"We're taking the burden of schlepping to a sample sale at odd hours of the day, and we're bringing the phenomenon online, not just to New Yorkers but to all of America," explains Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, co-founder and chief merchandising officer of Gilt Groupe, which secured $5 million from Matrix Partners last year. The invitation-only site features limited-time sales of clothing and accessories created by a wide range of designers, from the established Ralph Lauren to Band of Outsiders' hip newcomer Scott Sternberg. The company buys all the merchandise it sells and photographs it all especially for the site. For more see www.thedeal.com.
Investing in an emerging marketing is almost always daunting. It's even more so in an economy as volatile as the present one. Still, Carla Zilka, founder of the global restructuring firm NexGen Advisors LLC, says for strategic and financial investors with the capital to do so, now is a good time to pull the trigger. In this edition of Inside the Deal, Zilka says establishing a presence in an emerging market doesn't have to be capital intensive, but executives do have to be prepared to make a long-term commitment. - Suzanne Stevens
08:57
Lazard's Parr and Sullivan Cromwell's Cohen on the transformation of Wall Street
Gary Parr, deputy Chairman of Lazard and H. Rodgin Cohen, chairman of Sullivan Cromwell LLP both spoke at The Deal's 2009 M&A Outlook conference about the transformation of Wall Street. In this video Parr and Cohen project their outlook of what the banking landscape will look like over the next year and discuss what changes will be made to the regulatory system.
05:22
Inside the Deal: Booz & Co's Gerald Adolph on M&A in a volatile market
M&A market optimism is hard to come by these days, but we managed to eek a little out of Gerald Adolph, who heads the merger and restructuring group at Booz & Co. In this edition of Inside the Deal, he tells Suzanne Stevens that while new deal activity has slowed, he hasn't seen an inordinate number of his clients shelve deals already in the works. And he says strategic buyers with strong balance sheets are shopping for steeply discounted assets, particularly in industries where the stock of buyer and seller are moving in tandem. And while he doesn't expect new deal announcements to pick up through year-end, he is optimistic about deal activity, particularly among sellers, in early 2009.
Foursquare Labs Inc., a New York mobile social networking startup whose $1.35 million first-round financing in September was the most competitive in recent memory, may be the next big hit on the Internet, say many tech entrepreneurs and investors. But beyond buzz, what is Foursquare, how does it plan to make money, and why did it choose O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and Union Square Ventures from among the many investors clamoring to back it? To find out, The Deal asked Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, the former co-founder of Dodgeball, which Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) bought and subsequently deadpooled, for a behind-the-scenes tour. Watch the video below or download it on iTunes.
Ned Hopper's acceptance speech of Cisco's winning of The Deal's Most Admired Corporate Dealmaker award for Information Technology.
At The Deal's M&A Outlook 2009 Paul Parker, managing director and chairman and head of Global M&A of Barclays Capital spoke about where the overall economy and dealmaking are headed in 2009.
In this episode of Behind The Money, The Deal's Mary Kathleen Flynn speaks with Iminlikewithyou founder Charles Forman about funding and taking his company to the next level.
03:39
Fred Wilson: Startups should expect raising VC to get harder, but good ideas will get funded
"People are going to be more conservative," says venture capitalist Fred Wilson in a video interview with Tech Confidential about the impact of the crisis in the capital markets on the technology industry. "Everyone's going to think harder about writing a check for anything," says Wilson, whose Union Square Ventures backs microblogging firm Twitter Inc. and other Web 2.0 startups. "There are times when people want to take risks and times when people don't want to take risks. Clearly, no one's going to want to take risks right now." For entrepreneurs, that means it will be harder to raise money. But not impossible. "Good ideas are still going to get funded," says Wilson, who squeezed in a quick chat with us at Web 2.0 Expo between giving a presentation and watching one by Maria Thomas, new CEO of his portfolio company Etsy Inc. One major reason Internet companies are less vulnerable today than a decade ago: They cost less than one tenth to operate than they did then. "Most companies back then ...
05:43
Inside the Deal: Smith School's Anil Gupta on M&A in China and India
Economic growth in China and India may be projected to slow in 2009, but that doesn't mean opportunities for foreign buyers will dry up. In fact, the opposite is true. In this edition of Inside the Deal, Anil Gupta, professor of strategy at the Smith School of Business and author of the forthcoming book Getting China and India Right, tells Suzanne Stevens that the opportunity to acquire attractive targets in those developing countries - at bargain prices - has never been better.
After a rash of high-profile retail bankruptcies in the first half of 2009, the number of filings has slowed. "It's been quiet," says Cory Lipoff, executive vice president with the strategic advisory and reorganization firm Hilco Merchant Resources. In this edition of Inside the Deal, Lipoff says many retailers have cut staff and inventory, and closed stores, and are just trying to hang on until Christmas.
Robert Kindler, head of global M&A at Morgan Stanley, says the one thing boutique banks can't give corporations an idea of what the capital market's reactions could be to an acquisition.
In the second half of 2009 private equity companies will have great dealmaking opportunities explains Jim Nelson, operations partner at Peterson Partners tells The Deal's Suzanne Stevens in this episode of Inside The Deal.
05:40
Inside The Deal: Milestone's Jess Varughese on retaining bank talent
It's ironic that amidst waves of bank employee layoffs, talent retention would be a concern among merging financial institutions. But keeping top talent is a key piece of the synergy puzzle for Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Barclays plc and other acquiring banks. In this edition of Inside The Deal, Jess Varughese, a managing partner of the financial services consulting firm Milestone, tells The Deal's Suzanne Stevens that even in these challenging times, banks will have to work hard to keep the most productive bankers from leaving.
The economic storm is far from over explains Lazard deputy chairman Gary Parr and H. Rodgin Cohen, chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, at The Deal's M&A Outlook 2009 conference. In this video the two dealmakers discuss how Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s failure impacted the financial services industry and where the industry is headed.
Mary Kathleen Flynn and Suzanne Stevens discuss everything you need to know about deal making events for the week of June 23, 2008. Here are the events this week: - Washington Mutual special shareholders will vote on bank's announced $7 billion plan to raise capital. -Countrywide shareholders will vote on merger with Bank of America - CSX and TCI will hold a shareholder meeting - Oracle announces earnings fourth quarter fiscal year 2008. The software company acquired AdminServer in May and BEA Systems in January. -HSR expires for proposed Hewlett-Packard and EDS deal. To read more about these deals check out www.thedeal.com/blogs. You can give us feedback at reporters@thedeal.com.
05:11
Inside The Deal: Randolph Gulian on career moves for i-bankers
Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch's acquisition by Bank of America could unfortunately mean more layoffs for investment bankers. In this edition of Inside The Deal, Randolph Gulian, CEO of InSearch Worldwide Strategic Recruitment Services, speaks with The Deal's Suzanne Stevens about who is hiring, compensation, and strategic career moves for investment bankers.
There will likely be a lot less exit financing in 2009, according to experts. At The Deal's Distressed Investing Conference David Gozdecki of GE Commercial Finance-National Restructuring Practice and Kevin Philips, Bank of America Corp./Merrill Lynch & Co., and Tiffany Kosch of Bayside Capital explain that the market is not completely dead, but there is more pressure to find the right opportunities. With that in mind lenders are looking at more opportunities in offensive DIP financing.
03:52
Inside the Deal: Louis Capital's Robbert van Batenburg on obstacles of a Pfizer/Wyeth merger
Pfizer Inc. hopes to close its $68 billion deal to buy Wyeth by the end of 2009. To get there it will have to pass muster with antitrust regulators and credit agencies. Then the real work of integration begins. In this edition of Inside the Deal, Robbert van Batenburg, head of equity research for Louis Capital Markets, tells Suzanne Stevens that the stakes for both companies are high. But with its patent on the blockbuster Lipitor set to expire in 2010 and a limited pipeline to offset the loss, the risks of the deal collapsing would be particularly damaging for Pfizer.
05:48
2009 M&A Outlook: Parr and Cohen the new administration's challenges
Lazard's deputy chairman Gary Parr and H. Rodgin Cohen, chairman of Sullivan Cromwell spoke at The Deal's 2009 M&A Outlook about challenges the administration of President-elect Barack Obama will face over the next year.
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