風投界值得關注的七大創新計劃

????近年來，美國風投公司多被詬病在創新價值主張方面過于遲緩，在吸引更多優質的投資交易方面缺乏創造性地突破。或許確實存在這種情況，但它們并不是全部。目前已經很難再固守原有的方式，單靠資本競爭，爭奪那些最優質的公司時更是如此。另外，隨著社交網絡AngelList等事物的出現，口碑效應放大，行業透明度提高，光靠名聲響已經不夠，除非有真實、有影響力的各種活動支撐。

????有些風投公司多年來在這些方面頗有建樹，提供的一些計劃旨在為投資組合公司創造更多價值；或者自己建立項目，以創造性的方式吸引企業家和社區參與進來。或許是由于安德森-霍羅維茨（Andreessen Horowitz）這類風投公司近來的投資已經開始反思整個風投-初創服務模式，過去一年此類計劃的推進速度和程度得到了顯著提升。

????隨著2012年劃上句號，光過去三個月就有7項新的創新計劃值得關注：

????? Common Application （首輪資本公司）：為學生們提供單一的一站式申請表格，可藉此申請首輪資本公司投資組合中170家公司的實習生和長期職位。如果貴公司有能力篩選海量的申請者，你一定會樂于收到更多申請表格。

????? Cyber Monday Deals （首輪資本公司）：首輪資本公司投資組合中25家電子商務公司提供的所有“網購星期一特賣”（Cyber Monday deals）信息匯總。這是一個非常好的方式，既可以利用你的品牌，提高這些產品和服務的關注度，又可以在社區中創造更多熱點，切實幫助推動投資組合公司的銷售額/收入增長。

????? Dorm Room Fund（首輪資本公司）：經過費城試點后，首輪資本撥出了50萬美元，擬投資于費城地區一些大學的在校生或新近畢業生。這個計劃的新意在于，這個基金將由現實中的學生們負責經營，進行投資決策。這個基金未來將走向何方，特別是它將如何引起新酷公司的注意，從而為它們提供融資，值得關注。

????? GreylockU （格雷洛克）：與首輪資本的計劃類似，這是一個面向學生的門戶網站，學生們可以在這里發送簡歷給格雷洛克的50家投資組合公司。同樣，如果貴公司能處理更多的簡歷，這可以是一個獲得更多申請者的重要渠道。

????Venture capital firms have a reputation in some quarters for being too slow to innovate their value proposition, and for failing to think creatively around new ways of generating quality deal flow. That may be the case for some, but hardly for all. It's tough to sit pat on current ways of doing business and compete on just capital, especially for the best companies. Plus, with more transparency in the industry through things like AngelList and viral/social ways of amplifying word-of-mouth, reputation alone no longer suffices unless it is backed and substantiated by real and impactful activities.

????Some firms have competed for years along these dimensions, launching initiatives aimed at delivering more value to their portfolio companies or developing proprietary programs to engage with entrepreneurs and the community in creative ways. Perhaps as a result of the more recent investment by firms like Andreessen Horowitz in rethinking the whole VC-startup service model, the pace and extent of these efforts have stepped up considerably over the last year.

????As 2012 wraps up, here are seven new initiatives from the last three months alone that are interesting to note and/or worth watching:

????? Common Application (First Round Capital): A single, one stop application form for students to apply for internships and permanent positions at 170 First Round portfolio companies. If you're a company that has the ability to sort through the volume of candidates that this will generate, you're going to love seeing the additional flow.

????? Cyber Monday Deals (First Round Capital): An aggregation of all the Cyber Monday deals being offered by the 25 eCommerce companies in First Round's portfolio. What a great way to use your brand to bring attention to these offerings, build further buzz around them across the community and actually help drive sales/revenue at the companies.

????? Dorm Room Fund (First Round Capital): Piloted in Philadelphia, First Round has allocated $500K to be invested in current students or recent grads from Philadelphia-based universities. The additional twist is that it will be a student-run fund, where actual students make the investment decisions. This will be fun to watch develop, particularly around its ability to surface and fund cool new companies.

????? GreylockU (Greylock): Similar to First Round's initiative, a portal for students to send their resume for consideration at 50 Greylock portfolio companies. Again, if you're a company that can process the additional volume this could be an important additional channel for more candidates.