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February 2012

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Headlines:


CrossCal Associates Headed to Regional Venture Capital Investment Competition

Crowd Funding Available For All GSVC Finalists

 

Hub Ventures Spring Cohort Applications Now Open

 

Entrepreneurs Corner Feature: Timothy Harris

 

Former NASDAQ Vice Chairman Comes to Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum

Founding Faculty Director John Freeman Honored by Academic Journal


Upcoming Events:


Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series:
Financial Modeling/Management
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Special Event with Paul Rice, Founder of Fair Trade USA:
What it Takes to Scale the Social Venture
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum:
Getting Funded - What Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know About IPOs
Thursday, February 23, 2012

Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series:
Secrets to the Successful Business Pitch: Tips from VCs and Angels
Tuesday, February 28, 2012




CrossCal Associates Headed to Regional Venture Capital Investment Competition

 

NEWS:
Berkeley Team Wins Regionals, Advances to the International Round

The Berkeley team of CrossCal Associates took the top spot at the Regionals of the Venture Capital Investment Competition. Berkeley advances to the international round for the first time since 2005. Click here for more information.

 

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The Lester Center and the Haas Entrepreneurs Association proudly co-hosted the 9th annual UC Berkeley Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) late last month at Haas. A “reverse business plan competition,” VCIC offers students an opportunity to step into the shoes of a venture capitalist for the day. 

VCIC

Six teams of five students each competed in evaluating business ideas of four early stage entrepreneurs currently seeking funding, selecting one investment opportunity to fund, and negotiating the term sheets with their chosen company in front of a panel of partners from top venture capital firms.  After an intense day of competition, the cross campus collaborative team of CrossCal Associates emerged as this year’s winner. The team included Blake Briddell, Chris Hallas, and Eric Palm, all MBA 13; and engineering PhD students Guillermo Garcia and Kelly Karns. Judges hailed from CMEA Capital, Physic Ventures, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, and Battery Ventures. The judging panel was heavily comprised of Haas alums who enjoyed the opportunity to return to campus and provide inspiration to the student teams.

Cross Cal Associates   Cross Cal Associates
CrossCal Associates are congratulated by Lester Center Executive Director Andre Marquis, L-R: Kelly Karns, Guillermo Garcia, Chris Hallas, Eric Palm, Blake Briddell   CrossCal Associates negotiates a term sheet with Virginia Klausmeier from Sylvatex


CrossCal Associates will next compete in the regional VCIC Competition at Santa Clara University on February 10, backed by additional coaching from some of the venture capital judges. Chris Hallas from CrossCal said that based on recommendations from the organizing team and last year’s winners, “Our strategy was to put together a team with as diverse a set of backgrounds and skills as possible. The technical knowledge on our team allowed us to ask more informed questions and I think this was actually a great way to build rapport with the entrepreneurs who were impressed with our level of understanding.”

Following the regional round, we hope to see CrossCal Associates represent the region at the international finals at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in April. Now in its 15th year, the UNC competition attracts over 1,000 MBA students from more than 50 business schools worldwide.

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Crowd Funding Available For All GSVC Finalists



The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) has kicked off its thirteenth season by announcing an exciting new benefit to its entrants—thanks to the entrepreneurialism of a former GSVC student co-chair and Haas alum, Danae Ringelmann (MBA 08).  “I began IndieGoGo when an older, seasoned film producer sent me, then a 20-something, his script and asked me to underwrite his film,” stated Ms. Ringelmann.  “I knew then and there, that there was a great social injustice in the flow of capital to aspiring entrepreneurs.  Now with IndieGoGo, we see a true leveling of the playing field, including a much higher percentage of capital to women entrepreneurs.”


GSVC   IndieGogo


Founded in 2008, IndieGoGo is now the world’s leading international funding platform.  Through the site, entrepreneurs, artists, and causes can describe and promote their idea and seek donations.  Since its inception, IndieGoGo has helped raise millions of dollars for over 60,000 campaigns across 210 countries, including $50,000 raised by one of last year’s GSVC’s finalists, LuminAID (formerly the Solar Light Pillow Project).   “Every year, one of the biggest laments of the Competition is that we can give prize money to only a few of the teams that make it to the Global Finals,” said Brittany Hume, GSVC 2012 Co-Chair.  “This year all of our finalists can leave the Competition with startup funds, thanks to the IndieGoGo crowd funding opportunity.”

“This is the beginning of the many post competition benefits we hope to offer our large pool of entrants,” states Jennifer Walske, GSVC’s Faculty Director.  She further adds, “Expect great things of GSVC in its second decade, as we connect past and future entrants through the GSVC platform.”  The finalists’ fundraising campaigns will launch in concert with this year’s Global Finals, occurring on April 19 and 20.  Post competition, GSVC invites all GSVC alumni to join the GSVC crowd funding page on IndieGoGo. 


Friends of the Competition, including current and former GSVC student team members, advisory board members, and former finalist teams, gathered on Thursday, February 2, at the Hanson Bridgett law offices in San Francisco:

GSVC   GSVC
L-R: Rafa de la Guia, 2012 GSVC Sponsorship Committee Chair, Ashifi Gogo, 2009 GSVC Finalist, and Danae Ringelmann, co-founder of IndieGoGo   L-R: Jennifer Walske, GSVC Faculty Director, and Teresa Pahl from Hanson Bridgett LLP, GSVC Advisory Board Member


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Hub Ventures Spring Cohort Applications Now Open



Hub Ventures, a startup accelerator for entrepreneurs building a better world, is now taking applications for its upcoming Spring 2012 cohort. 


The Hub

The program is looking for startups that have potential for scale, strong profitability, and significant measurable impact on the world.  Entrepreneurs can apply by the March 5th deadline at
www.hub-ventures.com/apply. 

Hub Ventures helps high caliber entrepreneurs build their world-changing startups better and faster. The 12-week program provides startups with seed funding, mentorship, collaborative sessions with program peers, workshops on topics relevant to impact-oriented startups, and investor connections. 

Hub Ventures is based at the Hub Bay Area, a purpose-driven collaborative workspace with over 1,000 members in San Francisco and Berkeley that is connected to 30 other locations through the global Hub network.  For more information, please visit www.hub-ventures.com. 



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Entrepreneurs Corner Feature: Timothy Harris



Tim Harris is a lawyer at Morrison & Foerster LLP where he heads the Technology Group of the firm’s Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice group.  He represents entrepreneurs, startup companies and the angel and venture capital investors that finance them.

Timothy Harris   Timothy Harris

Tim’s first career was as a software engineer where he designed, programmed and implemented software systems in the financial services industry.  His passion for technology has outlived the utility of his programming skills; Internet and software-based companies dominate his client base.

Tim began attending entrepreneurship-focused events at UC Berkeley after representing a number of UC Berkeley alums in their successful Silicon Valley startups.  “I love coming to campus in search of the next promising entrepreneurs and startups,” he says.  Over the years, he has presented at the Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series, moderated at the Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum, served as a mentor through the Entrepreneurs Corner Mentoring Program, judged in both Bplan and the Intel Global Challenge, taught in the Venture Capital Executive Program offered by the UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education, mentored teams in the Venture Capital Investment Competition, and has guest lectured in various Berkeley-Haas classes.  “Through my participation in these events, I’ve made connections with entrepreneurs, investors and academics who are both active and influential in Silicon Valley.”

Tim points out a number of benefits that he has derived from the Entrepreneurs Corner Mentoring Program.  “My entrepreneur and investor clients depend on me staying current with technology and financing trends.  Through the Entrepreneurs Corner Program, I get a view into the earliest stages of entrepreneurship to see what problems, technologies and sectors entrepreneurs are focusing on.  The interests (and connections!) that UC Berkeley students form today will shape both startup and financing activity in the coming years.  In addition to winning new startup clients, I’ve been engaged by investors and individual executives that I’ve met through campus connections.” 

The Lester Center thanks Tim, and all of our mentors, who generously contribute their time and energy to help the next generation of UC Berkeley startups thrive.



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Former NASDAQ Vice Chairman Comes to Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum


The Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum is pleased to welcome David Weild, former Vice Chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Market on Thursday, February 23rd. Spots are going fast so register now! More information about Mr. Weild’s talk and a link to register can be found on our website.

David Weild David Weild


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Founding Faculty Director John Freeman Honored by Academic Journal


The late John Freeman, founding faculty director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and a pioneer in the study of venture creation, was honored in a special section of the latest issue (February 2012) of the journal Industrial and Corporate Change. See the full story here.

John Freeman   John Freeman


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