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Adult Supervision at Google

Sergey, you can have whatever bed you want in your room; Larry, you can have whatever kind of bed you want in your bedroom. Let’s move on.” Now go brush your teeth and up in your room ..

OK, I added this last thought, but the above quote is from Google CEO Eric Schmidt, putting an end to the dispute on what furniture (“hammocks hung from the ceiling”) and toys the two founders should have in their stateroom aboard their private Boeing 767. Read the full article at the WSJ.

Adult supervision at its best.

Update 97/4)And if you two don’t start behaving, I’m going to ground you for a month

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Milestones …

Digg v3 Party

Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid.



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Capitalizing On The Bio/Medical Wave – Life Sciences “BIG” Event by SVASE

Investments in Life Science companies are at an all-time high and with this sector poised to be the next Big Wave. Silicon Valley is riding high and emerging as the most innovative global BioCluster and convergence hotspot. What does this opportunity mean for Valley bioentrepreneurs? What are the key opportunities – and challenges? And how can Life Science Entrepreneurs capitalize on the BioWave?

These are some of the questions the panelists will discuss at SVASE’s BIG (Business Interface Group) event this Wednesday evening in Palo Alto. These people from the “trenches” will share the lessons they have learned in the process of founding companies; from concept to Series A and beyond into the markets and the (Wall) streets.

In addition, the event will feature a Technology Showcase, where entrepreneurs can showcase their technologies at table-top displays and deliver 4 minute pitches to the panel and audience.

The Panel:
Rich Ferrari, Denovo Ventures
Allan May, Life Science Angels
Elizabeth Holmes, President and CEO, Theranos, Inc
Dinesh Patel, President & CEO, Arete Therapeutics
Moderator – Frank Rahmani, Partner, Cooley Godward

For more information see the SVASE site. I am giving away 5 free tickets using this link, after which normal registration through the SVASE site is available.

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Betting on Ben’s Gap Year Travel Blog

Too bad Alexadex is not for real money… otherwise I’d be buying shares in Ben Casnocha‘s so far dormant, but soon higly read Gap Year Travel Blog. A safe bet …

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SVASE VC Breakfast Club with Ken Elefant, Opus Capital

The next SVASE VC Breakfast Club meeting is on Thursday, June 15th in Menlo Park – the VC Mecca, Sand Hill Road. As usual, it’s an informal round-table where up to 10 entrepreneurs get to deliver a pitch, then answer questions and get critiqued by a VC Partner. We’ve had VC’s from Draper Fisher, Hummer Winblad, Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, Mohr Davidow, Emergence Capital …etc.

Thursday’s featured VC is Ken Elefant, General Partner, Opus Capital. The Zvents post has all the info and a map, and if you plan to attend, please register here.

These sessions are an incredible opportunity for Entrepreneurs, most of whom would probably have a hard time getting through the door to VC Partners. Since I’ve been through quite a few of these sessions, both as Entrepreneur and Moderator, let me share a few thoughts:

  • It’s a pressure-free environment, with no Powerpoint presentations, Business Plans…etc, just casual conversation, but it does not mean you should come unprepared!
  • Bring an Executive Summary, some VC’s like it, others don’t.
  • Follow a structure, don’t just talk freely about what you would like to do, or even worse, spend all your time describing the problem, without addressing what your solution is.
  • Don’t forget “small things” like the Team, Product, Market..etc.
  • It would not hurt to mention how much you are looking for, and how you would use the funds…
  • Write down and practice your pitch, and prepare to deliver a compelling story in 3 minutes. You will have about 5, but believe me, whatever your practice time was, when you are on the spot, you will likely take twice as long to deliver your story. The second half of your time-slot is Q&A with the VC.
  • Last, but not least, please be on time! I am not kidding… some of you know why I even have to bring this up.

Here’s a participating Entrepreneur’s feedback about a previous event.

See you on Thursday! Zbutton

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CHP Shooting at Speeding Motorist

A California Highway Patrol officer fired at a speeding motorcyclist who refused to pull over Sunday afternoon, authorities said.” (Sf Chronicle)

Wow… we’re at the Wild, wild West after all.

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Techdirt Greenhouse Launches New Social Experiment

I’m at the Techdirt Greenhouse, starting in just a few minutes. The previous one was a great experience, and now I am back to lead one of the discussion groups.

One way to measure the success of a conference (unconference?) is how often you talk about it long after it’s over. Ever since the first Greenhouse I could not attend a conference without bumping into a few participants who’d start the conversation by saying how boring the old way felt after the Greenhouse experience.

Greenhouse has become the “gold standard” for participation, interactivity – there are no speakers and audience, just participants.

And now Techdirt is taking it one step further, by launching a social experience: at the end of the day, when everyone’s left, the discussions will not be closed. Greenhouse “lives on” here– courtesy of WetPaint. The site brings the best of wikis and forum discussions together, in an easy-to use format. Feel free to navigate around, and don’t just read – participate! You all have edit rights. Registration is not necessary, but helpful, especially if you’d like to be recognized for your contribution.

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Advisory Capital: a Lunch Discussion hosted by SVASE

(Updated)
Advisory Capital is a relatively new term introduced by Stowe Boyd recently. Whether you’re a startup entrepreneur, a Consultant potentially offering such services, or simply are interested in finding out what it’s all about, here’s your chance:

Join Stowe Boyd, Advisory Capitalist No. 1 and Manka Johnson, Management Consultant for a lunch discussion hosted by SVASE and Notre Dame de Namur University this Friday.
Schedule:

11:30-11:45 Registration, Networking and Food
11:45-12:00 SVASE/Startup-U Overview, Introductions, Speaker Intro
12:00- 1:25 Speaker Presentation and Interactive Q&A
1:25- 1:50 Networking with the presenters!

See event details and hurry to register, this event will likely sell out.

See you on Friday. Zbutton

Update (6/7): Stowe just posted about the event on his blog, with a link to his presentation– but like he says, it’s not fun to read without the stories. As it should be – if a presentation can be read in itself, it’s not a presentation. Better join us to get the real scoop from Stowe and Manka.

Update (6/13): See a summary of the event at Hot from Silicon Valley.

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SVASE VC Breakfast Club with Menlo Ventures

amarchick.gifThe next SVASE VC Breakfast Club meeting is on Thursday, June 8th in Menlo Park – the VC Mecca, Sand Hill Road. As usual, it’s an informal round-table where up to 10 entrepreneurs get to deliver a pitch, then answer questions and get critiqued by a VC Partner. We’ve had VC’s from Draper Fisher, Hummer Winblad, Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, Mohr Davidow, Emergence Capital …etc.

Thursday’s featured VC is Adam Marchick of Menlo Ventures. The Zvents post has all the info and a map, and if you plan to attend, please register here.

These sessions are an incredible opportunity for Entrepreneurs, most of whom would probably have a hard time getting through the door to VC Partners. Since I’ve been through quite a few of these sessions, both as Entrepreneur and Moderator, let me share a few thoughts:

  • It’s a pressure-free environment, with no Powerpoint presentations, Business Plans…etc, just casual conversation, but it does not mean you should come unprepared!
  • Bring an Executive Summary, some VC’s like it, others don’t.
  • Follow a structure, don’t just talk freely about what you would like to do, or even worse, spend all your time describing the problem, without addressing what your solution is.
  • Don’t forget “small things” like the Team, Product, Market..etc.
  • It would not hurt to mention how much you are looking for, and how you would use the funds…
  • Write down and practice your pitch, and prepare to deliver a compelling story in 3 minutes. You will have about 5, but believe me, whatever your practice time was, when you are on the spot, you will likely take twice as long to deliver your story. The second half of your time-slot is Q&A with the VC.
  • Last, but not least, please be on time! I am not kidding… some of you know why I even have to bring this up.

Here’s a participating Entrepreneur’s feedback about a previous event.

See you on Thursday! Zbutton

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San Francisco Commuter Nightmare to Begin

If you live in the San Francisco Bay area, and commute to/from the City on the Bay Bridge, I only have one word of advice: use BART.  (hm, that’s two words).  The nightmare begins on the weekend, when the entire lower deck of the bridge will be shut down. That means if you drive to the City, you cannot drive back East. 

But life will not be a whole lot easier even after the reopening: I’ve just heard Channel4 speculate that commuters should “budget in” an extra 45 minutes to their morning commute, due to confusion from the West-bound realignment.  An extra 45 minutes?  As if it wasn’t bad enough already.

Again, the magic word: BART.

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