1 Greek shares nosedive (Larry Elliott in The
Guardian) The full extent of the damage caused by the Greek crisis was laid
bare when the first day of stock market trading after five weeks of economic
paralysis saw shares lose a sixth of their value.
Bank stocks bore the brunt of a wave of pent-up
selling that eclipsed anything seen in the past three decades on the Athens
stock market, with three of the leading Greek financial institutions losing the
maximum 30% permitted in a single day’s trading.
The plunge in the stock market came as the first
snapshot of the economy during the period when Greece teetered on the brink of
leaving the single currency showed the manufacturing sector coming to a virtual
halt last month. With the banks shut, confidence shattered and firms unable to
secure supplies from abroad, Greek industry endured tougher conditions than
during the worst of the global financial crisis in 2008-09.
The Markit purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell
from 46.9 in June to 30.2 in July, the weakest since data for Greece was first
collected in 1999 and well below its previous low of 37.2 points reached in
early 2012. Any reading below 50 indicates that activity is contracting rather
than expanding.
Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at
consultancy Capital Economics, said the scale of the damage to the economy
caused by the crisis and the imposition of capital controls “looks set to be
worse than most forecasters, including ourselves, had envisaged”.
Greece’s problems failed to prevent most other
eurozone countries from enjoying a continued pick up in manufacturing activity
last month. Every other country apart from France experienced industrial
expansion, although the final eurozone PMI of 52.4 was down slightly on June’s
52.5
.
2 Obama unveils ‘biggest’ clean energy plan (BBC) US
President Barack Obama has unveiled what he called "the biggest, most
important step we have ever taken" in tackling climate change. The aim of
the revised Clean Power Plan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from US power
stations by nearly a third within 15 years.
The measures will place significant emphasis on wind
and solar power and other renewable energy sources. However, opponents in the
energy industry have vowed to fight the plan. Those opponents say Mr Obama has
declared "a war on coal". Power plants fired by coal provide more
than a third of the US electricity supply.
The revised plan will aim to cut carbon emissions
from the power sector by 32% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. "We are
the first generation to feel the impacts of climate change, and the last
generation to be able to do something about it," Mr Obama said. He likened
the plan to taking 166 million cars off the road in terms of environmental
impact. He called taking a stand against climate change a "moral
obligation".
3 Five things to know about pitch meetings (William
Hsu in San Francisco Chronicle) I’ve had a number of crazy investor meetings
over the course of my career, and each of these extreme cases has yielded some
valuable insights of what to do, and more importantly, what not to do, when
raising venture capital.
A. Dancing seals: Perhaps the most memorable
investor meeting I ever had was when the founders showed up wearing dancing
seal suits. They thought that this tactic would be the best way to attract
attention and be memorable. They certainly achieved their goal on that front,
and I have to give them credit for creative marketing but creativity points
only get you so far. I did not invest.
B. Burn baby, burn:
We have had multiple entrepreneurs ask if we will burn pitch materials
or sign confidentiality agreements, even before meetings start. While I
understand the fear that someone will “steal” a precious idea, these requests
speak to one of the biggest problems I see over and over again in pitch
meetings: Entrepreneurs often think that the idea they have is everything. The
idea is about 1 percent of the project. The other 99 percent is having the
knowledge to run and follow through with a business.
C. Stalkers: There is a fine line between
persistence and stalking. Being persistent about a pitch is often necessary,
and even admirable. Stalking is neither, and entrepreneurs who hope to get
anywhere with investors need to navigate that line carefully. When founders
have crossed this line in the past, we are polite and tell them to be patient.
D. Time and place: If you do happen to encounter an
investor you would like to meet with in an unconventional setting (vacation,
bathroom or restaurant, to name a few), then at the very most, ask for a more
formal meeting where a pitch is more appropriate and welcome.
E. 'Moral' support: About one out of every 50
meetings, a founder brings his or her significant other in with them. This
person often has no ties to the business. Despite this, they will still answer
questions and speak for the entrepreneur. From my side of the table, this gives
the impression that the entrepreneur can’t even handle a pitch meeting. If they
can’t handle a pitch meeting, how will they handle running a business? Bringing
a significant other shows unpreparedness and a lack of confidence.
At the end of the day, the most important factor in
a VC meeting is to be well-prepared, with a strong idea, pitch and case for how
your team can execute on your vision. When it comes down to it, what we are
looking for is rather simple and does not require panda suits or stalking.
Entrepreneurs’ goal should be to convince investors of your competence (and
sanity), and these crazy tactics often have the opposite effect.
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