VisualShare - communicate with pictures - software solutions for image sharing and collaboration. VisualShare builds applications for organizations that need to share images, conduct reviews and document results.

Just this morning I read a brief article in BioIT World by Michael Greeley a managing general partner of IDG Ventures. The article makes the the important point that academic institutions are full of innovation and represent a portfolio of inventions that have high commercial potential. Of course, the potential is only realized with seasoned management. No argument here.

However, he makes the case that VC's are not tapping into this value and would be well served to do so.

On Dec 29, 2007 the Wall Street Journal published an article called "VC's New Math: Does Less = More?". The article showcases the approach of Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and their recent success with Facebook. Their approach seems to make some sense. In a nutshell, the article makes the argument for smaller amounts of venture investments (less than $1 M) as opposed to apparent $2M rule of thumb.

Guy Kawasaki made an interesting point at an innovation presentation I attended yesterday. He recognized that when building a business based on a new innovation it is vital to stay focused.

Innovators have many ideas for new products or services that could fit into many different markets and as a result, I believe, are not focused. However, to be successful one has to focus. Investors want to see a focused plan, employees need a clear target and customers need a clear message.

Yesterday I went to a presentation by Guy Kawasaki (the famous Apple Evangelist) on innovation. What a great presentation--more on that in another blog. On his last slide he promoted his new website called Truemors which he called "NPR for the eyes". At first I thought, "I do not have time for another website". But, I went anyway (his self-promotion worked!). It is a cool site where you can find interesting non-headline stories. I went straight for

Today I had the opportunity to attend the Utah Technology Council (UTC) CEO P2P forum where the topic of discussion was “The Smartest Things I Ever Did”.

Okay, there are time when someone tells me something and I read into it what fits or what I want to hear at the time. Then there are other times, believe it or not, that I am really listening and I take in every word at face value. Those very special times when I am really paying attention and I don't read anything into what is being said, then later discover that I misunderstood what was said...well...that is baffling.