| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Having wanted to create something beyond my hedge fund and angel investing that captures my passion for all things Social Web -- something team-oriented and open-sourced -- I am happy to announce the launch of Social Leverage," says Howard Lindzon in a blog post late Wednesday night.
Lindzon is the irreverent entrepreneur and investor who created the edgy Wallstrip online video show. The Deal recently interviewed Lindzon about his StockTwits startup for our Behind the Money online video series -- in which his mention of undergarments nearly made us blush.
With Social Leverage, Lindzon's goal is to create a "social investment bank -- if you would -- of the post credit crisis era."
When asked how Social Leverage differs from other firms that have been challenging the traditional venture capital model in recent years -- such as Josh Kopelman and Howard Morgan's First Round Capital, which pioneered the so-called micro VC firm concept, and John Borthwick and Andrew Weissman's Betaworks, which combines developing Web technologies with investing in startups that do the same -- Lindzon responds over e-mail: We are not an incubator and will also invest in non Web-centric businesses that need/should be leveraging social media. Our focus is not incubating but helping incubated companies, accelerate. Social Leverage will back companies that already have some traction -- an increasingly common trend we're seeing as investors raise the bar for startups in the current economy. "We will invest all over the lifecycle of web businesses EXCEPT the idea stage," blogs Lindzon. "We are looking for a finished product with at least one customer." Social Leverage's investments will be in the $50,000 to $500,000 range, says Lindzon. Unlike most investment firms, Lindzon and his partners are investing their own money, sharing that aspect of the model AlleyCorp, an incubator owned by former DoubleClick executives Kevin Ryan and Dwight Merriman. Lindzon's partners include Todd Stottlemyre, a former financial advisor at Merrill Lynch & Co. who may be better known as Major League Baseball's three-time World Series champion pitcher. - Mary Kathleen Flynn Categories Deal Video
    Community
 Elsewhere on The Deal.comDealwatch
The Deal MagazineCorporate Dealmaker
The Deal VideoCategories
Blog roll
Archives
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
©Copyright 2009, The Deal, LLC. All rights reserved. Please send all technical questions, comments or concerns to the Webmaster.
