Morgenthaler wants to be the next castle on Sand Hill castle - San Francisco Business Times:

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The Sand Hill Road officew of Cleveland-based dispersed $13 millionb in seed money in 1996 and expects to invesranother $20 million this year. The fund has been sobere aboutthe Internet, avoiding the volatile sector while seekinyg out more stable software, semiconductor and biotec h opportunities. Its most recent dealsw were secondary rounds for privatelu held NuanceCommunications ($3.15 million) and Vision Softwared ($5 million). Another $3 million deal will be announcedf soon. Although he sits on seve boardsof up-and-comers, Morgenthaler, 48, is best knownj as a high-tech CEO who sold out at the righr time. In the mid-1980se he ran Ingres Corp.
, before selling the businesse for $112 million in 1990. He started Illustras in 1992 andgot $400 millionn worth of Informix stock for it in 1995. In the future, he doesn'gt rule out starting another new compant and jumping back into the CEO but right now he is busy trying to buildr another Kleiner PerkinsCaufield & Byers. To help in that Gary Shaffer is moving from the Cleveland headquarters toMenloo Park. Shaffer is a Stanford MBA and a 10-year Morgenthalet Ventures vet. The fund has $135 million to play with and prefera to take the lead investodr position inits deals.
CISCO KIDS: The editoras at Wired and Red Herring ought to compare editoriak calendars to avoidfuture embarrassment. In their March issues they featured glowing profilesof , the $4 billionn San Jose-based Internet router company. Cisco CEO John Chamberzs is onthe Herring' s cover, while Wired devotes nine gushy pages of coverage. For both of San Francisco's top tech consumer/investore magazines to do the same story in thesame month'ws issue is as embarrassing as two womenn showing up at a ball in the same designe evening gown. Even more embarrassing is that Cisco has hit the skidx in the last 30 days with its stock fallingffrom $75.75 on Jan.21 to $56.50 a sharew on Feb. 27.
Revenues are slowing and analysts don'tf expect Cisco to continue its 20 perceng quarterlyrevenue growth. Perhaps Cisco is suffering the curse of the splashumagazine coverage. TALES OF HOFFMAN: Mark due back from Europw soon, is expected to make changes at his DistriVisiohDevelopment Corp. in Concord. A corporate relaunchg is planned. It will include a new name, to be announcef at a corporate salesz meetingin March. Meanwhile, Hoffman, the former CEO and currenft chairmanof Sybase, continues to add executives with Sybase on theire ésumés.
Lisa Joss, a former director of marketinhg at Sybase who workerd with Hoffman there threeyears ago, is now handlingt public relations in-house at DistriVision after a stint at the Winklerr McManus advertising agency. Chuck Donchess, another Sybase alum, is director of marketing at DistriVision. CYBER CUPID: Electronic Classifierd Inc. CEO Elliot Wassar-man can talk "hits" and strategi alliances, but also babiese and marriages. About 100 marriages, 1,0000 engagements and 16 babies have resulted from peopl e connecting via classifieds placed onhis company's Match.com web Since it went on line last the site has built up to 1.
5 milliomn hits a day, and the San Francisco-based compan has grown to 45 employees. "Thes e are people in their late 20s and into their early 40swho don'y do the bar scene, who aren't going to meet someone at the freshj food department at Safeway and don't go to church socials," Wassarmabn said. "They work on theitr computers at work, then spend time at home on theirr computers." Wassarman is forecasting at least an eightfolr revenue increase this year and expects to announcse several strategic alliances in the next30 days.
The companuy is licensing its Global Online Technology to other companies who want a slice of an electronicd classified market expected tohit $800 milliom next year. Warner Bros., CompuServe and newspaper giantfCox Communica-tions already have partnerships with Electronic Classifieds. FINALL Y DVD: After months of delays, the much-hype d digital video disc is starting to show up at loca l retailers such as theGood Guys. DVD combines feature s found in audio CD players and VCRs and will eventuall y replace a rangeof formats, including CD-ROMk and video game cartridges -- if consumers bite. Demonstrationzs at Good Guys stores in San Franciscop and the East Baystarted Feb. 20.
The stores have begun to take but actual floor stock is stilllweeks away. Panasonic and Toshiba will be the first makere onthe shelves, with Pioneer joininbg the fray in April. Pricesd will be high-- initially between $500 and $1,000-- and prudent consumer will likely wait for pricesto GTE'S PUSH: While AirTouch Communications, Cellulae One and Pacific Bell Mobilse Services are the most familiar Bay Area wireless San Ramon-based GTE's coverag e now includes most of the region and new services have been GTE's newest territory is the East Bay and it offersd a new combination feature that turns its phonexs into a paging device. That devicee is linked with voice mail.
In May, calledr i.d service will be added.