SVASE Main Event: Raising Capital for Early Stage Startups August 6, 2009

SVASE Main Event: Raising Capital for Early Stage Startups

Start: 08/06/2009 - 6:00pm
End: 08/06/2009 - 8:30pm

Contact Info: Laura Weigant Email: [email protected]

Location: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304

URL:-www.svase.org/?q=node/2025

Raising Capital for Early Stage Technology Startups

While nay-sayers are predicting the demise of the Venture Capital system, firms such as Altas Ventures, August Capital, DFJ Frontier, and Element have raised new funds this year. Ron Conway, one of the most active angels in the Valley has stated publicly that he plans to invest in 40 – 50 startups over the next few years, corporations such as Google and Best Buy have branched out into the venture capital world, and successful entrepreneurs, including Mark Andreessen, have announced that they are looking to start venture funds. So with this and the VC and angel activity at events like Launch: Silicon Valley 2009, it looks like there are investors with real money actively seeking interesting startups to invest in. The key question is then, is innovative technology still the engine that drives differentiation and competitive advantage for startups, and is it enough to cause VCs and angels to reach for their wallets? Or, have the rules changed, yet again?

Finding the Funding for YOUR Company!

This lively panel discussion will explore current trends and panelist opinions on topics including:
What types of startups are getting funded? – Consumer? Technology? Social? Wireless? or what? What are the most attractive markets – 5 million free members to the next Flagr/Fligr/Flikr, or the Fortune 500? Are industries that require a lot on money to get going, such as CleanTech, Semiconductor and Life Sciences still attractive to the new breed of investors? What are VCs looking for from startup teams – management, management, management? What are VCs looking for in startup exits – a long term company, acquisition, a quick flip to Google or perhaps an IPO? Do you need to have a business model, or can you follow the Twitter model to apparent success? What do VCs want to know about you – funding pitch-KISS, the technology, patentable IP, the market, or what?

The Panel:
Carol Sands, Founder & Managing Member, The Angels’ Forum and The Halo Funds
TBD
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Moderator: Steve Goveia, Managing Director, M & A, GROCO, LLP

WHEN: Thursday, August 66:00 - 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:
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR Campus), 950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304

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

WALK-IN RATES: Add $10.00 to the listed price

To reserve an Exhibit Table:
Contact [email protected], $350 Members; $850 Non-members (includes exhibit table, 2 tickets to the event and 1 year corporate membership)

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

This event is co-sponsored by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, www.wsgr.com/

Speakers’ Bios

Carol Sands, Founder & Managing Member, The Angels’ Forum and The Halo Funds
Carol Sands, 55, is the Founder and the Managing Member of The Angels’ Forum and The Halo Funds. She has spent the last 35 years with investing, entrepreneurial, and/or large corporate institutions.

Carol’s career started in the Midwest where she was a bank officer with First Bank Systems and held marketing or sales positions with Motorola and Xerox Computer Services. After moving to San Francisco, she was hired into executive positions at Arthur Young (now Ernst & Young) and Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). Then Carol founded Sands MarketingPlus, an international sales management and marketing consulting firm with advertising & PR agencies.

In 1997, she incorporated The Angels’ Forum Management Company, the parent company for a revolutionary company in angel investing that organizes individual investors with previous entrepreneurial experience to invest as a single entity using a venture capital model for due diligence, mentoring, and board management, called The Angels’ Forum.

In 2000, Carol co founded Halo I, a $25 million venture fund invested in early stage, Silicon Valley based start ups, with Ed Esber, Phil Schlein, Craig Sirnio and Ed Berkowitz. With the same core partners, Halo Fund II was launched in 2004. An annex fund to Halo I, The Halo Opportunity Fund (January 2006) had Carol continuing as the Managing Member. In 2007, Ed Esber and Carol Sands co founded The Halo Fund III Management Company with Phil Schlein, Craig Sirnio, Nagesh Mhatre and Geoff Tate.
In addition to her investment based responsibilities, Carol is the Chair of the Global Women's Leadership Network, and a board advisor to Facing History and Ourselves. She is a Charter Member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), an Advisory Board Member for Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE) and the ANZA Technology Network, as well as a member of The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs & Executives (FWE&E) and the Women’s Forum West. She is also a Director of the Sands Family Foundation which funds early stage and pre NIH research relating to prostate and ovarian cancers. Carol received her B.A. in Business Administration from The University of Iowa.

Official Website: http://www.svase.org/?q=node/2025