Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series

How Great Ideas Get Funded: Partnering with Venture Investors

Wednesday, March 2, 2011
6:30-8:30pm
Wells Fargo Room - Haas School of Business

[presentation available: PDF]

Program Information and Speaker Biographies

Video (video on YouTube site):

Program Information and Speaker Biographies

David Feinleib of Mohr Davidow Ventures will lead a discussion about the components of a compelling business proposal and what you can expect from a venture investor.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur with a scientific breakthrough, a new technology application or a smarter business process, you’ll need funding as well as a great team of advisors to build your idea into a successful company. In an interactive session meant to provoke questions and discussion, we’ll talk about what the venture investment process looks like, what you can expect from today’s venture community and how to prepare a presentation that will not only sell your idea but also prepare you for your first board meeting. A good fit is essential for both parties to succeed. Just as important in the funding process is knowing what questions to ask of the investor. You will walk away with a better understanding of how startups are evaluated and what goes into the decision-making process.

The program starts with food and networking at 6:30pm. The presentation will open at 7:00 pm. There is no registration for this event. For more information about the Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series, call 510-642-4255 or email lester@haas.berkeley.edu.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

David Feinleib

David Feinleib
General Partner- Mohr Davidow Ventures

The founder of four tech startups, David Feinleib is known for his “street cred” with entrepreneurs and insights into new technological developments. His career in technology began when he was a teenager.

David’s first company was acquired by Keynote Systems, while his second company was acquired by Hewlett Packard. Before going to business school, David founded venture-backed Likewise Software. While in business school he ran a profitable online advertising business. “I’ve both bootstrapped and raised venture capital, and as a result, I have great empathy for entrepreneurs,” David says. “All the worries that keep entrepreneurs up at night, I’ve experienced first-hand.” Before his entrepreneurial career, David worked until 2000 in the Windows and MSN divisions at Microsoft.

He returned to school and earned earn an MBA at Stanford before joining Mohr Davidow in 2006. He focuses on Internet-enabled startups. His investments include hi5, a leader in social entertainment; Visible Measures, the leading independent measurement firm for Internet video; doxo, an Internet payments company; and VirtuOz, which improves the consumer experience through its real-time automated answer service for Web publishers.

David draws upon the talents that made him a successful entrepreneur. “If you want someone who’s going to be a great sounding board for operational issues, deliver industry access, and offer strategic insight, I’m your guy.” At the same time, Mohr Davidow’s collaborative style allows him to tap into firm’s collective wisdom and its extensive network in Silicon Valley. “Startup teams are those with A-level players,” David explains. “A team with the best talent gives the entrepreneur the greatest chance to grab success. I spend a lot of energy and time on who I can bring to the table to help determine and execute strategy, and ultimately, deliver liquidity.”

David holds a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Larry Marcus
Managing Director, Walden Venture Capital

Larry's focus at Walden Venture Capital is consumer services and digital media.

Larry has been a Director at Pandora since early 2004 when Walden lead the "rebirth round" to focus the company on launching a consumer-facing service. He is also a Director at SoundHound (sound and voice search), Rootmusic (BandPage on Facebook), Telekenex (IP voice and data services ), a Board Observer at PowerCloud Systems and led Walden's investment in Terayon (acquired by Motorola). Prior to joining Walden in 2000, Larry was a digital media sell-side Equity Research Analyst at Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown where he lead the IPOs of Maxis, Terayon, CBS MarketWatch, Edmark, and Netflix (initial S-1 IPO filing) among other equity and debt financings (incl. Sierra On-line, Excite@Home, Spectrum Holobyte, CBS Sportsline). Prior experience includes Robertson Stephens & Company, Digidesign and General Management in computer services retail. Larry serves on the non-profit Board of the JazzSchool in Berkeley, CA.

Mr. Marcus received a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

Steve Adams

Steve Adams

Chief Executive Officer, VirtuOz

Steve is a seasoned technology executive with 20+ years of hands-on experience building and leading technology companies. His executive leadership spans large and small fast-growth companies. As president and CEO of VirtuOz, he is responsible for the overall vision and strategic direction of the company. Steve has deep expertise in managing early stage enterprise software companies through aggressive growth phases to successful outcomes. Prior to joining VirtuOz, he served as president and CEO at Sabrix where he expanded the footprint of the company into global enterprises as well as the SMB marketplace, resulting in acquisition by Thomson Reuters. Steve also served as CEO at Uniscape and was responsible for worldwide marketing at Novell and Citrix. Steve has a M.A. and a Ph.D. from Florida State University.

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