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The most active VCs in European tech startups.  The largest drone round ever. Austin Ventures' decline in Austin deal activity.


The In Vitro fund?

Hi there,

Lots of really good writing out there these days. Here is some I've liked. 

Bill Gurley writes that most companies raising large rounds today are not ready for an IPO in this solid essay. Bijan Sabet of Spark Capital writes about the people who took a chance on him (thanks to our early believers). Got opinions on Apple and the auto industry? Maybe read this post by Horace Dediu of Asymco first. Mike Evans, CEO of Grubhub, does an awesome review of what it's like to IPO.

Introducing the pre-seed

A few weeks ago, I saw VCs talking on Twitter about how the classifications between funding rounds was meaningless. And today, we've added a new classification.

Mission accomplished.

It's called Pre-Seed. 

I was going to make an absolutely hilarious joke about a new embryo stage fund but then saw this tweet by Hunter Walk which did the job. Damn you Hunter.




Sub-Prime Unicorn

Bryce
 Roberts of OATV has launched something called Indie.vc which offers an alternative to the venture model to fund tech companies. It's still being figured out, but nevertheless, it's great to see some innovation in how tech companies get funded (pre-seed doesn't count as innovation btw). Bryce has a great post full of straight talk about what's wrong with the current startup investing climate. Here's my favorite part:



It's worth remembering that companies like ShutterStock and GoPro were bootstrapped for a while before taking funding. If something like Bryce/OATV's fund existed back then, I wonder if these companies would have taken advantage of it?

Best,
Anand

@asanwal

How much did 3D Robotics' new round contribute to drone VC funding?

3D Robotics' new $50M Series C is the largest-ever drone round to take place. See where the deal figures into drone VC funding.
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On-demand mobile startups stay in demand

First, Postmates bulked up with a $35M Series C then LuxeValet grabbed a $20M Series A just four months after announcing its seed round. On-demand startups continue to garner funding.
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The most active VCs in European tech startups
As European tech funding jumped to $5.7B in 2014, here are the VC firms that completed the most deals last year.
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12 startups attacking W3stern Un1on
High fees, large incumbents, and a $400B+ market are under attack by a slew of startups. Here are 12 to watch.   
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Data: Austin startups will be fine without Austin Ventures
While Austin has lost an iconic venture firm with which it shared a name, the tech scene will be just fine without it. See the data on Austin Ventures' decline in its percentage of Austin's new investments.
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The Blurb

A curated mix of articles on tech, media, what's next and recent news.

It's ok to never tweet. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo on user engagement, why improv comedy is good management training and how much he personally uses Twitter.
NY Times

Here they come. Apple is debuting its first Apple Watch ads to the tune of 12 pages in Vogue.
Ad Age

The next Walt Disney? The Economist profiles Wang Jianlin, China’s biggest property tycoon who wants to become an entertainment colossus.
The Economist

How an undocumented immigrant from Mexico became a star at Goldman Sachs. Julissa Arce went from selling funnel cakes in Texas to derivatives.
Bloomberg Business

Why 40-year old tech is still running America's air control. "If you're reading this at 30,000 feet, relax."
Wired
 
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