'bankruptcy' Tag
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Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em
December 10, 2013During a panel at a tech conference several years back, a seasoned and respected French early-stage VC that I will not name boasted about how he (of course it’s a ‘he’) had never had a portfolio company go bankrupt. Needless to say, this remark was an eyebrow-raiser for me about France’s venture capital sector. My […]
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Why the latest RBS scandal smells so rotten
December 3, 2013If claims in a UK government report published last week have any basis, then the latest scandal surrounding the Royal Bank of Scotland makes LIBOR manipulation look like just a rainy start to the cricket season. The Tomlinson report, established by UK Business Secretary Vince Cable, found evidence that RBS intentionally forced small and medium […]
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The latest local example of how business model can go from sweet to bitter
November 19, 2013It seems that almost on a weekly basis these days an emblematic French company falls into financial distress. The most recent which caught my attention is Hédiard. It’s impossible to wander through a chic quartier of Paris without seeing a Hédiard store. The venerable French brand synonymous with French gourmet foodstuffs counts nearly 200 years […]
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Bankruptcies and the French VC Model
February 9, 2010Nic Brisbourne crafted a clear and cogent post yesterday about the economics of venture capital. Nic also references a similar blog post citing Bill Bryant, a former entrepreneur and now one of DFJ’s US venture partners. To be (almost unfairly) succinct, the VC model as practiced by the DFJ US is “for every 10 deals […]