The Rice Alliance I.T. & Web 2.0 Venture Forum is starting with an introduction by Brad Burke, Managing Director of the RiceAlliance.
Here is the Agenda for today's program
Rice Alliance 7th Annual I.T. and Web 2.0 Venture Forum
Thursday, December 10, 2009
McNair Hall (Jones School), Rice Campus
8:00 am Registration
9:00 am Welcoming Remarks
9:15 am Opening Keynote – Henry Wong, Garage Technology Ventures LLC
10:00 am Business Plan Presentations
10:30 am Networking Break
11:00 am Business Plan Presentations (continued)
12:00 pm Lunch and Networking
1:15 pm Afternoon Keynote – Leighton Read, Alloy Ventures
1:45 pm Elevator Pitch Presentations – Session I
2:35 pm Venture Idol Panel I
2:50 pm Networking Break
3:15 pm Elevator Pitch Presentations - Session II
4:05 pm Venture Idol Panel II
4:20 pm Closing Keynote – Scott Jones, ChaCha
4:50 pm Announce “Most Promising I.T. and Web 2.0 Companies”
5:00 pm Company Showcase & Networking Reception
Brad Burke is making a joke about someone leaving a cellphone in the men's room. Note to self, don't leave cellphone in the restroom. You will be called out. :)
Talking about the Houston Technology Center and introducing Walter Ulrich
Congratulating Marc Nathan for the work he has done for the HTC (his term there is ending at the end of this year)
Upcoming HTC Events:
Tech Connection at Houstonian Hotel on Jan. 28th
Energy Technology Venture Capital Conference on Mar. 4th
Morning Keynote will be by Henry Wong, Venture Partner with Garage Technology Ventures
Henry is talking about how he is seeing the market coming back and his background in founding startups
What does the Future Hold? (Has everyone's attention now)
All progress depends on the unreasonable man. Go make a difference!
The UStream feed is live now! See it below the LiveBlog!
Similar to Guy Kawasaki, Henry Wong from Garage Ventures is making fun of Mission Statements. #ricealliance #ITventureforum2009
Showing the Dilbert Mission Statement Generator
Making a Business Plan is like building a rocket to the moon (by the time you finish you may miss your target) The new focus is on Action Now! Get out there quickly.
Investors now want to see companies bootstrap and prove themselves (vs. two guys with a Powerpoint and vaporware hoping to get seed funding)
The market favors Fast Adaptors, not First Movers (Example: Facebook vs. MySpace)
(Kurt's note: Although you can be both)
Henry Wong is making comparisons between new tech at Silicon Valley and technology in Star Trek. Wishes he could live to 500 yrs. old to see it.
Henry Wong
Technology may be good, but the people are more important. Everything comes down to execution. Listen to your customer and continue to reiterate.
Top Ten New Rules for Startups:
1) Create value
2) Build a Team
3) Develop a Mantra
4) Get Going
5) Learn to Bootstrap
6) Go Global from Day One
7) Be a fast adaptor
8) Make sure everyone in the company sells
9) Be realistic about pace of adoption
10) Be ready to change
Taking Questions now
Q: Transportation and Technology
A: Depends on a lot of different factors. Hasn't seen any Transportation deals coming his way.
Recommends checking out a company called InfinityZ. 3D
Adobe Labs is big time into 3D right now.
Talking about another company called Step Communications. Measures sound waves and quiet down the sound. Helps with sound quality on Blue Tooth headsets.
Using an example of him and Walter being at a Disco. (everyone laughs).
Q: Thoughts on M&A activity
A: Rules and Regulations limit what can be done. Says it is absolutely necessary for growth, although it tends to reduce innovation
Q: What is Venture Capital today? What is the right size of company and investments?
A: VC today is different. Large funds are returning money and Small funds are having difficulty getting funding. Looking for deals that have a potential for 1000% return. Providing good returns currently for State of California Pension Fund.
Henry Wong is done and Brad Burke is now introducing the Venture Capital Feedback Panel.
- Chris Eckerman, Covera Ventures
- Eric Engineer, Sevin Rosen Funds
- Joel Fontenot, Trailblazer Capital
- Seth Harward, Frontier Capital
- Rocky Mountain, Daylight Partners
Seth Harward, Frontier Capital
- Have a $115 fund
- Just closed a $10 Million SaaS deal in Dallas
Rocky Mountain, Daylight Partners
(Yes, that's his real name - His father gave it to him)
Rocky Mountain, Daylight Partners
New model for VCs
- No fund
- 12 Members
- Seed funding
- 8 investments to date
- $250k - $750k
- Do take a seat on the board of the startup
- Look for companies that already have a product and are looking to grow their business
Very diverse group of investors on the panel
Now having 5 companies that will each provide a 10 minute presentation for feedback from the panel
Chad Farrell with Recycle Match is up first.
Recycle Match:
|Problem = Waste
Recycle Match:
Problem: Waste
Solution: Online market to translate commercial waste into value. Match waste to buyers.
Market Opportunity: $9.25 billion
How it Works: Get paid when a match is made
Case Study: Houston Company with 1000 windows. Found a buyer.
Sales and Marketing Plan: Online and Offline
- Offline: Consultants and Tradeshows
- Online: Blog, Facebook, Twitter
Customers: Chevron, Centerpoint
Competition: Not using latest technology and not getting much traction. Large waste management companies actually get their business in disposing waste into landfills. Could be potential acquirers.
Management Team: Brook Betts Farrell (exp at Waste Management),
Financial: 500% growth, seeking funding for additional Sales and Marketing
VC Panel Comments
Talking about how Cisco started from a husband/wife team. You can create a big company from small # of team members, but thinks that they need to increase their staff.
Want to know transaction costs and how they will achieve their growth projections
Comments about the Market. How they calculated addressable market is questionable. Need to address from the bottom up instead of top-down
Talking about establishing themselves as an exchange and overcoming the chicken-and-egg problem
Chris Eckerman, Covera Ventures, comments:
- Company seems to be capital efficient, which is good.
- Lots of progress in a short period of time.
- Need more work on pricing model.
- Do your best to avoid liability issues associated with waste.
StartupHouston
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