Intellectual Arbitrage

Betaworks With A Twist: Sandbox Brings Its Startup Foundry To San Francisco | TechCrunch

2012-04-27T19:54:00.001-07:00

Sandbox Industries isn’t easy to describe in a few words. The Chicago-based company has its hands in quite a few pots; it’s both a startup foundry and a venture capital firm focused on building and investing in seed-stage software and consumer tech startups. But, as the founder and primary investor in Excelerate, a summer startup bootcamp program, it’s also an accelerator. Not to mention that it manages a corporate venture fund for Blue Cross Blue Shield to invest in tech-enabled healthcare companies, or that, in partnership with BCBS Venture Partners, it recently launched Healthbox, an accelerator focused on kickstarting healthtech startups.

But ask Sandbox how it defines its company, and it will tell you that it is neither an accelerator, nor a venture fund. That’s because the company is attempting to bring a new approach to the traditional incubator, following the lead of New York-based betaworks, the home of bit.ly, SocialFlow, Chartbeat and more. Betaworks, too, eschews “accelerator” and “venture fund” labels, opting instead to be a hybrid, building and investing in its own companies. Today, Sandbox is announcing that it is bringing the betaworks model to San Francisco, and is in turn refocusing its energy on its startup foundry.

This means that, unlike traditional accelerators which have become trendy of late, Sandbox will look to bring in individual entrepreneurs, not teams of startups, to generate, research, and build ideas internally. Initially, projects will be funded internally by the foundry, and once they hit maturity, the teams will be encouraged to seek funding from outside VCs and angels — with help from Sandbox’s venture funds.

The company has opened a brand new office in SOMA in San Francisco, which will house 10 entrepreneurs by summer, Sandbox Venture Fund Managing Director Millie Tadewaldt tells us. (Tadewaldt will also be lead Sandbox’s operations in San Francisco.) Sandbox will continue focusing on first-time entrepreneurs, who will become “founders-in-residence” in San Francisco, working in tandem with the Sandbox team there and in Chicago to germinate ideas, do market research, talk to customers, and, if things look promising, build a prototype. The entrepreneurs will then have access to Sandbox’s team of developers, writers, designers, and marketers to continue growing and iterating on their idea.

To date, Sandbox has developed a number of startups, including a flash sale site for dog owners, called doggyloot, a social media research firm Lab42, CakeStyle, a subscription personal fashion styling service, and Lost Crates, which delivers crates of designer goods to subscribers. These companies are each, in some way, tied to eCommerce, something that Tadewaldt says is important to Sandbox’s approach.

The team tends to brainstorm multiple ideas within a particular space at once, diving into market research and building prototypes for multiple startups that are developed in tandem. As the companies move forward, their success (or lack thereof) provides validation for particular concepts. And that’s what’s cool about Sandbox’s startup foundry, as Tadewaldt was adamant about the fact that its entrepreneurs have to be comfortable with failure, flexible, and objective. As multiple projects move forward at once, the point is to test the market and be ready to shift resources and attention to those that find validation.

Sandbox’s founders-in-residence get to participate actively in selecting the ideas that the team collectively turns into companies, and receive salaries and equity stakes in the companies they decide to focus on. As long as the failure of a particular company isn’t the result of obvious mistakes made by the entrepreneurs, they can return to Sandbox to start a new company or join another in development.

It’s an interesting model, and one that should benefit from the growing talent pool available in San Francisco. What do you think?

For more on Sandbox, check ‘em out at home here.

Crunchbase

SANDBOX INDUSTRIES

Company: Sandbox Industries

Website: sandboxindustries.com

Launch Date: 2003

Sandbox Industries is a startup foundry and early-stage venture capital firm located in Chicago and San Francisco. Sandbox, which was founded in 2003, launches new businesses and invests in seed-stage software and tech-enabled businesses. Sandbox is also one of the founders and investors in Excelerate, a summer-long boot camp to help entrepreneurs build great companies by providing them with mentors, customers, and investors. The firm also has an exclusive relationship with Blue Cross and Blue Shield to manage a corporate...

Learn more

via techcrunch.com

Posted via email from Startup Accelerators

Crescent moon from the LP lagoon.

2011-12-28T20:24:00.001-08:00

Ai Weiwei’s taxing conundrum | The World | International affairs blog from the FT – FT.com

2011-11-09T09:22:00.001-08:00

The Chinese are voting again. Having lost their chance to determine the outcome of Happy Girls, an audience-participation talent show that has mysteriously vanished from next year’s schedules, they are voting instead for Ai Weiwei, the artist and thorn in Beijing’s side.

Mr Ai was recently slapped with a tax bill of $2.4m, a financial summons that followed several months’ imprisonment earlier this year. But Chinese people in their thousands are offering to help the controversial artist pay. The BBC reports that, according to Liu Yanping, a volunteer at the artist’s studio in Beijing, nearly 20,000 people have donated a total of $790,000, and counting.

Most have done so by electronic transfer. Some – presumably technophobes – have simply lobbed money over the wall and into the artist’s compound. A few notes, folded into paper planes, have sailed over the wall too.

Last week, Mr Ai, whose release from prison was conditional on his not talking to the press, told the FT: “When Chinese people have no other way to express themselves, this is the way they feel they can vote to express their dissatisfaction.” That probably constituted talking to the press. In fact, he has done several recent interviews in defiance of the ban.

Whether Mr Ai will have the last laugh is not yet clear. The Global Times, an English-language tabloid owned by the People’s Daily, wrote: “This event has been interpreted by some foreign media as the Chinese people donating to Ai’s cause. The action has also been regarded as a special protest by the artist.” But it cautioned: “Since he’s borrowing from the public…. some experts have pointed out this could be an example of illegal fundraising.”

So China’s most famous artist, known for his humorous, provocative and occasionally puzzling art, may be damned if he pays his taxes and damned if he doesn’t. Now that’s just surreal.

via blogs.ft.com

Posted via email from China Wakes || Posterous

Chinese property buyers get BMW thrown in

2011-11-09T09:04:00.001-08:00

The sudden downturn in China’s property market is bad news for many global companies, but luxury German carmakers stand to benefit, at least in one city.

In Wenzhou, where house prices have fallen sharply, a real estate developer said that from Wednesday it would throw in the keys to a BMW with each apartment at a new residential complex for the first 150 buyers.

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Economic Outlook Trade balances weighed
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The deal is a sign of the desperation felt by developers in China’s once-booming property market, which has been pounded by government measures aimed at heading off a bubble. The slowdown is a matter of international concern, with Chinese house construction driving demand for commodities and propping up growth in the sputtering global economy.

Chinese developers have been reluctant to cut prices as transactions have slowed this year, but some are finally capitulating after dreadful sales in October. Others, afraid of the stigma of slashing prices, are offering giveaways such as extra garden plots, Louis Vuitton handbags, cruise vacations and now cars.

“Whoever signs a contract and makes the downpayment will be able to drive away in a BMW,” said the sales assistant at Central Mansions, a cluster of brown towers with 868 apartments that have just come on to the Wenzhou market.

“No, it doesn’t mean that sales are bad. It’s just that we’re trying to attract customers,” she said.

Home to legions of entrepreneurs and speculators, Wenzhou’s economy soared when China was flush with cash. But it has been hit harder than most cities by the government’s shift to a much tighter monetary policy to control inflation, as well as the property clampdown.

Wenzhou’s housing sector is now the weakest in the country, with prices falling 1.4 per cent in September month on month. Its smaller firms have suffered from a lack of bank credit, triggering dozens of bankruptcies and prompting the government to

But while Wenzhou is an extreme case of the stress in China’s property market, it is certainly not alone. Housing prices have started to fall nationwide, according to the China Real Estate Index System.

That has been tough to digest for many Chinese who had come to believe that house values could only rise. When several developers in Shanghai cut their asking prices last month, homeowners protested, ransacking showrooms and demanding refunds.

Fearing similar fallout, many developers are trying to entice buyers with special deals instead of discounts. The BMWs in Wenzhou cost Rmb300,000 locally, equivalent to about 10 per cent of the price for an apartment, the sales assistant said.

Xiaoyunli No. 8, a development in Beijing that has sent workers to leaflet cars at busy intersections, said there would be no discount and no car for buyers.

“But you’ll get a deal and it will be no problem for it to amount to the tens of thousands. It will be like giving you a car,” the receptionist said.

via ft.com

Posted via email from China Wakes || Posterous

NantWorks partnership with Vodafone is a very BIG DEAL

2011-09-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

Of course, Patrick Soon-Shiong waits until the day after I questioned his ability to build a billion dollar mobile health empire to land a deal that leads me think he is going to make me eat my words.

NantWorks, the newly christened digital incubator Soon-Shiong has launched in “Silicon Beach”, announced a strategic partnership with Vodafone Xone, the carrier’s new Silicon Valley incubator, to provide the companies and technologies in the NantWork’s ecosystem access to the Vodafone’s global and domestic 2G/3G/LTE networks.

Vodafone is basically the largest mobile carrier in the world. They are the top carrier by revenue and second only to China Mobile by subscribers, not to mention owners of a 45-percent stake in Verizon. The Vodafone Xone is intended to identify and qualify innovative technologies from startups, R&D labs, universities and VC portfolios with the potential to deliver new and innovative products and services to Vodafone’s global customer base. Vodafone Ventures, the company’s investment arm, intends to use the facility to identify potential investments in middle to late stage deals.

Read below to see how this could change the landscape of mHealth R&D among the wireless carriers.

Dr Soon-Shiong in a press release announced: “We are delighted to be working with Vodafone. With Vodafone’s global mobile network, and its partner Verizon Wireless here in the United States, Vodafone is truly a global mobile powerhouse. It is the ideal partner for NantWorks to work with as we develop the technologies that will bring the digital revolution to more aspects of people’s lives, including healthcare and education. I welcome the opening of Vodafone Xone here in California and I look forward to a great partnership between NantWorks in Silicon Beach and Vodafone Xone in Silicon Valley.”

Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said: “NantWorks is an exciting and visionary company — exactly the kind of partner that we have come to Silicon Valley to work with.”Vodafone seems to view this deal with NantWorks as a partnership that will provide them access to the best US mobile health technologies and startups, a wise and foresighted assessment. For his part, Dr Soon-Shiong has secured himself two very important assets with this deal; (1) access to a virtual lab with global scale and subscriber base, and (2) the first unofficial limited partner in his new hybrid incubator to state publicly they will likely be putting capital to work alongside NantWorks.

Prior to this deal, almost all of Soon-Shiong’s investments have been structured either as hybrid mini-LBOs (leveraged buyouts) or as venture acquisitions conducted in phases and managed under his Executive Chairmanship. One example of a clever hybrid LBO was the recent acquisition of the National LambdaRail by assuming the networks debt obligations and putting the project under the administrative guidance of the Institute for Advanced Health (iAH) at his $200M data center in Phoenix.

NantWorks also launched its website recently under the tag line “building the world the way da Vinci saw it”. Despite its bold moniker, the website offers few details on precisely how NantWorks plans on realizing its bold mission, other than a collection of videos embedded from Vimio which are more of a highlight reel of Dr. Soon-Shiong’s previous accomplishments than a clear vision for why he fancies himself a modern da Vinci.

I still think Soon-Shiong is riding the wave of his previous successes (note the pluralization), but today I must confess I am impressed with both his vision and execution. The partnership with Vodafone takes NantWorks instantly to the next level and beyond, providing companies affiliated with the hybrid incubator access to two major cellular providers (Vodafone and Verizon) and established a crucial link between his Silicon Beach and the heart of Silicon Valley, thus stretching literally from Europe to the developing world.

This is a genius deal with major implications for the mHealth startup ecosystem.

(Author note: Since I foresee my self writing about Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong’s exploits quite regularly, it’s possible I will take the liberty of putting myself on a first name basis with the doctor from time to time because. frankly, it’s easier/faster to think, type and read Patrick, as opposed to Dr Soon-Shiong, and I just wanted to clarify preemptively I mean no disrespect

Cross posted from iMedicalApps.com.

Wireless Body Area Networks: Driving mHealth By Delivering Value to Patients, Providers and Payers || via @imedicalapps & @healthgrid

2011-09-11T12:55:00.001-07:00

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs), or simply Body Area Networks (BANs), represent a tremendous emerging opportunity for mHealth and will be a great stimulant for entrepreneurship and sustainable business models in this nascent sector for at least the next decade. This is the first post in a series about the promise and opportunity of Body Area Networks and the innovations that will drive the emergence of this advanced segment of mHealth.
BANs, enabled by vast networks of non-invasive and unobtrusive wearable sensors and peripheral devices, are emerging to a marketplace finally mature enough to stimulate a vibrant consumer base. Consumer mobile technology is for the first time just as powerful if not more powerful than the mobile technology used in the enterprise.
Potential applications of BANs include:
Vital Signs Monitoring: Smart band-aids provide increased mobility and comfort while delivering essential real-time information.
Proactive Cardiovascular Monitoring: Identify potential heart attacks before they happen using sensors implanted in (or worn on) the body to monitor sophisticated vital signs over wireless networks.
Organ Implantation Monitoring: Monitor organ transplant recipients after discharge for signs of transplant rejection using implanted sensors.
Seizure Monitoring: Wearable sensors allow clinical neurologists to monitor epileptic patients remotely in real-time and provide each patient biofeedback to help manage their condition.
BANs have the potential to drive cost-savings, improve efficiency, and increase sales of prescription drugs. The data collected by BANs will create significant business opportunities for start-ups in the cloud computing, data management/analytics and bioinformatics verticals.
WBANs require solutions that blend both hardware and software elements and are typically developed by more than one company or vendor (particularly start-ups) working together under strategic partnership or joint venture. Products in this space tend to be derived from academic research, primarily due to the minimal private investment in R&D, leaving most breakthroughs in BAN technology to public research institutes and laboratories.
A recent report, published by CSMG, a global wireless consulting group, nicely summarized a few of the major implications of BANs for the business of mHealth:
Cost Savings: BANs have the potential to radically undermine the ever-growing cost burden of managing chronic conditions. A BAN-based vital signs monitoring solution could be a cost-effective alternative to the last few nights of a patient’s hospital stay. At a cost of thousands of dollars per day for a hospital room, this application alone could have a tremendously disruptive impact on the health care cost curve.
Improved Outcomes: Improved compliance, the ability to monitor and balance drug dosage to increase treatment efficacy, and more timely treatment will reduce the length of hospital stays and the need for expensive procedures.
Increased Sales: While the low-hanging fruit for prescription compliance may be in solutions such as smart pillboxes, there is a significant longer-term opportunity to improve efficacy and compliance through the use of BAN-based monitoring.
Improved Test Outcomes: Another potential area where BANs could prove particularly valuable is in the monitoring of clinical drug trials. The ability to calibrate dosage, gather improved data, and ensure total compliance will help pharmaceutical companies improve their chances of getting drugs through the trial process and to market.
Context Awareness: BANs that capture patient physiological information using Smartphones have available dozens if not hundreds of contextual data points (i.e. geospatial) against which this physiological data can be compared to find correlations. This could be critical information when diagnosing and treating a patient suffering chronic seizures.
There are vast silos of raw patient data that can be captured and analyzed by ever increasingly intelligent algorithms trained to identify the signal from the noise and use the learned information to improve patient care and enhance efficiencies and cost savings across the full care cycle.
The companies positioned to benefit during the early adoption of BANs include developers of wearable sensor technology, peripheral devices, Smartphone applications, network providers, software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers and bioinformatics specialists. Each of these sub-sectors have the potential to represent at least 1 million new jobs for the American economy over the next 15 years, high-paying jobs for the educated unemployed.
It will take another 2-3 years for WBANs and the applications that leverage them to earn acceptance as mainstream technologies amongst consumers/patients and medical professionals, but their eventual adoption will give rise to an unprecedented era in medical technology innovation.
There are several angles one can take when analyzing the current and potential market for BANs, so I will begin by breaking it down by sensor vertical in a series of posts that highlight the disruptive technologies and innovative companies in the following segments;
Accelerometer/Gyroscope
Blood Glucose
Blood Pressure
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Pulse Oximetry
More to come…
Sources:
Simmons and Chan. “Body Area Networks: Driving mHealth Growth” (March 2011) CSMG.
Chen, Gonzalez, Vasilakos, Cao and Leung. “Body Area Networks: A Survey”. Mobile Network Applications (2011) 16: 171-193.
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Body Computing and the future of health care.

Sensimed uses telemetric contact lens to track intra-ocular pressure in glaucoma patients || via @imedicalapps & @healthgrid

2011-09-11T12:44:00.001-07:00

Sensimed uses telemetric contact lens to track intra-ocular pressure in glaucoma patients

Brian Edwards 10 days ago

mHealth

Glaucoma affects about 4 percent of the population over 40 years of age, and is an asymptomatic, progressive and irreversible disease which leads to blindness unless adequate treatment is provided early on. For those unlucky to have a severe form or remain undiagnosed, the disease takes a great on their vision and quality of life.

The disease is diagnosed by measuring intraocular pressure (IOP), a simple test performed by most opthamologists during office hours. However, these static measurements of IOP do not tell the full story of what is happening in the eye over time. A more effective test is to measure intraocular pressure dynamically, as this will correspond more closely to the risk of optic nerve damage. However, there has not been a cost-effective method to perform this measurement for most patients. Until now, that is.

Sensimed, a Swiss medical technology company, has released details of a continuous IOP monitoring platform that uses a soft, disposable contact lens containing a pressure sensor and are recruiting patients for a trial in the United States. The device is already marketed in Europe. There are four key components of the telemetric pressure measuring system, which they call Triggerfish™:

Sensor:

A micro-electronic mechanical system sensor (MEMS) and a telemetry microprocessor are embedded in a soft, hydrophilic, disposable soft contact lens. All sensor elements are embedded in the lens outside the patients line of sight. MEMS devices are microscopic electronic devices that can detect tiny movements and are the basis of the accelerometers and gyroscopes built into most smartphones.

Antenna & Data Cable:

A circular antenna is taped around the eye which sends energy and receives info and is connected to the portable controller (see diagram below)

Recorder:

A battery powered recorder stores measurements and wirelessly uploads to opthamologist’s desktop application

Software:

Data analysis and bioinformatics software on the opthamologist’s computer.

The company is soliciting patients diagnosed with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) for a San Diego-based clinical trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of the Triggerfish device in recording of relative fluctuation in IOP.

In a recent uncontrolled trial of the Triggerfish platform published in the Journal of Glaucoma(1) this past May, ten healthy volunteers wore the system for a 24 hour period, with assessments of best-corrected visual acuity, surface wetting ability, and mobility of the Sensor were assessed after 5 and 30 minutes, 4, 12 and 24 hours.

Subjective wearing comfort was scored by users and activities documented in a notebook. Subject comfort scored high and did not fluctuate significantly over time. Best-corrected visual acuity was significantly reduced during sensor wear. Three subjects developed a mild, transient corneal abrasion. In all but one patient the Triggerfish device obtained usable data of a telemetric signal recording with sufficient sensitivity to depict ocular pulsation.

Sensimed is based in Lausanne, Switzerland and has been marketing its device in Europe since it was approved by regulators there in 2009. Triggerfish is still pending FDA approval.

(1) De Smedt, Stefan MD; Mermoud, André MD; Schnyder, Corinne MD. “24-hour Intraocular Pressure Fluctuation Monitoring Using an Ocular Telemetry Sensor: Tolerability and Functionality in Healthy Subjects”. Journal of Glaucoma. May 11 2011.

via@imedicalapps

One day soon your doctor will prescribe you a medical app || via @imedicalapps & @healthgrid

2011-09-11T12:37:00.001-07:00

Mark my words – the day is not far off when physicians will be prescribing patients Smartphone apps and wearable sensor devices just as routinely as they prescribe pharmaceuticals, physical therapy and other treatment options today.
Ambulatory patient monitoring is one example of a clinical diagnostic technology that is on the verge of achieving full mobilization via consumer Smartphone devices and wearable sensors. Traditionally this technology could only be used with a high degree of reliability in a clinical setting. However, Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) technologies are enabling clinicians to remotely monitor patients in real-time and even provide biofeedback to patients based on each individual’s personal physiological data, all via Smartphones.
I have been working for nearly two years with Chicago-based Wave Technology Group to develop a business model for their ambulatory EEG Smartphone app, which will enable real-time M2M monitoring of high-risk epileptic seizure patients by clinical neurologists. While initially developing the business plan for Wave it was difficult to think about app distribution models beyond the App Store, which would mean embracing a direct to consumer approach to engaging users.
However, after researching the history of ambulatory EEG monitoring it became clear these services are typically only performed on a prescription basis because of the complex and expensive nature of the procedure and the various wearable technologies it requires. Rather than fight an unwinnable uphill battle, we decided to embrace the established clinician-patient dynamic of treatment by prescription and adapted our model to use this dynamic to our advantage.
The difficulty posed by Smartphone apps replacing clinical monitoring technology will be encountered in customer support, as patients will be asked to assume unprecedented responsibility for managing their own condition.
What will be the implication of the rise of prescription strength apps on the App Stores model?
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My most read commentary to date.

2011 Mobile Health World Congress: The Gamification of Health Care is Upon Us || via @imedicalapps & @healthgrid

2011-09-11T12:20:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of covering the first day of the Mobile Health World Congress in Boston, which is a great event that draws an interesting crowd of leading industry thinkers representing all segments of the mobile health business.
Several compelling start-ups debuted their apps at the show and numerous industry trends have emerged which I will feature in several posts over the coming weeks. The most predominate trend I gleaned from the presentations, product demos, and conversations I had with fellow attendees is the excitement about the so-called “gamification of health care”. Gamification is the idea that you can apply the basic elements which make games fun and engaging to things that typically aren’t considered a game, or in other words the use of game play mechanisms for non-game applications.
Gabe Zichermann, writer at O’Reilly Media, defines the main purpose of gamification as helping people get from point A to point B in their lives. Zichermann and others believe many lack the “systems thinking (and discipline) required to get to that goal”, what games do well is expose complex learnable systems that users can engage with to achieve personal mastery “and thus accomplish something aspirational”.
The one company most invested in the gamification of health concept is Humana, so it was fitting that Raja Rajamannar, SVP and Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer at Humana gave the opening keynote address, during which he featured numerous initiatives the company has launched over the past few years which he asserts are meant to “make fun things healthy, and healthy things fun”. The company has made impressive efforts to build social, virtual and mobile tools for their members to use, each highly personalized for a unique purpose specific to their health profile, but simultaneously community oriented and built around friendly competition and point-based reward systems.
Actions and rewards are fundamental to the concept of gamification. The simplest form of rewards is points, the key question game developers need to answer is what actions or milestones are points awarding? The most popular gamification platforms are Zynga and FourSquare, which use points or badges to reward individuals as they accomplish certain milestones or surpass the achievements of fellow game players. These companies have come to define consumer expectations for gamified user experiences.
Humana Games for Health (HG4H) is a bold and innovative effort by the company to use “video games to keep your mind and body fit”. One of these games is the Humana Horsepower Challenge, which is profiled in detail in the presentation below from Slideshare.
The Horsepower challenge by Humana Overview
View more presentations from Tommy Seilheimer
The challenge has one simple goal, to get children to be more active. It accomplishes this goal by distributing pedometers to each student in classes that enroll in the challenge. Each pedometer stores up to two weeks worth of data and wirelessly uploads to a remote access point (RAP), which is placed strategically in a location that the students walk past everyday. The kids are each given a username and password, which they can use to log into the site to see their personal step history as well as the cumulative steps of their class and other competing classes around the world. Each participating student can personalize their horse and each class earns currency they can use to upgrade their school bus, such as new paint colors, gold rims and a gold grille. Classes use the collective steps of all students to compete against other classes in a race around the world. Very cool stuff I wish we had when I was in fourth grade.
Humana Vitality was launched in early July as a “sophisticated health-behavior-change model supported by an actuarially sound incentive program”. The program will be included with all Humana commercial members’ medical plans when they begin a new plan year. The “game” involves the player undergoing a health assessment to determine their “Vitality Age”, a scientifically calculated representation of their risk-adjusted, or “true” age, and allows members to easily understand how their current behaviors are impacting their health.
The company also just launched HumanaVille, a “virtual neighborhood” connecting seniors (age 65+) with health and wellness resources. The company us hoping to tap into the growing interest in Internet activities among seniors The HumanaVille community includes locations and activities such as town square, health clinic, library, fitness center, games and relation spots. Users can interact directly through online chat and community discussion forums to post original content, ask questions and respond to one another.
It’s clear that Humana is intently focused on becoming the leader in using game theory to improve their members’ tools for managing their health.
Another company featured at the World Congress that is embracing game mechanics in the design of their mobile app is Medullan. The company is based in Cambridge, MA, and is developing an app called Plum, currently in private beta, which Medullan refers to as a Workplace Wellness Engagement solution providing users simple, interactive virtual “trackers”. User interface is designed to meet the “one handed one-thumb” use model for all on-the-go trackers, such as the tracker meant to help users quit smoking which simply has users select a “street cone” each time they cheat and sneak a cigarette. The cone diverts the user from their previously smoke-free path and sends them back to square one on their track to accomplishing their self-assigned quitting goals.
The coming wave of gamified mobile health applications will enable rich consumer experiences and allow users to leverage their increasing digital dependence on their Smartphone to keep their physical health in check and on target.
Below you can see the Twitter flow and commentary from conference attendees, very interesting real-time feedback on the activities and ideas all shared under the hashtag #mhealth11.

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USC Center for Body Computing ‘Body Slam Competition’ all about Games for Health

2011-09-11T12:14:00.001-07:00

USC’s Center for Body Computing, along with sponsors AgaMatrix and Zephyr Technology, is hosting a $5,000 “best mobile health game” contest called the Body Slam Competition.
Judging guidelines for the contest include:
(1) originality
(2) aesthetics of the user interface
(3) entertaining gameplay
(4) how the game creates meaning and change in how the player thinks, feels, or behaves with regard to their health
Entries are due before September 11th and should be submitted to bodycomputing@med.use.edu. The top 5-10 game apps will be announced on September 14th and finalists will present their apps at the Slam competition at USC on the evening of September 22nd.
While $5,000 never hurt anyone, more importantly these type of contests are a great way to build brand recognition and earn street credibility with consumers searching your company on Google before purchasing your device. It certainly pays to have a first page of Google search results for your company with nothing but news about your company’s strong showing, strong reviews, and well placed social media featuring your product.
Contests also tend to draw many of the mHealth industry’s top startups and leading innovators into the arena together for a sort of micro-battle of the best and brightest in the business. The Data Design Diabetes Challenge sponsored by Sanofi-Aventis is one example of a similar contest.
The Body Slam competition comes on the eve of the USC Body Computing Conference 5.0, which begins September 23, 2011. To register for the event visit the Body Computing website.
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Qualcomm and Life Care Networks partner to battle cardiovascular disease using mobile phones || via @imedicalapps

2011-09-11T12:01:00.001-07:00

Qualcomm and Life Care Networks have partnered to launch an initiative called the Wireless Heart Health project to aid in the prevention and treatment of health conditions such as cardiovascular disease in underserved communities in China. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, are a major problem in China with close to 3 million deaths a year.
Because of the prevalence of mobile phones in China, an idea formed that would allow critical medical care to be given in areas of China that would otherwise never have access.
“With a grant from Wireless Reach, the Wireless Heart Health project is deploying a 3G-enabled cardiovascular screening and monitoring system, developed by Life Care Networks, for resource-scarce community health clinics in Shandong, Anhui and Sichuan provinces, as well as the Chongqing municipality. Community Health Association of China is assisting in clinic selection, project implementation and impact analysis.”
The smartphones contain added sensors (such as ECG) that aid in diagnostics.
“The new 3G system includes smartphones with built-in electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors; web-based, electronic medical record software; and 3G wireless workstations located within the clinics. Each workstation includes a computer terminal with Internet access, providing health care workers with instant access to electronic patient records, including ECG data. The project also includes training sessions for all participating community health center clinicians.”
The Wireless Heart Health project allows smartphones to automatically send critical patient data to a cardiac specialist at a call center. This call center contains doctors that provide feedback to patients and clinic staff over the phone or through text messages. Physicians can remotely provide service for simpler cases or suggest a specialist follow-up in-person. Finally, Qualcomm expects to make some of the ECG-enabled smartphones available for patients to rent and take home.
For further reading, please view Yahoo Finance.

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mHealth
News

via imedicalapps.com

Qualcomm takes their wireless health technology and vision to China for wireless ECG experiment called Wireless Heart Health in western China.

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Head Tracking for iPad: Glasses-Free 3D Display

2011-06-06T14:46:00.001-07:00

via youtube.com

Another amazing innovation in human-computer interaction that is so close you should be able to reach out and touch it...

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USC ICT Virtual Humans - At the Museum of Science Boston

2011-06-06T14:29:00.001-07:00

via youtube.com

This is absolutely amazing and very much a technology that is right around the corner for consumers.

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Three mHealth startups win Rock Health slots | FierceMobileHealthcare

2011-06-04T05:55:00.001-07:00

[1]Three mHealth startups have won coveted spots on business incubator Rock Health's new accelerator platform. Rock Health just announced 11 overall winners in its first class yesterday.

The program provides $20,000 in startup cash, plus five months of training sessions, mentoring, and workshops with business gurus from places like Harvard (the alma mater for all four of Rock Health's founders), and healthcare/eHealth experts with the Mayo Clinic, Epocrates and Doximity, Rock Health co-founder Halle Tecco tells FierceMobileHealthcare.

Right now the winners are all at different stages of development. Some are still polishing their initial idea, while others have prototypes they're beta-testing and a few are nearly ready for market, Tecco says. The program's goal, she explains, is to develop each participant's business plan, prototype and other key elements so that in five months, the companies are ready to pursue true six- or seven-figure venture capital to bring their products to market.

The three mHealth candidates include:

CellScope: This University of California-Berkley-developed company is working on smartphone attachments for at-home diagnostic testing. The first prototype, now in development, will diagnose children's ear infections, Tecco says. It works like this: A microscope-type device is attached to the smarthphone, and takes a high-resolution, microscopic picture of the inside of the ear. The image then can be transferred to a medical professional for diagnosis. The ultimate product, according to Tecco, will diagnose a "portfolio" of conditions, including other types of infection and possibly even cardiac conditions.

Pipette: Physicians will use this smartphone-based product to provide reminders and prompts to keep patients compliant with their treatment regimens, Tecco says. For example, if a patient has a new regimen of diet, drugs and therapy, the physician can craft a series of texts, messages or questions about pain, mobility, drug compliance, and other topics.
The messages are automatically delivered according to the parameters the physician sets up, she explains. For example, with a CHF patient, the physician might include daily reminders about measuring their weight, and automatic questions each week about the patient's diet. Patients respond to the prompts, and the physician uses the information to determine if the patient needs follow up.
One interesting note: The company's founders originally targeted the technology for service companies like hotels and restaurants, to interact with customers during travel. Ultimately, they saw a greater opportunity in healthcare, and switched focus to physician/patient use, Tecco says.

Skimble: This fitness app is the furthest along of all the mHealth candidates, and already has an offering in the iTunes app store. "It's doing quite well," Tecco says. The app is a relatively straightforward fitness product, providing personalized workouts and exercise guidance. One innovative item: It does offer some analytics that allow users to build on today's exercise or fitness data to craft future workouts, and ensure steady improvement. "We really wanted to make sure we had one fitness product in our portfolio," Tecco says.

To learn more:
- read the Rock Health press release [2]
- get more detail [3] at Xconomy
- check out coverage [4] at AllThingsD

Related Articles:
Rock Health gives mHealth startups platform [5]
Interactivity, time determine success of hospital apps [6]
Childrens Hospital of Boston launches app store competition [7]

via fiercemobilehealthcare.com

Rock Health has been one of the most exciting news stories of 2011 in the digital health space and just this week announced its first class of start-ups, including three mHealth companies. Rock Health was co-founded by Harvard MBA student Halle Tecco, who has emerged as a rising thought leader in the intellectual battle to bring innovative digital health technology to consumers though her incubator's focus on attracting successful entrepreneurs to take risks in the under-appreciated Connected Care sector. I expect big things from these companies as their products mature and they graduate as the inaugural Rock Health class.

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Wireless applications makes monitoring health easy | CTIA-The Wireless Association® Blog

2011-06-04T04:49:00.001-07:00

via blog.ctia.org

Great feature on remote patient monitoring solutions. mHealth is absolutely (IMHO) the most under-appreciated emerging sector of information technology.

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Ai Weiwei China's Best Known Artist Arrested in Beijing

2011-04-04T13:22:00.001-07:00

via readwriteweb.com

Ai Weiwei, designer of the "Bird's Nest" Beijing's 2008 Olympic stadium, was detained today in Beijing as he attempted to board a flight to Hong Kong. His Beijing studio was also raided and his staff and family taken into custody. Ai had apparently been making plans to relocate his studio to Germany and has long experienced government pressure to silence his creative expression. I think this is a huge mistake by the Chinese government. If they want to avoid the fate of the Middle Eastern and North African governments that have seen their people rise up against autocracy they would be wise to not so blatantly harass the country's most revered artist.

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"Baby Boomers need to realize the world they expected is not the world they are living in"

2011-04-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia"The baby boomers need to realize, the world they expected is not the world they are living in."

Lee Kuan Yew, the father of Singapore, was interviewed last week on Charlie Rose and arguably his most interesting comments were those addressing the US debt burden and the reality facing American Baby Boomers as they approach retirement. It is almost impossible to find a single American politician that will be this brutally honest with the American people about the challenges we face as a civilization because of the failure of leadership demonstrated by the Baby Boomer generation.

One can only hope this leads to a rapid and radical turnover in our current political leadership, with much younger minds taking control of navigating a geopolitical dynamic that is far too complicated and interconnected for our parents generation to understand.

Dubai a willing host as Chinese go cruising || The National

2011-03-30T05:59:00.001-07:00

Dubai a willing host as Chinese go cruising
Daniel Bardsley (Foreign Correspondent)

Last Updated: Mar 27, 2011

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Dubai is established as a global tourist destination but its importance as a stopping-off point for cruise ships is relatively new.

In 2001, just 7,000 cruise ship passengers visited the city, a mere drop in the ocean compared with the 3.6 million tourists in total who arrived that year.

The emirate last year hosted 8.7 million hotel guests, well over double the figure of a decade ago. This increase, while impressive, is put into perspective by the 55-fold growth in cruise ship tourists over the same period, with 390,255 enjoying Dubai as a port of call last year.

The total number of passengers last year was nearly 50 per cent up on 2009's figure of 262,740, with the increase no doubt helped by the launch of Dubai's new cruise terminal.

In future, more of the hearty seafarers who stride happily along their ship's gangway to enjoy a few hours or days of desert safaris and shopping in Dubai are likely to come from China.

Some cruise lines are already offering 25-day no-expense-spared voyages that begin in China and end in Dubai

Other Chinese tourists are splashing out on fly-cruises that see them jet in to the Middle East and then go cruising for a few days - with Dubai often the place where the voyages start and end.

It has been much easier for Chinese travellers to visit the UAE after Beijing's decision in 2009 to give the Emirates "preferred destination status", meaning visa and other red-tape restrictions have been made less onerous.

"In the recent spring festival, we had several groups who travelled to Dubai to take a cruise to Oman or Qatar, then back to Dubai," says Eric Li, the manager of the Middle East and Africa section of Beijing Jin Jiang International Travel.

Increases in the number of cruise-ship visitors from China are part of a wider expansion in the popularity of cruises among residents of the Asia-Pacific in general. Growth is outstripping expectations.

In 2005, UK-based consultants predicted that 2 million people would be taking cruises annually in Asia by 2015.

Late last year, Soo Kok Leng, the chairman of the Singapore Cruise Centre, said these estimates had proved to be way out, forecasting instead the figure would be closer to 7 million.

Less than a year ago, several countries in the region, among them China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, formed the Asia Cruise Terminal Association to allow the region to pool expertise and improve standards.

It is no surprise that China's business capital, Shanghai, has seen dramatic increases in the number of cruise ship tourists sailing in.

The cruise operator Royal Caribbean said passenger volumes at Shanghai increased more than 250 per cent in 2009, and as with Dubai, increases have been encouraged by the opening of an international cruise terminal. The number of cruise passengers visiting Chinese sea ports is now running at about 600,000 a year.

Reports indicate China has encouraged growth by making it easier for Chinese ship operators to run cruises, by simplifying customs procedures and by easing the paperwork burden on foreign companies sailing into its ports.

Yet there remains vast scope for further expansion of the industry in Asia. Up until now, the numbers of people taking cruises around the continent has been modest compared with the global total.

The Cruise Lines International Association predicts 16 million people worldwide, three quarters of them from North America, will embark on cruises this year, up 6.6 per cent on last year.

That Chinese are more keen and financially able to travel outside their country is beyond doubt. Last year, 56 million tourists from the mainland travelled abroad, an increase of 8.3 million or 17.5 per cent on 2009's figure of 47.7 million.

Regional destinations, including Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, were the most popular, and many cruise operators are catering to this fondness for relatively local destinations. "A lot of people choose to cruise from Tianjin or Shanghai to Korea or Japan," Mr Li says.

While the much higher cost of European or Caribbean trips is one barrier, language is another reason why Chinese cruise ship passengers like to take shorter cruises from their home country. Chinese travellers taking voyages on the other side of the world often find that few passengers or crew can speak their language.

Things might however be easier for Chinese travellers in future. Just as many UAE hotels have hired Chinese staff to cater to guests from the world's most populous country, so cruise companies have indicated, in discussions with Mr Li's firm, a willingness to employ more Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking crew. This is vital, he says, if they are to attract Chinese passengers.

"There are [Chinese] people who are interested in European and North American cruises, but they fear the language barrier," Mr Li says.

"Sometimes the films and other things are all in English. They feel bored because there's nothing in Chinese."

business@thenational.ae

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via thenational.ae

Very interesting article about the Chinese adventuring abroad as they growth wealthier. Few people appreciate the fact that foreign travel for leisure purposes is a very new concept to mainland Chinese. In fact, I believe it was only made "legal" to travel on vacation to the US within the last 5 years.

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The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Health Care | Fast Company

2011-03-22T16:26:00.001-07:00

This post was written by Ellen McGirt and Chuck Salter.

01 / Epocrates >>
For creating software that gives doctors and nurses instant information on drug-to-drug interactions, treatment recommendations, and more on their mobile devices or laptops. Coming up: mobile access to electronic health records.

02 / SynCardia Systems >>
For giving mobility to artificial-heart recipients. Syncardia makes the world's only FDA-approved completely artificial heart. Now, thanks to a 13-pound portable power supply, recipients can leave the hospital for the first time and return home. During a ten-year study for the FDA, 79 percent of patients successfully lived on the man-made heart until receiving a human heart transplant.

03 / Voxiva >>
For developing mobile apps that coach users through everything from smoking cessation to diabetes management. The company recently worked with the U.S. government to launch Text4Baby, a mobile education program for pregnant women, and its work in poor countries like Rwanda has been a lifeline.

04 / Cleveland Clinic
For rethinking the entire hospital experience, from the buildings to the hospital gown, with an eye to delivering a better patient experience. Ombudsman complaints dropped over 40% last year (versus 2009), patient satisfaction scores have gone up, and medical outcomes have been better across the board.

05 / SafePoint
For providing a solution for one of the most intractable global health care issues: reused syringes, which render most injections in India, Pakistan, and Africa--and a growing number in the U.S.--unsafe and sometimes fatal. Inventor Marc Koska's low-cost syringe can't be reused--one use, it locks in place. Now, after eight years in the marketplace, Koska has licensing agreements with 14 countries and SafePoint's global awareness campaigns have reached over 500 million people.

06 / Envoy Medical
For creating the first FDA-approved surgically implanted hearing system to address hearing loss caused by aging, noise and viral infections. Placed under the skin behind the ear, the Envoy device comprises a sound processor, sensor, and driver that convert vibrations in the ear into electrical signals that are processed so they're perceived as sound.

07 / GE >>
For promising to revolutionize diagnosis with the Vscan, a mobile, pocket-size ultrasound machine the size of an iPod, connected to short wand. It works just like the bulky conventional ultrasound machine, providing an instant visual image (in color or black and white) inside the body, beyond a patient's vital signs.

08 / PharmaSecure
For coming up with cost-effective protection against counterfeit drugs, which are especially prevalent in developing nations. Each individual drug package is stamped with a unique code and phone number. Consumers submit the code via text message, and PharmaSecure confirms the drug's authenticity. The service launched last year and is currently being used in India, where the government has moved to mandate the technology. Under the law, PharmaSecure expects to produce up to a billion security codes drug drugs this year.

09 / Neurovigil
For building a database of brainwave activity to help researchers recognize disease patterns in people affected by neural or nervous system maladies. The company's iBrain headband, worn at night, uses wireless electrodes to capture brainwaves. NeuroVigil's software interprets the data to produce a map of activity during sleep that's richer than anything previously available. Such tech could both help researchers identify biomarkers for early diagnosis of cognitive disorders (such as Parkinson's) and reveal how drugs affect the brain, a crucial step toward personalized medical treatment.

10 / Second Sight Medical Products
For its ground-breaking retinal-implant technology, which recently hit the European market. FDA approval is pending.

Browse our list of The World's Most Innovative Companies 2011
[Photograph by: Psyberartist]

via fastcompany.com

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HealthGrid11 in Bristol, England || June 27

2011-03-21T20:48:00.001-07:00

Posted via email from China Wakes || Posterous

Latest Directives From the Ministry of Truth, March 10-18, 2011

2011-03-20T02:16:00.001-07:00

The following examples of censorship instructions, issued to the media and/or Internet companies by various central (and sometimes local) government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation

State Council Information Office: Article from China-Tibet Web

March 18, 2011

From the State Council Information Office: All websites are requested to repost, in its entirety and in a prominent location, the article from China-Tibet Web, “Can Seeds of Enmity Bear Fruits of Harmony?” It is not permitted to change the title, and the article must remain up until March 19, 10:00 am.

国新办：中国西藏网文章

国新办：请各地网站在首页最醒目区统一转发中国西藏网的《仇恨的种子能结出和谐的果实吗》一文，不可改标题，并且保留到19日10时。

State Council Information Office: Radiation Levels in Urban Areas

March 16, 2011

From the State Council Information Office: Starting on March 17, all websites are requested to prominently repost on their front pages information regarding radiation levels in main urban areas, provided by the Environmental Protection Department. This information must be placed in a fixed location, and note that it must be updated every day. All provincial-level Internet surveillance and propaganda Departments are requested to strictly examine websites under their jurisdiction, and strictly enforce the demands of this notice.

Every day, all websites that provide cell-phone reports must also issue, “Daily Radiation Levels in Main Urban Areas From the Environmental Protection Department (Office of National Nuclear Safety).” All mobile phone companies must understand that this is a political duty, and immediately implement it.

国新办：城市环境辐射水平

国新办：所有网站请从3月17日起在首页要闻区突出转发环保部发布的全国主要城市环境辐射水平信息，此信息必须置于固定位置，注意每日必须进行更新。各省网管，网宣部门请严格检查属地网站，对照本要求严格执行。

所有设有手机报的网站，也需要每天转发“环境保护部（国家核安全局）发布每日全国主要城市环境辐射水平”。所有手机运营商必须理解这是政治任务，立即执行。

Central Propaganda Department: Property Taxes

March 14, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Regarding Shanghai’s and Chongqing’s experiments with initiating property taxes, opinions that property taxes steal money are not to be reported or hyped.

国新办：房产税

中宣部：对上海重庆启动房产税试点，说房产税是抢钱的言论不报道不炒作

State Council Information Office: Unilateralism, Hillary Clinton style

March 14, 2011

From the State Council Information Office: All websites are requested to repost, on the front page and in a prominent position, the story, “Internet Freedom: Unilateralism, Hillary Clinton style.” It is not permitted to change the title, and the article must stay on the front page until March 15, 6:00 am.

国新办：希拉里式的单边主义

国新办：请各网站在首页最醒目位置转载“互联网自由：希拉里式的单边主义”，不可以改标题，文章必须保持在首页至3月15日晚6时。

State Council Information Office: Concern and Love for Tibetan Students

State Council Information Office: Concern and Love for Tibetan Students

State Council Information Office: All websites must post on their front page news section the article, “For 33 years, 75-year-old Professor Yang Changlin has Shown Concern and Love for Tibetan College Students in Almost 10,000 Instances.” Leave this article up until the day after tomorrow (the 15th) at 6 pm.

国新办：请各网站在首页要闻区突出转发《75岁教授杨昌林33年如一日关爱高校藏族学生近万人次》，保留至后天（15日）下午六时。

March 13, 2011

From the State Council Information Office:

Central Propaganda Department: Large Earthquake in Japan

March 13, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Media must solidly grasp reporting on disaster conditions after the large earthquake in Japan, and objectively and quickly report on trends as they develop. Place particular emphasis on grasping the relationship between anti-seismic and relief efforts for the Japan and Yunnan earthquakes and propaganda reporting for the national meetings of the “Two Congresses.” Do not weaken the theme of reporting on the Two Congresses.

We must fully propagandize the state of the rescue work that our teams have initiated in Japan. We must closely follow the circumstances of Chinese people and overseas Chinese in Japan.

Do not deliberately criticize or champion the actions of the Japanese government, and do not make any comparisons with anti-seismic and rescue efforts in our country. Give scientific explanations of the explosions and leaks at the nuclear facilities. Do not play up or casually speculate and analyze the influence of leaks on China.

中宣部：日本特大地震

中宣部：媒体要稳妥把握对日本特大地震灾情报道，客观，及时报道灾情动态信息。注意把握好日本地震和云南地震的抗震救灾和全国两会宣传报道的关系。不要冲淡了两会报道的主题。

要充分宣传好我救援队在日本开展救援的情况。要密切关注我在日华人，华侨的情况。

不要刻意批评或赞扬日政府的有关行为，不要和我国的抗震救灾对比。对日核设施泄露及爆炸要做科学解读。不过分渲染，不随意猜测和分析泄露对我国的影响。

Central Propaganda Department: An Illegal Gathering in Shandong

March 12, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: On March 13, there will possibly be illegal gatherings and activities in Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai, Weifang, and Rizhao. Do not give interviews or reports.

中宣部：山东非法集会

中宣部：3月13日济南、青岛、烟台、潍坊、日照可能有非法集会活动，不采访不报道

Central Propaganda Department: The Super Moon

March 12, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Media are not to hype the super moon. It is not permitted to draw connections between the moon, earthquake, fires, and other natural disasters. It is allowed to use scientific explanations circulated by the Xinhua News Agency, and purely astronomical information issued by expert Departments can be published.

中宣部：超级月亮

中宣部：媒体不要炒作超级月亮。不可把超级月亮与地震，火灾等自然灾害相联系。可用新华社所发稿件做科学解读，权威部门发布的纯天文学内容可刊发。

Central Propaganda Department: Housing Rationing in Shenzhen

March 12, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Media are not to hype questions about housing rationing in Qiaoxiang Village and Shenyun Village, Shenzhen. Related information should use information from Shenzhen authorities as the standard. Do not give independent interviews or commentary.

中宣部：深圳房屋配售

中宣部：媒体不炒作深圳侨乡村，深云村房屋配售问题，有关情况以深圳权威部门的信息为准，不自行采访和评论

Central Propaganda Department: The Yunnan Earthquake and the Two Congresses

March 12, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: For the Yunnan earthquake, we must mainly report on the active rescue activities of political leaders. We absolutely must not allow the earthquakes to dilute the message of the Two Congresses. We cannot report on representative members being absent from the meetings.

中宣部：云南地震和两会

中宣部：云南地震必须主要报道领导人积极救灾；必须不能让地震冲淡两会；必须不能报道代表委员开会缺席。

Central Propaganda Department: Cultural Industrialization

March 12, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: In related reports, media cannot use the term “cultural industrialization.”

中宣部：文化产业化

中宣部：媒体在有关报道中不要使用文化产业化的提法

Central Propaganda Department: Family Planning

March 12, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Media are not to hype family planning problems. Do not report on the issue of having two children. Policy changes on famiy planning will use information issued by authorities as the standard.

中宣部：计划生育

中宣部：媒体不得炒作计划生育问题，生二胎话题不做报道。计划生育在政策调整以权威部门发布信息为准。

The State Administration of Radio Film and Television: Direct Television Broadcasts From Outside our Borders

March 12, 2011

From The State Administration of Radio Film and Television: It is not allowed to directly broadcast television programs originating from outside our borders. If there are currently any such broadcasts reporting on the earthquake in Japan, immediately cut them off.

广电总局：境外电视直播

广电总局：不得直播境外电视节目。如有正在进行的日本大地震相关的境外直播，请立即下线。

Central Propaganda Department: The Earthquakes in Yunnan and Japan

March 12, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: When reporting on the current earthquakes, media are not to compare the earthquake in Yunnan with the earthquake in Japan.

中宣部：云南和日本地震

中宣部：各媒体在报道目前地震事件的时候不得把云南地震跟日本地震做比较。

Shanghai Propaganda Department: Han Han

March 12, 2011

Shanghai Party Committee Propaganda Department: Activities and comments related to Han Han, beyond his car racing, are not to be reported.

上海宣传部：韩寒

上海市委宣传部：有关韩寒的活动和言论，除了赛车以外的不报道。

Central Propaganda Department: He Hongsang, Macau Gambling King

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on the partitioning of household assets of He Hongsang, the gambling king of Macau.

中宣部：澳门赌王何鸿桑

中宣部：不报道澳门赌王何鸿桑家庭财产分割案。

Central Propaganda Department: Taxi Strike in Lanzhou

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on the taxi strike in Lanzhou.

中宣部：兰州出租罢运

中宣部：不报道兰州出租车罢运事件。

Central Propaganda Department: Exchange Student in Norway Injured While Parachuting

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on the incident of an exchange student in Norway injuring himself after parachuting from a tower at the Chinese Academy of Science.

中宣部：挪威留学生跳伞受伤

中宣部：不报道挪威籍留学生在中科院高塔跳伞受伤一事

Central Propaganda Department: Xu Commits Suicide

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on the suicide and death of Xu, Assistant Director of the Testing Center at the National Administration College.

中宣部：徐某自杀

中宣部：不报道国家行政学院考试中心副主任徐某自杀身亡事件

Central Propaganda Department: Delegate Absences at the Two Congresses

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on the absences of delegates from the Two Congresses.

中宣部：两会代表缺席

中宣部：不报道两会的代表委员开会缺席一事

Central Propaganda Department: Tax Evasion by Ma Zhongqi

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on the case of tax evasion by Ma Zhongqi in Huaiyuan county, Ningxia.

中宣部：马衷琦逃税案

中宣部：不报道宁夏海源县马衷琦逃税案

Central Propaganda Department: Standardization of Proposals at the Two Congresses

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on the need to standardize responses to proposals and motions at the Two Congresses.

中宣部：两会议案程序化

中宣部：不报道需将两会议案和提案回复程序化的话题

Central Propaganda Department: Coal Mining in Shanxi

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on the sinkholes caused by coal mining in Shanxi.

中宣部：山西采煤

中宣部：不报道山西因采煤引发的地陷。

Central Propaganda Bureau: Mismanagement of the Automobile Industry

March 11, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: On March 9, China Management Report (Zhongguo jingying bao) and Southern Metropolis (Nanfang dushi bao) report on Huang Qifang’s criticism that some people have mismanaged the automobile industry. All newspapers are not to re-publish or report the story.

中宣部：胡搞汽车业

中宣部：三月九日中国经营报和南方都市报报道黄奇帆批评有人胡搞汽车业的稿件，各报不转不报

Central Propaganda Department: Chunxiao Gas Field

March 10, 2011

From the Central Propaganda Department: Do not report on extractions in the Chunxiao gas field by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Zhonghaiyou).

中宣部：春晓油田

中宣部：对中海油在春晓油田开采一事不做报道

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established an “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.

This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sends out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” The Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online nickname for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.

Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

via chinadigitaltimes.net

Posted via email from China Wakes || Posterous

How’s Your Chinese Coming Along?

2011-03-20T02:08:00.001-07:00

via mandmx.com

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China’s 12th Five-Year-Plan – Will It Help With the Global Trade Imbalance?

2011-03-20T02:03:00.001-07:00

Amongst all the political upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa, with people rising against dictatorial regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere, this week China embarked on its annual legislative session. The legislative session of the National People’s Congress, which officially enacts legislation, will rubber-stamp the government’s 12^th Five-Year-Plan (2011-2015), which was decided at the Communist Party meeting in October, 2010.

Details won’t be made public until the conclusion of the legislative session (which usually lasts 10-14 days), but some elements of China’s next five-year economic plan have been made public. The three elements worth highlighting are a lower growth rate and a more balanced/sustainable economic model, meaningful reductions of pollution through better energy conservation, and a more aggressive fight against inflation.

A New Growth Model:

Set a GDP growth target of 7% (down from the current actual GDP growth rate of 10%). To do that, the government will have to divert money away from construction and corporate subsidies, and instead use public funds to increase household incomes.

Cut import tariffs to reduce input-costs, while boosting consumer demand and reducing China’s reliance for growth on exports which generates trade surpluses and contributes to the global trade imbalance.

Improve the income of farmers and migrant workers, who have benefited the least from China’s phenomenal economic growth, by increasing minimum wages. In particular, provinces across China have announced a string of double-digit wage increases this year as part of the government desire to increase incomes among the rural regions and migrant workers in the cities.

Increase spending on health-care and full nationwide social welfare insurance to reduce the need for “precautionary savings” and encourage more Chinese consumer spending.

Raise the minimum threshold for personal income tax. This could exempt hundreds of millions of people from having to pay taxes, and boost household spending.

New Energy Priorities:

Introduce targets for energy efficiency and consumption that will push China’s energy consumption from non-fossil fuel sources to 12% by 2015. Key sectors expected to benefit include: hydro and nuclear power, power grid technology.

In particular, there will be significant growth in nuclear power (from 10 GW to 40 GW), 63 GW of new hydroelectric power, 48 GW of wind capacity and 5 GW of solar power. Unfortunately, coal generation will continue to provide 260 GW, although its share of China’s energy mix is expected to fall from 72% to 63%.

Double the share of natural gas in Chinese energy consumption to 8% by 2015, up from 4% that it was last year. This will make China a natural buyer of large quantities of Russian gas, and an inevitable competitor to Europe, which already relies heavily on gas from Russia.

Introduce taxes of up to $820 (up from just $100) on vehicles with larger than 2 liters (energy inefficient) engines.

Introduce a tax linked to carbon emissions, first via pilot programs in special regions and industries.

Fighting Inflation:

The most important short-term priority for the government is to address increases in food price, which Beijing intends to do through price controls.

In order to control inflation, the government intends to keep using the tools and methods that it has been employing thus far: manage liquidity, use price controls, curb real-estate speculation, and “adjust and improve” property tax policies. Furthermore, the budget for this year shows a 35% increase in spending on low-income housing.

However, no specific lending targets for banks have been outlined by the government yet. New loans topped a 7.5 trillion RMB ($1.1 trillion) ceiling last year and excessive bank lending is considered by some to be a contributing factor to China’s inflation.

Analyst are already predicting that this Five-Year-Plan will be the most significant in China’s modern history, marking the moment that China finally decided to abandon its fast export-led growth strategy in favor for a more sustainable growth model. However, this new effort by China to rebalance its economy in not addressing the root cause of its monetary problem (inflation), and will not facilitate the rebalancing of global trade, which has been so critical to the overall world recovery.

The root cause of China’s inflation is its weak-currency policy, which is feeding an artificially large trade surplus. This policy hurts both China by producing an overheated, inflation-prone economy, and the rest of the world by increasing unemployment in many other countries.

Theoretically, inflation is the market’s way of undoing currency manipulation. According to Paul Krugman, China has been using a weak currency to keep its wages and prices low in dollar terms; market forces have responded by pushing those wages and prices up, eroding that artificial competitive advantage.

China’s leaders are trying to prevent this outcome, to protect exporters’ interest, and because inflation is even more unpopular in China than it is elsewhere. Don’t forget that it was inflation that fueled public discontent with the government, bore the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square.

China is already hurting its citizens through financial controls. For example, interest rates on bank deposits are limited to just 2.75 percent, which is below the official inflation rate of 4.9%. Rapidly rising prices, even if matched by wage increases, are making the situation much worse for Chinese consumers.

Unfortunately, Beijing is not willing to deal with the root cause and let the RMB rise. Instead, they are trying to control inflation by raising interest rates and restricting credit. This is destructive for China, because credit limits are proving hard to enforce and are being further undermined by inflows of hot money from abroad. With efforts to cool the economy falling short, China has been trying to limit inflation with price controls, which also rarely work.

Furthermore, this is destructive from a global point of view as well: with much of the world economy still depressed, the last thing the world needs is major players pursuing tight-money policies. The solution to China’s monetary problem (and to the global recovery) is to let the currency rise!

But, any rebalancing efforts will face serious opposition from special interests domestically, primarily the State Owned Enterprises and regional and local officials. The SOE’s benefit from lax environmental regulations, cheep energy and government subsidies, and an overall export led growth strategy. On the other hand, local officials are not always willing to change, have old ideas about growth and tend to favor pet projects that need massive investments. Couple that with China’s one-party state that refuses to do anything that looks like giving in to U.S. demands, and you have a recipe for certain continuation of the status-quo.

The focus of the new Five-Year-Plan is promising, but its success is questionable.

via chinatrade.foreignpolicyblogs.com

Very interesting...

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News 3/18/11 || HISTalk Mobile New Roundup

2011-03-20T01:05:00.001-07:00

The new iPad 2, in combination with other tablets and wireless devices, will make 2011 a banner year for mHealth. Layer in the FDA’s Innovation Pathway to speed device approval and the amount of investment money going into mHealth, and we’re going to see a lot of very cool products. The big question mark to me remains payment reform and how all this will be funded (individuals, payers, ACOs, pharma) once we try to go beyond the pilot stage. Obviously we’ll see some big winners, but we’ll also see some very cool products without viable business models.

This KevinMD guest post attempts to subdue the excited about and predictions for the iPad in enterprise healthcare. The reasons cited why the iPad won’t dominate are: 1) IT department unease with Apple products; 2) good, native iPad EMR software doesn’t exist; 3) interoperability; and 4) cost-benefit for execs. The points are valid in the enterprise and the author is writing as an ICU nurse, though these don’t really apply to outpatient or office settings where products like DrChrono already exist.

More DrChrono news, which seems to be getting more and more frequent. This story is about how DrChrono came to be and where it is going in terms of features and an app store platform. The video above shows the speech recognition feature of DrChrono. Have you ever heard a doctor speak that slowly, especially when dictating?

Stanford Hospital (CA) begins receiving remote, in the field ECGs from paramedics ahead of arrival at the emergency department. The system is built on Physio-Control’s LifePak.

Preventice is collaborating with Mayo Clinic to develop mobile apps for patients and providers. The first, called CARD, provides information about chemicals and other allergens contained in skin care products. It’s always nice when an mHealth developer can get the backing of a big name content organization like Mayo.It’s a big part of why I think Healthrageous will be very successful. Starting a health-related company in Rochester, MN or Cambridge, MA is a very strategic move.

Akron Children’s Hospital releases Care4Kids iPhone app (free). The app lets you find information about doctors and facilities as well as store medical and insurance information. As an added bonus, you can use the app to earn one free parking pass.

Health-e-Access, a telemedicine service offered by the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Golisano Children’s Hospital, is found to reduce the number of missed school days for kids and consequently missed work days for parents. The program provides telemedicine access to schools, child care centers, and community centers.

A trial of telemedicine care for HIV patients finds it to be equivalent to standard, office-based care in terms of clinical outcomes and quality of life. The virtual study group felt they had improved access to clinical data. With HIV becoming a chronic disease, at least in developing countries, this might serve as a good alternative method for care, especially if cost is found to be equivalent or less.

The VMWare View video above depicts the use of the software to enable iPad access to MEDITECH at Children’s Hospital of Central California. According to the video, which is promotional for VMWare, this was the only way for the hospital to securely deploy iPads.

Community Hospital (NE) begins testing telestroke services provided by Great Plains Regional Medical Center.

GE and partner MedHelp have a suite of free apps available to consumers that GE hopes will “spark a healthcare revolution.” The data, whether about moods or diet or activity, is helpful, but needs to be analyzed if a doctor is going to be able to use it. In the limited time a doctor has with a patient, they don’t have time to walk through a journal from a patient — they need an intelligent summary.

It’s hard to escape all the healthcare-related tablet talk out there. This post presents a platform, WebOS (formerly Palm) that hasn’t gotten much attention because it is not Apple or Google. HP now owns it and is building mobile tablet hardware that uses WebOS. The author thinks HP and WebOS has a real shot to take back some ground from Apple, citing the open source nature of WebOS and the lack of approval needed to distribute apps. I have to say I don’t agree, and as we covered last week, lack of app approval hurts more than helps in healthcare.

Travis Good is in his final year of an MD/MBA program and is involved with multiple health IT startups.

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Filed under News on March 18, 2011 | Permalink

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Mergers & Inquisitions || Bottles and Bottles? How You Really Win Clients and Land Mega-Deals as an Investment Banker

2011-03-18T16:22:00.001-07:00

Bottles and Bottles? How You Really Win Clients and Land Mega-Deals as an Investment Banker

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Why does the mainstream media hate Wall Street so much?

You can think of dozens of reasons, but one of the biggest is that they don’t understand what bankers really do to earn their fees.

They see news of million-dollar bonuses and assume that financiers earn those bonuses by sitting around and playing Monopoly.

But you don’t earn massive fees by playing board games all day – it’s a process that takes years, which is one reason why bankers make the money they do.

And the infamous “pitch” has very little to do with it.

It’s All About the Pitch, Right?

The most common, wrong suggestion I’ve seen before is that “Bankers win clients by pitching them.”

But that’s like saying that you got into Harvard or Oxford by submitting a really good application – technically true, but not the full story.

Yes, the application is critical and if your essays suck, you’re screwed – but you got into a top school because you spent years developing the skills and experiences to do so, and you then presented them in the best possible light.

It’s the same with winning clients as a banker: your pitch needs to be on-point for you to win the deal, but the process of putting yourself in the position to pitch for the deal starts long before that.

What Really Happens

As you move up from Associate to VP and beyond, gradually you’re tasked with more and more sourcing work: finding potential clients, getting to know them, and then pitching for a deal when the time is right.

Managing Directors spend almost no time on deal execution – unless it’s a massive transaction that requires their involvement – and instead spend most of their time on finding new clients and serving existing ones.

If you already work with a company on all their M&A deals and your bank has been advising them for the past 20 years, you’ll probably continue to do so in the future.

Like legacy admissions in university or Roger Sterling and Lucky Strike, it’s a good bet that you’ll receive the benefit of all that history unless you make a colossal screw-up.

So it’s more interesting to look at how you find new clients – companies your bank has never worked with before.

This entire process is more applicable to smaller firms than to bulge bracket banks, because there the “legacy” factor is high and you mostly work with huge companies that everyone already knows about.

But even at huge firms, you still need to find new clients because existing companies get acquired, merge, and go out of business all the time.

Lead Generation

In sales, a “lead” is just a potential customer – someone who might sign up for the products or services you’re offering.

It’s the same idea in banking, but since your leads are fewer in number and are worth much more, some strategies don’t work so well.

What Doesn’t Work

Strategies like online marketing (paying for ads on websites, Google, Facebook, etc.), TV/radio/direct mail advertising, and posting flyers would never work.

It may sound silly to even point this out, but I’ve actually seen some banks use Google AdWords to market themselves to clients and I have no idea why they bother.

All these methods are too impersonal – it’s like walking into Armani and having a robot display a list of recommended clothes for you rather than having a real live person greet you, chat for a while, find out what you’re looking for, and then suggest something good.

When the number of clients is low and the per-client value is high, you need to get very personal to make deals happen.

PE / VC / HF Referrals

One way to do this is to go through your friends on the buy-side, see what portfolio companies they have, what sectors they’re interested in, and who else they’ve been speaking with lately.

Let’s say you’re an MD who has worked with a private equity firm for 10+ years. At your next catch-up meeting with them, you might casually ask how their portfolio companies are doing (translation: are any of these companies ready to sell, refinance debt, or go public?).

If the PE Partner likes you and wants to give you business, he might refer you to the CEO or CFO and say, “Hey portfolio company, this banker’s good – you should get to know him.”

Or if a deal is imminent, he might tell you directly: “They’re going public next year, and the pitch is coming up next month – we’ll be sure to include you.”

In tech and healthcare groups, venture capitalists are arguably more important and bankers get referrals to startups via VCs.

Cold-Calling/Emailing

Just like with your own networking efforts, cold-calling is less effective than meeting in-person first or getting referrals – but sometimes it works.

You’re far more likely to see cold-calling at smaller banks where you have to fight for every deal - and if you’re a summer analyst there you might get tasked with poring through lists of companies and finding contact information.

Cold-calling is also more common at small and middle-market private equity firms, some of which are notorious for making their newly hired associates cold-call companies all day long.

Conferences

Bankers also spend a lot of time on the conference circuit, meeting with executives at events (CES, Davos, etc.).

These are like information sessions: if you can stand out from everyone else and then follow-up appropriately, your chances of success go way up.

The real action at conferences happens offstage, so bankers skip keynotes and panels and schedule as many 1-on-1 meetings as possible during the day.

Inbound

Wouldn’t it be nice if banks just called you when they wanted to hire someone?

When companies want to sell or raise capital, they sometimes contact banks directly – this scenario is much more likely when a lesser-known company wants to work with a bulge bracket bank and has no other way to get on their radar.

Sometimes investors also contact bankers directly and provide the introduction, especially if they’re pressuring the company to sell so they can realize their returns.

Wining & Dining: Building the Relationship

Once you’ve contacted or been contacted by the executives at this potential client, you need to build the relationship.

If it’s an inbound contact and they urgently need to sell or raise capital, you won’t do this and you may be asked to pitch for the business right away.

But if the deal is further off in the future, you need to take time to build trust and convince the CEO that you’re not just another Gordon Gekko or Patrick Bateman character waiting in the shadows to decapitate him and steal all his money.

You do that by:

Coming up with acquisition ideas and meeting with the executives to discuss what areas they might want to expand into.

Giving market updates to the executives and telling them what’s going on in the M&A or capital markets.

Meeting casually for lunch or dinner to catch up on what the company has been doing and their future plans.

Being “on call” to answer whatever questions they have, whenever they have them.

The tricky part is that you don’t get paid for any of this – and the entire process could take years before you see any revenue.

Sure, making $10 million on a single deal sounds great – but if it takes 10 years of relationship building to get there, the NPV is much lower than $10 million.

This is the slowest and most extended part of the “client-winning” process, and if you’re not interested in relationships, this is where you’ll fail.

But if you like meeting and greeting and can’t stand Excel, then you might make a great MD – even if you’re a lousy analyst.

Deal Time

How does a company decide when it should sell, buy another company, go public, or raise capital?

Sometimes it’s forced to sell by investors who want to realize their returns (Amazon / Zappos) – going back to our theme of NPV, the longer an investment stays unrealized, the harder it is to get solid returns.

Other times the executives reach the decision themselves – the CFO looks at their cash flow projections and realizes their burn rate is too high, so they decide to raise debt or equity.

And still other times, bankers “plant” the idea in the CEO’s mind.

While you don’t have to plant this idea in a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream, you do have to be subtle about it – going out and blatantly pitching an LBO won’t work even if you really want a PE firm to buy the company you’re speaking with.

Instead, bankers are more likely to make casual references to private equity firms and leveraged buyouts elsewhere in the market when they meet with the company to discuss other topics.

Over time, if the CEO and Board buy into the idea or show interest, the bankers keep selling them on it and gradually start to reveal more and more information.

The best bankers – the true rain-makers – are the ones who are best at “selling” the company on a transaction, even if the management team had no interest initially.

Regardless of whether the idea was planted or original, once the company decides it’s ready to sell or raise capital, it then pits bankers against each other in a bake-off.

The Pitch

Sometimes if a company has a special relationship with just 1 banker and has never spoken to others, it will skip the pitch and give the business to that banker.

But that’s more common at private and smaller companies where there’s not as much oversight from the Board of Directors – at anything bigger the Board usually requires the management team to solicit competitive offers.

At this point they would contact all the bankers they’ve gotten to know over the years and tell them what they’re planning, send over relevant financial information, and invite them to pitch for the deal.

The number of banks invited depends on the deal type – IPOs have many banks, whereas in M&A deals there’s just 1 or 2 advising the buyer and seller – and whether or not the company wants to stick with the bankers it knows best or go for a broader set.

Who Wins the Deal?

This must come down to whether or not you’ve dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s in your pitch book, right? And whether or not you remembered to change the font size on every single page, right?

Nope – most of the time the pitch book itself is irrelevant to winning the deal, even if you pulled 4 all-nighters to create it.

What matters is how much the company likes the senior bankers, what the senior bankers say, and how they say it – and what they say compared to the other bankers pitching for the deal.

Let’s say you go in and claim that the company is worth $500 million and that you can complete the sale process in 6 months. Then another banker goes in and says the company is worth $400 million and that the sale process will take 12 months.

You might assume that you’ll win since your claims are more aggressive and will result in a better price for investors – and sometimes that’s true.

But the CEO and other Board members/executives could also look at your pitch and think that your numbers are unrealistic and that you’re not being honest – especially if everyone else there is predicting lower valuations.

So you need to use a careful blend of salesmanship and pragmatism to win deals.

After the Pitch

There may be a clear “winner,” but more often than not, the company will follow up with multiple banks to see what the fee structures are like and what their recommendations are in more detail.

For smaller companies and deals, the fees make a bigger difference and sometimes a bank will win the deal by promising lower fees or a structure that rewards them for better results (e.g. 0.75% under $500 million and 1.5% for the amount above $500 million).

Most of the time, though, it comes down to all of the above factors and the company considers everything when making a decision.

This is not a rational or logical process – just like selecting which applicants will receive interviews, it’s random and fraught with emotion.

If you think executives are rational just because hundreds of millions or billions of dollars are involved, nothing could be further from the truth – sometimes the more money that’s involved, the less rational the deal (AOL / Time Warner).

Sample Timeline

Putting everything together, here’s an example of how you, after you become a Managing Director, might meet a CEO, develop the relationship, and then pitch for the deal:

5 years ago you were having a catch-up meeting with a local VC and he mentioned that a tech startup in their portfolio was hot and would change the world of online media.

He gave you an introduction, so you met with the CEO, learned about his vision for the business, and got an idea of the company’s financial performance.

A year later, you caught up with the CEO once again and gave him an update on the capital markets and what IPOs were pricing at. The company was not yet cash flow-positive, but they had killer revenue growth.

The next year (3 years ago), the IPO markets were closed but the CEO wanted to use his stock to acquire smaller competitors – so you ran a buy-side M&A process for him over the course of 6 months. It never went anywhere since they couldn’t find anything good and got distracted by other issues.

Then, 2 years ago, the company finally turned cash flow-positive and started thinking about an IPO, which they told you about during your quarterly meeting with them.

You made your analyst monkey stay awake for 60 hours straight to prepare a 200-page pitch book laying out all the nuances, but then the CEO decided to hold off until the market got better.

Finally, a few weeks ago the CEO contacted you again just before another meeting and said that they are now serious about selling and want to hear your thoughts – so he invited you in to pitch for the deal.

Got Risk?

Not only did this process take 5 years, but there’s no guarantee that this planned sell-side M&A deal will even happen – or that the mandate will go to your bank.

Maybe no one will be interested; maybe the CEO will change his mind yet again; or maybe investors will pressure them to go public instead.

And you ran a failed buy-side M&A process for them a few years ago.

This is why investment banking is such a tough business: you could do everything right for 5 years and still lose the deal because your fees are 0.1% too expensive, or because the CEO gets emotional and happens to like an unknown banker more.

Wait, This Sounds Boring!

One time I was explaining this process to a friend who was still in university and he said, “Wow that sounds boring – I’d rather do modeling and analytical work.”

If your IQ is higher than your EQ, it may not sound too appealing to develop relationships like this and constantly pitch for new business.

But as Jonathan Knee points out in The Accidental Investment Banker (highly recommended), all deals start to look the same after a while.

You learn a lot at first and valuing and modeling companies seems exciting when you’re new, but they become routine and boring once you’ve done them 500 times.

We’re more interested in stories and inter-personal drama than we are in staring at Excel all day – so even if the process above doesn’t sound interesting right now, you may change your mind in a few years.

You might assume that you should move to the buy-side if you’re not interested in any of this, but that’s only partially true – in PE and VC you still do a lot of relationship-building, meeting with new companies, and so on.

So if it’s really not your cup of tea, think about hedge funds or trading – where you can make bank without talking to people or leaving your 8 computer screens.

How to Walk, Talk, and Do Drugs Like a Banker

Tags: bulge bracket, clients, cold-calling, hedge funds, investment banker, investment banking relationships, IPOs, leveraged buyouts, M&A deals, Managing Directors, middle-market, pitch books, private equity firms, venture capital

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Mergers & Inquisitions || Bottles and Bottles? How You Really Win Clients and Land Mega-Deals as an Investment Banker

Bottles and Bottles? How You Really Win Clients and Land Mega-Deals as an Investment Banker

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