SVASE VC Breakfast Club with Prashant Shah of Hummer Winblad, Focus on Desktop Software, Embedded Systems, SAAS September 11, 2008

SVASE VC Breakfast Club with Prashant Shah of Hummer Winblad, Focus on Desktop Software, Embedded Systems, SAAS

Start: 09/11/2008 - 8:00am
End: 09/11/2008 - 9:30am
WHAT:VC Breakfast Club with Prashant Shah of Hummer Winblad, focus on Desktop Software, Embedded Systems, Distributed Network Computing, Internet and SAAS

WHEN:Thu Sep 11th from 8:00am – 9:30am

WHERE:Bridges SF, Law Offices of Morgann Lewis
One Market, Spear Street Tower, San Francisco CA 94303
www.bridgessf.com

CONTACT:
Jai Kumar, Program Chair, [email protected]
Cell: 408-406-4693

COST: $25 SVASE Members; $39 Affiliates; $49 Non-members. This event is for ENTREPRENEURS ONLY, BY PREREGISTRATION ONLY.

This event is co-sponsored by Bridges SF, www.bridgessf.com.

URL:- www.svase.org/?q=node/1640

VC Breakfast Club with Prashant Shah of Hummer Winblad, Focus on Desktop Software, Embedded Systems, Distributed Network Computing, Internet and SAAS

Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

Hummer Winblad Venture Partners was founded in 1989 as the first venture capital fund to invest exclusively in software companies. Through our history, we’ve had the opportunity to invest in the pioneers and leaders of several generations of software applications, architectures, delivery methods and business models.

We’ve helped entrepreneurs build companies in desktop software, embedded systems, client-server, distributed network computing, internet, and software as a service. Our earliest portfolio companies started shipping software on floppy disks and today we’re investors in pioneering companies in on-demand computing. We’ve seen everything from shrink-wrap licenses to enterprise-wide "big deals" to subscription pricing; from direct sales to highly-leveraged channel strategies.

Hummer Winblad Venture Partners invests in start up software companies. We believe that innovative software technology is a core driver of competitive advantage within companies. Software is capable of changing the economics of entire industries. Our goal as venture investors is provide you with the capital and board experience to help you achieve your goal.

We look for entrepreneurs who have a passion for their business, a large and growing market opportunity, a hard to duplicate technology, and a business model that works for both the target customers and the enterprise.

The Entrepreneurs The founders are the most important ingredient in building a successful company. Passion, integrity, commitment, vision, and most of all, an unyielding desire to succeed are just some of the attributes we look for. There is no single description of a successful entrepreneur. They come from all walks of life and all nationalities, races, ages, yet they share one important ingredient — a willingness to put it all on the line and never quit. This is what we look for.

The Market We look for a large, underserved, yet growing and addressable market. We cannot stress enough the importance of a deep understanding of how your target market works, the underlying economics of the market, what drives it, how easily you can identify the decision makers within your target market, and most of all, the power of your value proposition to break into the target market.

The Team Successful companies are built by strong and cohesive teams with the vision to define an operating strategy that will lead to a profitable, high growth enterprise. Teams must be dedicated fully to the enterprise, realistic in their assessments, and willing to learn from the successes and failures of market leaders. We recognize that strong teams are not built overnight and we are willing to help teams attract excellence into the enterprise.

The Technology It should be hard to duplicate, sustainable, and well architected for the target market. "Me too," or "nice to have" solutions may gain traction temporarily but will not stand the test of time that is a prerequisite for venture investing. The founders should have a firm grasp of technology, how it fits into the technology eco system of both partners and competitors, and how it is differentiable and sustainable.

Prashant Shah

Prashant Shah, Managing Director, joined Hummer Winblad in December 2000. He has been instrumental in many investments including Baynote, Bridgestream, Cenzic, InMage, Jareva Technologies, Krillion, Scalent, SyncVoice, Tizor and Voltage Security. He also observes a number of these boards. In addition, Prashant is an active Charter Member of TiE Silicon Valley (www.tiesv.org), where he is Chair of the Software SIG; and a member of the Board of Trustees for Astia (www.astia.org).

Prior to Hummer Winblad, Prashant spent many years defining and launching high tech products. His background spans all seven layers of the OSI stack with product management roles at enCommerce (acquired by Entrust), Cypress Semiconductor and AT&T. Prashant received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Official Website: http://www.svase.org/?q=node/1640