BTSIV, LLC

Read The Latest Newsletter from BTSIV, LLC

We've just published a new edition of our newsletter! You can check it out on our website and get the latest information from BTSIV, LLC. Let us know what you think! Read It Now Here READ MORE Posted January 21, 2012 at 02:06 AM

Managing The Startup-Big Company Relationship

From our piece inPE HubEvery entrepreneur has met them. Big company executives with big company swagger. They ignore you. They dismiss the business problem you spent your life solving. They think they can crush you. Then the tables turn. They push for strategic relationships. They want to give you money, frequently at irrationally high valuations. Finally they shell out enough scratch to buy you. It is no easy task turning big company hesitation into commitment. But several key steps will hel... READ MORE Posted January 13, 2012 at 12:58 PM

America’s Biggest Startup And Its Lessons

Justin Oberman, Ben Smith: America’s Biggest Startup And Its Lessons For Entrepreneurs is a piece I did recently forPEhubwith Justin.Can you name America’s largest startup? It’s not Facebook or Amazon or even Home Depot. It isn’t even a technology company.This little known giant is the Transportation Security Administration and its massive scale up offers a roadmap for entrepreneurs eager to turn big ideas into sustainable businesses.The secret isn’t just a clear mission or a risk-taking... READ MORE Posted December 22, 2011 at 01:47 PM

Why Startups Innovate Better Than Big Companies

Why Startups Innovate Better Than Big Companies is a piece I did in PEhub recently With all their resources and talent, why do big companies have trouble innovating? How can a Blekko exist when there is a Google? Or a Tapulous when there is an Electronic Arts? Even more puzzling, why couldn’t Yahoo create Facebook with Yahoo 360 instead of losing out to a 20-year-old kid from Harvard? A lot of innovation comes from tiny teams with only $100,000 in the bank, or often a lot less. The reason is ... READ MORE Posted December 22, 2011 at 01:45 PM

Ben Smith: Building Startups Is Cheap But Never Run Out of Cash

Ben Smith: Building Startups Is Cheap But Never Run Out of Cash A recent piece I did for PEHub Internet startups have been getting cheaper to build for 10 years. So why is it more important than ever not to run out of cash? We built MerchantCircle into one of the 100 most trafficked U.S. sites and I honestly never remember signing a purchase order for more than $10,000. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t fear the ever-present prospect of running out of money. What kept us viable was our goal of ... READ MORE Posted December 12, 2011 at 11:41 PM

Ben Smith: Eight Steps To Mastering Small Company Acquisitions

A recent article I did for PE Hub One of the biggest misconceptions in technology is that small acquisitions are less risky and require less attention than large ones. It is not true. When Reply bought my company, MerchantCircle, in May it put several of my top execs in key financial and legal roles. The move was a clever way to bridge the two companies without burdening either team with integration chores. There are numerous other secrets to avoid the pitfalls of combining early stage compan... READ MORE Posted December 12, 2011 at 11:39 PM

Are the Billions Justified for Groupon?

Are the Billions Justified for Groupon? originally published inVC Journal Groupon’s potential $15 billion valuation may seem astronomical, but its high price tag may be justified. Groupon is one of only a handful of companies that has seemingly built a viable model for serving the massive local online ad and marketing opportunity.The opportunity is substantial, with about 25 million small and medium-sized businesses in the United State, most of which market their business in some way online. ... READ MORE Posted December 10, 2011 at 02:24 PM

How to Blow Up an Ecosystem (and Prosper Within One)

My recent article in VC JournalHow to Blow Up an Ecosystem (and Prosper Within One) Are you a part of an ecosystem or do you plan to destroy one? You must decide before plotting a path to success During the four years we spent building MerchantCircle, I didn’t set out to work with Google. I just wanted to bring local merchants onto the Web. But local is search and search is Google. And that put us squarely in the Google ecosystem. So working with Google became 75% of what I thought ... READ MORE Posted December 04, 2011 at 09:37 PM

Will Startup Jumpers Hit It Big?

I originally posted this onPEhub. When gambling on high-risk startups, the more bets you place the better, right? Maybe not. There is an unspoken discussion going on in Silicon Valley now about the value of “Portfolio” versus “Persistence,” especially among people who have never started a company. The claim is that you can improve the odds of a Facebook-like outcome by jumping from company to company until one hits, building a portfolio of startups (and stock options). I’ve even heard people ... READ MORE Posted November 27, 2011 at 02:30 PM

Why Great Entrepreneurs Take Big Risks And Sometimes Get Fired

As originally published inpeHub.I never met a great entrepreneur who was afraid of failure. Or who didn’t take over-sized risks to win big. This is why many get fired.I spent the first 10 years of my career at A.T. Kearney, a long way from the risk taking that is Silicon Valley. Kearney, at 85, is one of the oldest consulting firms in the world. It is a tight partnership and people are rarely let go. Employees grow and develop, and some leave to become industry executives. But part of the cul... READ MORE Posted November 21, 2011 at 09:50 AM