Aug. 13--Excerpts from the blog

Madrona Venture Group scores again: The Seattle venture firm today is announcing that it has landed former aQuantive Chief Executive Brian McAndrews as a managing director.

McAndrews was at the helm of one of the most successful Seattle startup exits in recent history.

He led aQuantive through the last downturn and built it up through a series of 15 acquisitions before selling it to Microsoft for $6 billion in August 2007. He then spent two years as senior vice president of Microsoft's Advertising and Publisher Solutions group before leaving in January.

McAndrews had offers to run other companies but opted to stay in Seattle and join Madrona, where he's been friends with managing director Matt McIlwain for a decade and close to a number of executives at Madrona-funded companies.

"I'm just really excited about the idea of staying in the entrepreneurial world ... in a role helping other people," he said.

McIlwain said Madrona and the companies it invests in will benefit from McAndrews' experience running companies and cultivating talent, as well as his background in digital media and online advertising.

"It's hard to find all of that in one package," he said.

McAndrews, 50, joined aQuantive from ABC Sports, where he was executive vice president and general manager. He also serves on the boards of Clearwire, Fisher Communications, WhitePages.com and United Way of King County.

Madrona, which focuses on early-stage companies in the Northwest, raised $250 million for its fourth investment fund and in the coming weeks plans to announce new investments and additional funding for companies that it's already backing, McIlwain said.

Zune, Zuner, Zunest?

The old Microsoft rule is that it takes three tries for the company to really nail a product. It looks true to form with the upcoming Zune HD, the third and apparently best version of the company's underdog digital music player.

Microsoft is clearly excited about the device, which it has been showing off for months at semiprivate events.

Details are also leaking from retailers. The device will go on sale Sept. 15, according to display material that Gizmodo received.

Amazon.com helped its cross-lake neighbor promote the upcoming gadget by disclosing prices early, briefly listing a black 16-gigabyte model for $220 and a platinum 32-gig model for $290, according to PC World.

The prices undercut the equivalent iPod Touch models targeted by the HD, which includes a touchscreen, Wi-Fi, a browser and high-def video (720p) that's output via HDMI through an optional docking station.