The Chief Product Officer (CPO) has emerged as a powerful force in today’s business world, contributing to strategy development, product innovation, and, to an extent, go-to-market. Product leaders have a hand in mission-critical business initiatives with a focus on deeply understanding the minds of the customers they serve. The expanding scope of their roles has […]
Founders typically drive all new customer acquisition when they first create a company. It might start with your first design partners as you’re building a product, then with digging deeper into your network to source new customers. Eventually, as you grow, you’ll need to start hiring salespeople to scale growth and win new business. This […]
As CEO and co-founder of Noyo, I get to work with an incredibly talented team who are dedicated to fulfilling one of the benefits industry’s biggest needs: trusted, usable benefits data. When that data is available, it dramatically improves how people experience their benefits. It’s gratifying to know that we’ve already accomplished things that just […]
After 30 years of scaling IT, product, and services operations for global software companies and founding two technology startups, I believe the single most important factor in a startup’s success is the domain expertise of its founders. My story is a perfect example. Since my first job in the United States in 1997, every one […]
This is the second in a three-part series about repricing of employee stock options. It summarizes a webinar I hosted with two experts: Ali Murata, a partner in the Compensation & Benefits group at the law firm Cooley, and Kristin O’Hanlon, special counsel in Cooley’s Compensation & Benefits group. Part I discussed factors leading to […]
This is the last post of a three-part series about repricing of employee stock options. It summarizes a webinar I hosted with two experts: Ali Murata, a partner in the Compensation & Benefits group at the law firm Cooley, and Kristin O’Hanlon, special counsel in Cooley’s Compensation & Benefits group. Part I discussed the factors […]
Keren Bitan is the founding principal at Tandem Impact, a boutique sustainability consulting firm. She specializes in advising VC firms and high-growth companies, including Norwest, on ESG performance management and impact strategies. Founders and startup teams are hearing more from investors, customers, and employees about Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. But what is ESG, […]
Guest contributor Jeffrey Spector, co-founder and president of Karat – the world’s largest interview company – shares some of the challenges and rewards of founding and nurturing a purpose-driven company. My co-founder Mohit Bhende and I started Karat with two goals. We wanted it to be successful, and we wanted it to serve a meaningful […]
As equity prices have fallen, we have received requests from several of our portfolio companies for information and guidance about repricing stock options. To address this request, I hosted a webinar with two experts on options repricing. They offered detailed information on how to decide if repricing is warranted and, if so, what possible actions […]
Throughout my career as a B2B marketer, I relished interacting with the board of directors. Whether it was at a quarterly meeting, a holiday dinner, or in passing at the office, I always got a sense of exhilaration over the opportunity to put my best foot forward. But I’ll confess something to you today: there […]
As companies undergo digital transformations, they are increasingly embracing new applications and business processes. Today’s typical enterprise runs more than 1,000 applications, and business users are left to hack together workflows to integrate them. With the proliferation of SaaS offerings, companies’ IT teams are increasingly backlogged and unable to handle all the workflow integration needs […]
Indra Nooyi, the current CEO of PepsiCo, doesn’t take her position as the world’s second largest food and beverage corporation lightly. “Just because you are CEO, don’t think you have landed,” she once said. “You must continually increase your learning, the way you think and the way you approach the organization. I’ve never forgotten that.” […]
Over the years, our growth equity team has had the opportunity to work with numerous companies in “tipping-point” sectors to help them grow and build significant value for all shareholders. Some of our most successful exits to date include 1010data, Clarus Commerce, Kendra Scott, PCA Skin and The Rainmaker Group. Today, we’re proud to add […]
I am pleased to announce our investment in Visitpay, a patient financial health platform that improves the consumer experience in managing healthcare expenses and improves the health system’s ability to engage patients in meeting their financial obligations. Building Visitpay The story of Visitpay is one of a massive market need being created through the dual forces of […]
5 Lessons from Two Cloud Leaders: Aaron Levie and Jeetu Patel “Every company is now a software company.” That observation, popular in recent years, captured the essence of a recent panel discussion I moderated at the Cloud Leaders Forum between Box cofounder and CEO Aaron Levie and Jeetu Patel, senior VP of platform and chief […]
Why Every Company Needs An Independent Board Member, and Where to Find Them It can be lonely at the top, especially for new CEOs building and growing a business. This is why I have always been a strong proponent of appointing experienced independent members to the boards I advise and companies I invest in. Outside […]
Today, it is our honor to congratulate Promod Haque on his 25th anniversary at Norwest. We’d like to celebrate this career milestone by taking a brief look back on his greatest achievements and share a Q&A that highlights his favorite moments and lessons learned. Looking Back Promod joined Norwest in 1990 while still living in […]
TigerText Promises to Transform the Workflow of Healthcare Today, I am announcing our investment in TigerText, a company that is at the leading edge of providing next generation secure communications and workflow solutions to the enterprise; with a focus on healthcare and other highly regulated verticals that value team-based secure communications and workflows. Major shifts […]
Today we announce our Series B investment in HoneyBook, a San Francisco-based event planning platform developed to address the needs of the many event professionals who want to dramatically improve their business processes and grow their overall businesses. The core idea is to free event pros from cumbersome administrative tasks such as tracking communications and […]
For many of us, a simple medical appointment is anything but. Cumbersome scheduling processes, insurance hassles, and harried doctors have become the norm. To make matters worse, healthcare premiums and out of pocket expenditures have drastically increased over the last decade. This ailing model is not only failing our health, but also our economy as […]
The Educational Technology (EdTech) industry is enjoying a period of unprecedented innovation and investment, driven by many factors, including market demand, shifts in classroom and home technology adoption, and the level playing field that new standards have helped to create. EdTech is becoming increasingly relevant to all students, by delivering improved learning outcomes and by […]
We are delighted to share the news of NVP XII, our new $1.2B fund. NVP XII provides fresh fuel for us to continue making early to late stage venture and growth equity investments across a wide range of sectors. We want to express our gratitude to all of the incredible entrepreneurs with whom we work […]
While the most publicized SaaS stories of the last 18 months have predominantly been about horizontal solutions such as WorkDay and ServiceNow (both whom sell extended product suites into a variety of industries), a second layer of innovation is occurring in many verticals that require more specialized solutions. In the public markets, Textura (TXTR) is […]