Southeast VC

Noro Moseley Partners, Mike Elliott - VC Predictions 2007

The Year of Apple; Investment Opportunities Emerge Around Search and Filtering Tools Allowing Users to Cut Through Massive Amounts of "Garbage" on the Net

(note: this is the first in a series of four VC predictions for 2007)

By Mike Elliott, Noro-MoseleyPartners

1. 2007 will be the year of Apple. Steady growth in the Mac's market share, especially in the all important entrepreneurial tech community, coupled with the introduction of the iPhone in Q1 and iTV for home entertainment later in the year (both of which will no doubt have a loyal Apple user following), should point to a very strong year for Apple. Look for Apple to be in the videogame console market by year-end as well.

2. The official rollout of WiMAX, scheduled to occur in late 2007, will be delayed again.

3. Security concerns will continue to occupy mindshare for enterprise CIO's. Even the smallest, most nimble technology firms will need to invest considerable time and energy, documenting and maintaining security standards and policies simply to be in position to qualify as a potential vendor for larger enterprises.

4. User generated content will continue to proliferate wildly, creating investment opportunities around search and filtering tools that will allow users to cut through the massive amounts of "garbage" now clogging the net. (Sphere, for example, is an interesting new company providing highly filtered search capability for blogs.) Focused, edited and monitored Web 2.0 communities will rise rapidly with the aid of tools developed by a host of companies, such as Vox and Ning, providing users all the functionality needed to develop niche sites with capabilities similar to YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, etc. - but in tightly controlled communities.

5. Vista's built in desktop "lock-down" feature for corporate CIO's may result in an unexpected boost in PC sales in late '07 and early '08 as users will be unable to customize corporate PCs and will need to buy computers for home and personal applications.

6. On the healthcare front, significant new growth in new and novel healthcare delivery services companies will be limited as investors and entrepreneurs take a conservative stance while waiting to see what the recent and upcoming elections might portend for reimbursement.

Venture Capital Predictions 2007

For the third year in a row, I have asked four leading VCs to look into their crystal balls and make a few 2007 predictions. Here are the ones I asked to participate this year:

- Roger Krakoff, Venture Partner, Sigma Partners

- Jack Biddle, Co-Founder and General Partner, Novak Biddle Venture Partners

- Jo Tango, General Partner, Kepha Partners

- Mike Elliott, General Partner, Noro-Moseley Partners

I think this is important for readers to hear from other VCs than just me! :)

The predictions will be available in full in the January print issue of TechJournal South, but for my blog, I am publishing each one separately. They will each be spaced out by a day or so.

I'd also like to thank Roger, Jack, Jo and Mike for their time putting this together for TJS and Southeast VC readers.

Happy New Year!

Best VC Christmas Card

San Francisco-based Blueprint Ventures sent out their '06 Holiday Card which gets the award for the most originality -- and is incredibly funny! And if you liked that one check out their card from last year.

Follow Gary Snoman's career all the way from successful entrepreneur to VC.

Thanks to John Fogg for forwarding this to me. :)

VCIC Creates Another Opportunity for Entrepreneurs Looking for Funding

After reading an old post here on my blog, Patrick Vernon at UNC emailed me today and pointed out that the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) the university runs is another good option for entrepreneurs to get exposure to VCs. Good timing to be posted here since the program is celebrating their 10th year!

According to Patrick, one third of the entrepreneurs that were part of the program last yr, went on to raise capital for a total of $30m - after VCIC. Of the 200 entrepreneurs who have pitched at regional VCIC events since '98, 40 of them have raised $300m.

Entrepreneurs who would like the opportunity to be part of this can choose from 9 regional events held between January and April in New York, LA, London, Atlanta, Boulder, Silicon Valley, Nashville, Toronto and Chapel Hill, NC. There are also 30 local events held worldwide.