Zara remains the leader in the global fast-fashion industry because they are not afraid to build new distribution capacity well in advance of demand. An excellent article in the Wall Street Journal (subscription possibly needed) details their latest expansions plans to build their tenth logistics center in Spain near Madrid. Zara reminds me of Amazon, who…

One of my portfolio companies, Weft, is at the leading edge of one of the next revolutions in supply chain–using real-time shipment related data to better plan and execute operations. And so is Veniam, a new portfolio company of Union Square Ventures, but with a slightly different goal–universal wifi availability for smart phones. What does…

Founders often speak about their start ups as having a destination–acquisition, IPO, independent company, whatever. I tell them there is no such thing as a destination for a company, only a journey. Few companies have an actual end to a journey–they can morph into something else, continue as a subsidiary or move ahead under new…

I am often asked : "When should my SAAS tech company be profitable?" There are many factors that can influence when you should reach profitability, but the simple rule is that when you reach $100K in profits per employee.

I recently viewed the York Cathedral copy of the 1215 Magna Carta at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (now moved on). For those of you who have forgotten your English history, and according to Wikipedia, the Magna Carta (Latin for Great Charter), also called Magna Carta Libertatumor The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, is an Angevin charteroriginally issued in Latin.  It was sealed under…

Repeat after me: There is no such thing as a fully sustainable, risk free supply chain. Nor will there ever be… As hard as you and your company may try, banned materials will always sneak into the best managed supply chain. Criminals are smart and, like hackers, can figure out how to make that blood…

   New York, New York  –  Agriculture technology company BrightFarms has landed $2.4 million in its second round of institutional venture capital funding. BrightFarms designs, builds and operates hydroponic greenhouse farms at supermarkets, increasing food supply chain sustainability. WP Global Partners led the round, which included previous investors NGEN Partners and Emil Capital Partners.

Cargomatic has just raised $2.5 M from California venture seed funds SV Angel, Morado Venture Partners, and Sherpa Venturesto revolutionize local trucking operations. According to the company, 'our platform was born of our passion to solve the inefficiency and fragmentation of the local trucking industry. Simply, we connect shippers with qualified carriers who have under-utilized…

According to Xconomy, Madrid, Spain-based online shipping startup PackLink has raised a $9 million Series B round led by Accel Partners with participation from existing investor Active Venture Partners. PackLink compares shipping price, speed, and service level across a variety of worldwide shipping providers, letting users print labels and track packages as well. Founded in…