Tipping Points

Greenhill SAVP Completes Investment in Mobile Commons

Congrats to Jed Alpert, Chris Muscarella, Ben Stein and the Mobile Commons team!  Congrats to Steve Brotman, JB Lockhart and Greenhill SAVP on a terrific investment in a Tipping Point Partners portfolio company. 

PRESS RELEASE May 28, 2009 For Immediate Release Contact: Steve Brotman (212) 389-1600 Greenhill SAVP Blog: http://www.vcball.com/     Twitter: www.twitter.com/stevebrotman

Greenhill SAVP Completes Investment in Mobile Commons     NEW YORK, NEW YORK, May 28, 2009 - Greenhill SAVP announced today it has invested in Mobile Commons, Inc. ("Mobile Commons"). Greenhill SAVP led the Series A financing and was joined by Zelkova Ventures. As a result of this financing, Steve Brotman, Managing Director of Greenhill SAVP, has agreed to join the Mobile Commons Board of Directors. Based in downtown Manhattan, Mobile Commons (www.mobilecommons.com) has developed an easy to use mobile messaging platform.  Its web-based user interface enables any business or organization to instantly create mobile campaigns that combine SMS, voice, and mobile web functionality.   Mobile Commons' applications seamlessly connect to the web, social networks, existing CRM databases, and other media.  Mobile Commons has over 100 blue chip clients, including Bank of America, Credo Mobile, Diageo, Humane Society, Planned Parenthood, and the Sacramento Kings. Greenhill SAVP's investment in Mobile Commons represents the fund's fifth online media and marketing services investment in the past 18 months. "Mobile Commons has built a quick, easy and efficient solution that has the potential to revolutionize the execution of mobile marketing campaigns.   Mobile Commons is the established leader in the public, advocacy, and non-profit sectors. We are excited to partner with Mobile Commons' accomplished management team to realize its full market potential in the commercial and government sectors as well," commented Steve Brotman, Managing Director of Greenhill SAVP. "We are very pleased to have Steve join our board and Greenhill SAVP as an investor. Given Greenhill SAVP's notable experience and successful track record in technology-enabled marketing services, we believe they will add significant value and expertise to help us grow our business," said Jed Alpert, Founder of Mobile Commons.   About Mobile Commons   Used by the leading marketers and cause-related organizations in the world, Mobile Commons makes it simple to create mobile programs based around text messaging, voice calls, and web-based interactive components. With these tools, organizations can raise money, build lists, grow support on the web, add interactivity to live events, and spread their ideas more effectively.   Mobile Commons' goal is to provide customers with a seamless offering of products that spans the web, the real world, and the full range of mobile mediums. For more information, visit www.mobilecommons.com.  About Greenhill SAVP   With over $100 million under management, Greenhill SAVP makes early stage venture investments in technology-enabled services and business information services companies.  Prior fund manager investments include LivePerson (NASDAQ: LPSN), OpenWave (NASDAQ: OPWV), YellowJacket (acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange, NYSE: ICE), UGO Networks (acquired by Hearst Corporation), and KnowledgeStorm (acquired by TechTarget, NASDAQ: TTGT).     Greenhill SAVP is an affiliate of Greenhill & Co., Inc. (NYSE: GHL), an independent global investment banking firm with offices in New York, London, Frankfurt, Toronto, Tokyo, San Francisco, Dallas and Chicago.   Greenhill SAVP leverages its deep domain expertise, a proven investment track-record, and a global corporate network to create significant portfolio value.    For more information about Greenhill SAVP, please visit www.gsavp.com.

Cookstr Gains Two Webby Noms and an Honor

Cookstr.com garnered two nominations and was named an honoree for the 13th Annual Webby Awards. Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. 

Please vote for Cookstr in the People's Choice Awards at http://pv.webbyawards.com!

Cookstr is a nominee in the Best Practices category, alongside the NYTimes.com, Digg, WebMD Health, and The Daily Beast. Past nominees in the Best Practices category have included Facebook, Flickr, and Google (who was the first winner of this award). The Webbys define Best Practices as the following:

“Best Practices sites serve as an industry benchmark for the most current, innovative, and advanced practices in Web development. Sites demonstrating unparalleled excellence across The Academy's six criteria: content, structure & navigation, visual design, interactivity, functionality, and overall experience.”

Cookstr is the only content site to receive a nomination in the Food and Beverage category, joining Red Bull Flugtag Flight Lab, Music in a bottle, Hotel 626, and Hello Sour Sally. 

Cookstr also won an Honorary Mention in the Lifestyle Category.

This recognition would not have been possible without the amazing work of The Barbarian Group (design) and Pivotal Labs (software development). 

Cookstr Helps You Find Recipes From People Who Know Their Onions

I'm really pleased and grateful that TechCrunch chose to give the launch of our latest company prime coverage tonight. 

Cookstr about to launch - NYTimes.com

A Plan to Promote Cookbooks - Give Away Recipes Online at Cookstr.com - NYTimes.com.

You, Too, Can Be a Banker to the Poor, Part 2

I'm pleased to report that Kiva.org received a $300,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.  Back in March, I organized a small get-together for Kiva. See Tipping Points: You, Too, Can Be a Banker to the Poor - New York Times.  My friend Joan Shigekawa from the Rockefeller Foundation brought along one of her colleagues, the person responsible for micro-finance.  Brad Burnham hosted.  A good time was had.  And now Kiva has an additional $300K to further their mission.  Congrats to Kiva and the Rockefeller Foundation.

On a separate note, We are really honored and pleased to be working with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a $3 billion charitable foundation that is focusing on the problems of our child welfare system.  Kathleen Feely's vision is to create a social networking platform that can ease the burdens on the caseworkers and help make them more effective in accomplishing their mission - helping children. 

Verizon Reverses Itself on Abortion Messages - New York Times

Kudos to Jed Alpert and Nancy Keenan, who won an important skirmish in the fight to retain free speech across our public IP and telecommunications networks.  The 1st Amendment only applies to speech in the public.  IP and wireless networks are considered private, since they are privately owned and, in the case of text messaging, not regulated.  Therefore, companies like Verizon have the right to choose which speech they will permit and which they will prevent.  This is unacceptable.  Link: Verizon Reverses Itself on Abortion Messages - New York Times.

PlaySpan Gets $6.5 Million Funding For Its In-Games Commerce Network

My firm, Tipping Point Capital Advisors, completed its second deal in the online games services space with the closing of $6.5MM in first round funding for Playspan.  We are especially pleased by the participation of Novel TMT, a tightly focused and extremely well-connected venture capital in the MMORPG space in East Asia.  We previously advised in-game advertising firm IGA Worldwide, leading to their $12MM first institutional round.

Link: paidContent.org - The Economics of Content - PlaySpan Gets $6.5 Million Funding For Its In-Games Commerce Network.

Roadrunner/Haystack/Mediariver Widget

Why did I become the CEO of haystack.com?

This week, I became the CEO of haystack.com.  I've been the financial advisor to Haystack for over a year.  With the current move, I'm giving up that role and - some would say - doubling down on my already substantial commitment to Haystack, which I will have to juggle alongside running my own businesses, my volunteer efforts on the Foundation Board of the Brooklyn Public Library, and being a husband and dad. 

Why?

First, it boils down to Commitment.  The company's founders, Jordan Garbis and Abby Schneiderman, CTO Mike Welles, and all the other creative, passionate and talented folks at Haystack have been doing yeoman's work on hope and a promise.  Adam, Ryan, Gus, Myles, Phil, Bill and many others deserve equal credit.  Having come this far with them, how could I just give up.

Second, it is a bet on Respect.  The company believes that an approach that Respects the audiences, the artists, and the music industry will eventually pay off.  I can't go into details on the huge bear hug the artists and the music industry have given the company, but suffice it to say that at launch there will be more full songs and music videos available for legal streaming than any other website.   With the company's upcoming soft launch on March 19, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you will also respond by visiting.  Please visit, comment constructively and come back again.  We can only pledge to keep getting better.

Finally, I believe that it's a bet on the Future.  Haystack is trying to connect the dots in the existing industry environment and hopefully support every stakeholder in the music ecosystem as it makes its painful transition to a digital world.  Markets are not perfectly efficient; Haystack also offers an opportunity for those disenfranchised from the existing label model - by their own choice or not - to find their own audiences.

Would you like to help?  Email me with your thoughts. 

Rights Group makes Fast Company Fast 50!

Speaking of an auspicious beginning to the New Year, kudos to Jed Alpert and the rest of the Mobile Commons/Rights Group team for being named to Fast Company Magazine's Fast 50 list!  The theme of this year's Fast 5o list is Report from the Future, 50 Profit-Driven Solutions for What Ails Our Planet.   What Jed has created is a solution that taps into our frustration with the state of things and allows us to give voice. Wouldn't you make that call to your Senator if it only took one click from your cellphone?  Hundreds of thousands have, which is why NRDC, ACLU, John Edwards, Aveda and Working Assets are among dozens of other clients that have embraced this. 

Mobile rich media platforms are a great dream, but Jed has proven that mobile can do good - and do well - today.

I am proud to have been an investor and part of Jed's first team as his CFO, along with my Tipping Point colleague and CTO Christopher Muscarella and the dynamic duo of Schall Russo.