SVASE Event: 'EBS: Corporate Venture Capital - A Ready Source Of “Smart Money”' May 16, 2007

SVASE Event: 'EBS: Corporate Venture Capital - A Ready Source Of “Smart Money”'

Event: 'EBS: Corporate Venture Capital - A Ready Source Of “Smart Money”'

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 At 06:00
Duration: 2 Hours
Contact Info:
Contact Program Chair: Dana Shultz Email: [email protected]
URL: svase.org/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=149&extmode=view&extid=722

East Bay Series “Real-life Stories of Entrepreneurial Success"
Corporate Venture Capital - A Ready Source of “Smart Money”

When VCs talk about “smart money,” they refer to their ability to influence a company’s success by providing customer contacts, building a team, and offering knowledge of the market sector. Money from corporate strategic investors also is “smart,” but in a different way. They bring deep technical knowledge, experience turning technology into products, and connections to thought leaders in the industry. And just as corporate strategic investors’ contributions are different, their investment criteria are different, too. Our expert panel will use real-life stories to explain how and when to approach corporate strategic investors. Learn about investments they’ve made – and what entrepreneurs did to earn those investments.

May 16, 2007
6-6:30 pm: Networking
6:30-8 pm: Panel discussion and Q/A

COST (Includes buffet dinner, coffee and tea; cash bar available):
Members - $20
Affiliates who advertise this event - $20
General public - $30
Walk-ins: add $10 to rates above

LOCATION: Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Drive, Danville, CA 94526 - 925-735-5700.
DIRECTIONS: Exit I-680 at Crow Canyon Road. Take Crow Canyon east approximately one mile. Turn left at El Capitan / Tahiti Drive (there are two left turn lanes – stay in the one on the right). Then take the first right to the guard gate. After checking in at the gate, take the third left turn (just past the tennis courts) into the clubhouse parking lot.
DRESS: Business casual or business attire, please – no jeans or shorts.

Moderator

Catharina Min, Partner, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. (www.ssd.com)
Catharina Y. Min practices corporate and securities law with an emphasis in representing both US and international clients in mergers and acquisitions, private financings, joint ventures, strategic alliances, corporate partnering, securities offerings and other corporate transactions. She also represents emerging companies in general corporate matters and financings. In addition, she has extensive experience representing Asian clients doing business in the United States and Asia. Ms. Min is a frequent speaker at many organizations including the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs and the Korean IT Network Forum covering topics related to cross-border transactions and venture capital financings. She is a director and past president of both the Korean-American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco and the Korean-American Bar Association of Northern California. She is also on the board of the Korean-American Community Center. Ms. Min was co-chair of the Practice Development Committee of the Asian American Bar Association and is currently a member of both the International Association of Korean Lawyers and the Korean-American Society of Entrepreneurs.

Panel

Tom Whiteaker, Senior Director Strategic Alliances and Investments, Visa International (www.corporate.visa.com)
Tom Whiteaker is Senior Director of Strategic Ventures for Visa International. In this role, he is responsible for identifying, evaluating, negotiating and executing strategic partnerships and private equity investments in early to mid-stage venture backed companies. Mr. Whiteaker's current investment focus is on emerging security, mobile and authentication solutions for the financial services industry. Mr. Whiteaker joined the Strategic Ventures division at Visa in 1999. While at Visa he has formed strategic partnerships with and invested in several companies including Zone Labs (Acquired by CheckPoint), nCircle Network Security, NextPage, Vericept and Inside Contactless. Prior to Visa Mr. Whiteaker was the Director of International Business Development for Omnium Worldwide. Mr. Whiteaker graduated from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management in 1996 with an MBA degree in International Management and received a B.S. degree in Finance from Arizona State University in 1989.

John Steuart, Managing Director, Claremont Creek Ventures (www.claremontvc.com)
John has spent the last 20 years managing, building and investing in technology and life science companies. John focuses on the intersection of the information technology and life sciences markets including bioinformatics, molecular diagnostics, genomics, proteomics, software and instrumentation for med-tech industries. John serves on the board of directors of Arcxis, PropertyBridge, and Tibion Bionic Technologies. He is an Industry Fellow at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the College of Engineering as well as a member of the Advisory Council to the Lester Center's Berkeley Entrepreneurs’ Forum at UC Berkeley. He recently joined the Advisory Board for Technology Ventures Corporation (TVC), an organization which fosters entrepreneurs and technologies coming out of the national labs such as Lawrence Berkeley, Sandia and Lawrence Livermore. Early in his career, he joined Alafi Capital, an Emeryville-based venture firm specializing in early-stage biomedical companies, where he served as an officer of the General Partner. At Alafi, John lead investments in more than a dozen successful start-ups, and served as the senior executive and board member of various firms such as Tanox, Software Ventures, Lipomatrix, and Megan Health.

Additional panel members to be announced!

This event is co-sponsored by Rose Ryan, www.roseryan.com, Claremont Creek Ventures, www.claremontvc.com, Saylor & Hill Company, www.saylorhill.com and Sonnenschein Venture Technology Group, www.sonnenschein.com

Official Website: http://svase.org/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=149&extmode=view&extid=722