Nothing is more frustrating than expecting a check and then not getting it, and no one knows that better than the former shareholders of PayQuik.com.

In a complaint filed in Delaware federal court recently, the representative of the former stockholders of PayQuik sued Citibank )PayQuik’s acquirer) and U.S. Bank (the escrow agent) to compel the release of the balance of the escrow. At the closing of the transaction, Citibank placed 10% of the merger consideration in an escrow account with U.S. Bank. Near the end of the escrow period, Citibank brought an indemnification claim, but the stockholder representative asserted that Citibank submitted this claim one day after the escrow period had expired. As is typical, the escrow bank took no position on the dispute, so the stockholder representative decided to seek a court order directing release of the funds.

This raises an interesting question that we have come across on other transactions: What options do the former stockholders of an acquired company have if the acquirer brings a claim near the end of an escrow period that the stockholders believe is either invalid or of little merit?

Read more »

Skimming the recent spate of somewhat rosy articles touting the resurgence and benefits of angel investing, I was persuaded to dig through some of my older posts to examine whether my somewhat caveat emptor position on raising angel capital had been swayed. With a few exceptions, it hadn’t.

Read more »

A few weeks ago, Fred Wilson posted a presentation he delivered on What Makes the NYC StartUp Scene Special.

I was inspired to deliver a similar presentation today to a group of Harvard Business School students who are interested in entrepreneurship in Boston. There's been alot of chatter in the community about a startup renaissance in Boston. Don Dodge of Microsoft had a great post listing out all the amazing startup resources in the Boston community that's worth reviewing as well.

I'll post the video as well in the coming days so folks can hear the voice over. Yahoo's ex-president (and fellow HBS EIR) Susan Decker was there to serve as a good foil for my Boston vs. Silicon Valley quips. Slideshow after the jump...

Read more »

As the Obama administration starts to talk about propping up small businesses with the next phase of the bailout, I’ve begun hearing noise from some venture capitalists and angel investors that the government should provide financial support to startups, early-stage venture capitalists and angel investors.

All I can say to this is “vomit.”

Read more »

What’s the difference between strategy and tactics? Age-old question. Usually, strategy is what you said was your plan after you blundered and lucked your way to a win.

I was never more aware of this truism than at the recent IPO for A123 Systems, a new-age battery company that a few of us backed seven-and-a-half years ago. The original idea: Build lithium ion batteries for cell phones and laptops. Who wouldn’t want a cell phone that you charge once a week or a laptop that you charge once a month?

That was the strategy, and our mission statement boldly said just that: Pick where you want to be in five years, then pick where you should be in year four, year three, etc.—in other words, work backwards. Tactics, on the other hand, say: Be opportunistic; try a few...

Read more »

* Carl Icahn is buying up MGM bonds "like a bat out of hell."

* Someone in Yale's endowment office needs to take an undergraduate math course.

* FT blares headline that Apollo Management is planning an IPO. Not too surprising (we even hinted at it in this space last week), but FT does give us some new intel on the pay-to-play investigation: "Apollo has received subpoenas from California, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York, and from the Securities and Exchange Commission in New York and Denver"

* Morning Call: U.S. futures point to mixed open, London rises early, European shares near 13-month high, the Nikkei hits 6-week closing low and China shares gain 0.62%.

* Fred Wilson's brute force strategy for finding good deals? 10 meetings per day.

* Tear down this wall: On the persistence of borders in trade.

* Scott Kirsner: New England's economy is playing five games, but winning only two.

* Digg CEO Jay Adelson says that profitability is right around the corner, thanks to its new ad platform.

Read more »

* James Surowiecki believes the U.S. should eliminate tax deducations on debt: "If the benefits are illusory, the costs are all too real."

* CalPERS is seeking better terms from Apollo. Is there ever a point where the giant pension will publicly acknowledge that it was no patsy, but rather a willing accomplice?

* Andrew Corsello on the Ayn Rand revival: "2009's most influential author is a mirthless Russian-American who loves money, hates God, and swings a gigantic dick. She died in 1982, but her spawn soldier on. And the Great Recession is all their fault."

* Morning Call: U.S. futures rise on retail hopes, European futures signal gains, the Nikkei climbs 0.2% and Hong Kong jumps 1.73%.

* Chris MacDonald: Can ethics be taught in business school?

* Are you suffering from Big Company Syndrome?

* Sarah Lacy reports from India: How to profit off the poor and keep your soul

Read more »

Today was the deadline that Calacanis had set for various angel groups -- the Keiretsu Forum, Maverick Angels, AlwaysOn and several others -- to stop charging fees for entrepreneurs to present their startups.

These groups have pretty much ignored him, so Calacanis -- who's sold two companies and is now CEO of the venture-backed startup Mahalo, as well as an angel investor himself -- says he will make good on his promise to start his own angel network, the Open Angel Forum. It will be a for-profit group with chapters planned in 20 cities, starting in the first quarter with Los Angeles (where Calacanis lives and says he plays poker with "two dozen *real* angel investors").

Details so far are scarce. Calacanis declines to say how he's going to make money.

Read more »

East Coast/WestCoast: Snoop Dogg rang the Opening Bell today. Then Maria Bartiromo asked him why he chose to get into business rather than crime. (Dealbreaker)

More on The Buyout of America: An NPR interview on how private equity will cause the next great credit crisis. (NPR)

The Dark Side of Incentives: They consistently backfire when efforts to boost bonuses override moral considerations. (BusinessWeek)

In Case You Have an iPhone: And in case you invest, here are ten apps for you. (Business Insider)

The Delevering Effect: Why KKR and BX want so many IPOs. (P&I)

Apply Here: How to snag a job at Apollo, according to Apollo founder Marc Rowan. Hint: Have a degree from Wharton. (FINS)

Read more »

* IBM is doing venture capital without the capital.

* The wonder of it all: Apollo Management has been buying up debt in struggling Connecticut casino Foxwoods.

* PAI Partners has gone further than almost any other buyout firm, in terms of its willingness to reduce its bloated fund size. But, for one major LP, it still isn't far enough.

* Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares pulled down by banks, the Nikkei loses 0.6% and Chinese shares hit 3-month closing high.

* Is the UK's majority-rules M&A system preferable to America's board-dominated process, or does it promote short-termism?

* Jason Mendelson: Why don't venture capitalists tell you why they won't invest?

* The Economist says that options have a future, but reform is justified

* FactCheck.org finds that current cap-and-trade legislation would likely slow job growth, but not by as much as its critics are claiming.

Read more »