THINKEQUITY LAUNCHES BLOG

ThinkEquity Partners, a boutique investment bank and partners with AlwaysOn, launched a blog a couple weeks ago and got some press today in the NY Times. Tony Perkins, founder of AlwaysOn and my new boss (new startup which I'll tell you about down the road), gets some ink too.

The co-founder, Chairman and CEO of ThinkEquity Partners, Michael Moe, writes a weekly column along with his colleague, Mat Johnshon, at AlwaysOn. Whoever manages their blog was also gracious enough to add me to their blogroll. I'm on a fair amount of other blogrolls, but I mention this since they listed me as a "TrendWatcher" grouped with sites such as Gartner, Walt Mossberg's blog, Release 4.0 (Esther Dyson's blog, and Howard Rheingold. I look at the list and I didn't fit in (one of these things doesn't belong here...). I am not at the level of those people or organization yet to be called a "trendwatcher," but appreciate the listing. Sort puts pressure on me to write more posts of substance and meat, which I mentioned a couple weeks back, and since Christine complains that I should put more of my thoughs on "paper" and fill this blog with my writing instead of mainly links to other stuff I come across. I want to, but time is always the issue.

ThinkEquity Starts Web Log to Gather Ideas
By JENNY ANDERSON

LOGGING transformed political commentary, rattled the media business and inundated the Internet. Does it have a place on Wall Street? ThinkEquity Partners, a boutique investment bank in San Francisco, will find out as it introduces a Web log today. The firm, which specializes in technology, health care and other fast-growing fields, is seeking to make its investment research department - an albatross at most Wall Street firms - relevant.

ThinkEquity is betting that the blog will attract analysts, bankers, investors, venture capitalists and anyone else interested in talking about growth investing, and in the process, help the company generate ideas. The firm's research is available to all and, once registered, anyone can post feedback on the site. The blog can be found at www.thinkequity.com/blog.

ThinkEquity's co-founder, Michael T. Moe, who is the former director of global growth stock research at Merrill Lynch, compared the idea to the Zagat Survey of restaurants.

"There are all sorts of information sources about where a restaurant is located and what the cuisine is, but that's just information," he said. "What makes Zagat's powerful is you have 100,000 people contributing. Their insight is amazing, frightening and impressive."

Mr. Moe said he did not see an immediate way to make money from the blog, but viewed it as a way to generate ideas - the lifeblood of research and investment banking.

"Our mission is to identify and partner with the stars of tomorrow, today," he said. He said he got the idea from Tony Perkins, a founder and former editor of Red Herring magazine who has started AlwaysOn, which is using blogs to discuss business and technology issues.

The blog format can transform research from a document into a discussion. "There can be more insight into decision making," said Anil Dash, a vice president at Six Apart, the company that makes the software ThinkEquity is using for its blog. "They can participate in the conversation." (full article/sign-in needed)