The Next Warren Buffett?

Financier Eddie Lampert turned once-bankrupt Kmart into a $3 billion cash cow. Will he build it into a new Berkshire Hathaway?http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_47/b3909001_mz001.htm

A good website on China tech, startups, VC, etc...

http://www.chinatechnews.com/

For Kleiner Perkins and Redpoint, has the China Initiative become the China Imperative?

Not previously mentioned in this blog, since last year, Redpoint Ventures also has been increasingly active in China. They even appear to have a dedicated China principal in David Yuan who stationed in Shanghai who has been scouting deals for them.
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) has long been rumored to be looking at China. While John Doerr spoke at Tsinghua last week and other KP principal partners have been spotted for several years at conferences in Beijing, the whispers grew increasingly louder with addition of former UT Starcom exec Ying Lee in KPCB's latest fund. Unofficially, KPCB is also rumored to have been even more active in laying the groundwork in China - with recruiting and a yet to be announced investment.
...
http://bubbler.net/5A-notes/521601/799457/

Chinese Chip IPOs Hitting a Brick Wall

A combination of limited track records -- Actions Semi and Vimicro began operations in 2001 and 1999, respectively -- and concerns over intellectual property and accounting practices in China may be giving investors cold feet, say some analysts.
And the chip companies simply may have had the misfortune of tapping the public markets at a time when semiconductor companies are not in demand.

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/tech/alexeioreskovic/10255414.html

NEA's China fund to join Netscreen and WebEx founders

More information is surfacing regarding NEA's announcement of its China strategy.
Apparently, a new fund called Northern Light will be formed and will be raising its first $100 million this fall. NEA will be a special LP in the fund and as a result will receive some deal flow from Northern Light. The firm will be founded by Feng Deng and Yan Ke from Netscreen, which was purchased by Juniper. Also joining them will be Min Zhu who is from WebEx and was a venture partner at NEA.

http://bubbler.net/5A-notes/521601/614192/

KPCB To Invest a Chinese Startup

John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a premier Silicon Valley VC firm, confirmed an investment on a Chinese startup. After having lunch with 22 Chinese entrepreneurs, in the press conference John Doerr disclosed that KPCB will invest one of them, and also is interested in another company. Who are these lucky guys?
He thought that Chinese entrepreneurs has three characteristics, aggressiveness, focus on local market and nationalism. (Note: It is translated from Chinese media report, so it may be different from John Doerr’s original word).

http://www.cwrblog.net/110/kpcb-to-invest-a-chinese-startup.html

Ignition Partners Funds China New Investment Fund

Seattle based venture firm, Ignition Partners, founded in 2002 by former Microsoft and McCaw executives, leads a new $200 million Chinese investment fund auspiciously dubbed Qiming Venture Partners according to a news report in the SeattlePI.com. The literal translation is "beginning of a new day" and it may indeed signal an even greater stampede into the Middle Kingdom's new generation of Internet and software startups.

http://www.chinaventurenews.com/50226711/ignition_partners_funds_china_new_investment_fund.php

Granite Global Expects to Commit $150 million in Chinese investments

According to the office of Granite Global's managing director, Scott Bonham, their silicon valley venture capital firm is bullish about China investment opportunities. In response to the expanding investment opportunities in China, Granite Global Ventures has also recently added another key investmentprofessional, Thomas Ng,as their selected Asia-based managing director.

http://www.chinaventurenews.com/50226711/granite_global_expects_to_commit_150_million_in_chinese_investments.php

Ignition launches new China VC fund with $200MM

Ignition apparently has effortlessly completed its fund raising efforts for a new China VC fund called Qiming with Gary Rieschel (Mobius) and Duang Kang (Intel Capital China). Original expectations were for a $150 million fund, but the fund size will come in at $200 million. The aim of the fund is to invest in early stage through expansion capital, and expects to invest primarily in Internet, wireless, semiconductor and software.

http://bubbler.net/5A-notes/521601/740738/