Just got off a great call with a really interesting firm call Neovian Partners and one of my clients. Good discussion and questions etc.. but it triggered a thought in my mind.
There has always been a link between analyst firms and tech investment. I recall in the very distant past that Gartner had a link with a firm called Sandbox – may be wrong so can someone from the AR community help me on this one – thanks! The idea being that Gartner content/insight was used to help investment decisions. I also ‘fondly’ recall the backlash following the dot com boom/bust that a fair few investment decisions were made based on market sizing numbers that shall we say were questionable – oh when we were young and free 
In 2011 I can see that there is a new breed of firm part analyst, part investment influencer not just in terms of market sizing but more in terms of investment advice based on an understanding of technology/business model. If you are working in the start up world (my focus). This is as exciting an area as social media savvy analyst/firms.
It’s not a case of crossing the great divide between AR and VC but enjoying the ride of influence and information ecosystem.
