Week in Review: Why Startups Falter, Safeguard’s Strong Track Record, and Swap.com Defines an Industry
Posted by | December 2, 2011
Contrary to popular belief, a startup’s success does not solely hinge on the idea, but the leadership and talent that drive the company forward. For this reason, C-level leadership and talent acquisition are fundamental to a startup’s long-term performance. In a recent report, The Executive Search Group spoke with 2,300 top venture capitalists to find the main drivers that hinder most startups. Many VCs listed the founder’s inability to hire the right people for the company as a major roadblock, whereas poor CEO performance was listed as a main source of startup failure. And while it might seem like a rough climate to found a startup, a gathering of venture capitalists in Philadelphia set out to prove that today is a better day than any other to innovate.
This week, PACT’s annual IMPACT 2011 Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic took place. The IMPACT conference showcased the best and most promising capital deployment opportunities in the life sciences, technology, and clean technology sectors. Our very own Jim Datin and Phil Moyer participated in panel sessions during the conference. Next week, we’ll be featuring some insights from Jim and Phil about their experiences at IMPACT 2011.
In other news:
- Seeking Alpha featured Safeguard in an article about life science investment opportunities, mentioning Safeguard as a company retail investors can invest in to play in the challenging life science market. The article also touched on our company’s successful exits in the past year, including Advanced BioHealing, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, and Clarient.
- Forbes profiled Swap.com about “swapping culture” and the company’s plan to take swapping into numerous product areas and countries. Jeff Bennett, CEO of Swap.com, highlighted the inherit value in swapping. Tens of millions of people swap, and Swap.com embeds this real-world action into a social network.
Lastly, nominations have opened for the fifth annual Crunchies Awards, an annual competition to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, Internet, and technology innovations of the year. We’ve nominated several of our partner companies for these well-deserved awards, and we encourage you to do the same. Categories include: Best Technological Achievement, Best Social Application, CEO of the Year, and Best New Startup of 2011. If you have a company in mind, submit a nomination: crunchies2011.techcrunch.com/nominate.
To read more of our “Week in Review” series, please use the following feed: www.safeguard.com/WeekInReview. Enjoy your weekend!
