SVASE Main Event: Bootstrap Heroes - Building a Great Company Without Venture Capital March 2, 2010

SVASE Main Event: Bootstrap Heroes - Building a Great Company Without Venture Capital
Start: 03/02/2010 - 6:00pm
End: 03/02/2010 - 8:30pm

Contact: Laura Weigant
Email: [email protected]

Location: Cooley Godward Kronish LLP
3175 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304

URL: www.svase.org/?q=node/3784

“Bootstrap Heroes - Building a Great Company Without Venture Capital”

Some businesses are built on venture capital. Google and eBay come to mind, as does dearly departed Pets.com…. Other businesses are bootstrapped by entrepreneurs, with Dell Computers, Microsoft, Hot or Not and Cataphora as good examples.

Despite the dream of many entrepreneurs to meet investors with deep pockets that will enable them to live in style while they employ teams of experts to build and market their idea, the fact is that 99.9 percent of businesses are bootstrapped. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. With a lot of sweat and the occasional welcome dollop of luck, bootstrapping a business can be both financially and emotionally rewarding. When done well, it can really get a company going fast, and without the founders having to give up much (if any) equity - or bankrupting themselves.

So, what does it mean and how do you bootstrap a company? This lively discussion with our panel of experts who have been there, done that – in some cases several times! – will explore the following questions, and more, to help you figure out if bootstrapping is for you.
· What have you seen as the biggest indicators of future success, or failure, for bootstrapped startups?
· What are the first 2 or 3 key things you should do to help decide if you should bootstrap, or not?
· OK, you’ve decided to bootstrap, but still need SOME money. Where does it come from?
· You need a team to develop your product. Should you round up people you know & pay them with equity, or outsource development somewhere cheap like Eastern Europe?
· You need equipment, even if it’s just a couple of servers. What are some cheap ways to get your hands on the stuff you need?
· It’s tough enough to get first customers if you’re venture funded. How does a scrappy bootstrapped startup get in the door to make its first sales?
You need legal services to establish the legal entity, set up a stock option plan, create terms & conditions of sales, and so on. You can’t afford $450 an hour attorneys, so how do you get this done?

The Panel:
·Elizabeth Charnock, CEO & Founder, Cataphora
·Rick Marini, CEO & Founder, SuperFan
·Dan Martell, Co-founder, Flowtown
·Bill Reichert, Managing Director, Garage Technology Ventures

Moderator: TBD

When: Tuesday, March 2
6:00 – 7:00 pm Networking and hors d’oeuvres
7:00 - 8:15 pm Panel discussion and Q&A
8:15 - 8:30 pm Additional networking

Location: Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, 3175 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304

Pre-Registered Rates (All Rates Include Hors D’oeuvres):
Members - $20; Affiliates who advertise this event - $29; General Public - $49

Pre-registration closes at 9 PM the night before the event.

Walk-In Rates: Add $10.00 to the listed price

Seating is limited, so early registration is recommended to avoid disappointment on the day.

This event is co-sponsored by Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, www.cooley.com.

Speaker Bios

Elizabeth Charnock, CEO & Founder, Cataphora
Elizabeth founded Cataphora and has led it from concept to profitability, funded entirely by revenues from clients and without any outside investment. She was previously the CEO and founder of Troba, an industry leading Customer Relationship Management software company which she sold in 2001. Elizabeth has significant experience in engineering management, management consulting, and restart management at such companies as Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. Elizabeth holds a BS in Theoretical Mathematics from the University of Michigan Honors Program. She is also the author of a forthcoming book called “The Digital YOU” which will be available in August 2010 from McGraw Hill.

Rick Marini, CEO & Founder, SuperFan
Rick Marini has been a pioneer in online social media for the past 10 years. Rick is the Founder & CEO of SuperFan. SuperFan is a social entertainment site that allows users to become a Fan of ALL the things they love in life including music, celebs, tv/movies, sports, games, brands, books, places, schools, etc.

Prior to founding SuperFan, Rick was the Co-Founder, CFO & Chief Strategist for Tickle.com. Tickle was one of the largest social media sites on the Internet and he first site to successfully leverage viral marketing through personality tests, photo-sharing and matchmaking products. Under his leadership, Tickle operated as a profitable company with close to $40 million of annual revenue. In 2002, Tickle won the “Rising Star” Webby Award as the fastest growing site on the Web and became a top 20 global Internet site with 200 million registered users. Rick served on the Board of Directors of Tickle until 2004 when Tickle was successfully acquired by Monster Worldwide for over $100 million.

Rick currently serves on the Advisory Boards of Friendster, Lumos Labs and Fwix.

Rick received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of New Hampshire, magna cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard.

Bill Reichert, Managing Director, Garage Technology Ventures
Bill Reichert has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and an operating executive. Since joining Garage in 1998, Bill has focused on early-stage information technology and materials science companies. He sits on the Boards of CaseStack, WhiteHat, ClearFuels, cFares, and ThermoCeramix. Prior to Garage, Bill was a co-founder or senior executive in several venture-backed technology startups, including Trademark Software, The Learning Company, and Academic Systems. Earlier in his career, he worked at McKinsey & Company, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., and the World Bank. Bill earned a B.A. at Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He was a founding board member and a Chairman of the Churchill Club, and a Charter Member of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs. Currently he is the Chairman of the Small Fund Roundtable of the VC Taskforce and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Official Website: http://www.svase.org/?q=node/3784