Gawker: valleywag, mayfield fund

Max Levchin's Slide set to take in new funding

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:33:13 EST

Serial entrepreneur and PayPal cofounder Max Levchin's widget maker Slide will take in a new round of funding, according to Boom Town. The deal, put together by New York-based Allen & Company, is said to propel Slide's value well past the $60 million to $80 million set just over a year ago.

The San Francisco startup, known for its social apps on Facebook and MySpace, last took funding in 2006 — about $20 million from BlueRun Ventures, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, and the Mayfield Fund. Maybe now Levchin can get some sleep. (Photo by flawedartist)

Jobster CEO out, leaving fundraising to the new guy

Owen Thomas — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:54:46 EST

We'd heard rumors Jobster was close to replacing Jason Goldberg as its CEO, and the Seattle P-I now confirms them. Jeff Seely, another Seattle entrepreneur who just sold online stock-buying site ShareBuilder for $220 million to ING Direct, will take over the online job board on January 7. His first order of business: Raising more money, I suspect.

In June, a commenter claimed the company only had $7 million left of its $48 million in funding from Mayfield, Ignition, and other VCs. Goldberg conceded to the P-I that the company was still not profitable, but a company spokesman wouldn't confirm the commenter's figures.

Whatever the number was in June, this much is certain: Six months later, Jobster has even less money now. Almost as certain: John Connors, the former Microsoft CFO on Jobster's board, has too much of his reputation at stake to allow Jobster to fail.

Letting loose at TechCrunch40

Megan McCarthy — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:16:57 EDT

Microsoft executive Don Dodge captures a moment from the TechCrunch40 conference. Or, more specifically, after the conference, in the limo ferrying VIPs from the TechCrunch40 VIP dinner to the after party at Fluid. Pictured, from left, Mayfield Fund VC Raj Kapoor on the floor of the limo; Allen Morgan, also from Mayfield, throwing gang signs; DanceJam cofounder MC Hammer; and angel investor Ron Conway, looking bewildered.

TechCrunch40's VC sponsors

Owen Thomas — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:35:39 EDT

A Valleywag tipster whispers that a company that had made the initial cut of 20 companies for the Techcrunch40 conference — back when it was known as "TechCrunch20" — got bumped when conference organizers "doubled down" and expanded the list to 40 startups. The company's sin? Competing with a startup funded by one of TechCrunch40's four VC sponsors. The competitor got bumped, and room was made for a sponsor-backed startup. "Ah, the Valley mafia at its finest," the tipster concludes. Of course. Sand Hill Road was built on conflicts of interest.

If true, then the organizers — Internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis and TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington — have figured out a very clever hack on the startup-conference business model. Instead of charging startups directly, charge venture capitalists to let their favored portfolio companies in. And throw in a handful of unfunded startups to make it all look above-board. Surely the sponsors — Sequoia Capital, which has backed Calacanis's Mahalo; Mayfield Fund; Charles River Ventures; and Clearstone Venture Partners — would heartily approve of this scheme. It's brilliant. Ingenious. My hat is off to you, Jason and Michael, if you have indeed pulled this off.

Facebook's new hire leaps from frying pan to fire

Owen Thomas — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:59:28 EDT

What to make of Chamath Palihapitiya's hire by Facebook? Immediately before joining the red-hot social network, he worked as a venture capitalist for the Mayfield Fund. And last February, he attracted controversy for his comments about the privileged society of Silicon Valley in an art film, Living Pictures/Men in Gold." Palihapitiya, who's ~~Indian~~ Sri Lankan, spoke of his intention to break through the old boys' club. But in going from a venture capital firm to Facebook, it would seem he's just going from the old boys' club to the new boys' club.

Here's how the San Francisco Chronicle summarized his comments — and how Mayfield spun them after the fact:

But Mayfield Fund venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya said that despite his success in Silicon Valley, he still sees a white male circle of insiders that he can't penetrate, with exclusive dinner parties and country clubs that he isn't part of.

Predictably, Mayfield, Palihapitiya's employer at the time, claimed that his comments were taken out of context and that Palihapitiya believed that Sand Hill Road was a "meritocracy."

Whatever. Palihapitiya's departure from the world of venture capital, not five months after the brouhaha erupted, by itself suggests that all is not meritocratic at Mayfield. But if he thinks he's leaving a world of privilege for a league of scrappy strivers, he's sorely mistaken. At Facebook, after all, he's going to be working for Mark Zuckerberg, a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College who grew up in Westchester County.