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Second Venture Press Releases-
“How to Pitch:” Entrepreneurs Learn the Secrets of Marketing to Angel and Venture Capital Investors in Silicon Valley
FundingPost hosts 60 start-up companies and Venture Capital and Angel Investors at a Pitching Workshop in Silicon Valley
For Immediate Release:
Menlo Park, California (March 9, 2005) – On March 15, 2005, leading Venture Capital and Angel investors are set to speak and coach entrepreneurs at the FundingPost “Silicon Valley Pitching Workshops” events sponsored by the City of Menlo Park, Orrick and TriNet. While most events only allow start-ups to network with investors, this event allows entrepreneurs to pitch their companies to early-stage investors and received helpful feedback from Angels and Venture Capitalists. The FundingPost Event Calendar and registration information are online at: http://www.fundingpost.com/events.asp
After completing four successful events in the same format in New York City and Philadelphia, FundingPost is bringing the “Pitching Workshops” model to Silicon Valley to help local start-ups get the kind of constructive critiques they need to be successful in achieving funding. There will be two pitching workshops, a morning session and an afternoon session. City of Menlo Park Mayor Mickie Winkler is scheduled to give the morning keynote speech and Menlo Park Council Member Nicholas Jellins will give the afternoon keynote.
After the keynote talks by Mickie Winkler, Mayor of the City of Menlo Park and Menlo Park Council Member Nicholas Jellins, the panelists will discuss what they look for in a successful entrepreneurial company pitch. Then the thirty companies in attendance at each session will have the opportunity to give their own two minute “elevator pitch.” After the session, FundingPost will provide each start-up company with feedback from the investors. The speakers on the morning and afternoon panels include:
David Adams, Managing Director, Rocket Ventures
Brian Ascher, Senior Principal, Venrock Associates
Laura Brege, Partner, Red Rock Ventures
Praveen Gupta, Executive Director, CDIB Ventures
John Hall, Managing Director, Horizon Ventures
Robert C. Marshall, Managing Director, Selby Venture Partners
Ho Nam, General Partner & co-founder, Altos Ventures
Alex Osadzinski, Venture Partner, Trinity Ventures
Alexander J. Rhea, Founding General Partner, Pyramid Technology Ventures
Brendan Richardson, Partner, Vision Capital
Ray Rothrock, Managing General Partner, Venrock Associates
Kai Tse, Principal, GKM Ventures
Bret Wilbur, Regional Sales Consultant, Trinet
Peter Wolken, Special Limited Partner, Diamondhead Ventures
The fourteen panelists speaking at the morning and afternoon panels have extensive experience in the angel and venture capital investing arena. The make up of the panel varies widely from long-term players in the industry like Venrock Associates to “next-generation” funds like Rocket Ventures. Nine of the members of the panel are Partners or Principals in their firms and an additional four are Directors. Collectively this group of investors sits on over thirty company boards of directors.
“We are delighted to be returning to Silicon Valley. The Pitching Workshops have been successful because both the entrepreneurs and the investors see the value of the exchange,” said Joe Rubin, Director, FundingPost. “The economy for early-stage investing is improving. Our investor panels are excited to see the new dealflow in these early companies, and the entrepreneurs are finding the investors’ tips and responses helpful for improving and refining their pitches.”
"We are pleased to provide the opportunity for entrepreneurs to share their business plans with venture capitalists, as VC investing is on the rise and this is a great forum for identifying promising new companies," said Peter Cohn, partner in Orrick's Emerging Companies Group.
“FundingPost has created innovative, high quality forums allowing TriNet to share our knowledge of the key human capital components with the decision makers building exciting new companies along with the institutional investors and advisors that are looking to help them grow those firms,” said Doug Bailey, Director of Sales, TriNet. “Their ability to bring the proper balance of the right entrepreneurs, the top players in the investment community, and the right partners like TriNet has been key to our mutual success.”
For more information about the Silicon Valley Pitching Workshops and other FundingPost events, contact us at 800-461-5509 or visit the FundingPost website at http://www.fundingpost.com/events.asp
ABOUT FUNDINGPOST:
FundingPost is an entrepreneur and investor network reaching more than 60,000 executives and 6,000 Venture Capital and Angel Investors across the nation each month.
For over four years FundingPost has worked with thousands of Angel and Venture Capital Investors and Entrepreneurs. FundingPost has hosted over 4,000 CEOs and 500 Venture Funds at events in 15 cities nationwide, as well as providing a quarterly Dealflow magazine and a deal-exchange Website that has, on average, seen an introduction of an Investor to an Entrepreneur every business day since its inception. FundingPost’s mission to reach investors and entrepreneurs in every medium possible – both online and offline, and it is experiencing strong growth as the venture capital markets continue to improve worldwide.
ABOUT ORRICK:
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is an international law firm with approximately 700 lawyers in North America, Europe, and Asia. The firm focuses on litigation, complex and novel finance, and innovative corporate transactions. Orrick clients include Fortune 100 companies, major industrial and financial corporations, commercial and investment banks, high-growth companies, governmental entities, start-ups, and individuals. The firm's 14 offices are located in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, Pacific Northwest, London, Milan, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and Taipei.
For more information, please contact our Communications Team at pr@orrick.com.
ABOUT TRINET:
Founded in 1988, TriNet offers the simplicity of a single solution for outsourcing benefits, payroll, and human resources. The company's online and in-person services allow customers throughout the United States and Canada to streamline their business, gain enterprise-level resources, and focus on strategy rather than administration. TriNet specializes in offering secure, paperless HR transactions to industries such as technology, venture capital, banking, accounting, and professional services.
TriNet is a member of the Vedior Group of companies. Vedior, NV is the world's third largest staffing and human resource firm with over $6 billion in revenue. TriNet is also a member of the Inc. 500 Hall of Fame, an honor earned for five consecutive rankings in Inc Magazine's list of fastest-growing, privately held companies. In addition to an annual financial audit conducted by Ernst & Young, TriNet is audited quarterly by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC), a non-profit organization providing financial assurance and responsibility standards for companies performing outsourced employer services. At the present time, TriNet is one of only six firms to receive continuous accreditation since the ESAC's founding in 1995.
For more information, visit www.trinet.com
ABOUT THE CITY OF MENLO PARK:
Located within the City Manager's Department, the Business Development Program is committed to helping local businesses locate, grow and prosper. Successful businesses in our community create a vibrant environment and generate retail sales tax revenue needed to support city services. The program is interested in understanding the needs of Menlo Park's retail, commercial, and industrial businesses, and those interested in relocating to Menlo Park. The City of Menlo Park is home to a wide range of businesses of every size and type. Employers include such familiar names as Sun Microsystems, Boise Cascade, SRI International and the U.S. Geological Survey. To accommodate these and many other enterprises, business parks are located in both the east and west ends of the City near Interstate 280 and the Bayshore Freeway.
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Note to editors: Please contact us for additional information or to schedule interviews with FundingPost, any of the winning companies or the Venture Capital / Angel investors who participated as judges.
Media Contacts for FundingPost:
Aren Cohen
FundingPost.com
800-461-5509
press@fundingpost.com
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