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Venture Capital - Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Moritz Says Consumer Tech Blows

Richard McManus scratches his head over quotes in Forbes from Sequoia Capital VC Michael Moritz saying he isn't interested in consumer technology: "I suspect Moritz is being disingenuous with his statement that consumer tech is played out."McManus points to other VCs, including DCM - Doll, who remain interested in consumer tech as evidence that consumer tech investment will not dry out. We think Moritz would look at the big investment in Sling Media announced today and wonder what are Sling's VCs doing? Sling has been a fabled success but still there are a couple of dozen global conglomerates that will substain on-slaughts on Sling for decades if it makes it that long. These guys are going to do to Sling what they did to Tivo - copy its features then under-price it. Tivo has been a tremendous success as consumer tech startups go, but every day is a battle royale for survival there. Given so many green-field sectors that VCs can invest in, consumer tech ventures do seem like a blood bath. Read - Consumer Tech Played Out (Read-Write)... Continue...