2009 Recruiting Update

We have been receiving a massive number of resumes the past few months. If we haven't gotten back to you, please know we've recorded your interest.

We are looking for VP and Associate level candidates and possible a few interns for 2009 summer.

As always, please see the jobs page for submission guidelines.

Bay Capital Recruiting Update

We are happy to announce the 2007 recruiting season was a success. We've added 11 people in the Vice President, Senior Associate, Associate, and Analyst positions. We may be adding 2 more VPs in the fall, but this puts us on plan for 2008. Thanks to the team members who helped interview and make this recruiting year a success.

Angel Investing up 10.8% in 2006/2007

Alarm:clock is reporting that angel investment dollars were up almost 11% last year. Total startups invested in only rose 3%, which equates to a 7.5% growth in average investment. Healthcare and software were the top two categories invested in.

The University of New Hampshire study cited as the basis for the post also points out that:

“While angels continue to represent the largest source of seed and start-up capital, market conditions and the capital gap in the post seed investing stage are requiring angels to engage in more later-stage investments. New, first sequence, investments represent 63 percent of 2006 angel activity, indicating that some of this post seed investing is in new deals."

This is consistent with my market observations as well. As fund sizes grow, larger and larger investments need to be made to employ the capital. This movement "upstream" leaves a gap for smaller more targeted investments. Both angels and startup venture funds appear to be filling that void.

Middle Market Update

A couple excerpts from recent Venture Capital Association reports:

Corporate Venture Activity
Corporate venture capitalists invested $1.3 billion into 390 deals in the first half of 2007, representing the highest percentage of corporate venture deals and dollars since 2001.

Q3 Deal Volume
In the third quarter of 2007, total disclosed venture-backed M&A dollar volume reached the highest level
since 1Q 2001, when 37 disclosed deals accounted for $7.7 billion in value. Additionally, the average deal
size for disclosed venture-backed M&A transactions has not reached 3Q 2007 levels since the fourth
quarter of 2000. The Technology sector dominated the venture-backed M&A landscape, with 45 deals with disclosed values of approximately $3.8 billion. The Computer Software/Services and Internet Specific industries saw 17 and 15 transactions, respectively. The Internet Specific sector reached $2.2 billion in disclosed deal value – 59 percent of the overall value within technology businesses.

Source: NVCA.org

Thoughts

Despite the headlines about a tightening credit market, capital is still very much in play. The increase in corporate investments and M&A activity have helped keep the market liquid. There is still a lot of middle market targeted private equity and venture capital powder out there.

Having PE, VC, hedge fund, corporate buyers, and a healthier IPO market all competing for deals will help sustain the mid term investment landscape.