What’s it like managing the investment portfolio of one of the world’s richest men? Chris Temple will find out as the new president of Vulcan Capital, the private investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

It’s a challenging job for sure, considering that Charter Communications (one of Vulcan’s largest portfolio companies) is mired in bankruptcy proceedings. Earlier this year, Vulcan also laid off about 50 staffers. Vulcan also has a number of bets percolating in the startup arena, namely Seattle companies such as Gist, Kiha and Evri.

Temple replaces Lance Conn, who had served as president of Vulcan Capital for the past five years. Conn planes to continue on the boards of Charter and Plains All-American Pipeline, also a Vulcan portfolio company.

A Harvard business school grad, Temple joined Vulcan last year as vice president from the New York private equity firm of Tailwind Capital. He had previously worked at Friend Skoler & Company and Thayer Capital Partners.

"I look forward to continuing to drive returns that support Paul and Vulcan’s philanthropic, scientific and entrepreneurial endeavors,” Temple said in a statement.

Update: Here’s our follow-up Q&A interview with Temple who discusses the venture capital market, the economy and what it’s like working for Paul Allen. 

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and Why Microsoft dropped Gates firm from ‘preferred provider’ list  

Microsoft, under increasing pressure to cut costs, says a competive bidding process led it to drop law firm K&L Gates from its top 10 list of "preferred" legal providers. The news is notable because the firm traces its roots, in part, to Preston Gates & Ellis — with the "Gates" in its name referring to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates’ father. But Microsoft says it will still continue to work with the firm.

“We have had a Preferred Provider program in place for several years to consolidate a portion of our legal work and manage our legal costs efficiently. We recently decided to refresh the program," said Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster in a statement.

The statement added, "We solicited competitive bids from a number of firms and conducted an extensive  review. That led to a selection of 10 firms across the country. While K&L Gates is not among these ten, it will remain a valued and longstanding partner and a significant contributor to our success.”

The Seattle Times first reported the news earlier today.

American Lawyer Media’s AmLaw Daily notes that K&L Gates wasn’t the only firm dropped from the list. At the same time, it’s a sign of looser ties between the company and the firm. Former Microsoft general counsel Bill Neukom left the law firm last year to become the San Francisco Giants’ managing general partner.

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and Accelitec raises $2.5M to develop loyalty card technology  

A Bellingham company called Accelitec has raised $2.5 million in funding from members of its management team and angel investors to develop its RFID-enabled loyalty card program for small- and mid-sized grocers. The program is being tested by Top Food & Drug at four stores in Washington state.

The cards are equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. If customers in the Top Food & Drug program buy a product and it goes on sale within a week of purchase, they get credited the price difference plus one percent onto their card. Top Food & Drug is testing the program, which offers various online benefits, at stores in Aberdeen, Lacey, Olympia, and Tacoma.

Accelitec President Peter Gruman described the technology as a tool to help small and mid-tier retailers compete against big box chains like Costco, which already have well-developed loyalty programs.

"No one is really trying to sell to the small guys," said Gruman said. "There’s nobody out there trying to sell sophisticated tools to the people who really need it."

Accelitec was founded in 2001 by Tom Bartz, a veteran of Exxon USA and British Petroleum Corp., and initially focused on manufacturing RFID readers, Gruman said. The company’s funding to date totals $8 million in debt and equity, he said.

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