Software all not, events like this reassure us that we ‘re still in the Silicon Valley 
SVASE VC Breakfast with Gabriel Ventures: Sold Out
Posted on December 20, 2006 ·
I’ll be moderating another SVASE VC Breakfast Club meeting this Thursday, Dec 21st in San Francisco. As usual, it’s an informal round-table where 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.
These sessions are a valuable 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!
- Follow a structure, don’t just roam 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.
- Bring an Executive Summary; some VC’s like it, others don’t.
- Last, but not least, please be on time! I am not kidding… some of you know why I even have to bring this up. (Arriving an hour late to a one-and-a-half-hour meeting is NOT acceptable.)
Thursday’s featured VC is Scott Chou, General Partner, Gabriel Venture Partners. For details and registration please see the SVASE site. In appreciation of our 40% growth in membership during 2006, we are pleased to offer SVASE members free registration for VC Breakfast Club during December. Non-members will be able to register at the substantially discounted rate of $25.
The above promotion brings up an issue: it’s easy to register for free events – please only do it if you really mean to attend. The registration system closes at 10 participants, depriving other entrepreneurs of the opportunity to join. (No walk-ins allowed). So if you need to cancel, please notify us by email.
(Update: The event has sold out. We can not accomodate more participants, if you’re not on the list, please do not just show up – join us next year).
Here’s a participating Entrepreneur’s feedback about a previous event.
See you in San Francisco!
Tags: Venture Capital, VC Breakfast, Funding, VC Funding, Startups, Entrepreneurship, SVASE, SDForum, TiE
Google Maps Has Become a Real Trip Planner
Posted on December 19, 2006 ·
Have you ever had to drive to multiple destinations in an unknown area, feeding them in your car’s navigation system, only to discover in the end that you just criss-crossed town several times? If you ever:
- looked for a house to rent after relocation
- had to visit multiple clients in a new job
- or just wanted to see some spectacular lights of Christmas ..
I’m sure you know the feeling – like I do. The frustration is over now, if you use Google Maps.
With the addition of multiple destinations, Google has not only caught up with Yahoo Maps but significantly beat it. The killer feature may not be obvious at first glance, so let me present a case study here, planning my imaginary drive starting from the St. Francis hotel at Union Square, San Francisco.
First I input all my destinations, in a random order – say, this is how I pulled it off craigslist. (Click pic for the live view.)
Well, if I followed this order, I’d be crossing the City several times, totaling 29.3 miles. But now that that I have a feeling of what’s where, I can start playing with the map: simply drag and drop the destination boxes, and see how Google replans my trip. The second plan cuts down my trip to half, 15 miles!
Is there still room for improvement? Perhaps I don’t want to cross the Presidio and try the
South-bound semi-circle:
I’m down to 14 miles, which is not a huge difference, and considering traffic, perhaps I take the previous option: it’s more scenic anyway.
The final decision is yours: but the ability to plot all destinations, then move them around freely to optimize your route is a clear winner. Google Maps has just Become a smart Trip Planner.
(Now, if only it added real-time traffic data a’ la Yahoo Maps
)
SVASE VC Breakfast in San Francisco
Posted on December 11, 2006 ·
I’ll be moderating another SVASE VC Breakfast Club meeting this Thursday, Dec 14th in San Francisco. As usual, it’s an informal round-table where 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.
These sessions are a valuable 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!
- Follow a structure, don’t just roam 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.
- Bring an Executive Summary; some VC’s like it, others don’t.
- Last, but not least, please be on time! I am not kidding… some of you know why I even have to bring this up. (Arriving an hour late to a one-and-a-half-hour meeting is NOT acceptable.)
Thursday’s featured VC is Jeremy Woan, CEO, Bampton Group. For details and registration please see the SVASE site. In appreciation of our 40% growth in membership during 2006, we are pleased to offer SVASE members free registration for VC Breakfast Club during December. Non-members will be able to register at the substantially discounted rate of $25.
The above promotion brings up an issue: it’s easy to register for free events – please only do it if you really mean to attend. The registration system closes at 10 participants, depriving other entrepreneurs of the opportunity to join. (No walk-ins allowed). So if you need to cancel, please notify us by email.
Here’s a participating Entrepreneur’s feedback about a previous event.
See you in San Francisco!
Tags: Venture Capital, VC Breakfast, Funding, VC Funding, Startups, Entrepreneurship, SVASE, SDForum, TiE
Superhuman – Subhuman
Posted on December 7, 2006 ·
Coincidence? Editorial intent? Two very different stories follow each other in the SF Chronicle. James Kim’s dramatic effort to find help for his stranded family is called superhuman by many. Paul Kedrosky finds a way to “humanize” the superhuman:
“Superhuman, perhaps, but also the kind of prodigious effort the parent of any young child can understand.”
But what would the parent of any young children think of the next story:
“Chazarus Hill Sr., 27, repeatedly used a belt, his fists and switches to assault his son, Chazarus “Cha Cha” Hill Jr., who underwent a “very painful and slow death” after suffering contusions and internal bleeding.”
Why? The 3-year-old made mistakes identifying numbers and letters on flash cards. No, you don’t have to be a parent to be shocked speechless by this – just human. Which this so-called father isn’t. 
Yahoo Switching to Low-fat Peanut Butter?
Posted on December 5, 2006 ·
TechCrunch seems to know that Yahoo is switching to low-fat peanut-butter this afternoon, in a company-wide webcast. The trimming is expected to be about 20%, and starts at the top…
Quiz: what’s wrong with my peanut-butter metaphor?
(Answer: peanut oil is one of the good fats, unlike Yahoo, you don’t want to reduce it…)
Update (11/5): If you read this post before and clicking on the above link took you to a 404 error page – my apologies. Apparently TechCrunch did the absolute no-no by deleting their original post and replacing it with a new one.
Update (11/5): TechCrunch has a new summary post here, COO Dan Rosensweig is leaving.
Update (11/6): I may have been wrong about that low-fat peanut-butter: Good Mornign Silicon Valley thinks Yahoo added some chocolate to the peanut butter. That would be … Nutella?
Tags: yahoo, peanut butter, garlinghouse, terry semel
SVASE: Alternative Exits for Technology Startups
Posted on December 5, 2006 ·
Startup activity is at an all-time high, venture funding has soared, but something is still missing… the huge exits. The IPO market simply doesn’t exist. What are the alternative exit strategies for all that venture capital?
- Acquisition by Google / Yahoo/ eBay ..etc?
- IPO on a foreign Stock Exchange?
- Go public through a reverse merger? (yuck…)
- or…?
These are a few of the questions our excellent panel will discuss at the Alternative Exits For Technology Startups event organized by SVASE this Thursday, December 7 in Palo Alto.
The Panel:
- Peter Rip, Managing Director, Leapfrog Ventures
- Robert Simon, Director, Alta Partners
- Ungad Chadda, Director, Listings, TSX Venture Exchange
- Curtis Mo, Partner, WilmerHale
- Neil Weintraut, Partner, Palo Alto Venture Partners
Moderator: Stephane Dupont, Executive Vice President, National Venture Capital Association.
For details, speaker bio’s and registration link please see the SVASE site.
See you there!
Tags: svase, ipo, ipo market, exit strategy, venture capital, venture funding, vc funding, sdforum, tiE, business networking, startups, entrepreneurship
SVASE VC Breakfast with Walden VC in San Francisco – Sold Out
Posted on November 28, 2006 ·
I’ll be moderating another SVASE VC Breakfast Club meeting this Thursday, Nov 30th in San Francisco. As usual, it’s an informal round-table where 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 Larry Marcus, Managing Director, Walden Venture Capital. The Zvents post has all the info and a map; and normally I would link to registration but this event has sold out. 
(here’s a list of future events, 2 in December, so you could sign up in time)
These sessions are a valuable 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 in San Francisco!
Tags: Venture Capital, VC Breakfast, Funding, VC Funding, Startups, Entrepreneurship, SVASE, SDForum, TiE
Foodie VC Blogs
Posted on November 20, 2006 ·
I guess there’s more than one foodie VC Blog. I’ve been a faithful reader of Trinity Partner Tom Cole’s Consuming Ambitions for a while, and today I found out from Robert that “Paul Matteucci, one of the VC’s who funded PodTech, writes a good foodie blog called FoodCrunch.”
They don’t really compete, though. FoodCrunch appears to be quite international in coverage and focuses on ingredients and recipes, while Consuming Ambitions has a definite Bay Area focus, featuring restaurant reviews, local farmers’ markets, wineries, recipes – anything worth mentioning, including private food-tasting hosted by fellow VC’s.
Ahhhhhhhhh, I’m getting hungry. Bon Appetite. 
Smoking Forbidden – Even at Your Home
Posted on November 20, 2006 ·
The city of Belmont, CA is about to introduce radical anti-smoking regulation:
“Belmont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with the drafting of an ordinance that revises the city’s current smoking ban in workplaces and most public areas, to now include any residence except single-family detached homes. (CBS5.com)
Frankly, I’m not sure what to think. I do not smoke, and I can’t stand second-hand smoke. Having lived in smoke-free California for a while, landing at any European airport is a pain, I literally suffocate from the dense smoke… same experience at many places on the East Coast. But here in CA we’re as smoke-free as we can be.
Talk about smoke, how about wood-burning fireplaces? A great American tradition – banned for new home construction in most CA communities, yet every day I open my windows for a bit of fresh air, I am getting bombarded by a *fresh* dose of carcinogen courtesy of my neighbors. I really hate it, but I don’t think owners of older homes can be ordered not to use this amenity.
The list can go on – unless you live in the middle of a 15-acre property, you won’t be completely isolated from your neighbors. How far can cities go in issuing ordinances, over-regulating every aspect of our lives? Shouldn’t our homes be the ultimate sanctuary, off-limits to regulations?
What do YOU think?
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