‘Path to Commercialization:’ An IVI Master Class in Mentoring

I created this program as Part II in my Master Class series of ‘Scaling Up’ at the request of John Hoxmeier, Associate Dean, Graduate Studies at Colorado State University (CSU).  John is managing CSU’s executive MBA program in Kazan, Russia with students holding senior positions in state owned enterprises, Ministries of ICT, Industry, Trade & Development, the Tatarstan Presidential Administration and Tatarstan’s sovereign wealth fund. This Master Class was conducted 3-5 November 2011 in Kazan, Russia. CSU earned the personal attention and congratulations from the President…

The Valley of Death. Market Failure? Or Rational Behavior of Investors to Risk?

Governments, development banks and investors poured billions of dollars to finance entrepreneurs in the ‘Valley of Death.’ Add in the millions of hours of human energy and thought devoted to creating solutions too, and the investment is truly staggering. Yet the Valley of Death still exists. Conventional thought defines the ‘Valley of Death’ as a market failure. But is it? Or is the Valley simply the rational behavior of investors to risk? If the Valley is a reaction to risk,…

Insider View, Twists & Turns in International Venture Capital

In January I delivered a lecture to MBA students, Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. David Brophy, Director of the Office for the Study of Private Equity Finance & Associate Professor of Finance invited me to speak at his private equity class about my experiences in doing VC since 1986, with what he calls “Tom is 3 feet deep into VC, with mud on his boots.” If you don’t know David you should, as he was the…