SVASE Event: 'MAIN EVENT: Are We All On The Same Page? - Investors Vs Founders!' December 6, 2007

Event: 'MAIN EVENT: Are We All On The Same Page? - Investors Vs Founders!'

Date: Thursday, December 06, 2007 At 06:00
Duration: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
Contact Info:
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR Campus), 950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304 Email: info@svase.org
URL:svase.org/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=149&extmode=view&extid=1173

With the holiday season approaching, this irreverent panel will delve into the delicate balancing act that exists between a startup’s investors and founders. Investors say they want founders who want to build long term viable companies, but how does that square with the desire for dramatically accelerated growth and a profitable exit just a few years down the road?

Am I working overtime till I get fired?

This oft quoted comment from a production line worker in the fiercely cyclical semiconductor industry could just as well be ascribed to the founders of many startups. What really happens to founding teams when milestones fail to be met and there’s no sign of fresh investors on the horizon?

From conflict resolution...to liquidity timing...to balancing long term and short term goals, this panel will provide a good humored and lively debate on the driving forces behind each side of the investor/founder marriage.

• What does each side really want from the other?
• How does the dynamic change when new investors come on board?
• Who’s really running the company – the founders or the investors?
• What happens when milestones fail to be met?
• How often do founders get coached to succeed versus replaced, and what are the consequences?
• What’s more important – a successful, viable company, or a profitable exit?
• What due diligence should you do before approaching investors?

The Panel:
• Jonathan Abrams, Founder & CEO, Socializr and Friendster
• Warren Packard, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
• Paul Pluschkell, Founder & CEO, spigit
• Bill Reichert, Managing Director, Garage Technology Ventures

Moderator: TBD

WHEN: Thursday, December 6
6:00 - 7:00 pm: Networking and hors d’oeuvres
7:00 - 8:15 pm: Panel discussion and Q/A
8:15 - 8:30 pm: Additional networking

LOCATION:
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR Campus), 950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304

PRE-REGISTERED RATES (All Rates Include Hors D’oeuvres):
Members - $20; Affiliates who advertise this event - $29; General Public - $49

WALK-IN RATES: Add $10.00 to the listed price

To reserve an Exhibit Table:
Contact Info@svase.org, $600 Members, $1,100 Non-members.

Seating is limited, so early registration is recommended to avoid disappointment on the day.

This event is co-sponsored by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, www.wsgr.com/

Speakers’ Bios

Jonathan Abrams, Founder and CEO, Socializr and Friendster
Jonathan Abrams is the founder, CEO, and Junior Computer Programmer at Socializr, an online service for sharing event and party information with your friends. Jonathan is an award-winning serial entrepreneur who created the pioneering social networking service Friendster in 2002. Jonathan is the inventor of a United States Patent for a "System, method, and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks."

Previously, Jonathan was the founder & CEO of bookmarking community HotLinks, and worked as a software engineer at companies such as Netscape and Nortel. Jonathan holds an Honors B.Sc. in Computer Science from McMaster University, which he received after flunking out of engineering school.

Jonathan was named a "Breakout star of 2003" by Entertainment Weekly, and as one of Advertising Age Magazine’s "Entertainment Marketers of the year." Jonathan has also been honored as one of the world’s top young innovators by the MIT Technology Review, and nominated in the software designer category for the 2004 Wired Rave Awards.

Jonathan is a member of the advisory board of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, and has been extensively involved in the silicon valley entrepreneurial community, including past roles such as co-chair of the SDForum Venture Finance SIG, and a judge for the Stanford Entrepreneur's Challenge business plan contest, the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition, and the Stanford-Berkeley Innovators' Challenge.

Warren J. Packard, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Warren Packard is a Managing Director at Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He currently serves on the Boards of Anagran, BinOptics, CastTV, EoPlex, Imago Scientific Instruments, Media Lario, and Ooma. Mr. Packard also leads the firm's investments in CallGate, Jaxtr, Microfabrica, Primet Precision Materials, TicketsNow, and YeePay. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Packard co-founded Angara Database Systems, a main memory relational database company, which was acquired by Personify. Prior to co-founding Angara, he was an Associate at Institutional Venture Partners, investing in early-stage technology companies. Before IVP, Mr. Packard was a Senior Principal Engineer in the Advanced Product Development Group at Baxter International. Mr. Packard is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University and holds a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering: Smart Product Design. He received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.
E-mail: warren@boxbe.com

Paul Pluschkell, Founder and CEO, spigit
Paul Pluschkell, founder and CEO of spigit, is also a managing partner of Raven Holdings, an emerging technology management fund. Before founding spigit, Mr. Pluschkell served as president and CEO of HyperFeed Technologies, which focused on building low latency ticker plants for exchanges and hedge funds, from 2003 to 2006. Mr. Pluschkell founded MXnet, a financial market extranet, in 1996, and then sold it to IXNet/IPC. After the sale, Mr. Pluschkell served as an IXNet officer; the company was sold to Global Crossing in 1999. Mr. Pluschkell became executive vice president of sales, products, and marketing for Global Center, a Global Crossing subsidiary. Following the subsidiary's sale to Exodus Communications in 2001, Mr. Pluschkell became president of broadband at Global Crossing, where he served until 2002. Mr. Pluschkell received his BS degree from Eastern Illinois University and completed master's course work at the University of Dallas.

Bill Reichert, Managing Director, Garage Technology Ventures
Bill Reichert has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and an operating executive. Since joining Garage in 1998, Bill has focused on early-stage information technology and materials science companies. He sits on the Boards of CaseStack, WhiteHat, ClearFuels, and cFares. Prior to Garage, Bill was a co-founder or senior executive in several venture-backed technology startups, including Trademark Software, The Learning Company and Academic Systems. Earlier in his career, he worked at McKinsey & Company, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., and the World Bank. Bill earned a B.A. at Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
reichert@garage.com

Official Website: http://svase.org/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=149&extmode=view&extid=1173