Foundry Group Moves to Twitter Platform for Deal Evaluation

Foundry Group — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:36:09 +0000

While we are fans of investing in companies in the email ecosystem with our thematic investing approach, we have come to the realization that email is not the most efficient form of communication for evaluating potential investment opportunities.

We are blessed to have a large number of entrepreneurs who are interested in us as potential partners and the volume of email we receive can sometimes overwhelm us, so we began the investigation for a more streamlined approach. We hired consultants from McKinsey & Company last summer and after 9 months of working with us to learn how we operate, it was obvious that Twitter was the right choice.

The benefits of Twitter versus other platforms were clear. First, everyone is on Twitter, so there is no chance that an entrepreneur wouldn’t be able to reach us. Second, this will greatly reduce the number of spreadsheets and financial projections that we would feel obligated to read. We realize that financial projects are just that – projections and therefore are never accurate. We’ve decided to stop pretending that they make sense. Third, and perhaps most importantly, if an entrepreneur cannot explain their opportunity in 140 characters or less, how focused can they be?

Besides, with the amount of board meetings that we attend, verbosity is not a wanted characteristic.

Speaking of board meetings, we have begun the process of streamlining board meetings with McKinsey, as well. We’re hoping to devise a similar approach using Skype to eliminate the need for face-to-face meetings and travel.

So, if you are an entrepreneur and want to work with us, Tweet us! One thing to note: PLEASE do not send us twitter links or multiple tweets per company. This is just as bad as email and really destroys the spirit of what we are trying to do here.

We look forward to hearing from you:

@bfeld @ryan_mcintyre

@jasonmendelson @sether

See you at Defrag!

Seth Levine — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:23:27 +0000

Several years ago, along with conference veteran Eric Norlin, we started Defrag – a conference designed to bring together a group of technologists to talk about the challenges around increasing fragmentation of data online and the tools and technologies that are being developed to make sense out of this data mess. We strongly believe that rather than sitting on the sideline watching and listening to the conversation taking place within the markets we care about that we should be actively facilitating and participating in that discussion (Defrag sits at the intersection of our Implicit Web and Protocol themes). In October we’ll be holding our third edition of Defrag and we’re extremely excited about how the conference is coming together.

Eric has been a great partner to work with on Defrag as well as our Glue Conference in the spring. The post below is a great example of why we love working with him and the passion that we all feel about the conferences we’re involved with. At the end is a special offer on registration. We’d strongly encourage you to join us at the event and the offer below is the best discount going (but note that it ends on Wed). See you at Defrag!

______________________________

Defrag’s September Special
Originally posted by Eric Norlin on the Defrag Blog, September 28

I’ve been getting a lot of requests as of late regarding a discount for Defrag – and we’re going to oblige by running a special for the last three days of September (Monday through Wednesday), but I awoke this morning wondering what I should say about coming to defrag.

And then it hit me…

I really do take this personally. There’s no such thing as “it’s just business” in my world. Every last detail, every small minute thing, every single attendee’s experience — they matter to me. I can tell you every piece of “constructive feedback” I received after last year’s show. Hell, I can tell you who said it, where they work (then and now), and what *exactly* they said (because I’ve got it right here in front of me). Why? Because it all matters. Because it’s not just business. Because Defrag isn’t a “job” for me; it’s a passion.

You will never see me start a conference because there’s a “market” to tap. I start conferences because I think there’s a problem to solve. Because there’s a need.

Add those two paragraphs together and what do you get? A really different experience at Defrag — because it’s not just business. Because we take this personally.

Alright, enough of that — here’s the special: Use the code “septspecial1″ anytime between now and end of the day on wednesday and you’ll receive $300 off of the Defrag registration. That makes us the best value going, and it makes this the best price you’re going to find.

Don’t delay, wait or hesitate – register today.

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Foundry Group Moves to Twitter Platform for Deal Evaluation

See you at Defrag!