant gaps in Treasury's monitoring of the use of taxpayer money." The report, moreover, faults the Treasury for failing to properly measure the success of the program or establish an overall strategy and skewers the department for not using any of the funds on foreclosure relief as Congress had directed. Much of the work by Obama's team has focused on establishing principles that would clearly define the program's course and the conditions of government aid to financial firms. With Geithner leading the discussions along with Summers, who will head the National Economic Council in the White House, the group is devising plans that would use rescue funds to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and unclog the credit markets that finance loans to consumers, small businesses and municipalities. The team is also planning to have the government take more stakes in financial firms, but companies receiving federal aid would have to submit to greater restrictions on executive compensation than were imposed by the Bush administration. Geithner is also considering creating a new bureau within the Treasury to manage the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, in an attempt to improve the program's operations and oversight. The group has come to believe the program needs a fresh start after determining the Bush administration succeeded in providing a measure of stability for the financial system but failed to jump-start bank lending or stem foreclosures, three sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made. Although the timing has not been settled, one source said details of this new approach may be laid out before Geithner's confirmation hearing, which is likely to be held late next week. Some lawmakers are not waiting for the transition team to release its plans. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was set to announce legislation today that would force the Treasury to meet conditions if it requested the second $350 billion of the rescue funds. Frank's terms include many of the proposals Geithner is considering as well as several others such as restricting executive bonuses and requiring firms that receive federal aid to explain how they are spending the money. Frank has scheduled a Jan. 13 hearing on the future of the rescue program. Yesterday, Senate Democrats took their own action to help homeowners whose mortgages are larger than the value of their house, announcing a deal with Citigroup that would allow bankruptcy judges to set new repayment terms for mortgage holders. Even if Geithner provided additional help for homeowners, he must overcome discontent among rank-and-file lawmakers about the program. Geithner faces a tremendous risk in asking for the money because if the request is turned down, it could wreak havoc in financial markets. But he cannot wait long to ask for more funds. In December, the Bush administration made $4 billion of its $13.4 billion loan to General Motors contingent on whether Congress approves the second half of the TARP funds. GM needs the money to meet a massive debt obligation due in mid-February. Obama's top officials have begun discussions with key lawmakers on the TARP changes, but no decision has been made on when they will ask Congress for the balance of the rescue funds. It is possible that the request could occur before Obama's inauguration. In which case, Paulson, not Geithner, would ask for the money. Paulson in an interview this week said he would fully cooperate with Obama's team. In building a case for the additional $350 billion, however, Geithner must also allay concerns about his past responses to the financial crisis. Geithner, as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was a leading architect of the bailouts of Bear Stearns, American International Group and Citigroup. Some lawmakers plan to press him during his confirmation hearing to justify his role at those critical moments of the crisis and on what he plans to do to improve the financial system bailout. Others added that Geithner will have to explain how he would track how recipients of TARP money are spending taxpayer dollars. The confirmation hearing in the Senate "will be one of the most important that the Finance Committee holds this year," said Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the panel. "In the meetings leading up to this hearing, I've been encouraged by the early plans for TARP that Mr. Geithner and other folks on the Obama economic team have outlined. There's no time to waste in righting the ship." A date for Geithner's confirmation hearing has not been set. But two congressional sources said they expect it will take place Jan. 15. Several lawmakers on Capitol Hill said they are still angry over the TARP program because it used $350 billion and was largely unsuccessful in unfreezing lending markets. Some banks that took government money continued to pay huge bonuses to executives and dividends to shareholders. Democrats expressed disappointment that the Bush administration did not use rescue money to help homeowners facing foreclosure. But advocates of the program, including Paulson, said that the financial system would be much worse without the bailout. "It's been an essential tool and authority to prevent the collapse of the financial system. And I've been very clear that the second part will need to be taken down and that it's vital to our financial security," Paulson said. He added that Geithner "enjoys the confidence of Congress and the markets, and he understands these issues as well as anyone and he understands the TARP in great detail, so he's very well positioned to take this effort forward." -Staff writers Binyamin Appelbaum and Neil Irwin contributed to this report.

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/10/2009 2:03:00 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

Satyam’s Raju Arrested, Board Sacked, in Fraud Probe (Update1) By Harichandan Arakali and Kartik Goyal Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Satyam Computer Services Ltd. chairman Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama were arrested and the remaining directors of the software exporter sacked, as India started investigating an alleged $1 billion fraud. The brothers were detained on charges including forgery, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, Inspector General V.S.K. Kaumudi told reporters in the southern city of Hyderabad. Officials have seized documents and the nation’s accounting body is examining auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC’s local unit, Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said. “The developments so far indicate that the current board of Satyam has failed to do what it was supposed to do,” Gupta told reporters in New Delhi. “The government is committed to punish everyone found guilty, including the auditors.” Satyam, India’s fourth-largest software exporter, plunged for a second day in Mumbai trading on concern it may run out of money after Raju said he falsified the accounts “for several years.” The scandal, whose scope is being likened to the 2001 bankruptcy of Enron Corp., has shaken confidence in Indian companies and accounting standards. “The fact that the audited accounts don’t represent true and fair picture raises an issue that is bigger than the Satyam scandal,” said M. Damodaran, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India. “If some guy has taken liberties with the system, the person or persons has to be identified and punished.” Tougher Rules Houston-based Enron’s 2001 bankruptcy wiped out more than 5,000 jobs and $1 billion in employee retirement funds. The Enron scandal triggered tougher U.S. accounting rules and the creation of a board to oversee auditing firms that review the financial statements of publicly traded companies. Ten directors nominated by the government will meet next week to appoint managers at Hyderabad-based Satyam, Gupta said. Satyam canceled a board meeting scheduled for today after the board was replaced, it said in an e-mailed statement. Interim Chief Executive Officer Ram Mynampati said Jan. 8 he was unaware of the false accounting that may force Satyam to restate earnings as he relied on audited statements. The local unit of PwC said in a statement the same day Satyam’s accounts were supported by “appropriate audit evidence.” The scandal has eroded $2.2 billion in shareholder wealth, drawing calls from executives and auditors to accelerate the investigation. More than two days after chairman Raju claimed he’d padded Satyam’s books, the company’s auditors and interim management had yet to confirm any irregularities. Shares Fall Satyam fell 17.35 rupees to 22.9 rupees yesterday. The Bombay Stock Exchange removed Satyam from its benchmark Sensitive index, a day after the National Stock Exchange also dropped the stock from the Nifty. “We believe the Satyam incident marks a turning point in investors’ attitude toward corporate governance,” Suresh Mahadevan, an analyst at UBS AG, said. “In future, companies perceived poor on corporate governance or following aggressive accounting practices will trade at larger discounts compared to their peer group.” India’s stock market regulator plans to review working papers of auditors at companies forming the nation’s main stock indexes, the regulator said in a statement in Mumbai. The Securities and Exchange Board’s Committee on Disclosures and Accounting Standards will hold a peer review of the auditor’s working papers on quarterly and full-year financial statements. Meet Investigators Raju had planned to meet investigators from the Securities and Exchange Board today, his lawyer S. Bharat Kumar said before the arrests. Raju had been summoned by regulators yesterday though wasn’t given sufficient notice, he said. Raju, 54, and his younger brother will be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, inspector general Kaumudi said. The offences carry a maximum sentence of 10 years and the brothers can’t apply for bail, he said. Government officials have seized Satyam’s documents and a team from the ministry of corporate affairs has started inspecting eight group companies, Gupta said. “It’s the prime concern of the government to ensure the operations of the company continue uninterrupted,” Gupta said. Satyam employs about 53,000 people and has offices from the U.S. to the U.K., Brazil and Australia. The company writes software and manages computer systems for clients including ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, and Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-biggest carmaker. The announcement by the government to reconstitute the Satyam board will also reinforce employee and stakeholder confidence, the National Association of Software and Service Companies, a lobby group, said in an e-mailed statement. ‘Buy Satyam’ Outside the group’s corporate headquarters, four canvas sheets about 6 feet by 8 feet are draped with employees’ signatures, handprints and messages. “Satyam will come back,” one message reads. “Save Satyam, save Raju,” says another. A third, “Buy Satyam Stock.” On each of the red, green, yellow and blue-painted canvases is printed “The Spirit of Satyam,” like a watermark. “This current management needs to go so that the 50,000 jobs are saved and client commitments are kept,” Richard Rekhy, chief operating officer of KPMG in India, said. “It is the image of India and corporate India at stake.” The fall of Raju, named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, began three weeks ago when Satyam proposed paying $1.6 billion for Maytas Properties Ltd. and Maytas Infra Ltd., both tied to his family. The plan was scrapped 12 hours later, after investors called it a “woeful misuse of cash.” Raju said the sale was designed to plug the hole in Satyam’s balance sheet. “To my non-auditor mind it is reasonably clear that something like this could not have been hidden from audit for so long,” former regulator Damodaran said. To contact the reporter on this story: Kartik Goyal in New Delhi at kgoyal@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: January 9, 2009 14:09 EST

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/10/2009 5:46:20 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

'09 VC predictions: Amazon to acquire eBay and other gems techflash.com

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/12/2009 3:22:52 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

Whatever Happened to Silicon Valley Innovation? businessweek.com

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/12/2009 9:25:19 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

Balderton Capital Raises $430 Million _______________________________________________________________ Posted on: January 11th, 2009 Balderton Capital has held a $430 million first close for its fourth European venture capital fund, which is targeting $500 million. This would be Balderton’s first fund since spinning out as an independent entity from Benchmark Capital. PRESS RELEASE Balderton Capital, Europe’s leading venture capital firm, today announces that it has raised US$430m in the first closing for its new fund. This is Balderton’s fourth fund, having raised US$550m in December 2006, US$375m in July 2004 and US$500m in May 2000. Based in London, Balderton now manages approximately US$1.8bn in committed venture capital making it one of the largest VC firms outside the US. Since its inception in 2000, Balderton has invested in over 70 companies across a wide variety of technology sectors and geographies, including Europe, the US and China. Notable investments include bebo, (the social networking site, sold to AOL for US$850m), Betfair (the online betting exchange), Codemasters (the video games publisher), MySQL (the open-source database business, sold to Sun for US$1bn) and Setanta Sports (the European sports broadcaster). Barry Maloney, General Partner at Balderton, commented: “This is a great start for the year for Balderton in what is clearly a difficult economic environment. Our first fund was completed at the height of the dot com bust and we went on to invest in some of the strongest companies in our portfolio today. Each economic cycle provides opportunities for the best entrepreneurs and we are excited to be able to invest in tomorrow’s success stories in this our fourth fund.” About Balderton Capital Balderton Capital is a leading venture capital firm, committed to finding and helping talented entrepreneurs build great companies. Balderton Capital approaches investment using the principles of teamwork and an intense dedication to building companies of lasting value. The partners combine Silicon Valley operating and company-building experience with a keen understanding of what it takes to build successful businesses in the media and technology markets. balderton.com

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/13/2009 4:25:50 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362293

Yahoo Said to Have Chosen Autodesk’s Bartz as Chief (Update2) By Brian Womack Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc., seeking a chief executive officer to chart a new strategy, will name Autodesk Inc. Chairwoman Carol Bartz to the job after a two-month search, a person familiar with the matter said. Bartz, 60, has accepted the offer to become CEO, said the person, who declined to be identified because the situation is confidential. Jerry Yang, who co-founded Yahoo in 1994, agreed in November to step down as head of the company. Bartz, CEO of Autodesk from 1992 to 2006, faces the challenge of reviving Yahoo’s growth after the company spurned a $47.5 billion takeover attempt by Microsoft Corp. last year. She also has to learn a new business -- Internet advertising -- a switch from the design software sold by Autodesk. Yahoo ranks second to Google Inc. in Internet searches and online ads. “She was an inoffensive, but largely unexciting candidate -- someone who would be a steady hand at the wheel -- but investors were hoping for a lot more than that,” said Jeff Lindsay, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in New York. “She’s undoubtedly a competent and able executive. The problem is, is she the right fit for the job?” Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, fell 31 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $11.91 at 1:42 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares lost 48 percent in 2008. Brad Williams, a spokesman for Yahoo, declined to comment. A call to Bartz’s home wasn’t immediately returned. Earlier Career One of the most prominent women in Silicon Valley, Bartz has also served as an executive at Sun Microsystems Inc., Digital Equipment Corp. and 3M Co. Bartz has previously been considered for high-profile CEO jobs. Before Steve Jobs became the permanent chief at Apple Inc., she was one of the people in the running. When Bartz stepped down from Autodesk in 2006, she said she was taking time to help her daughter, who was going to college. She remained executive chairwoman, focusing on boosting sales in emerging markets such as India. “Carol is hands-on as required and can be aggressive as required, but she’s also very supportive of her people,” said Steven West, an Autodesk director and founder of the consulting firm Emerging Company Partners LLC in Incline Village, Nevada. “She has a really balanced leadership style.” Cancer Battle At the beginning of her tenure at Autodesk, Bartz fought breast cancer, taking only limited time away from the job. The company said Bartz learned she had cancer on her first day at Autodesk and took a month off to battle it. Yahoo’s profit has fallen in 10 of the past 11 quarters. The company also faces slowing Internet advertising sales, a market already dominated by Google. Google accounted for almost two- thirds of U.S. search queries in November, giving it more opportunities to sell ads. Yahoo had 20.4 percent, according to research firm ComScore Inc. Microsoft, which ranks third in U.S. Internet searches, pursued Yahoo last year to help it catch up with Google. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in November that the company was finished with attempts to buy all of Yahoo, though it still may be interested in a search agreement. That remains Microsoft’s position, a person familiar with the matter said last week. Bartz may consider selling off Yahoo’s Asian operations to refocus the company. Yahoo also has talked to Time Warner Inc. about buying that company’s AOL business. Yahoo tried to broker a search-advertising agreement with Google last year. Google walked away from the partnership after the regulators threatened to block the deal. Strengths, Weaknesses “The biggest thing Yahoo needs to do is focus on what they’re good at and outsource what they’re not,” said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis. He recommends buying Yahoo’s shares and doesn’t own them. “She hasn’t done anything on the Internet side or the media side, but she’s not getting the job because of that. She’s getting it because she knows how to right-size and organize a company.” A three-person board committee, working with executive- search firm Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., had winnowed an initial list of about five candidates down to three, another person familiar with situation said last week. In addition to Bartz, Yahoo President Susan Decker and another unnamed executive were considered, the person said. The search committee was made up of Yang, Chairman Roy Bostock and former Northwest Airlines Corp. Chairman Gary Wilson. Former Vodafone Group Plc CEO Arun Sarin was among the people initially contemplated for the post. He withdrew his name from consideration last month. Bartz is “a good strategist and also a good cheerleader,” said Walter Price, managing director at RCM Capital Management in San Francisco. “She has to get the company to believe in itself again as a force in the Internet.” To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1@bloomberg.net Last Updated: January 13, 2009 14:35 EST

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/13/2009 5:09:04 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

Aster Data Systems Raises $12 Million in Series B Funding _____________________________________________________________ Data Warehouse Veteran Backers JAFCO Ventures and Sequoia Capital Invest in Rapidly Growing Data Warehouse Leader Redwood City, Calif. - January 13, 2009 - Aster Data Systems, a proven leader dedicated to providing the best analytic databases for frontline data warehousing, today announced it has completed a $12 million round of equity funding led by JAFCO Ventures. Joe Horowitz, Managing General Partner of JAFCO Ventures, has joined Aster's Board of Directors. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Cambrian Ventures and First Round Capital also participated in the round. JAFCO Ventures has a deep understanding of the data warehousing market from their previous investment in DATAllegro, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2008. This investment reinforces the domain understanding that Sequoia Capital brings to Aster, from their previous investment in Netezza, which went public in 2007. "We are delighted to have seasoned venture capitalists of this caliber on our Board, who understand the data warehouse market and have the experience to help us build Aster into a great success," said Mayank Bawa, CEO and Co-Founder of Aster. "As the bar continues to be raised higher than ever for venture capital investments, investors and customers recognize the game-changing innovations of the Aster solution. We plan to aggressively grow the company so we can continue to provide the best data warehousing engine to our customers." "Aster is on track to become the gold standard in data warehousing and analytics," said Joe Horowitz, of JAFCO Ventures. "Aster has clearly differentiated itself with their next-generation frontline data warehouse technology that capitalizes on the needs of the market today. We are excited by the opportunity to support the company and look forward to supporting its growth into the major global player in the $20 billion database market." Aster nCluster is a high-performance analytic database for frontline data warehousing. Aster nCluster provides an always-on, always-parallel MPP architecture with the In-Database MapReduce programming framework for business-critical applications. Unlike traditional analytic databases, Aster's online fault tolerance and hands-free administration allows it to run on low cost, commodity hardware. Aster delivers automated one-click scaling, recovery, backup, restore, and upgrades - enabling enterprises to maintain current staffing levels, even as data sizes multiply each year. "A perfect data warehousing engine will process and leverage all the data in an enterprise," said Tasso Argyros, CTO and Co-Founder of Aster. "That is where Aster is headed." "Aster has all the ingredients to change the game in this market - proven, differentiated technology, a rapidly growing revenue stream and customer base, and a solid management team," said Doug Leone, Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital. "The company is well positioned to become the category leader in the next generation of data warehouses, and we are pleased to partner with them in their success." Aster Data Systems has raised $22 million in funding to date, from venture capitalists JAFCO, Sequoia, Cambrian Ventures, and First-Round Capital, as well as industry visionaries including David Cheriton, Rajeev Motwani and Ron Conway. About Aster Data Systems Aster Data Systems is a proven leader in high-performance analytic database systems for frontline data warehousing - bringing deep insights on data analyzed on clusters of low-cost commodity hardware. The Aster nCluster database cost-effectively powers frontline analytic applications for companies such as MySpace, Akamai, and Aggregate Knowledge. Running on low-cost off-the-shelf hardware, and providing 'hands-free' administration, Aster enables enterprises to meet their data warehousing needs within their budget. Aster is headquartered in Redwood City, California and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Cambrian Ventures, and First-Round Capital. For more information please visit asterdata.com, or call 650-232-4400. About JAFCO Ventures Based in Palo Alto, California, JAFCO Ventures is a venture capital partnership focused on companies that are emerging leaders in the communications, Internet, semiconductor and software industries. JAFCO Ventures was formed in 2003 and currently manages more than $350 million in capital. The fund's charter is to invest in venture opportunities with true breakout potential where JAFCO Ventures can meaningfully add value with capital, the experience of seasoned venture capital investors, and the deployment of our Asia business development team, to help portfolio companies generate revenue from customers in Japan and other parts of Asia. For more information, visit jafco.com.

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/14/2009 1:40:57 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 362293

Has Google Declared War on Enterprise IT? seekingalpha.com

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/14/2009 9:18:11 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362293

Value Investing? Answer: Invest in Yourself smartsheet.com

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/14/2009 9:36:06 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

Google lays off 100 recruiters ere.net

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/16/2009 2:01:04 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

New Enterprise Associates Said to Be Raising $2.5 Billion Fund By Tim Mullaney Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- New Enterprise Associates, the venture-capital firm that invested in Juniper Networks Inc. and Salesforce.com Inc., has almost completed raising a $2.5 billion fund, two people familiar with the matter said. The fund will close shortly after the California Public Employee Retirement System formally makes a commitment to invest, said the people, who declined to be identified because the details are confidential. The firm said in a regulatory filing on Dec. 18 that it might raise as much as $3 billion. Kate Barrett, a spokeswoman for New Enterprise, declined to comment. The fund, which at $2.5 billion would be tied for the fifth-biggest in the venture-capital industry’s history, suggests that the largest firms can still raise money in the midst of a recession. Investments will fall 10 percent or more next year, as venture firms demand lower prices for fledgling companies, the National Venture Capital Association said in a study last month. “The big firms can do what they want, because everyone knows this fund may be your one chance to get in,” said Lise Buyer, a former venture capitalist who consults for companies preparing to go public. New Enterprise usually only takes money from pension funds and foundations it has dealt with before, she said. “If you can get in, you can stay in.” The fund will reflect the firm’s emphasis on the health care industry, the people said. New Enterprise, based in Menlo Park, California, and Chevy Chase, Maryland, hired four new partners last year. Three focus on health care, including former MedImmune Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Mott, according to New Enterprise Associates’ Web site. 13th Fund The fund will be the 13th raised by New Enterprise Associates since 1978. About 60 percent of the new money will be invested in emerging companies, with the rest slated for deals involving larger businesses, such as divisions or product lines of existing companies, the people said. New Enterprise Associates’ fund comes as partners in many venture funds are being forced to sell off their stakes. The secondary market for venture stakes has doubled in size since mid-2007, said Hans Swildens, a principal at Industry Ventures LLC, a San Francisco-based firm that buys stakes in venture capital funds. The value of venture stakes traded on secondary markets fell to 61 percent of their original value in the second half of the year, from 85 percent in the first half, Dallas-based Cogent Partners reported Jan. 8. Cogent represents institutional investors buying and selling positions in venture and private- equity funds. Scaling Back Plunging stock markets have forced universities and pension funds to scale back their venture capital investments. Many institutional investors have written guidelines that limit the percentage of assets they can devote to venture capital, private equity and other “alternative investments.” Even New Enterprise Associates, which has invested in more companies than any other venture firm since 2002, had to scramble to get its deal done, said Dixon Doll, co-founder and general partner at Doll Capital Management in Menlo Park. Calpers had to get a waiver from its investment guidelines to be able to participate, Doll said. Calpers raised the percentage of assets it can invest in private equity, including both venture capital and buyout funds, to 18 percent from 13 percent on Dec. 15, Calpers spokesman Brad Pacheco said. He said he didn’t know whether the pension fund would invest in New Enterprise Associates’ new fund. “Because of market volatility, our funds have gotten out of their target ranges,” Pacheco said. “We expanded the ranges to give our staff more flexibility.” To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Mullaney in New York at tmullaney1@bloomberg.net Last Updated: January 16, 2009 00:01 EST

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/16/2009 2:05:27 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362293

Bartz’s Challenges at Autodesk Resemble Yahoo Malaise (Update1) By Brian Womack Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Joel Orr had a dream job as a distinguished fellow at software maker Autodesk Inc., guiding the company’s technology strategy. When Carol Bartz arrived as chief executive officer in 1992, Orr was soon let go. “It was done in a very businesslike way,” Orr said in an interview. “Money was going out in a lot of directions. The first thing was to establish the company on solid footing.” Bartz, who became Yahoo’s CEO this week, will need to balance cutting the fat at the Internet company against efforts to stem a talent drain of executives and engineers. A three-year stock slide and dwindling market share have weighed on morale. Former CEO Jerry Yang agreed in November to step down after rejecting a $47.5 billion takeover bid by Microsoft Corp. Bartz’s style should inspire loyalty among employees at Yahoo, said Steven West, founder of the consulting firm Emerging Company Partners LLC in Incline Village, Nevada. “There are a lot of people that will want to step up and work with her,” said West, who sits on Autodesk’s board. “She’s a team builder, but she expects people to toe the line.” The leadership drain at Yahoo picked up pace last year. Qi Lu, senior vice president of search and advertising technology, left in June, resurfacing at Microsoft in December as head of its online services unit. Jeff Weiner, former head of the network unit, and Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake, co-founders of the Flickr photo-sharing site, also departed in June, as did senior vice presidents Vish Makhijani and Brad Garlinghouse. Engineer Cabal Overhauling Autodesk, the San Rafael, California-based provider of computer-aided design software, was hardly an easy task for Bartz. While sales were growing, the company struggled with a loose “cabal” of engineers who held too much influence, making it rudderless, said Charles Foundyller, CEO of research firm Daratech Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cliques formed into different camps, he said. “They were in danger of a train wreck,” Foundyller said. Some Autodesk engineers were loyal to co-founder and former CEO John Walker, who helped drive the company’s growth. Some of these developers were scared of Bartz and felt she wasn’t technical enough to run a business like Autodesk, said Orr, the former employee of the software maker. “The technologists were kind of on top of the food chain,” Orr said. “That didn’t always lead to wise business decisions. Carol changed that. She made it a business.” Bartz assembled a group of lieutenants who implemented her ideas without second-guessing, Orr said. Eventually, the engineers came around. Respected “She wound up being respected by pretty much everyone,” Orr said. Female chief executives were rare in technology at the time, and Autodesk was especially male-dominated, said Kathleen Maher, an analyst at Jon Peddie Research in Tiburon, California. On top of that, she battled breast cancer in the days after joining the company. “Don’t expect rash decisions,” Maher said. Bartz took time to learn about Autodesk and didn’t “crack the whip” immediately, she said. She’ll likely “reshuffle the deck in terms of putting in a senior management team.” Yahoo rose 30 cents to $11.91 at 9:45 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Before today, the shares had lost almost three-quarters of their value since January 2006. Profit has declined in 10 of the past 11 quarters. Fresh leadership and a new direction for the company, even in the face of a recession, may encourage people to stay, said Bob Forman, of RLForman & Associates, an executive search firm in Charleston, South Carolina. “Everybody likes a good fight,” Forman said. “Everybody likes to be a bit of an underdog and come back. That’s what the Silicon Valley is known for.” To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1@bloomberg.net Last Updated: January 16, 2009 09:50 EST

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/16/2009 2:34:33 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 362293

Can Apple Fill the Void? __________________________________________________ By BRAD STONE The New York Times January 16, 2009 It has been in the air for some time, but Apple can dodge the question no longer: How important is Steven P. Jobs to its future? By all accounts, Mr. Jobs’s perfectionism, autocratic managerial style and disregard for conventional wisdom are at the heart of Apple’s remarkable streak of success. Since he returned to Apple in 1996, the company has set a new standard for design in personal computers, built a chain of sleek and always-crowded stores, jump-started the sale of digital music and turned the mobile phone into a fun, flexible computer. This is clearly the stuff of business legend. But now the company faces the real possibility that its inspirational leader may fade from the scene. Mr. Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and chief executive, said on Wednesday that he was taking a leave of absence from Apple until June because his health issues — he is a survivor of pancreatic cancer — are “more complicated” than he first thought. That terse letter, after he had played down his illness just last week, left Apple watchers asking what might happen to the company if Mr. Jobs does not return in June as planned. Analysts are quick to point out the strength of the company’s management bench. Timothy D. Cook, its longtime chief operating officer, will take over at least temporarily and is responsible for Apple’s manufacturing and sales operation, which are the envy of the consumer electronics industry. Jonathan Ive, Apple’s design chief, runs the team that has created much of the functional, visceral and emotional allure of Apple products, whose design ambitions extend right down to its elegant packaging. But some Apple watchers and former employees are skeptical about Apple’s fate if it is forced to soldier on without Mr. Jobs. “If you look at the history, Apple can coast for several years and still do very well,” said Paul Mercer, who worked for Apple in the 80s and subsequently developed software that was used to design the user interface for the first iPod. “But it’s very risky, and without Steve, the long term is untenable.” The stories about Mr. Jobs are well known, like his insistence that even the insides of the Macintosh computer, which hardly anyone ever sees, should look good. His obsession with detail permeates everything Apple does, and that principle will certainly not disappear from the company if he is gone. But there are other aspects of his role that do not get as much attention and may be more difficult to replace. At many technology companies, various divisions often work at cross purposes, competing with one other to develop related products. This can lead to devices and software that are sometimes incompatible, frustrating customers. Mr. Jobs, former Apple employees say, has the authority and long-term vision to yoke Apple managers and employees together under a single cause. “Steve is terrific at attracting and retaining people, creating an agenda and getting people to stick to it,” said Stephen G. Perlman, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who was a principal scientist at Apple in the 1980s. “It’s very hard to find somebody who is so credible, and who has such a strong following that he is able to cut through corporate politics.” Mr. Jobs has also been Apple’s chief deal maker. After introducing the iTunes store in 2003, he persuaded entertainment companies to sell digital versions of their products when they were largely bivouacked, hiding in fear of piracy. In large part because of Mr. Jobs’s efforts, those barriers have fallen, though other challenges remain like getting the Hollywood studios to relax their restrictions on renting or downloading movies over the Internet. In their moments of great anxiety, Apple fans look back to the late ’80s and early ’90s for a glimpse of Apple without Mr. Jobs. After he was ousted in a boardroom coup in 1985, Apple actually thrived for several years, unveiling the first Mac with a color screen, the PowerBook laptop and QuickTime, which broke ground in bringing video to personal computers. But then, to the horror of its diehard fans, Apple withered. Its stock fell 68 percent from its 1991 peak to Mr. Jobs’s triumphant return in 1996. In the meantime, three chief executives came and went, and Apple’s core product, the Macintosh, did not evolve as fast as computers based on Microsoft Windows. Part of the problem, say people who were at Apple during the lean years, could be traced back to Mr. Jobs himself: he had not allowed anyone with talents similar to his own to rise at the company. Some think that may also be true today. “Steve’s personality is such that he had not brought up other people who could do what he does. He’s the kind of person who pushes away people who are like himself,” said Ted Kaehler, who worked on the original team that developed the first graphical user interface at the research center known as Xerox Parc, and he later worked at Apple in the ’80s. But some Apple watchers are reluctant to use the past as a guide. Andrew Hertzfeld, who helped develop the original Macintosh and now works at Google, says that Apple has had 12 more years under Mr. Jobs’s leadership to soak up his unique values. He also notes that products already in the pipeline — which analysts say may include new iMacs and smaller iPhones — already bear Mr. Jobs’s imprint and can sustain Apple for years to come. “It will take half a decade for the absence of Steve to really show up in the products,” Mr. Hertzfeld said. Some think Mr. Jobs’s imprint on Apple could last even longer, perhaps for decades, even if for some reason he is unable to come back in June. James W. Breyer, an influential Silicon Valley venture capitalist, sits on the board of Wal-Mart and says the values of its founder, Sam Walton, still drive the retailer 17 years after his death. “I can’t recall a board meeting where Sam’s spirit and contribution have not been cited in some way,” Mr. Breyer said. “In the same way, I expect Steve Jobs, through his genius, will always represent the DNA of Apple.” After the initial shock of Mr. Jobs’s letter sent Apple’s stock sharply lower in after-hours trading on Wednesday, investors were a little calmer on Thursday. The shares fell 2.3 percent to $83.38. Still, there are those who worry that Mr. Jobs’s absence will have an impact even beyond Apple. “The whole world is concerned about Apple. I’m concerned about Silicon Valley,” said Mr. Perlman, the entrepreneur. “I need Apple to be harrying Microsoft. We need someone stirring the pot. God forbid that there is no one stirring the pot anymore. We’ll become Detroit.” Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

To: Sea Otter who wrote (157705)	1/16/2009 6:48:32 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362293

Another GP Parting Ways with Sequoia _______________________________________________________________ Posted on Private Equity Hub - January 16th, 2009 Last year, we reported that Pierre Lamond is quietly segueing out of Sequoia Capital. Turns out that Mark Stevens, a partner at the firm since 1989, is also transitioning slowly out of the firm, he told me earlier today. “I’m still on the boards of a handful of companies. I still have an office at Sequoia. But I’m not a GP in the latest [$930 million] fund [announced in September],” said Stevens, who is now spending a good chunk of his time working on his nonprofit interests; with USC, whose investment committee Stevens co-chairs; and on the board of the public school that his children attend. I asked Stevens if his focus on semiconductors — an unfashionable area of investment these days — played a role in his decision to scale back at the firm. He said no. “I do think the number of new white space opportunities in [the] semiconductor [industry] is fewer than a decade ago, and that Sequoia and the rest of the venture community realizes that and therefore less money gets allocated to semiconductors and components,” said Stevens. Nevertheless, he added, “If I still wanted to work 60 hour weeks, there are plenty of other categories I could have spent time in [at the firm].” Stevens added that Sequoia’s growing focus on more mature companies – for which it recently added several professionals with public investing experience — wasn’t a factor in his newly reduced role, either. “We’ve been late-stage investors since 1987. All our GPs work on both [Sequoia's early-stage and late-stage] funds.” Stevens has grown rich at Sequoia over the years — so we see donations like the $22 million he gave to USC’s engineering school in 2004. Little wonder that going forward, he says that he’ll spend “a good chunk of my time just managing my own net worth and finding opportunities for my own balance sheet.” In the meantime, he said, “I’m still working on building value for our investors at Sequoia.” Stevens numerous past investments include AtWeb, acquired by Netscape for $95 million in stock in 1998, Billpoint, acquired by eBay in 1999 for $275 million, and publicly traded Terayon Communications, which IPO’d in 1998. Stevens still sits on the boards of Sequoia-backed Miradia and MobilePeak, both chip companies, as well as the wireless communication company Rayspan.