Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE)

Mon, 12/08/2008 - 5:17 pm - Guest

Start: 04/13/2010 - 5:30 pm
End: 04/13/2010- 8:30 pm

Submission deadline for Entrepreneurs wishing to present at this event is Friday Mar 26th.

First Impressions provides SVASE entrepreneurs with the opportunity to present to and receive formal structured feedback from prominent members of the entrepreneurial and venture funding communities. This is a great way to gain first hand experience on pitching for Venture Capital, make connections with VCs and Angels, and get a clear understanding on how to move your business forward.

"My presentation at First Impressions led not only to a number of valuable investor and VC contacts, but also brought me closer to other entrepreneurs, with a valuable exchange of experiences. In addition, winning the popular vote was a key affirmation that the pitch worked." Jan Samzelius, CEO, ByteShield

REGISTRATION:
Pre-Registered Audience members - $25 SVASE Members; $49 Non-Members. For walk-ins on the day, add $10 to the Pre-Registration rates.

Presenting companies, INVITATION ONLY - $45 SVASE Members; $95 Non-Members

Click HERE to Register for this event

(Optional Pitch Presentation review with Chris Gill, President of SVASE & member, Sand Hill Angels – 1 hour $150; 2 hours $225. Contact Chris Gill at President@svase.org to arrange a mutually convenient time and location)

AGENDA:
5.30-6.15 pm: Networking and Finger Food
6.15-8:30 pm: Startup Presentations, Q&A plus feedback

PANEL: see below for bios
Paul Straub, Pricipal, Claremont Creek Ventures
Vivek Mehra, Partner, August Capital
Don Ross, Board Member, Sand Hill Angels

LOCATION:
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Main Building,650 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, 94304

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

Event Description
SVASE First Impressions Pitch Feedback events provide the opportunity for entrepreneurs and startup teams seeking their first round of funding, other than friends & family, to gain experience in creating and delivering a clear, concise pitch and in receiving structured feedback from a panel of experienced investors, on both their pitch and their business propositions.

Panelist Bios

Paul Straub, Principal, Claremont Creek Ventures
Paul Straub joined Claremont Creek Ventures in 2005. Prior to joining, Paul worked in product management at VERITAS Software (SYMC) and as a consultant to management at Red Hat Software. He also spent several years as an Associate at Infinity Capital and Information Technology Ventures in Palo Alto where he focused on early-stage investments in software and services companies. Paul began his career at Montgomery Securities and subsequently as a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Investment Banking team at Thomas Weisel Partners.

Paul serves on the board of TargetCast Networks and Adura Technologies.

Paul holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce.

Investment Portfolio
Adura Technologies
EcoFactor
Lefora
TargetCast Networks

Vivek Mehra, Partner, August Capital
Vivek joined August Capital in 2003. He invests broadly in IT infrastructure and areas of interest include data center technologies, systems management, security, storage, and cloud computing systems and software.

Prior to joining August Capital, Vivek co-founded Cobalt Networks in 1996. As CTO & VP of Product Development, Vivek built the first successful server appliance and grew Cobalt into a worldwide leader in the category, culminating in a successful IPO and acquisition by Sun Microsystems for $2B. At Sun, Vivek served as the Vice President and General Manager of the Cobalt Business Unit and a member of Sun’s Technical Architecture Counsel.

Prior to founding Cobalt, Vivek held a number of technical and management positions at Apple, SGI, and Digital Equipment Corporation and successfully developed numerous products including Internet enabled set-top boxes, PDAs, RISC workstations, and high performance graphics subsystems.

Vivek received a BS in Electronics from Punjab University, India, and an MS in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University.

Current Investments and Board Affiliations: DotNetNuke and Virsto Software.

Previous August Capital investments: Reconnex (acquired by McAfee), Encentuate (acquired by IBM), NeoPath Networks (acquired by Cisco), PulseCore Semiconductor (acquired by ON Semiconductor), PacketTrap Networks (acquired by Quest Software), Mimosa (acquired by Iron Mountain), and Iridigm (acquired by Qualcomm). Prior to joining August Capital, Vivek was an investor in NetFish (acquired by Iona) and Octane Software (acquired by Epiphany), was an advisor to Perfigo (acquired by Cisco) and served on the board of Net6 (acquired by Citrix).

Don Ross, Board Member, Sand Hill Angels
Don Ross is a Board Director of Sand Hill Angels.   He is Co-Chair of the Entrepreneurial Community and External Relationships Committees with Sherman Ting and Jim Connor; and, Co-Chair of the Deal Quality Committee with Ray Robidoux and Co-Chair of the Membership Education Committee with Ray Robidoux.  Mr. Ross has been active in life sciences for 25 years and co-founded a life sciences publishing company that was acquired in 2000.  He published periodicals sponsored by major pharmaceutical companies in areas such as allergy and asthma, skin care, psychopharmacology, and kidney health.  In the early 1980s, Mr. Ross developed software systems for psychological testing and software applications for automated blood pressure monitoring at the work site.

Mr. Ross is co-author of two college-level nutrition textbooks, now in their second and third editions.  Originally trained as an architect, Mr. Ross graduated from UC Berkeley with honors.  He is an active investor in startup companies and assists with strategic planning and business plan development.  His investment focus is biomedical and technology, and includes companies involved in therapeutic drug monitoring and medical connectors.

SVASE First Impressions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The following FAQs have been compiled by Chad Salinas, the Chair of the SVASE First Impressions program.

What is the purpose of First Impressions Funding Pitch Feedback events?
SVASE provides opportunities for entrepreneurs to be exposed to best practices, helpful people and opportunities to grow. It is up to the entrepreneur to take advantage of these opportunities. At First Impressions Funding Pitch Feedback events, SVASE provides opportunities for growth through experience and feedback, and the chance to meet helpful people. SVASE does not act as an introduction agent or broker.

What stage should a company be at for First Impressions?
First Impressions events are intended as a platform for entrepreneurs and startup teams seeking their first round of funding, other than friends & family, to gain experience in creating and delivering a clear, concise pitch and in receiving structured feedback from a panel of experienced investors, on both their pitch and their business propositions.

What are the criteria for selecting companies to present at First Impressions?
First Impressions provides a platform for entrepreneurs with little or no experience of presenting to investors, to get some real life experience & structured feedback. Companies invited to present MUST be able to provide the following information (not necessarily in this order) in no more than 6 minutes. To assist entrepreneurs in achieving this, SVASE provides regular Funding Pitch Workshops featuring the SVASE Funding Pitch Presentation Deck at a cost of $25 to SVASE members, and one-on-one presentation reviews – 1 hour $150, 2 hours $225 – with Chris Gill, President of SVASE and Member of Sand Hill Angels.

- What is the problem/opportunity you are addressing?
- What is your solution to this?
- What is the size of the market, and what % of this do you think you can capture?
- What is your business model? How will you generate revenue & profit?
- What are your marketing & sales strategies?
- How does what you offer compare against the competition?
- Milestones - achievements to date, key future milestones.
- Financials - income & outgoings to date, 3 year forecast. These should line up with the Milestones.
- Who’s on the Team - what have they accomplished to date, what gaps need to be filled?
Companies that are unable to provide the above information are not ready to present at First Impressions.

Who will be on the panel?
First Impressions panelists are recruited from a roster of known angels and VCs who are experienced not only in evaluating startups, but also in providing structured feedback.
Other investors in the audience will be invited from the broad investor community in Silicon Valley.

Who will be in the audience?
SVASE First Impressions Pitch Feedback events are open to anyone (Funding Pitch Workshops are exclusively for entrepreneurs and startup executive teams), so there will be a mix of VCs, angels, service providers and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to attend these events to see firsthand examples of effective presentations and presenter styles.

How many events does First Impressions have per year in each segment?
Based on the numbers of entrepreneurs and startups in Silicon Valley, we would expect to hold the events focusing on the following topics:
- Next Generation Internet
- Mobility
- Digital Media
- Life Science
- CleanTech
These will change over time, and more may be added, depending on demand

What are the First Impressions Timelines?

· Call for Companies – While candidates may forward presentations and Executive Summaries (ES’s) at any time, companies that wish to present at the next First Impressions event should submit materials approximately 24 days before the event.

· Presentation Submission Deadline - The deadline is the 20^th of the month preceding the event. Program Chair has been flexible with this deadline in the past, but priority has always been given to those who have met the deadline. Only after having exhausted the current queue of prospective candidates, do the Program Chair and SVASE President consider other prospective candidates.

· Candidate Selection Date – During the last week of the month preceding an event, the Program Chair and SVASE President conduct a substantial and rigorous review of the prospective candidates’ PowerPoint presentations.

· Notification & Registration – All prospective candidates are notified by the first week of the month of the event on their status. In the past, notification and statistics of the review have been sent via e-mail. Going forward, the notification will be augmented on either the SVASE web site or Chad Salinas’ Tech + Finance blog. SVASE asks that all selected presenters register on the SVASE web site and send a confirmation e-mail to chad.salinas@najdorf.com

· First ImpressionsPitch Feedback Event – The actual event is held bi-monthly on the second Tuesday of Feb, April, July, Oct, with exceptions for various holidays or major Silicon Valley events that may conflict with the date. Funding Pitch Preparation Workshops, which expose entrepreneurs to how VCs and Angels evaluate potential investments, and how to prepare an initial Funding Pitch, are held on the second Tuesday of Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov

How do I get a copy of the SVASE presentation template?
Send an e-mail to chad.salinas@najdorf.com . The reason you need to send an e-mail, as opposed to automatically downloading the SVASE template, is that Chad needs to get a sense for how many prospective candidates are interested in the next event. Oftentimes, initial inquiries come from window-shoppers who use Gmail and Yahoo accounts with indiscernible names. Chad still e-mails the template to anyone who requests it even though some have no interest in presenting at an event.

Do I have to use the SVASE presentation template? Can’t I just send you my existing Executive Summary (ES) or a PDF file?
Due to the 200+ inquiries for a particular event, Chad does not have the time to sort through the various submissions unless they are in SVASE’s format. Chad receives numerous 2-page Executive Summaries which do not give enough information to review, plus numerous 30+ page business plans which give too much information to review. Lastly, even though most prospective candidates may have an existing investor presentation, it is usually not specifically geared to be delivered in the 10 minutes that First Impressions allows. Lastly, the panels at First Impressions events score the presenters on dimensions taken directly from the presentation template.

How will my company be scored?
First Impressions has a Panelist’s Winner and a People’s Choice Winner. The panelists score presenters quantitatively and qualitatively on the following 8 dimensions:

1. Management Team
2. Customer understanding
3. Market Opportunity
4. Business Model
5. Competition
6. Product
7. Financials
8. Exit Opportunity

An example of the “Quantitative” scoring follows:

Quantitative Analysis:

Company Name
Criteria	Weight	Panelist 1	Panelist 2	Panelist 3	Panelist 4	Score
Management Team	25.00%	5	7	7	7	6.5
Customer Understanding	12.50%	7	8	5	6	3.25
Market Opportunity	12.50%	5	7	5	5	2.75
Business Model	12.50%	5	6	6	5	2.75
Competition	12.50%	4	7	4	6	2.625
Product	10.00%	5	5	6	7	2.3
Financials	10.00%	4	7	3	5	1.9
Exit Opportunity	5.00%	1	8	2	3	0.7
					Total	5.694

The “Qualitative” feedback is sent to the presenters in PDF format within a few days after the event.

The People’s Choice Winner is simply the audience (non-panelists) choice of the best presenting company on the night of the event.

The scores are tallied the night of the event and the winners are announced.

What if I am not invited to present this time around?
Chad has created a priority queue of potential presenters who will be considered for the next event. Chad moves each of the candidates who request to be reviewed to the queue for the upcoming event. These prospective presenters are also given the opportunity to update their template by the submission deadline for the next event.

Why wasn’t I invited to present?
Chad Salinas and Chris Gill formally review each candidate’s presentations for each event. Chad and Chris see more good presentations than can be accommodated in the 5 companies per event format.

That being said, the most common reason for not being invited is that the idea does not appear to be viable. Lack of viability may have to do with the following:

· Lifestyle investment – insufficient growth potential to allow the venture capitalist an exit opportunity at a high enough multiple.

· Half-baked – the business idea has not been thought through with the rigor that is the norm in the Silicon Valley.

· Me-too business – the panel, and frequently the audience, is arguably comprised of some of the most sophisticated early-stage investors in the world. You need to have a business idea that is differentiated, which you need to be able to articulate. Each review session witnesses presentations that have not considered switching costs, barriers to entry, IP defense, or competitive landscape.

Can I observe an event?
Yes you can. All you have to do is register as an audience member.

How do you determine the order of the presenters?
The order is determined alphabetically by company name.

How long are the presentations?
You have 10 minutes to complete your core presentation. For the next 10 minutes thereafter, the panelists ask questions and give feedback. If the panelists run out of questions and feedback, Chad invites the audience to participate.

Are there any breaks between presentations?
We anticipate 1 minute of transition from the previous presenter’s question/answer/feedback portion to the succeeding presenters pulling up his/her presentation. This allows the panelists to finish their written evaluations.

How many presenters will there be per event?
We provide the opportunity for 5 companies to present at each event.

Can we meet in-person or via telephone to review my presentation?
One-on-one presentation reviews with Chris Gill, President of SVASE and Member of Sand Hill Angels, are available at a mutually convenient place and time. The cost for this is $150 for 1 hour, $225 for 2 hours. To schedule a review meeting, email Chris Gill at President@svase.org

Can I get a confirmation that you received my presentation?
If you don’t get an e-mail from Chad Salinas by the 21^st of the month preceding the event and you submitted your presentation, please e-mail chad.salinas@najdorf.com. I don’t believe we have ever had a submittal fall through the cracks, but given the number of e-mails per event, better to be safe than sorry.

REGISTRATION:
Pre-Registered Audience members - $25 SVASE Members; $49 Non-Members. For walk-ins on the day, add $10 to the Pre-Registration rates.

Presenting companies, INVITATION ONLY - $45 SVASE Members; $95 Non-Members

(Optional Pitch Presentation review with Chris Gill, President of SVASE & member, Sand Hill Angels – 1 hour $150; 2 hours $225. Contact Chris Gill at President@svase.org to arrange a mutually convenient time and location)

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