As the 2011 began, lenders were convinced the need for middle market financings (defined as companies with EBITDA of less than $50.0 million), which started to increase during 2010, would accelerate and they would all be overwhelmed with increased demand for debt capital.

But as we talk to numerous financing providers, including senior lenders, finance companies, mezzanine funds, BDCs, and hedge funds, they all report a disappointing lack of activity. The deals they’re seeing tend to be of lower quality, leaving them with little to do except hope this trend reverses. Interestingly, this lack of deal flow is in stark contrast to the results of a survey of over 125 different lenders that Lincoln International undertook at the beginning of the year. Ninety percent of the responden...

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Jobs in the venture capital industry are in high demand these days. The lure is undeniable: successful VCs profit wildly from entrepreneurs’ hard work.

Two questions I hear frequently are: is VC the right fit for me, and if so, how do I land a job? If my recommendations sound taxing, you may simply lack the appetite for a VC career. Interest in technology, entrepreneurship and startups is essential for the job.

In all interviews your objective is to demonstrate you’re uniquely capable of excelling at the most challenging aspects of the profession. VC is no different. So, this begs the question, what makes a good VC? In my experience, the three essential components are deal flow, instinct, and personality fit.

Deal flow depends on the quality and quantity of inv...

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I’ve been thinking for a while now that there will not be one social graph to rule them all (Facebook) but that we will eventually have a multitude of web/mobile services in our lives, each with a social graph we curate specifically for that service. That’s been my gut instinct as I do not believe the Facebook social graph is the right graph for Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, Etsy, Svpply, Boxee, etc, etc, etc.

But what has been less clear to me is how we will make it easy for people to do this curation. I posted some thoughts on this subject last week. And I’ve continued to puzzle on this topic since.

Yesterday, in a series of chats with my colleagues at USV, it started to become clear to me that the mobile phone address book may well be the answer.

Gary Halliwell was joined in constructing this piece by MIT associate professor of comparative media studies Ian Condry.

The proposed “do not track” bill being considered by the Washington lawmakers marks what could be a dramatic turning point in the legislation of the internet. High-profile privacy issues with Google and Facebook in the past year have continued to draw users’ attention.

Privacy concerns will escalate in the coming months and years, leaving millions of internet users to wonder how best to approach the issue. With “do not track” the FTC has fixed on a concept similar to the “do not call” list which was effective in deterring intrusive phone solicitation. But is “do not track” really analogous to “do not call”? No, not at all.

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...

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That was one of the findings of Victoria Bellotti of Xerox Parc, who combines backgrounds in psychology and human-computer interaction to study how people are actually using (and misusing) the digital technologies that are supposed to make their lives easier. Bellotti, who spoke at last week’s Inbox Love conference in Silicon Valley, says that in the case of email, certain practices are particularly...

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Unfortunately, it’s starting to seem that journalists are fighting a losing race in trying to keep up with what’s truly novel. For several years now, savvy investors have been effectively gaming Twitter and mastering...

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The return of covenant-lite does not mean the debtor-friendly terms will trickle down to the middle market, said Joe McGrath, a managing director at Barclays Capital and its head of global leveraged finance.

“We haven’t seen a huge shift toward covenant-lite deals” in mid-market transactions, in part because the smaller loans offer less liquidity for the l...

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As Wadhwa shared his views on the differences between Boston’s tech scene and that of Silicon Valley–Wadhwa suggested that its culture of innovation pales to that of the Bay Area, as well as that Boston has fallen behind New York-–Kirsner was asking on Twitter:...

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Unfortunately, it’s starting to seem that journalists are fighting a losing race in trying to keep up with what’s truly novel. For several years now, savvy investors have been effectively gaming Twitter and mastering...

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For Peter Arvai, co-founder and CEO of Prezi, a developer of an online presentation tool that was founded in Hungary, the answer has to do with critical mass.

The United States has the market and the access to capital, Arvai writes in the upcoming issue of Venture Capital Journal.

“After we moved to San Francisco in late 2009, I understood more clearly the origin of the concept of capital markets.” Arvai writes. “I remember feeling positive...

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