Jeff Weiner left Yahoo! for a VC firm (two in fact).  So did former Paypal and Facebook executive Matt Cohler.

This would seem like a good thing, but the fact is, the VC world is in decline and shrinking: continue reading...

TheStreet.com’s Jim Cramer says CBS should go private (via SAI). Funny, I said that might be a good strategy for CBS, too, back in mid-April. Here is the summary of the argument:

One way that no one will care about a) Performance or b) Les Moonves salary is if it were not publicly traded. Moreover, Wall Street is being unreasonable: yes the company is shrinking, but it will take time for digital revenues to grow, anyway. However, if someone came along and took CBS out at $20B, I think a lot of shareholders would buy that (or I guess, sell for that). continue reading...

In any self-respecting capitalist society, the capital markets will be at the heart of any financial storm. As such, it’s no surprise to see the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage crisis spill over to other segments. However, for all of the doom and gloom scenarios, in the context of how this affects the Web, a few things are very different from 2000.

The main reason for that argument being that the 2000 meltdown was a result of the Web and high technology excess, this time around, it’s a victim, and dare I say it: an innocent stander-by. Let’s consider how times are different: continue reading...

Paid Content refers to a NYT article on CBS which calls for the company that Bill Paley built to make digital acquisitions, which begs the question: should they go for a big purchase or make small moves?

Of course, answering that question alone without addressing the backdrop to that question yields an incomplete picture. continue reading...

Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that a Private Equity firm (or two) were drafting the papers to issue a buyout offer for Yahoo! when Microsoft unveiled its bombshell unsolicited offer this morning.

I have long argued that a PE deal is the most logical route for Yahoo!  Not what the company wants but next to other options, probably what the doctor ordered. continue reading...

For the longest time, I’ve been hinting at private equity firms to give me a call so we can rescue Yahoo! That might happen, it might not. But to pull that off, you need a good $40B or so. With Yahoo! at $25B - and reporting earnings as we speak - it might happen.

But today, an easier target. No, I’m not talking about CNET - though I’d love to manage CNET and whip it into shape, too. CNET is in fact facing a hostile takeover from Jana Partners, who has built up a 20% stake in the company. continue reading...

TheFunded.com, a site entrepreneurs love but VCs absolutely hate, has pushed the envelope considerably by adding a feature that allows entrepreneurs to upload term sheets for others to view. A term sheet is essentially a letter of intent, a non-binding, revocable, starting point that is not final and culminates with a business transaction.

Short Term Repercussions continue reading...

Yahoo! - a stock I’ve owned all the way up to $34 (many times) and come back down to $22 (many times) and never sold (unlike others like aQuantive and Electronic Arts where I made money time and time again trading within a range) is being circled by private equity investors, as well as strategic media players such as AOL, News Corp. Viacom, MSFT, AT&T, CBS, according to Peter Lauria of the NY Post (owned by News Corp.).

Bear in mind, the NY Post has frequently pumped the MSFT/YHOO merger rumor, helping push up the stock 18% in one day back in March, after which point both companies denied the rumor. But with the stock in the gutter, and 2008 being all about display/banners and videos (where Yahoo! is strong), then it’s a matter of time before someone launches a bid. From Lauria’s article: continue reading...

Yahoo!, the perennial $22-34 stock, might actually clock in for the day in the green zone. Mind you, there’s some 15 minutes left to go in the trading day, which closes at 4pm EST.

Yahoo! is more than ever a private equity target in my opinion. Sure, as a Yahoo! shareholder I’d love to see MSFT make a public offer at $50/share, but the best fit would be a PE buy. I know what you’re thinking, the credit crunch. Right? Wrong. For low income saps like you and I, credit might have tightened, but with oil registering daily highs, and the USD at record lows, the Federal Reserve dropped rates, which makes the cost of capital that much cheaper when using leverage, lots of it. continue reading...

Prices have been going up and number of deals have gone up. Will that change?

Alan Meckler, Chairman & CEO of JupiterMedia: Media Bistro hurt us in some ways, others expected same figure even if they did not have same business, revenue and cost structure… done over 500 deals and the main challenge after signing is entrepreneurs who say they get that things will change, but actually don’t. continue reading...