New program pays interns for MA startups -- sharpen your pencil, it is first come, first serve

The Commonwealth announced today a program to connect talented local college students and recent graduates to internships with leading companies in the high-growth tech sector in Massachusetts. “There’s definitely a need to capture students coming to Massachusetts for education,” says Seth Andrea McCoy, communications manager for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech). “A lot of talented people come to the Commonwealth and, unfortunately, they don’t all stay here.” The number of internships will vary based on available funding. The program anticipates having sufficient funds  to support a minimum of 100 interns between spring 2013 and spring 2014. 

 

From the portal:

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has joined with MassTech to create this dynamic tech internship program.  We are working closely in collaboration with leading universities, technology councils and other tech sector organizations in Massachusetts.  

How it works: Through this portal, students and companies are provided with the necessary tools to connect online. Students can apply to be matched with participating companies; and companies can register by completing the application process.  Through this program, MassTech will reimburse eligible companies for up to 50 percent of the intern payroll cost, up to $4,800 annually.

STUDENTS: You must be attending or be a recent graduate of a Massachusetts college or university. This program is also open to any Massachusetts residents attending or recently graduated from any accredited college or university outside of Massachusetts. Click here for the intern application form. For additional information and eligibility requirements, please see our FAQ.

Click here to download the student brochure.

Click here to view eBook – “How to Win a High Tech Internship”

COMPANIES: You must be a Massachusetts Tech Sector company. All Massachusetts Tech Sector companies are eligible to register and use this portal to recruit interns. Only those companies with less than 500 employees are eligible to receive reimbursement. If your company would like to participate, please fill out the company application form. For additional information and eligibility requirements, please see our FAQ. Click here for more information on the reimbursement stipend.

Click here to download the company brochure.

Click here for a comprehensive overview of the program. If you would like additional information, or if you require technical support, please contact us at intern@masstech.org or (508) 439-5510.

The Announcement: 

The program described above was officially announced in Cambridge this morning.  Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, Speaker Robert DeLeo, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki, Bill Brah, Executive Director, Venture Development Center at UMass Boston, and Pamela Goldberg, CEO of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative today announced the launch of the MassTech Intern Partnership, a public-private partnership generating tech sector internship opportunities. 

The MassTech Intern Partnership was created as part of the Jobs Bill legislation that was passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Deval Patrick in August 2012.  MassTech will provide a matching stipend to eligible tech sector companies that hire an intern through the program.   The Intern Partnership’s goal is to capture more of the outstanding talent that passes through Massachusetts universities and colleges into the state’s tech sector.

Industry Partners:

Several industry partners have already joined with MassTech to support the Intern Partnership including the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC), the Venture Development Center at UMass Boston, the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX), the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) and the Massachusetts High Technology Council.  MassTech will also partner with the Venture Development Center at UMass-Boston to strengthen the internship experience. 

 

Angels Invisible:

It is not obvious that any angel groups or accelerators were told about this plan or invited to participate. ACA President David Verrill says he didn’t know about it. Perhaps we should tell some of the officials mentioned above that angel investors back far more Mass. companies than do venture capitalists. 

Angel funded companies have participated in earlier programs.  Jenny Freeman, CEO at Respiratory Motion, tells us she has happily employed interns paid through a similar program run by the Mass. Life Sciences Center.

"Respiratory Motion has had the benefit of participating in the Mass Life Science Internship Challenge program for three consecutive years," says Dr. Freeman (Jenny). "This has led to the hire of 3 interns as permanent staff. Mike Lalli, a bioengineer from Haverhill graduating from the University of Connecticut, was in the first group and given his raw talent and tutelage from our industry veteran VP of Engineering has transitioned into the role of Director of Product Development. Mike was instrumental in developing our first product which received FDA clearance last September. Other hires in marketing and clinical studies have also greatly assisted in the development of the company. Interns have worked at Respiratory Motion in a variety of roles, from conducting in-house clinical studies with our respiratory monitor, to conducting hospital trials, to assisting with publications and patents. Interns have benefited not only from the mentored learning environment, but now many have publications or patents on their CVs from their time here. Frankly, without the Mass Life Science interns, the company would not have made the progress we have to date. As we approach product launch within the next month, Respiratory Motion is looking forward to receiving a 'new crop' of interns this summer eager to work in high profile hospitals or participate in the launch of a revolutionary new medical device"

 

Mark Heesen, NVCA President, friend to angels, retires

Mark Heesen, the hard working and frequent travelling head of the National Venture Capital Association for 14 years, and a good friend to the Angel Capital Association, announced on Thursday his intention to retire from his role as the nation’s top lobbyist for the venture capital industry.

“Mark Heesen and NVCA have been great resources for the Angel Capital Association,” says Marianne Hudson, Executive Director of the ACA.  “Early on in ACA’s development and even now, Mark and his team took the time to answer our questions and let us learn from their experience in growing an association of investors.  We’ve worked together on some public policy issues, notably Dodd-Frank and the definition of accredited investor, and have had a few of our conferences overlap so VCs and angels could network.  I have admired his leadership and will particularly miss him on the road.  I don’t have a million frequent flyer points like he does, but I have been in some of the same places, on the same podium.”

“After working for the NVCA for more than two decades and serving as President since 1999, I recently informed the board of directors of my intention to retire as head of the Association,” says Heesen.  “I  have planned this departure for some time. And the timing is right in my life, and in the life of NVCA, to begin that transition.

“Words cannot express what a privilege it has been to lead and advocate for the venture capital industry for the past 22 years. It has been an incredible ride, one that has seen tremendous progress and change in our industry and in Washington D.C. And personally, I have deposited well over a million frequent flyer points in my account, a milestone that has me looking forward to more time at home with my wife Stacy and my daughters Claudia and Amelia.”

Always pleasant, Heesen helped steer the venture capital industry through difficult times following the burst of the Internet bubble and the consolidation in the VC industry that followed. On his watch, Congress passed the Jobs Act, clearing the road a young company can follow to a public stock offering.

Many of his efforts came at a time when the NVCA’s membership was under great stress. The number of venture capital firms actively investing fell from 1,053 in 2000 to 522 last year, according to NVCA statistics.

 “After 22 years of leading the NVCA, Mark Heesen deserves a round of applause,” tweets Jeff Bussgang ‏@bussgang of Flybridge Capital.

Mark Heesen

Stocks fly while VC funds crawl; KPCB on double secret probation

The Dow Jones Average closed at its highest point in history yesterday.  So how do public stocks now compare with VC returns?  Our analysis lags a bit in time.  DJIA heights hit the TV news right away, while the only reliable source of broad-scale VC returns comes though the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and takes a while to collect.  That said, here are most recent short term and long term returns for the venture capital business over the past ten years compared to the public equity markets in the US.

We suspect that if the chart above were updated in real time it would be a bad day for the VCs and perhaps for the Angels too.

 

For over a decade we have been using charts similar to that above when we lecture in Jeff Sohl’s private equity class at UNH.  Reliably, for most of that time, the best returns have been realized in early stage funds. I then argue, by reference, that this “sweet spot” is the best place for angels to concentrate. Woe is me! Based on this chart, the sweet spots might well be an index fund and a home on the beach.

How the mighty are falling.

The conventional wisdom in the industry says that even though average VC returns are down, the large and famous funds, the flagships of the industry, continue to do well.  The evidence lies in the fact that certain firms have been very successful in raising new funds.  For example, Spark Capital in Boston, a venture capital investor in Twitter, Foursquare and Tumblr, announced last month that is has raised $450 million in its largest fund to date.

Yet to our surprise, the world’s best known fund, Kleiner Perkins, may be feeling the strain.  Dean Wormer of Faber College having retired, they appear to have voluntarily placed themselves on double secret probation.

Reuters reports today that blue-chip venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers expressed frustration with poor fund performance and promised to do better at gatherings for investors last month, according to people familiar with the discussions.

“The firm, which has lost some of its shine recently due in part to hefty bets on green energy technology and a lack of home-run Internet investments, said it would be more careful with capital and redouble its efforts to boost performance. Several investors who received invitations to the meetings said it was unusual for Kleiner Perkins to hold such gatherings when it was not raising new funds,” write Sarah McBride & Mark Boslet.

“They’re just frustrated and upset that the performance hasn’t been as good as they think it should be, and they are candid about it,” said one investor, or limited partner, who attended one of the meetings and requested anonymity.

Why do we call this double secret probation?  Because KPCB won’t identify which of their funds they are talking about or what their returns (IRR) actually are. A spokeswoman for Kleiner Perkins said: “Communications between Kleiner Perkins and its limited partners are private and confidential. As such, we do not comment on them.”

Luckily, Dan Primack of Term Sheet does comment. “So I reached out to some of the firm’s investors, who tell me that Kleiner Perkins chose to significantly reduce holding values on numerous portfolio companies for Q4, which was a change from relatively static holding values used during the prior quarters. So these meetings were to preempt LPs from being surprised when the year-end report arrived.” 

“Finally, one LP also is sure to point out that performance ‘weakness’ is relative. ‘Current KP funds are performing pretty well, not rock star but upper quartile.’”

Regular readers of our e-pistles know that VC and angel returns are a topic we follow closely. You can find more detail on this chart in the NVCA press release, located here. You can find more about Angel investment performance vs. VCs here and here. Term Sheet is here.

Apparently, Tom Perkins of KPCB no longer owns this yacht, "The Maltese Falcon."