SVASE Main Event: Founders vs. Investors - Are we all on the same page? April 7, 2011

SVASE Main Event: Founders vs. Investors - Are we all on the same page?

Start: 04/07/2011 - 6:00 pm
End: 04/07/2011- 8:30 pm

Contact: Laura Weigant
Email: [email protected]

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

URL:-www.svase.org/events/main-event-founders-vs-investors-are-we-all-same-page-0

Founders vs. Investors - Are we all on the same page?

The relationship between investors and startup founders hopefully runs smoothly, but can become ragged when their agendas diverge.

For example, many VCs look for “home runs,” with the potential to return 40x, or more, on their investment, which has pushed the average time to exit out to 10 years, requiring multiple rounds of funding, diluting founder equity, and may require the founders to hand over the reins to a “professional” CEO.

Conversely, for first time Entrepreneurs in particular, a more modest exit after 2 or 3 years, while they are still at the helm & hold a larger equity stake, may be seen as a much more attractive shot at securing some life changing capital.

At least in the internet & mobile sectors, where capital efficient startups can get meaningful user traction and be quickly acquired, the game seems to be tilting in the founder’s favor.

This lively panel will take an informative & irreverent look at what’s happening in the dance between founders & investors, exploring the following topics, and more:

· What does each side really want from the other?
· Who’s really running the company – the founders or the investors?
· How does the dynamic change when new investors come on board?
· How long should startup founders be expected to live on ramen & noodles, while their investors turn up to board meetings in brand new Porsches?
· What’s more important – a successful, viable company, or a profitable exit?
· When should it be possible for startup founders to take some money off the table, prior to an exit?
· How often do founders get coached to succeed versus replaced, and what are the consequences?
· As a Founder, what due diligence should you do before approaching investors?

The Panel:

· Mark Goldstein, Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor
· TJohn Vrionis, Managing Director, Lightspeed Venture Partners
· Chris Redlitz, Founding Partner, Transmedia Capital
· Andrew Roberts, Founder & CEO, Ephox

Moderator: TBD

When: Thursday, April 7
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 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

To reserve an Exhibit Table, please 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 Cooley LLP, www.cooley.com.

Speaker Bios:
Mark Goldstein, Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor
Mark was Founder and Chairman of Loyalty Lab Inc now a Tibco (TIBX) subsidiary. A seven-time serial entrepreneur, prior he co-founded BlueLight.com and served as its President and CEO. During his tenure at BlueLight, he launched its successful e-commerce shopping site, built its private label internet service to almost seven million members. Mark also started Home Account, a mortgage buying startup now owned by Bills.com.

Earlier, Mark served as VP of Shopping at Inktomi (now a part of Yahoo), a software company that acquired Impulse! Buy Network, a web merchandising specialist that he founded in 1997 as its CEO.

Before, Mark founded NetAngels, a web profiling firm (now a part of Microsoft), and before that he founded online gaming and trading firm Reality Online (now part of Reuters) where he served as President for over seven years. Mark has served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at both New Enterprise Associates and SOFTBANK Venture Capital. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he attended the Wharton School and today serves on the Penn Library Board of Overseers.

Mark is/was on the Board of Directors or Advisors of Social Media, Bluefly, Loyalty Lab, Salesforce and twenty other organizations over the course of the past two decades.

companies you've founded or co-founded:
Reality Online, Impulse Buy Network, NetAngels, Bluelight, GreenUp, Home Account, Loyalty Lab

companies you've invested in:
(all of mine), Miasole, Nanosolar, Qik, Salesforce, YottaQ, StyleSeat, Support Software, and 10 or so others

John Vrionis, Managing Director, Lightspeed Venture Partners
John joined Lightspeed in 2006 and focuses primarily on information technology infrastructure, with a particular investment interest in datacenter technologies.
Previously, John worked in product management and marketing with Determina(acquired by VMware), and was an initial member of the executive team at Freedom Financial Network.

John holds an MBA from Stanford University, an MS in Computer Science from the University of Chicago and a BA from Harvard University.

Selected Investments
> AppDynamics: App Management/ Cloud Computing
> Cirtas: Enterprise cloud storage systems
> DataStax: Scalable Database
> Delphix: Database virtualization software
> Embrane: Virtualized network services
> Evolv: Talent intelligence SaaS platform
> IO Turbine: IO Acceleration
> MapR Technology: Map Reduce data center solutions
> MuleSoft: Open source software integration infrastructure
> Nimble Storage: Enterprise storage solutions
> Pliant: Enterprise flash SSDs
> Pushpins: Mobile coupons
> Tintri: Enterprise infrastructure solutions

Chris Redlitz, Founding Partner, Transmedia Capital
Chris is a founding partner of Transmedia Capital, an investment and advisory group focused on early stage, capital efficient companies that provide technology and services for digital media, entertainment, content publishing, gaming, mobile apps and online advertising. Recent investments include: Context Logic, Real Gravity, Kiip, TextualAds, Mobile Spinach, Appmakr, and MyLikes. Chris is also the founder of KickLabs a leading technology accelerator in San Francisco.

Chris has been on the forefront of emerging technologies since the commercialization of the web. In 1997 he co-founded AdAuction, the first online media exchange; the precursor to auction based and dynamic pricing platforms for online media. Chris was instrumental in restructuring business strategies for marketing and lead generation companies GetRelevant (acquired by Lycos), and Aptimus (acquired by Apollo LLC). He launched the first online independent yellow page directory, automated coupon platform, RSS advertising and content syndication system, and helped develop the first peer to peer ad delivery system. He received Ad Age’s prestigious i20 award for his contributions to the development of interactive marketing and advertising. Chris has been an active adviser and investor in emerging companies for the past ten years. He was a seed investor in Omniture, the web’s leading analytics company (IPO 2006), acquired by Adobe in 2009.

Chris spent more than ten years at Reebok International where he held management positions in sales and marketing and also owned one of the first sports retail chains in Southern California. For twenty years, Chris was distance runner completing multiple marathons and ultra marathons. Today he is a Johnny G certified spin instructor, avid cyclist, golfer, and skier. True to his passion for health and fitness, he serves on the board of Body Ami, a producer of organic health products.

Chris lives in Marin County, north of San Francisco, with his wife and business partner, Beverly. They are focused on a sustainable lifestyle with a vibrant organic garden and small flock hens. They spend their chill time in Jackson Hole, WY.

Andrew Roberts, CEO & Founder, Ephox
Andrew is founder and CEO of Ephox, As CEO of Ephox, Andrew is responsible for Ephox’s strategic direction and execution. Andrew has been an entrepreneur for 15 years and on three continents. Prior to co-founding Ephox in 1999, Andrew helped start Webz, a web development company, and Home Computing Connections, a computer services provider targeted at consumers.

After establishing Ephox’s Australian-based engineering team and leading the development of EditLive!, Andrew moved to Silicon Valley to establish Ephox’s headquarters. Since becoming CEO in 2004, Ephox has grown sales by more than 600%, increased profits more than ten-fold and developed key strategic partnerships. Andrew is on the entrepreneurial committee of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE). Previously, he was a board member of Software Engineering Australia and the winner of a Young Australian of the Year Award.

Official Website: http://www.svase.org/events/main-event-founders-vs-investors-are-we-all-same-page-0