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...

Am I the only one who was disappointed with LinkedIn’s financials when it filed its S-1 today?

(Update: Jim Breyer, a GP at Facebook investor Accel Partners and a member of Facebook’s board, tells Bloomberg TV that he wouldn’t take LinkedIn public right now.)

The first thing I did when I opened its S-1 was to look at the stock holdings of Reid Hoffman (pictured)...

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...

Assuming that Facebook’s public offering will happen next spring, one unlikely but real concern for its soon-to-be multimillionaire employees will be where they live afterwards.

The issue? The high-end residential market in and around Palo Alto, where the company is headquartered, is “totally dry, totally dry,” says real estate agent Heidi Maierhofer, a Bay Area native who has been selling homes for the past decade. “Between [the] $900,000 and $1.5 million range, there’s nothing,” she says. “We’re waiting for inventory.” As for the $3 to $5 million market, “I have peop...