VC or not VC….THAT is the Question!

I recently visited Silicon Valley to present a risk management workshop. If you are an owner of a technology company and you find yourself in Silicon Valley and you don’t explore business opportunities, you shouldn’t be in business.

Silicon Valley is the heart of technology innovation and venture capital (VC) of the world. That’s not by accident; it’s by design that has evolved over several decades. Now I’m no expert on SV after a few days, but I did learn a few things. The reason there are so many technology companies there, both established and start-up is because that’s where the VCs are. The reason that the VCs are there is that’s where the companies that they own a stake in are. So it really is a self perpetuating situation. You see, VCs want to be close to their money. They want to pop in to see how it is being spent and closely monitor the business growth (hopefully).

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Employers and Job Hunters Be Aware

With global stock-markets reduced to levels not seen in close to two decades, many employees will be delaying retirements due to the significantly reduced value of their retirement savings.  What’s the risk?  Employers that were relying on attrition to reduce their workforces may have to look for other alternatives.  From an employer’s perspective first-in-first-out represents the biggest cost savings because veteran employees are generally paid more and their benefits cost more.  Delayed retirements will mean hard choices to reduce labour costs.

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AIG Bailout

There is a lot of discussion about the AIG Bailout, so I want to throw my thoughts out for consideration.  There’s debate about saving failing companies in general be they banks, automakers or insurers, so if you feel like former GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul does, that none should be bailed out then I guess my opinion will be dismissed.  I know they are bigger and more diverse than the insurance subsidiary, but I will keep my comments related to AIGs insurance operations.

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Battening Down the Hatches: Risk Management in the Economic Storm

This economy is affecting every company no matter what the business or where it is, ClearRisk is no different. We all have to take time out to assess how the economy will affect our business then implement applicable risk mitigation techniques. A few of the possible risks related to the global economic conditions and corresponding risk mitigation techniques are:

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Eating Our Own Dog Food: Risk Management at ClearRisk

Welcome to the ClearRisk Blog.  This is our first posting.  ClearRisk is a web-based risk management company.  We are an early stage company, started September 20, 2006.  This blog is about how we manage risk at a company that helps other companies manage risk.  I’m angry at myself for not doing this sooner!  If you work at a start up or an early stage company, or if your company isn’t new but you want to keep up on risk issues in a technology company, then I hope you will find this blog useful!

Today, in addition to writing this blog post I am preparing an application for insurance for ClearRisk.  When you spend the last ten years or so giving people advice on how to market their company’s insurance in a way that will get the best possible terms, there’s a lot of pressure to practice what you preach!  If you’re on TV selling BowFlex you’d better be buff!  Technology companies, start-ups in particular, have a common problem with insurance: the risk is unknown to insurance companies.  When the risk is unknown you can bet that if they quote the business, they will err on the side of caution which means higher deductibles and premiums and more restrictive coverages and limits.
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