A VC in Vacationland
Seeking the next gen supply chain technology breakthroughs
recent posts
- PE Buyout Outlook for 2026–Same Old, Same Old?
- The Role of Generative AI in Supply Chain Investment Strategies
- AI’s Impact on Supply Chain Investment Strategies
- The ‘New Normal’ is now the ‘No Normal’ in Supply Chains
- SRR—Sustainability, Resilience, Risk Management: The Latest Supply Chain Buzzwords & Investment Opportunities
about
Category: Supply Chain Innovators
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Image via Wikipedia Layer Saver is a collapsible plastic pallet system that allows you to more fully utilize cube in a vehicle. According to the manufacturer, Layer Saver™ is a 2-layered pallet shipping vessel made to withstand more weight than conventional wood or plastic pallets. Its unique design allows for the first tier to hold…
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Image by Laughing Squid via Flickr According to VentureBeat, Zoom Systems, the San Francisco-based provider of luxury-good vending machines, just brought in $20 million in fifth-round funding to increase its market presence in the U.S. and Japan. You may have already spotted its machines (termed “automated retail stores”) in airports and shopping malls. By and…
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ReCork America announced a partnership with Whole Foods Market to recycle wine corks. Image via Wikipedia The six month trial will involve twenty-five Northern California Whole Foods Market stores. Customer will have to bring their corks to the stores for recycling. Recycled cork, unlike plastic or screw top enclosures, can be turned into flooring tile, building insulation,…
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I often get asked where an entrepreneur can compete for seed money, or just practice for venture capital pitches. The granddaddy of these competitions is the annual MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competition. The founders of one of my portfolio companies, Sean Willems and John Ruark, won the 2000 MIT competition and went on to found Optiant,…
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I am a book collector. Not a big one, but just first editions of books I particularly enjoyed reading and can reasonably afford. That does eliminate first editions of the James Bond novels, which can sell for $6,000 to $10,000 apiece in the rare book market today. If I'd only known that when I first…
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IBM acquires ILOG for $340 Million–July 28, 2008 JDA acquires i2 for $346 Million–August 11, 2008 The acquisition spree continues in the supply chain technology space as early pioneers opt to tie in with bigger partners. IBM's acquisition of ILOG is clearly focused on adding the capability to manage complex supply chain outsourcing projects…
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A few months ago, I wrote a Blog on on how Don Henley & The Eagles were reinventing the marketing and distribution of music by producing and initially selling their latest album via a single channel–Wal*Mart. Similarly, Radiohead followed a similar path by releasing their new album on line, allowing buyers to set their own…
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According to PE Hub, Cambridge radio frequency identification technology (RFID) developer ThingMagic, Inc. reports it has entered into a new partnership with power tool maker DeWALT and Ford Motor Company to equip new trucks with RFID-based asset tracking systems. The partnership will equip 2009 Ford F-150 and F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks, as well as…
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Can your supply chain be affected by weather? Any shipper that has had to pay late fees to a retailer because they missed a delivery window may want to check out the newest way to hedge weather-caused transportation delays. Let’s say you have a critical air delivery due to ship to a Wal-Mart distribution center,…
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As I predicted in my earlier post on Zazzle’s acquisition of Confego, Zazzle has wasted no time in trying to commercialize Confego’s technology for mass customization of products. Zazzle has recently (since October) announced numerous deals with a variety of partners, including: MySpace–custom on-demand music merchandising deal Warner Music–on-demand merchandise deal Facebook–on-demand retail application edunLive–strategic…
A VC in Vacationland 