Healthcare has always been an area of focus in venture capital. In particular, over the last several years, healthcare IT has received a lot of public attention. The recent J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco – focusing on public companies – offers a timely snapshot to compare the healthcare interests of public markets versus venture capitalists.

Interest level in device and equipment companies is significantly higher from VCs than from public markets, and the interest level in healthcare IT companies is significantly lower by VCs than the public markets. Negative sentiment has recently surrounded the device industry and new regulations and backlash on costs have dampened enthusiasm around the business models and efficacy (perceived long-term financial and c...

Despite the sheer size of the transportation and logistics market, there has been limited technology innovation to streamline the process of moving goods from point A to point B. Given that the industry generates $1.3 trillion in business, representing 11% of GDP, companies looking to improve efficiency and reduce cost will continue to drive development of the web-based aspects of the business. Recently, M&A in the sector has been on a run-up and thousands of businesses in the sector will continue to depend on providers of enhanced solutions and services.

The logistics market has historically been controlled by internal shipping departments or asset-based carriers – companies that own fleets of trucks, ships, airplanes, etc. Maximizing asset utilization is obviously crucia...

Apple has again turned iPhone buzz into gold. Despite all the talk of possible bells and whistles, Verizon Wireless looks to be offering the iconic smartphone on roughly the same terms as AT&T. The only clear winners will be Apple’s masters of hype.

Sure, some AT&T customers would be delighted to say goodbye to the carrier’s patchy network. But the costs of switching to Verizon Wireless could be high. Only a third of AT&T’s iPhone customers have contracts that expire this year, according to UBS. Others would have to pay up to $325 in termination fees and least $199 for a new iPhone from Verizon Wireless, because the two networks run on different standards.

As for Verizon Wireless’s customers, they will now get a chance to carry an App...

Insight Venture Partners has raised a new mountain of money to invest in both software and Internet deals. According to two new SEC filings, the 16-year-old, New York-based firm has closed on at least $1.05 billion from investors, including one lump of $325.8 million and another that totals $725.1 million.

Whether the funds will be managed separately or as one fund remains to be seen. Insight has not yet responded to requests for comment. Presumably, though, much of that money has come from existing investors like Stockholm-based Skandia Insurance Co. At least, when Insight raised its last...

The great thing – and the bad thing – about the Internet is that we have all sorts of newfangled tools to measure things. But, as Albert Einstein once said, “Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts.”

Which brings us to the latest list making the rounds: the “30 Most Respected Venture Capitalists,” which was created by Mark Fidelman of the blog SeekOmega.com and ran on Business Insider.

Fidelman says he created the list “using state of the art senti...

The grand masters of private equity converged on Davos, Switzerland for the Alpine talk blizzard otherwise known as the World Economic Forum. Here’s what they had to say about the state of the industry and the outlook for the economy.

Carlyle’s David Rubenstein, appearing on CNBC, discussed the outlook for private equity now versus two years ago:

“The environment is night and day from two years ago. Then, people were fairly downbeat about the economy and private equity. Now, you’re seeing private equity deals get done, they’re gett...

Game developers should thank Facebook for only taking 30% of their revenue when the social network’s credits system of paying for virtual goods becomes its sole currency this July.

Facebook commands an iron fist over its itsy-bitsy “partners” the way the mob used to muscle corner store merchants a century ago. Game developers are still going to happily fork over a fat percentage, however, because they know trying to develop an audience anywhere else is downright laughable. The social network takes a 30% cut when customers make a b...