Business Musings From Carter Cast

by mbmccall

I was having breakfast the other day with a friend of mine, Carter Cast, and we were discussing the dynamics and effort necessary to successful build an entrepreneurial company into a larger organization. Carter is a great guy and well known for his balanced approach to management and the effort he spends on building effective teams. Over the years, he has been head of marketing for Blue Nile (one of the first 5 employees), CMO of eBay and CEO of Walmart.com. He mentioned that he has a set of principles that govern him which he shares with employees when he comes into a company. He is a big fan of transparency and believes if employees have clear understanding of the rules of the game, they are more productive. He has captured them in a short, one page document "A Few Musings on Business Life" which he hands out to his team. I’ve attached the Word doc, but the content is below. (Download carter_cast_musing_on_business_life.doc
)

                                              

A Few Musings on Business Life

1.    Integrity
•    “Honesty” usually comes to mind when you hear the word “integrity” but it’s more than that. It’s also “candor” and “managerial courage”—saying what needs to be said for the good of the business or for a person’s development. By the way, anyone can say, “I emphatically and categorically disagree with you.” The challenge is to say it with a little finesse, communicating what needs to be said clearly yet tactfully.

2.    Managing people
•    If you let people know you care about them and want to develop them, they’ll reward you by cutting you some slack–they’ll look past your foibles.
•    Listen, not only to what’s being said, but how it’s being said. Ask questions—actively listen.
•    Don’t underestimate a person’s bias toward self-interest. Saying that isn’t harsh, merely human. We see things from our own vantage point. We’re all trying to survive and thrive in the concrete jungle. So put yourself in the other person’s shoes as much as humanly possible to understand what they’re going through, what they need, and what they aspire to.

3.    Productivity
•    Congratulations on working hard, but working smart is more sensible. Organize your day, have a game plan to maximize your productivity and ask yourself, “Am I focusing on the key activities that will move the needle?”
•    Don’t be afraid to show your passion. Be intense. Be demonstrative. It creates energy.
•    Ignore the noise. Don’t get head rot. Generally, other people’s gripes are…other people’s gripes. Anyone can see what’s wrong. How many can see what’s possible?

4.    Learning
•    Take the time to become an expert in your area. As long as you learn, you’ll progress. Don’t worry about titles and promotions. If you focus on learning, the promotions will take care of themselves.
•    Learn the value chain. There’s no substitute for knowing how it all fits together and what activities drive organizational value. It will lead to good decision-making and will also give you credibility in the organization.

5.    Communication
•    Business is a complex set of interdependencies. Few good decisions are made in a vacuum. Solicit input. Shop your agenda. Get out of your cube for goodness sakes.
•    Communicate a consistent agenda. I suppose that’s the Reagan Rule.
•    Get to know the agenda of others—especially those outside your department. Take them to lunch.
•    Put yourself in the other person’s shoes when encountering conflict.

6.    Zoom in, pull back
•    Details matter—the trick is figuring out which you need to make the call.
•    Don’t ignore Malcolm Gladwell’s notion of “thin-slicing.” Listen to your immediate reaction to things.
•    Sit and stare at the wall—it doesn’t mean you’re not working. Throw assumptions out the window and reconceptualize the business.
•    Monitor the marketplace. Most great ideas are borrowed.

7.    Have fun
•    When you’re loose, creativity blooms.
•    We work for 10+ hours a day. I’d rather sashay, not shuffle through it.
•    Work is more fun when you’re optimistic.

Too Much Information

by mbmccall

I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that it is temperament & emotional behavior and not intelligence/insight that drives the majority of successful investing.  Knowing common behavioral traps and being aware of your own behavior is key to becoming a truly successful investor.

Excessively relying on information is one of the behavioral traps that researchers are increasingly focusing their efforts on.  As the amount of information rises around an investment decision, the greater the likelihood that noise will crowd out core signal in the process. In fact, with studies on genius, research has shown that experts do not necessarily process information more quickly than any of us, but rather they simply and cut noise out more effectively. They use pattern recognition to quickly cull options and focus on the most relevant.

Michael Mauboussin of Legg Mason is one of the more interesting writers in the investment circles. His partner, Bill Miller, is one of the most reknowned investors in the world for having beaten the markets for 13 straight years (just missed last year). He has published two interesting pieces on investment approaches and psychology. I will write later about his second one, Turtles in Omaha.

Michael recently wrote about the impact of information on horseracing results. The handicappers grew increasingly confident in their rankings as they were given more & more information. The irony, however, is that their predictions deteriorated as they moved from having 5 pieces of information to 40 pieces. So, they became more confident in their results just as they were getting worse.

I have always been amazed by the simplicity of Warren Buffett’s approach. He does not have seas of analysts (I don’t believe he may have any) nor does he do excessively deep diligence dives into companies. He becomes "competent" in certain areas and, though he doesn’t mention this much, leverages the opinion of key people he knows in each area. This is also why you often see investors have repeated hits in a given area. They are able to determine who has the most reliable and relevant networks in a given field and use them to accelerate decisions.

For many investors, they develop a gut feel for an opportunity and then leverage data points to confirm that feeling. Some are quantitatively driven in the hedge world but this is not really possible on the venture side due to the immaturity of many business models. Overall, what this says is that good investors are those that can determine effectively what are the key pieces of information versus gaining access to the broadest array of information. Furthermore, it provides a warning to investors that having more information is not always (some would say usually the opposite) a good thing and to not take comfort in masses of numbers and facts. In the end, it is the simple core things and your network of people that makes the difference.

Term Sheet 101: Preference

by mbmccall

Nearly all VC’s use convertible preferred stock as their vehicle of choice. Most entrepreneurs know this but many don’t fully understand the different flavors and elements of it.

Preference refers generally to the seniority of a given class of stock versus others. Preferred A stock usually gets paid back before common and follow-on Preferred issuances (B, C, D, etc) usually have seniority over both the A and common. This means that the investors will get their capital out before the entrepreneur and team usually.

There are two primary forms of Preferred stock: straight and participating. Straight convertible preferred stock is an either/or situation. Investors can opt to get their capital back but not participate in further upside (e.g. stay as preferred stock…usually the election in downside scenarios) or they can convert to common and participate alongside management & the entrepreneur. The kick point of this conversion is usually pretty clear. If an investor has put $10m in and has 10% of the company, for any exit that values equity above $100m, they will convert to common. For any exit below, they will stay as preferred.

With participating preferred, investors first get their initial capital out and then participate as common shareholders. So, in the above case, at $100m, the investor would get his/her $10m back and then would get an additional $9m (10% of the remaining $90m). Investors will often use this to hit return targets when having to pay a high initial price.

Some term sheets will include participation multiples where investors get 2x or 3x their capital out before other classes. This usually happens when there is significant preference (invested dollars) in the company and there is gap between when their get their capital back and when they start to participate in the upside.

Dividends also play a role in preference. There are cumulative dividends and “when & as declared by the board” dividends. With cumulative dividends, investors “preference” grows each year at a set rate (say 6%), thereby providing an ongoing discount for the investor. This dividend begins to kick in day one. Other dividends start only “when & as declared by the board”. I have not generally seen many boards vote to trigger a dividend.

New preferred stock can be either senior to previous preferred classes (say the Pref B gets its money before the Pref A) or it can be “pari passu” to them (the Pref B and Pref A have the same seniority and come out pro-rata based on their relative sizes). This term usually does not affect the entrepreneur who is subordinated to both classes but is an investor group matter.

As market conditions tighten, investors look to offset increasingly rockier environments through more aggressive terms. As they get more competitive, terms trend more loosely. Lastly, while earlier investors may lock in strong terms, everything is up for renegotiation when new investors come in. Previous preferred terms can stay in place or, in severe cases, get pushed to common. Participation multiples can be eliminated as can dividends. However, for entrepreneurs looking to use new financings to recut their deals, they should be careful. Earlier investors usually have blocking rights on new capital coming in. Additionally, entrepreneurs that play the sides against the middle (old vs. new investors) will significantly impair their relationship with initial investors if they blatantly play this card.

Preference takes many forms in venture capital. It is critical that entrepreneurs fully understand the implications of the terms they are accepting so that it does not impact future relationships going forward.

Term Sheet 101: Preference

by mbmccall

Nearly all VC’s use convertible preferred stock as their vehicle of choice. Most entrepreneurs know this but many don’t fully understand the different flavors and elements of it.

Preference refers generally to the seniority of a given class of stock versus others. Preferred A stock usually gets paid back before common and follow-on Preferred issuances (B, C, D, etc) usually have seniority over both the A and common. This means that the investors will get their capital out before the entrepreneur and team usually.

There are two primary forms of Preferred stock: straight and participating. Straight convertible preferred stock is an either/or situation. Investors can opt to get their capital back but not participate in further upside (e.g. stay as preferred stock…usually the election in downside scenarios) or they can convert to common and participate alongside management & the entrepreneur. The kick point of this conversion is usually pretty clear. If an investor has put $10m in and has 10% of the company, for any exit that values equity above $100m, they will convert to common. For any exit below, they will stay as preferred.

With participating preferred, investors first get their initial capital out and then participate as common shareholders. So, in the above case, at $100m, the investor would get his/her $10m back and then would get an additional $9m (10% of the remaining $90m). Investors will often use this to hit return targets when having to pay a high initial price.

Some term sheets will include participation multiples where investors get 2x or 3x their capital out before other classes. This usually happens when there is significant preference (invested dollars) in the company and there is gap between when their get their capital back and when they start to participate in the upside.

Dividends also play a role in preference. There are cumulative dividends and “when & as declared by the board” dividends. With cumulative dividends, investors “preference” grows each year at a set rate (say 6%), thereby providing an ongoing discount for the investor. This dividend begins to kick in day one. Other dividends start only “when & as declared by the board”. I have not generally seen many boards vote to trigger a dividend.

New preferred stock can be either senior to previous preferred classes (say the Pref B gets its money before the Pref A) or it can be “pari passu” to them (the Pref B and Pref A have the same seniority and come out pro-rata based on their relative sizes). This term usually does not affect the entrepreneur who is subordinated to both classes but is an investor group matter.

As market conditions tighten, investors look to offset increasingly rockier environments through more aggressive terms. As they get more competitive, terms trend more loosely. Lastly, while earlier investors may lock in strong terms, everything is up for renegotiation when new investors come in. Previous preferred terms can stay in place or, in severe cases, get pushed to common. Participation multiples can be eliminated as can dividends. However, for entrepreneurs looking to use new financings to recut their deals, they should be careful. Earlier investors usually have blocking rights on new capital coming in. Additionally, entrepreneurs that play the sides against the middle (old vs. new investors) will significantly impair their relationship with initial investors if they blatantly play this card.

Preference takes many forms in venture capital. It is critical that entrepreneurs fully understand the implications of the terms they are accepting so that it does not impact future relationships going forward.

Life Is Too Short…

by mbmccall

"In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity,
intelligence and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other
two will kill you."
— Warren Buffett

I was having dinner with a good friend the other night and we began to talk about ways to deal with the increasing pressures and velocity of today. We were talking about my recent post on burnout. He agreed that the current late stage of the business cycle increases demands on the average person but added that the intrusion of instant communications (Blackberries, IM, etc) exacerbates everything. You can’t wind down and it becomes more difficult to escape the rat race.

My friend is one of the most productive people I know. He gets more done by Tuesday than most people do by Friday. I probed him for a nugget or two on how to manage the 28 hour day. Instead of a time management strategy, he surprised me with one simple piece of advice:

                          “ Life is too short to deal with assholes, so I don’t"

As I reflected on his advice, I realized how much this resonated with my world. There is no shortage of stress, surprises or setbacks in the life of an entrepreneur or venture capitalist. Over 50% of VC deals end poorly and the ones that succeed usually dance with death at least once or twice. While this is not enjoyable for either entrepreneur or VC, it is the interpersonal behavior that makes life bearable or miserable for all involved.

As I look back at the variety of experiences I’ve had, I see several themes or characteristics that emerge. I’ve had successful investments like FeedBurner where the management team was phenomenal to work with. I’ve also had situations where, despite the success, it was contentious to the very end. I’ve also had less than successful investments, like 800.com, where the team (led by CEO Greg Drew) worked ethically, hand in hand with the investors to find the best solution for all.

What are the early signs that your partner (VC or entrepreneur) will be easy to work with or a potential nightmare? Looking backward, I’ve come up with several guide posts:

1)    Are communications open, transparent and proactive or are they reactive and filtered? Good CEO’s communicate frequently and openly with investors and give them the good and the bad. They take responsibilities for poor decisions and identify potential icebergs well before others see them. Poor CEO’s filter the information that flows up from the ranks. They continually spin bad news (only after having to divulge it). They suppress comments from the rest of the management team and make comments/threats to them like “are you committed to being a member of this team or not…”. Both sides know when the other is being insincere and less than forthcoming.
2)    Do they help others or are they always taking? Good CEO’s realize that building up goodwill is critical for future success. Opportunists are always trying to figure out how to suck more out of others. Look at their behavior and see how often they are helping others advance, especially when there is nothing in it for him/her.
3)    Is the leadership in the game for a greater good/purpose or solely as a mercenary? When you ask a CEO what motivates him/her, will he/she say “to make a lot of money” or “to change a part of the world”? Investors are playing with fire when they back leadership that is looking primarily to strike it rich in two or three years. They are driven primarily by profit motive and will either begin to self-optimize or head out when things don’t go as planned. This is not to say that managers don’t burn out or lose conviction in realizing the greater good, but how they interact and respond to crisis illustrates a lot.
4)    Does the CEO (or VC) strive to grow the pie or simply to enlarge his/her piece of it? If the different sides continually try to recut the deal or comment on how they are getting screwed, you will have trouble on your hands. Should things not go well, the in-fighting will make the external developments pale in comparison. CEO’s or VC’s that portray themselves as “victims” will make very poor partners.
5)    Does the CEO (or VC) look out for the other key team members or will he/she self-optimize his/her own position at each point in time? Early on, you get a taste of this when dilution from a new financing occurs. Some CEO’s will take less for themselves so that others on the team are taken care of. Others will spend very little time discussing the impact of the event on others.
6)    In the end, do you trust your partner or are you plagued by suspicion? Your gut is very accurate on matters like these. Does it question your own behavior/actions or do you worry that others’ key actions are going on behind your back? If you find either your partner’s responses evasive or that you are being evasive, then you’ve got trouble brewing.

A good partner is rewarding to work with and you are appreciative of their commitment and value-add. In venture capital & entrepreneurship, whom you back or hire will amplify the good or the bad. Good CEO’s attract top talent and deceptive ones repress it. Both types are competitive but one sees a broader horizon while the other simply looks at his/her own path.

Julian Robertson, the legendary founder of the Tiger hedge funds, was maniacal on the importance of management. “Have you done your work on management?” He’d grill subordinates on all aspects of management ranging from where they went to school to actions they had taken to details about their lives. He wanted his team to know everything there was to know about the people running the companies they invested in.

Life is too short to deal with assholes. Be very careful with how you pick partners to work with. It is very difficult to stop the cascade of misery once you start down the path of “overlooking” certain personality flaws or “explaining away” certain aberrant behaviors. Over time, work towards creating an asshole free environment.

Buckle Up

by mbmccall

This summer has been a crazy one for me and I have, as one friend wrote, "gone dark" since early June. So, as I begin to sprout prose again here, why not jump back in with a depressing post on the debt debacle & its impact on the our entrepreneurial world…

Over the past year, money has poured into the buyout world.  Enabled by cheap debt, buyout firms have been taking companies private at a eye-popping rate. Many observers have noticed the comparison of this activity to the venture bubble of 1999-2000. Many pension fund managers have justified this insane ramp, stating that these companies are cash flow positive or that the public market is sizable or that “this time is different”. However, when you buy firms at 9-11x EBITDA and use significant leverage, everything will eventually end in tears.

Well, the punch bowl has formally been taken away this month. With the growing credit crisis spreading from the sub-prime debacle, banks have dramatically ratcheted back their lending terms and activity. The public markets, having continued their ascent driven by the ever-present buyout offers, are now growing more volatile. The failed UAL buyout triggered a dark period in the markets in the late 1980’s when I was on Wall Street and it looks like an encore performance is happening now with deals like Chrystler stalling. As Roach over at Pequot mentioned, brace yourself when the first major buyout deal files for Chapter 11.

Bill Gross, the Sage of the Debt world at Pimco, wrote in his Enough Is Enough article (worth the read):
"But the Blackstones, the KKRs, and the hedge funds of recent years also climbed to the top of the pile on the willing backs of fixed income lenders too meek and too passive to ask for a part of the action. Covenant-lite deals and low yields were accepted by money managers as if they were prisoners in an isolation ward looking forward to their daily gruel passed unemotionally three times a day through the cellblock window. "Here, take this" their investment banker jailers seemed to say, "and be glad that you’ve got at least something to eat!"…Well the caloric content of the gruel in recent years has been barely life supporting and unhealthy to boot – sprinkled with calls and PIKS and options that allowed borrowers to lever and transfer assets at will. As for the calories, high yield spreads dropped to the point of Treasuries + 250 basis points or LIBOR + 200. Readers can sense the severity of the diet relative to risk by simply researching historical annual high yield default rates (5%), multiplying that by loss of principal in bankruptcy (60%), and coming up with an expected loss of 3% over the life of future loans. At LIBOR + 250 in other words, high yield lenders were giving away money!

Investors are nervous that the sub-prime credit issues will spread to other credit sectors. They are asking if S&P/Moody’s missed the boat on assessing the sub-prime risk, then they probably have missed in the other sectors as well. Banks are balking at the terms proposed by recent large buyouts, despite some serious strong-arming tactics from the likes of KKR. And, debt origination is plummeting. Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO’s) which peaked at $42B, have fallen to under $3B as bank credit groups retrench. Less mortgage credit and less buyout credit will impact both corporate revenue streams and market values.

So, what does this all mean:
1)    increasing volatility in the public markets as investors try to figure out if changes represent the coming of Armageddon or a fantastic buying opportunity.
2)    tighter credit guidelines and terms as banks and debt markets demand more return and more protection for the risks they are taking (yes, the laws of gravity are returning)
3)    increasing difficulties in the buyout world as firms have to put more equity into deals while still paying higher EBITDA multiples due to competition. It will turn into a blood bath.
4)    junk debt spreads will widen significantly as bankruptcies soar.
5)    the IPO market will begin to soften again as the public markets try to figure things out. Quality companies will still go out but bankers will be increasingly selective.
6)    later stage venture investors will begin to tighten terms.

This all said, should things go south, it will provide a strong opportunity for entrepreneurs who are disciplined. Venture capital and angel capital will be increasingly more cautious in backing new competitors into spaces. Should market conditions hit truly rocky times, weaker competitors will be pruned. This is why breakout companies such as Cisco often have their genesis or ascension coming out of difficult times. Focus on your core business and customer value proposition. Get to cash flow break even as quickly as possible. And, spend every penny as if it were your last. Buckle up for some interesting times. The markets may not necessarily go through major corrections, but investors are going to be reminded that there is risk associated with leverage, alternative asset classes and excessive liquidity.

My BarCamp Fundraising Talk

by mbmccall

Jason Rexilius pulled off another great BarCamp in Chicago over the weekend of 6/23. I loved the energy and creativity flowing at the event with developers coming together from a broad array of backgrounds to code, share and bond. We definitely need a lot more of this in Chicago. Jason asked if I would do a quick Q&A with the crowd on fundraising for start-ups. I would give an overview here on what I talked about, but David Dalka and John Mascarenhas did a much better job than I could at this.

David’s post, Matt McCall gives venture capital investing tips at BarCamp Chicago, which includes John’s guest post, is at the link above.

As I’ve gotten to know Matt McCall more, I begin to appreciate his approach. He doesn’t fit the preconceived mold that many would think of when they picture the typical venture capitalist. He’s more of…

Thanks guys for pulling this together.

Sea of Change

by mbmccall

One of benefits of being in venture capital is that you can see activity and trends across a broad array of industries. Additionally, you spend a considerable amount of time talking to people about deals, career changes, financings or general assistance. You can also get a sense of how certain companies are doing based upon how many resumes are coming out of the firm or how difficult it is to recruit people from that firm.

Over the last four months or so, I have been noticing a different kind of trend occurring than I have seen in the past. Normally, we see a lot of people looking to move within their industry or to get into private equity. However, I am now seeing a lot of people seriously reconsidering what they are doing and whether they should remain in their given profession. A lot of this is being driven by fatigue or disillusionment. This includes a number of people in the private equity world (and other investment circles) looking else where. In other words, there is a lot of soul searching going on right now, much, much more than I have seen in the past.

I believe this is being driven by the maturity of the current economic cycle as well as by the continuing swell of liquidity into all investment sectors. It has become harder and harder to find undervalued real estate, buyout targets, product markets and such. As people grind harder and harder to drive returns (or profits), the future upside has become increasingly less apparent. This is a sign of an extended market.

Now, I am not saying that a correction is around the corner or that I see anything in particular. However, I can say that the overall conditions remain increasingly unstable with an occasional upswing or downswing in the markets.

So, if you happen to be one of those who is seriously reconsidering your chosen path, you are not alone. It is harder to do what you need to do (unless you are a corn farmer). On one hand, I would comment that life is too short to not be doing something you love or were made for. These challenging times can create a needed forcing mechanism to move. However, on the other, I would say that every industry has its cycles and even preferred professions will hit very difficult times. Persevere through these downturns and you are in a strong position on the recovery. Only you really know what you love to do (and have the skill set for) so as to determine which course is right for you.

Brian Kim has a very popular post for a quick exercise on “How to Find What You Love to Do“.

FeedBurner Pro Stats for Free Now

by mbmccall

I have been using the FeedBurner stats PRO and MyBrand services since day one and paid the monthly fee. FeedBurner recently announced, in Google customary fashion, that these both will now be available for free to all users. Definitely worth checking out if you are using or have considered using FeedBurner’s core service to manage your feeds. As their release states:

FreeBurner for Everyone

One of the many benefits that FeedBurner publishers will enjoy now that FeedBurner is part of the Google family is a little something we like to call, "more for free!" Beginning today, two of FeedBurner’s previously for-pay services, TotalStats and MyBrand, will be free.

Yep, free. Not in the sense of soaring high above the clouds or recently sprung from the hoosegow, but free like you’ll no longer gladly be billed on Tuesday for a burned feed today. We suspect this will be welcome news to the 450,000+ of you using many of our other free services, but understanding that your feed is your feed, you will need to activate these newly freed-up services in order to partake in their awesomeness.

FeedBurner Stats PRO
PRO is feed analytics taken to the next level. You will now have access to the number of people who have viewed or clicked individual content items in your feed and "Reach," which estimates the daily number of subscribers who interacted with your feed content. You can turn this on by signing in to your account, navigating to the Analyze tab and heading to the FeedBurner Stats PRO section. Click the "Item Views" checkbox to activate these PRO features.

MyBrand
The MyBrand service (also PRO-level) is located under the "My Account" tab after you’ve signed in. MyBrand lets you maintain consistency between your feed address and your hosted website’s domain, if matchy-matchy is your thing. For example, rather than using feeds.feedburner.com/MyFeedName, your MyBrand-ed feed address can be feeds.myexcellentdomain.net/MyFeedName. To get started with MyBrand, sign into FeedBurner, click the "My Account" link in the upper left-hand corner, and then click "MyBrand".

Previous "PRO" customers will not be charged for the month of June 2007 and beyond. Also, after newly activating either of these features or services, you’ll notice a nifty new "PRO" badge next to your feed(s) on My Feeds page.

Welcome to FreeBurner!

FeedBurner Pro Stats for Free Now

by mbmccall

I have been using the FeedBurner stats PRO and MyBrand services since day one and paid the monthly fee. FeedBurner recently announced, in Google customary fashion, that these both will now be available for free to all users. Definitely worth checking out if you are using or have considered using FeedBurner’s core service to manage your feeds. As their release states:

FreeBurner for Everyone

One of the many benefits that FeedBurner publishers will enjoy now that FeedBurner is part of the Google family is a little something we like to call, "more for free!" Beginning today, two of FeedBurner’s previously for-pay services, TotalStats and MyBrand, will be free.

Yep, free. Not in the sense of soaring high above the clouds or recently sprung from the hoosegow, but free like you’ll no longer gladly be billed on Tuesday for a burned feed today. We suspect this will be welcome news to the 450,000+ of you using many of our other free services, but understanding that your feed is your feed, you will need to activate these newly freed-up services in order to partake in their awesomeness.

FeedBurner Stats PRO
PRO is feed analytics taken to the next level. You will now have access to the number of people who have viewed or clicked individual content items in your feed and "Reach," which estimates the daily number of subscribers who interacted with your feed content. You can turn this on by signing in to your account, navigating to the Analyze tab and heading to the FeedBurner Stats PRO section. Click the "Item Views" checkbox to activate these PRO features.

MyBrand
The MyBrand service (also PRO-level) is located under the "My Account" tab after you’ve signed in. MyBrand lets you maintain consistency between your feed address and your hosted website’s domain, if matchy-matchy is your thing. For example, rather than using feeds.feedburner.com/MyFeedName, your MyBrand-ed feed address can be feeds.myexcellentdomain.net/MyFeedName. To get started with MyBrand, sign into FeedBurner, click the "My Account" link in the upper left-hand corner, and then click "MyBrand".

Previous "PRO" customers will not be charged for the month of June 2007 and beyond. Also, after newly activating either of these features or services, you’ll notice a nifty new "PRO" badge next to your feed(s) on My Feeds page.

Welcome to FreeBurner!

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