Southeast VC

List of Angel Groups

A few people have asked me recently for a list of angel groups in NC. This site captures the ones in our market and lists others throughout the country. It looks like the list also includes consulting groups so proceed with caution.

Also, I have mentioned this before, but if you are hunting for statistics on number of angels, market trends, etc. here is some good information.

Triangle TechJournal DeckParty

If you're local (in NC), you'll want to be here Thursday.

Open Source Software Cutting School IT Budgets

Interesting article I found tonight. Based on a study in the UK, schools using open source software are saving 50% and the cost for support is 60% less.

Overstock.com: Understanding What the Customer Wants, What Makes them Happy = Revenue

I heard Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com speak last night in RTP with Holly MacDonald-Korth, VP of Overstock Auctions. Patrick was the closing keynote at ChannelAdvisor Marathon 2005.

Just as quick background, ChannelAdvisor is one of our portfolio companies and is the leader in online marketplace management and services. Marathon is an educational and networking event for some of the leading marketplace sellers (both prospects and current CA customers).

Incredible conference and I enjoyed hearing Patrick talk about Overstock Auctions. So did all the people in the packed audience (all big sellers on eBay).

Competiting for eBay buyers and sellers is hard. But with eBay raising their fees earlier this year, some eBay sellers are looking for alternatives.

What impressed me most about Patrick and Holly is that in order to build Overstock Auctions further, they completely understand they need to make their customers (sellers of products on Overstock Auctions) happy. The happier they are, the more product they will sell, the more revenue that flows to Overstock.com, etc. You get the picture.

To ensure this, here they both were up on stage during Q+A engaging the people out in the audience for feedback on Overstock Auctions. Great idea!

1. How can they make it easier to sell on Overstock Auctions?

2. The fees are much lower than eBay's, but are they still too high? How should they adjust it?

3. What else should they do to differentiate their business?

Patrick and Holly are pretty blunt in that they recognize that they are much smaller than eBay and that their story is evolving over time. And they are hungry for business. It was refreshing to see that they "get it" by asking the customer what they want.

Michael Dell Invests in Red Hat

The TBJ broke the news that Michael Dell's investment group, MSD Capital invested about $100 million in Red Hat.

Back in '99, Dell, Inc. invested in Red Hat. At the time, we had already received investments from Intel, IBM, Compaq, Oracle, Novell, Netscape and SAP. I think it may have been the first outside investment Dell made.

TechExec - June 2 in RTP

The next TechExec is June 2 in RTP. Sponsors include SAS and Cisco. The event is open to everyone.

American Tower Acquires SpectraSite

Congratulations to Steve Clark for pulling off this $3 billion deal here in NC. This is after SpectraSite declared bankruptcy in November 2002.