Virtual communities: what’s their potential value?
14/05/2008. Virtual communities attract a focused and segmented audience with high economic potential. In this IVCJ article, BDO Consulting Group’s Udi Savithsky, CPA, MBA, senior partner and Sagi Kabla, CPA, senior manager and Michal Bar-Dayan, analyst, describe why these communities have value and how their value can be assessed.

Monetising social networks
12/03/2008. Mega deals, such as Google’s purchase of YouTube for $1.6bn, continue to spark massive interest from entrepreneurs, investors, media conglomerates and online giants in social networks. In this IVCJ article Ofir Doron and Danny Lev of Ernst & Young Israel/Business Advisory Services discuss the issues of monetising social networks and their potential to be profitable.

The internet as a real economy
05/03/2008. E-commerce business models developed by creative entrepreneurs are growing rapidly. In this IVCJ article, Shai Tsur of Giza Venture Capital examines online businesses today and relates how they have moved into the mainstream economy.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
27/02/2008. In this IVCJ article, Isabel Maxwell profiles Sam Somech in her continuing series on investment and high-tech personalities.

Internet entrepreneurs should start with angels
20/02/2008. In this IVCJ article, Amir Goldstein, managing partner of angel group AfterDox, describes how 'smart' angel investors can help entrepreneurs get their start-up off the ground and ease the way to attracting later venture capital financing.

P2P CEOs search for successful formula
13/02/2008. The P2P (peer-to-peer) domain, defined generally as Internet-based products and services in which end-user computers directly communicate with each other, is still in its infancy. A reliable business foundation hardly exists, and both the technology and market are moving targets. Serial entrepreneur and startup consultant Larry Klein surveys CEOs of Israeli P2P-based companies and assesses how each is adjusting business models to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape.

Internet investing: the same, but different
30/01/2008. In many respects, venture capital investing in internet companies is no different from investing in other sectors. But there are definite differences too. In this IVCJ article, Jonathan Saacks, partner, and Gil Dibner, principal, at Genesis Partners explain.

Internet investing: pitfalls and potential
23/01/2008. In this IVCJ article, Zeev Holtzman, founder and chairman of Giza Venture Capital, says that he sees substantial potential in Israeli internet companies, yet he cautions VCs to keep in mind lessons from the past when investing in the resurgent internet sector.

Expert insights: new directions in the internet
16/01/2008. IVCJ asked Giza Venture Capital’s Ori Israely and Shai Tsur to tap experts from key internet sectors – advertising, portals and social networks, video, and gaming – for their views on how the online world is developing. Israely, managing director, and Tsur, associate, are focused on the Tel Aviv VC’s internet and media sector.

Boston Ventures to sell Vista III Media
31/10/2007. Boston Ventures, a mid-market private equity firm investing in the media and communications sectors, has agreed to sell Vista III Media, an Atlanta-based regional provider of cable television, internet and telephone services, to Harron Communications, a cable and communications services operator.

Print is dead - long live print!
30/05/2007. Predictions that online media would spell the death of print have proved unfounded, says August Equity. The web's influence continues to grow but print is learning the art of re-invention.

To diversify, or not to diversify: what's at stake for online giants in growth mode
25/04/2007. Amazon plans to sell computing power like a utility company sells electricity. Google is building a suite of productivity software programs connected to the web to take on Microsoft. And Yahoo has launched or acquired so many properties that they run the risk of competing with each other, says Knowledge Wharton.

E-commerce report 2006
18/04/2007. Total non-travel US e-commerce spending reached $102bn in 2006, finds comScore Networks, up 24 per cent versus 2005. Holiday e-commerce hits $24.6bn, a 26 per cent increase on the previous year.

Virtual land - the next frontier
04/04/2007. There's growing investment opportunities in the virtual land ecosystem, finds the Mercanti Group, with the number of early entrants rapidly expanding.

Dot-Com Bubble, Part II?
28/03/2007. Many major social networking website seem to be many years away from the kind of earnings that the valuation numbers are forecasting for them, says Knowledge Wharton, as they investigate this fast-growing sector of the internet.

Online video: the market is hot, but business models are fuzzy
10/01/2007. Add up the venture capital dollars funding online video startups, the technology advances, the willingness of established players like ABC, CBS and NBC to try new distribution models and the increasing web viewership, and it's clear that the video market is at an inflection point, say experts at Wharton.

Wikis, weblogs and RSS: What does the new internet mean for VCs?
30/05/2006. Venture capitalists need to master a new internet vocabulary, says Knowledge Wharton, with terms such as Wikis (software that allows anyone to update and edit web pages instantly and democratically); Weblogs (online journals more commonly known as blogs); and RSS (really simple syndication) feeds, which distribute content from the Internet.

Web 2.0 & the Israeli start-up
02/05/2006. In this IVCJ article, Yaron Polak, a partner at Genesis Partners, and Gil Dibner, principal, discuss the opportunities opening up as a result of the latest web trends. They provide essential principles for VCs to bear in mind in order to successfully find their way through the rapidly changing landscape.

What's behind the overseas forays of US online giants?
19/07/2004. America's online giants have been busy abroad in recent weeks. These international forays include Ebay 's acquisitions of Indian auctions site Baazee.com, and Yahoo's launch of Chinese search engine, Yisou. Knowledge Wharton looks at what is driving these international expansion plans and considers their chances of success.

Leapfrogging? India's information technology industry and the internet
07/06/2004. The internet is widely viewed as a set of technologies that might enable developing countries, such as India, to leapfrog over the development path taken by industrial countries, enabling poorer nations to increase their rates of growth and catch up sooner, according to Robert Miller of the International Finance Corporation.

Opportunities for investment in internet security
19/02/2003. Investment in the internet sector has so far focused on its infrastructure. The emphasis is changing, however, as investors heed the importance of internet security. Rami Beracha and Sharon Gelbaum-Shpan of Pitango Venture Capital explore this change in strategy and discuss its inherent risks.

Venturing in China's internet market
15/07/2002. The Chinese government now actively promotes the internet, and e-commerce in particular, say Yongfu Li and Aili Zhao of Cameron McKenna. It recognises the technology as a way of improving efficiency and sharpening the competitive edge of companies, particularly state-owned enterprises. In addition to government encouragement, investors can expect rapid expansion in the sector, with turnover increasing from $94.6m to $1.2bn over the coming year.

Internet in 2001
03/04/2002. 2001 was an extraordinary year in the life of internet law, as governments and courts across the globe undertook actions to make the internet an integral part of everyday life. Kurt Wimmer and Faith Kasparian from US law firm Covington & Burling look at why these changes were necessary and what impact they are likely to have on the growth of the internet in 2002.

European Internet in 2001
30/10/2001. Despite the bursting of the dot.com bubble, investors should still ensure that they have a degree of exposure to ‘new economy' themes, according to this report from Lehman Brothers.

Valuing dot.coms after the fall
17/10/2001. The internet roller coaster may rank as the market's most dramatic upheaval over the past 20 years, but it hasn't been the only one. Remember biotech? Real estate? Leveraged buyouts? Each fad was accompanied by the conviction among market bulls that, this time, classical notions of value creation were hopelessly out of touch with the new vision of investing. But in truth, investment values always eventually return to a fundamental level based on cash flows says this article from the McKinsey Quarterly.

Network performance services
10/10/2001. As the speed and performance of the internet increases, content providers develop more applications, which in turn fuel greater traffic. As a result, the network performance market is set for tremendous expansion – from $1bn today to a projected $24bn in 2004, according to this report from Crescendo Ventures. This should provide some good investment opportunities for venture capitalists.

Communications software
03/10/2001. We are in the early stages of a communications revolution, says this report from Crescendo Ventures. Internet traffic is growing at approximately 111 per cent year on year. The dramatic growth of the internet has created the need for more robust and secure software that can efficiently capitalise the underlying network. This sector should provide greater opportunities for private equity investment.