Melcion, Chassagne & Company

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  • Alberto Haddad
  • Jean-Xtophe Ordonneau
  • Joe Tabet
  • Nancy Bonnet
  • Patrick Chassagne
  • Philippe Lavie
  • Tristan de Viaris

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Melcion's Breakfast in New York City

The traditional Melcion breakfast will take place in New York City on Wednesday January 11, 2012.
It would be great if you could stop by anytime between 8:30am and 11:00am.

All Melcion partners will be there, so it would be an opportunity to meet them as well.

Location:  Boqueria Soho, 171 Spring Street (btw Thomson & West Broadway), NY 10012
In order to help us fine-tune the logistics, may you please RSVP as soon as possible 

In the meantime we wish you a happy holiday season.
 

 

 


 

Tristan de Viaris on December 26, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Melcion team is in NYC this week

We are inviting our clients and friends to join us for an informal breakfast gathering we are organizing on:

Thursday January 13th

at Boqueria

(Flatiron location, 53 West 19th street, see map).

 

You can stop by, at your best convenience, anytime between 8:30am and 11:00am. 


All the Melcion partners will be there, so it would be an opportunity to meet them as well.
You can drop a quick email to one of us to confirm your venue. 

Tristan de Viaris on January 11, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apredica acquired by Cyprotex

Many people have been asking how deals get done these days.  With banks not coming to terms with the need to start doing their part to help the economy, i.e. lending their customers the money they need to grow, Apredica's double transaction last week gives an indication of the creative ways entrepreneurs have been using to build their businesses and protect their competitive edge.

When Apredica (Melcion, Chassagne & Company client) was approached to acquire the assets of Cellumen, Inc. a Pittsburgh-based company funded by Safeguard Scientifics and Novitas Capital, it needed to borrow the money it required to conclude the transaction.  With banks looking the other way and traditional investors shying away from non-traditional deals, Apredica had to pull all the stops to conclude the acquisition in a narrow window.

Cyprotex, a UK-based AIM-listed Clinical Research Organization had been looking for ways to enter the US market.  This triangular operation allows Apredica to acquire the toxicology technology developed by Cellumen and immediately put it to use on both sides of the Atlantic, directly through its own marketing prowess and through Cyprotex's European presence.

For Apredica's founders, this is not an exit, rather a stepping stone to conquer the world.  The press that has picked up on the story on both sides of the Atlantic failed to recognize that the share issuance part of the deal gives Apredica co-founders Katya Tsaioun and Doug Bates a significant ownership position in Cyprotex's traded stock, making them, (combined), Cyprotex's largest minority shareholder. Their skills are also complementary to Cyprotex's management, creating a powerful quintet in the industry.  Cyprotex gets its US beach-head, a solid team including the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Marketing Officer they lacked and benefit from the Toxicology technology Apredica just acquired as they were readying their own Toxicology program.

The market seems to read similar things into the story as Cyprotex's share price lifted by 18% in the 2 days following the announcement.

Alberto Haddad on August 10, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top 150 blogs for Entrepreneurs

This is a copy of an original post located here
>>

I am using eCairn to track what is happening in the blogosphere around Entrepreneurship/ Social Entrepreneurship / High Tech/ Venture Capital, and I use eCairn's influence ranking on these blogs to prioritize my reading and commenting (see here how they do this - this is NOT about traffic but rather who links to what).
Here is the list of the top 150 blogs that I find relevant for entrepreneurs in general, with a bias for high tech and social entrepreneurship and a special interest on the funding side.

Something that you may find useful for yourself...

Top 150 blogs for Entrepreneur (based on the influence ranking byeCairn:

1 http://www.techcrunch.com
2 http://www.venturebeat.com
3 http://blog.guykawasaki.com
4 http://www.gigaom.com
5 http://www.alleyinsider.com
6 http://www.readwriteweb.com
7 http://www.avc.com/a_vc
8 http://www.pehub.com
9 http://paul.kedrosky.com
10 http://www.entrepreneur.com
11 http://www.valleywag.com
12 http://www.scobleizer.com
13 http://www.thefunded.com
14 http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com
15 http://redeye.firstround.com
16 http://www.buzzmachine.com
17 http://www.smallbiztrends.com
18 http://www.venturehacks.com
19 http://www.socialedge.org
20 http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com
21 http://blogs.openforum.com
22 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content
23 http://www.informationarbitrage.com
24 http://blog.entrepreneur.com
25 http://www.instigatorblog.com
26 http://networking.entrepreneur.com
27 http://vestpocketconsultant.entrepreneur.com
28 http://www.gapingvoid.com
29 http://lsvp.wordpress.com
30 http://www.howardlindzon.com
31 http://inspired.entrepreneur.com
32 http://weekend.entrepreneur.com
33 http://www.vcconfidential.com
34 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting
35 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing
36 http://www.texasstartupblog.com
37 http://fiveyearstoolate.wordpress.com
38 http://www.coloradostartups.com
39 http://www.markpeterdavis.com/getventure
40 http://www.startupnorth.ca
41 http://www.business-opportunities.biz
42 http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com
43 http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org
44 http://campusentrepreneurship.wordpress.com
45 http://www.billionswithzeroknowledge.com
46 http://www.getentrepreneurial.com
47 http://www.nextbillion.net
48 http://philanthropy.blogspot.com
49 http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com
50 http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet
51 http://www.newhampshirestartups.com
52 http://www.kentuckystartups.com
53 http://www.techflash.com
54 http://www.davidcrow.ca
55 http://www.bootstrapme.com
56 http://www.northcarolinastartups.com
57 http://vcmike.wordpress.com
58 http://joi.ito.com
59 http://www.ocvcblog.com
60 http://www.startupprincess.com/wordpress
61 http://blog.acumenfund.org
62 http://startup.partnerup.com
63 http://www.startupmeme.com
64 http://blog.timberry.com
65 http://www.thefrankpetersshow.com
66 http://www.growthology.org/growthology
67 http://www.montrealtechwatch.com
68 http://www.innoeco.com
69 http://founderresearch.blogspot.com
70 http://canentrepreneur.blogspot.com
71 http://bizcoach.blogspot.com
72 http://ben.casnocha.com
73 http://www.gifthub.org
74 http://www.askthevc.com/blog
75 http://www.startupcfo.ca
76 http://blog.ecairn.com
77 http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs
78 http://blog.socaltech.com
79 http://www.mvmpartners.com/blog
80 http://www.nivi.com/blog
81 http://www.allantyoung.com
82 http://coheda.typepad.com/israel
83 http://www.christine.net
84 http://www.vcrants.com
85 http://www.tjacobi.com
86 http://blogs.forrester.com/colony
87 http://www.adeoressi.com
88 http://commonangels.wordpress.com
89 http://vcinjerusalem.typepad.com/vcinjerusalem
90 http://wallen.typepad.com/wallen
91 http://thoughtsprevail.blogspot.com
92 http://www.infochachkie.com
93 http://www.afpr.com
94 http://www.epicchange.org/blog
95 http://blog.bootuplabs.com
96 http://www.skollonline.com/blog
97 http://www.dorm-room-biz.com
98 http://www.vccafe.com
99 http://marktomarket.typepad.com/marktomarket
100 http://blog.marsdd.com
101 http://www.altgate.com/blog
102 http://www.jasonmendelson.com/blog
103 http://www.wellingtonfund.com/blog
104 http://english.martinvarsavsky.net
105 http://www.socialmediaclub.org
106 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog
107 http://www.delbourg-delphis.com
108 http://vcratings.thedealblogs.com
109 http://www.unleashingideas.org/blog
110 http://www.energybyte.com/blog
111 http://www.venturedig.com
112 http://www.microcapital.org
113 http://www.theequitykicker.com
114 http://www.theclosetentrepreneur.com
115 http://presspass.entrepreneur.com
116 http://shiftingcareers.blogs.nytimes.com
117 http://www.change.gov/newsroom/blog
118 http://www.startuptweet.com
119 http://altos.typepad.com/vc
120 http://blog.bplans.com
121 http://www.churbuck.com/wordpress
122 http://www.onthecommons.org
123 http://www.zviband.com
124 http://www.businessblogwire.com
125 http://yallaguy.wordpress.com
126 http://laurent.pierssens.com
127 http://babblingvc.typepad.com/pjozefak
128 http://www.unstructuredventures.com/uv
129 http://www.floridaventureblog.com
130 http://www.leveragingideas.com
131 http://www.allthingscahill.com
132 http://www.stetoscope-blog.com
133 http://www.johngannonblog.com
134 http://everythingstartup.blogspot.com
135 http://www.thepomoblog.com
136 http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com
137 http://www.austinstartup.com
138 http://bluepointmktg.blogspot.com
139 http://www.abovethecrowd.com
140 http://schumpeterscentury.blogspot.com
141 http://vcwhisperer.blogspot.com
142 http://www.techflash.com/venture
143 http://www.appfrica.net/blog
144 http://onhollywood.goingon.com
145 http://www.ariwriter.com
146 http://www.insidevtknowledgeworks.com
147 http://www.socialcapitalmarkets.net/blog
148 http://thebostonentrepreneur.wordpress.com
149 http://www.startupweekend.com
150 http://microfranchising.blogspot.com

mdangear on December 05, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Support the Entrepreneur Commons concept on Change.org

mdangear on November 27, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top Twitter Social Entrepreneurs

Marc Dangeard, Melcion's partner in San Francisco, made it into the Top Twitter Social Entrepreneurs list by Nathaniel Whittemore Here is Nathaniel's list:

Name - Erik Hersman Twitter - @whiteafrican Why You Should Follow - Founder of Ushahidi, blogger at AfriGadget and WhiteAfrican, all around smart guy and great tracker of the African technology and innovation Name - Guy Kawasaki Twitter - @guykawasaki Why You Should Follow - Founder of Alltop, social media evangelist and best selling author on entrepreneurship, tweets regularly with practical advice for traditional and social entrepreneurs Name - Vanessa Mason Twitter - @vanessamason Why You Should Follow - Blogger and tracker about all things global health, international development, and creative solutions to poverty and inequality Name - Marc Dangeard Twitter - @mdangear Why You Should Follow - Founder of Entrepreneur Commons and general advisor to social entrepreneurs Name - Joe Solomon Twitter - @engagejoe Why You Should Follow - Social media consultant working with Social Actions, Joe's Twitter stream is a hub for all online social innovation Name - VCTips Twitter - @vctips Why You Should Follow - An aggregator of great tips for those entrepreneurs who are pitching or looking to pitch to venture firms and angel investors Name - Jon Gosier / Appfrica Twitter - @appfrica Why You Should Follow - Jon's Appfrica project does a phenomenal job keeping track of social technology innovations with ramifications for the developing world Name - Social Entrepreneurship at Change.org / Nathaniel Whittemore Twitter - @socialentrprnr Why You Should Follow - Our official Socialentrepreneurship.change.org Twitter account - get updated about new posts and interesting projects


mdangear on November 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Entrepreneurship week challenge: change the world in one minute - get your Vindex

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This week is Global Entrepreneur week, and I submitted a challenge:

Entrepreneurs are the ones who will change the world. The issues that we have to resolve in the world (poverty, diseases, environmental and financial crisis, wars, etc...) are too big that they can be resolved by government or philanthropy. Everybody needs to get on board if we want to make a difference.

To move towards a better world, we need to stop focusing on maximizing profit, to instead focus on generating profits while bringing benefits to the ecosystem one way or another. It does not have to be anything big, just a little something that will make a difference in the end.

One tool that can help us do this is the Vindex: The Vindex is a simple number, but it helps turn the vague concept of reputation into a number that you (and others) can see, that you can compare to others and watch evolve over time.

So the simple number becomes the first step towards thinking differently about business and impact. When you start paying attention to this simple number, you have become a social entrepreneur, and the sky is the limit.

Getting a Vindex is a first step towards doing the right thing.
I got mine: http://mdangear.venyo.org
I hope that if you reading this you will get yours too: https://www.venyo.org/signup/
And then spread the word...

mdangear on November 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Entrepreneur Commons in Les Echos

Les Echos (French equivalent of Financial Times) just published an article on Entrepreneur Commons, an effort sponsored by Melcion through our San Francisco team member Marc Dangeard.
You can read it here (in French)

mdangear on October 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)

How Brands and their evangelists should manage blogs

Just like with the internet websites of web1.0, companies are slowly getting into social media and web2.0: many companies today have blogs, and try to establish a presence in the blogosphere through them, with the help of evangelists who monitor what is going on and mix with the crowd to spread messages. As a sign of this, Inc Magazine reports that "31% of the CEOs of their Inc500 companies maintain a blog or social network and for the most part they love them."

Having a blog is a great step forward.
Having evangelists is even better.
The next thing is to try to manage this social media effort and retain within the enterprise the IP that is being created by the evangelists working for the company.

Because the thing with Social Media is that many people/companies have blogs, many people comment of other's people blog, and evangelists tend to have their own blogs in addition to blogging on the company website. Even regular employees (non-evangelists) have blogs, and they may also do great work for the company there. So the reality is that conversations are happening all over the place, and there is no real central place where the company can measure what is going on, and analyze the results of the work being done over time. And there is no point is trying to bring the conversations back into a central place, because it is not going to happen. People want to do what they do where they are, not where you tell them to.

So the next option is to at least gather in a central place references to all these conversations, thus allowing readers on the company website to travel from one discussion to another other easily. And because references to these conversations are kept in a central place, you can also measure what is happening: how many posts, how many comments in how many blogs, and how many visitors on these blogs. Data which accumulates over time to also show you the trends of your influence and your impact on the blogosphere.
Think about it as something like Delicious, except designed for blogs because bookmarks are not enough, what you want with blogs are the RSS feeds that keep the flow of posts going.

A service I use to do all this for my Entrepreneur Commons project is eCairn (www.ecairn.com - and as a disclaimer you should know that yes I am connected to this company).

Within eCairn, I started building a list of blogs that talk about entrepreneurs, VCs and funding in general. And I monitor this list on a regular basis, sometimes commenting on the blogs when it is relevant. When I do, I can tag that post, as a way to keep track of the fact that I did comment on this blog in case I want to go back.
(the RSS feed for these posts where I commented is http://conversation.ecairn.com/post/feed?key=Qf4X4Cxiw392Ri6oWewwulHfA4H6E9Nn&title=Get+the+filter%27s+RSS+feed&with_filter=49, and it is also exposed in a widget on this blog)

Doing this, I started participating in conversations happening here and there. I sometime receive replies to my comments, and I also reply to other people's comments. Everytime I do this, I add the person's blog to my list, because if they said something that was relevant to me here, they may do it again.

Over time my selection of blogs has grown from something that was based on the declared intent of the blog (blogs about entrepreneurship, VCs or funding) to a selection of blogs that includes more of the same, plus blogs from knowledgeable people who do not always blog about these specific subject, but have shown interest and some level of expertise on the subject at one point or another.

And this evolution can be tracked: I know how many blogs I started from, where I am today and how I got there; I know how many posts I found relevant through my browsing, how many I commented on, and how many new bloggers I got involved with (through their blog) from these conversations.
I can do this by myself, and I already get more than a regular RSS reader would give me, and I can include other people to do it with me: we are now several partners working on the Entrepreneur Commons project from within the eCairn service.

For any company I believe that it should be the next step forward, as a way to track what is happening on a given product, or what is happening with the brand in general. The value you get from being able to manage this process is huge, I see it as the real promise of Social Media delivered: the eCairn tool allows monitoring and engagement, the perfect backoffice tool for a marketing team.

Imagine for example that you launch a campaign:
- you can immediately measure the effect of that campaign in the blogosphere, you can reinforce the message by commenting as appropriate on blogs (or do damage control if not all goes as expected). And you can correlate the campaign to a measure of the buzz generated.
- you can do all this as a coordinated effort, with a complete team of people involved, so that you can handle as much as you want. And when people move on to another job, the info from what they have done stays with the company. They may control their own blog, and the audience around it, but you keep track of the relevant posts that were made, the bloggers that were engaged, etc...

Outside of specific campaign, you can also do on-going work of maintaining a presence in the blogosphere, and build up the audience through engagement with bloggers. You can measure how many blogs you engaged on, which is another great indicator of the work being done by the marketing team (who they talk to, who they know, and how influential these people are - from the traffic of their blog, which gives me a feel for my addressable audience).

As I commented recently on a post from Open Forum, in addition to what the author calls the Web triumvirate (website - blog - support discussion board or forums), companies should seriously consider now adding a fourth pillar: proactive Customer Service in the form of blog monitoring and bloggers engagement - call it Blogosphere Relationship Management

mdangear on September 16, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

$20B crumbs

You think $20B is a lot of money. Think again.

$20B is the amount that VCs invest every year.

But where does the money come from?
The reality is that VC funds get their money from Limited Partners, for whom VC investment is considered "alternative investment". This means that it represents a very small fraction of their own portfolio. Something that they do not spend as much of their attention on.

And where does this lead us?
More and more people (including partners in VC funds) agree that something is broken with the VC model. But nobody is doing anything about it:
- The Limited Partners are happy with the people they work with, they have invested their money but even more important they have invested their trust in them. So if anything can be done, they trust that these partners will work on the issue to fix.
- And then the VCs do their best, they apply their expertise, they keep feeding the system with startups that they think will make a difference, and their view of fixing anything is to do more of same except better. Maybe they will widen the scope of their investment, or maybe get into other types of investments so that they can follow the startups throughout their lifecycle. But the one thing they will not do is question too far the system that feeds them, specially when it works good enough that they can make a good living out of it (who would do any different really?).

So in the end, the VC model, however broken people will agree it is, is here to stay for some time, and until somebody decides to deal with the crumbs.

What is interesting is that $20B is also the amount that Angels invest every year of smaller size deal. And again, where does the money come from?
Angel money is the "mad money", the spare change angels invest in startups so that they stay involve with innovation and entrepreneurship (the passion, the energy) while not having to do the hard work. A very precious help for entrepreneurs, but is it money well spent the way it is done today? I have discussed this in a previous post, and entrepreneurs are not getting as much help as they could hope from there either.

This is the challenge for the Entrepreneur Commons (tm), trying to find the Limited Partner or the Foundation that will decide to deal with these $20B crumbs...
If you are or know one of these, please contact me.

mdangear on July 04, 2008 in VC | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Recent Posts

  • Melcion's Breakfast in New York City
  • The Melcion team is in NYC this week
  • Apredica acquired by Cyprotex
  • Top 150 blogs for Entrepreneurs
  • Support the Entrepreneur Commons concept on Change.org
  • Top Twitter Social Entrepreneurs
  • Global Entrepreneurship week challenge: change the world in one minute - get your Vindex
  • Entrepreneur Commons in Les Echos
  • How Brands and their evangelists should manage blogs
  • $20B crumbs

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