Kawasaki, Moritz and Graham – Fireside Chat

Fireside Chat in Silicon Valley

At Garage.com’s Revenue Bootcamp this year, Guy Kawasaki (Garage.com), Mike Moritz (Sequoia Capital) and Paul Graham (Y-Combinator) frankly discuss what it takes to make it in a Silicon Valley startup. Required watching for all aspiring entrepreneurs!

From Building 43 website: ”

Two of Silicon Valley’s most successful venture capitalists say even the best ideas can be worthless without passion.

In the concluding session of Revenue Bootcamp, two money men – Mike Moritz, Sequoia Capital and Paul Graham, Y Combinator – sat down with Guy Kawasaki, managing director, Garage Technology Ventures to discuss the realities of venture capital funding in the technology industry – and the passion needed to succeed.

The day-long Revenue Bootcamp held July 10, 2009, on the Microsoft campus in Mountain View, Calif., brought together some top-notch experts to share tips, hints, lessons and advice about how to increase traffic with Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing and face-to-face meetings.

This video, “Fireside chat,” is the last in a series recorded during the one-day conference organized by Kawasaki.

Garage.com hosts Revenue Bootcamp Conference

Guy Kawasaki, Founder of Garage.com

Garage Technology Ventures presents Revenue Bootcamp, a conference for entrepreneurs to energize their strategies for generating revenue. While venture and angel investment appears harder and harder to get, bootstrapping and generating revenue are ideal solutions for young companies.

The conference covers maximizing traffic, generating leads, online advertising, non-traditional monetization strategies, and raising capital. Attendees will hear from industry experts and from entrepreneurs in the trenches, including Chris Anderson, author of Free: The Future of a Radical Price, Charlene Li, author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, Mike Moritz of Sequoia Capital, and Garage’s own Guy Kawasaki.

Check out the conference at http://revenuebootcamp.garage.com/

Cincinnati Innovates!

Put on your thinking caps and start creating ideas. If you have an idea that you think might just fly — submit it online to Cincinnati Innovates and you could win money to get your idea launched. CincyTech, The Haile Foundation and TaftLaw along with a host of supporting organizations have created the Greater Cincinnati Regional Innovation Competition that will start on May 1. The deadline for all entries is September 1 — so get started and start thinking!

Cincinnati Innovates

How to Get on Santa’s List

Guy Kawasaki, Founder of Garage.com

Think like an investor when you are raising funds! What would you like to hear from an entrepreneur when he pitches you? Guy Kawasaki blogs another winner column with the
The No-Bull-Shiitake Investor Wishlist
See if your plan and pitch will make it on his list.

Due Diligence – Your Personality is Showing

Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital

Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital Partners writes “Seeing Both Sides: VC Perspectives from a Former Entrepreneur.” In this blog on due diligence, he highlights what is truly learned during the phases of due diligence — not just the facts — but the way the entrepreneurs provide information, how they react and the essence of their true entrepreneur personality.

Entrepreneurs need to know that it is the whole package — the diligence and the interactions during due diligence that reveal all to the VC.

Click here to read the full blog…

GCVA Rocks Oakley!

The GCVA broke new ground with a very entrepreneurial event at the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley. The meeting delivered two startup company presentations, 249Smiles.com and AHL-TECH that are on the trail of their initial funding. Tim Schigel, CEO of ShareThis, keynoted on the magic that entrepreneurs must master to create a successful venture funded company.

Then – the Red Herrings took the stage — 9 Cincinnati entrepreneurs put on a great show with the crowd crying for more. Most importantly, there was a buzz in the air. Venture capitalist actually loosened their ties and entrepreneurs soaked it up. A number of InOneWeekend alumni gathered to celebrate.

“Conversation crystallizes genius!” and the crowd really connected and talked it up. The entertainment is tough to beat – but the GCVA is truly focusing on engaging entrepreneurs and investors to create a more vibrant startup community in the region.

Cincinnati scores at MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum

The MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum visited Cincinnati for its 6th gathering and brought over 300 people to hear keynotes and companies present their ideas and pitches. More than 54 venture firms were represented and at least 9 Cincinnati region companies presented as well. Thanks to all the Cincinnati area sponsors and to Carol Frankenstein of BioStart that recruited the conference to our fair city.

GCVA Extreme Makeover

Thanks to reality shows, we now have a new description for things that undergo significant change for the better. New houses, new bodies, new lives all have been transformed by new television.

Thanks to their hard work over the summer, the Board of Trustees of the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association (GCVA) has taken the organization through an extreme makeover. The old adage “What got you here won’t get you there!!” rang true and the board began to update, change and make this different than your grandfather’s GCVA. To start — the board renewed their commitment to entrepreneurs and their startup activities. After all, that is the lifeblood of early stage investors — innovative startups that take risks and pursue their dreams with passion. From more relevant content to expanded entrepreneur membership to reduced costs to making it easy to register and attend events — the board has removed the obstacles to create an entrepreneurially friendly environment. Secondly, the New and Improved! GCVA has brought back the startup presentations as a feature of every event. At least two startup companies will present their 10 minute pitch to the audience every month. A team of able coaches will screen the presentations, assist them with their pitch and make sure the pitches delivered are interesting, exciting and fundable. Being a member has never been easier. Thanks to restructuring and reducing the costs, all nine of the member events will be free to paid members. An RSVP to an email invite is the only requirment. No more difficult payments and websites. The improvements will continue through the year — new locations — five afternoon events and four luncheons. To join, just visit the New and Improved website: www.newgcva.com for event details and membership.

Pitching Season is about to Begin!!

The Venture Club of Indiana will host Venture Idol with 25 ‘entrepreneurial contestants’ competing for a grand prize of $10,000. Taking off from one of the most popular shows on television, Venture Idol is really a great way for 20 companies to get in front of investors for their ’60 seconds’ of fame.

First, you must submit an application to the Venture Idol Committee (Deadline: September 17, 2008.) If selected, you and 24 other companies get to give a 1 minute naked pitch (no powerpoint) with a 2 minute Q&A. The top 8 finalists move to round 2 to give a 5-minute presentation with a 5-minute Q&A. The winner receives $10K and there are 3 Miss Congeniality prizes of $3K each: “Most Innovative New Product, Biggest Opportunity, Let Me Invest Now!”

For you healthcare/biotech startups, the MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum will be held here in Cincinnati on October 1-2, 2008. Although the deadline for presenting has passed (August 15, 2008), you might contact them with your plan in the event of a cancellation.

Never Fund Anyone Over 30

Remember the 70’s — where you could never trust anyone over 30. Well all of us who didn’t trust anyone are now way past 30! The new mantra in the valley is “find them early and gettem going!”

Y Combinator is a new venture firm with a radically different model: Fund really, really, really early stage software startups and immerse them in Silicon Valley and Cambridge, Mass. culture to launch a business.