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  • BASES

    23 March 2009
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  • Table of contents:

    1. Member Updates
    2. Coming Up in BASES
    3. Featured Bay Area Events
    4. Acknowledgements & Event Submission

  • 1. Member Updates

    ** Interested in non-profits? How about CS? Then you should definitely check out the Social Profit Foundation which sponsors the Peter Thiel Fellowship Program. The program hopes to create the world's most relevant network of engineers creating social value on a massive scale.
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    ** Be sure to check out Highland Capital's summer entrepreneurship program for students and recent graduates who want to gain the opportunity to work on their start-up under the incredible supervision of Highland's seasoned management team. Check out http://www.hcp.com/summer for more information!
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    ** Have an idea for a social venture? Apply for free mentoring, tools, and aid at http://www.sparkseed.org
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    ** Are you interested in clean technologies? Do you have an invention or idea that you would like to bring to the market? Would you like to meet other clean tech entrepreneurs? Then enter the California Clean Tech Open! http://www.cleantechopen.com
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    ** Pitch your idea to Sequoia Capital's Michael Moritz! Women 2.0's third-annual Startup Competition is accepting pitch ideas on paper napkins (that's right, you heard us right, all applications MUST be on napkins) until April 10th, 2009. For more information, visit: http://pitch.women2.org/

  • 2. Coming Up in BASES

    Tuesday, March 24th:
    > SVASE Startup-U SV: Networking

    Wednesday, March 25th:
    > VC Taskforce - Building the Perfect Company Presentation

    Thursday, March 26th:
    > Entrepreneurial Marketing Panel presented by SVAMA
    > BigSuccess Business Pitch Contest - Round One

    Friday, April 4th:
    > Bay Area Game Jam

  • 3. Featured Bay Area Events

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    Tuesday, March 24
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    SVASE Startup-U SV: Networking
    11:45AM to 1:30PM ~ DLA Piper
    2000 University Ave East Palo Alto, CA, 94303-2214

    AGENDA:
    11:45-12:00 Registration, Networking and Food
    12:00-12:15 SVASE/Startup-U Overview, Introductions, Speaker
    Intro
    12:15-1:15 Speaker Presentation & Interactive Q&A
    1:15-1:30 Networking with the presenters!

    Pre-registration closes at 9 AM the day of the event.

    With your help, we will start on time so the speaker can
    provide you with as much interactive information as possible.

    Please note topics are subject to change without notice.

    Popular FAQs regarding Startup-U:

    What is the cost of this event?
    A $5 (member) or $15 (affiliate/non-member) registration fee,
    plus a $1.50 credit card processing fee, includes event and
    lunch, available through advanced online registration. A $10 or
    $20 fee is collected at the door.

    What is the format of a Startup-U event typically?
    Generally speaking, each event begins with an introduction by
    the host followed by a brief talk about SVASE and self-
    introductions by each of the attendees. After the
    introductions, the host introduces a speaker (usually 20 minute
    presentation, followed by group discussion) or the discussion
    topic; the exact format varies based on the host and that
    variety is what makes this event so exciting!

    Who should attend?
    Startup entrepreneurs, anyone thinking about forming a startup,
    service providers, angels and VCs active in the Silicon Valley
    information tech and biotech entrepreneur communities. Past
    participants include:
    Current and aspiring entrepreneurs
    Venture Capitalists, Angels and other members of the funding
    community
    Service Providers (e.g. human resources, contract programming,
    etc.)
    Independent Consultants (e.g. sales, marketing, engineering,
    etc.)

    Do I need to be a member of SVASE to attend this event?
    Non-members and guests of members are welcome to attend any 2
    SVASE Startup-U events. Afterwards, we recommend that non-
    members become members of SVASE. For more information on the
    benefits of joining SVASE, please visit our website at
    www.svase.org/?q=membership or alternatively, you can also join
    at the event itself.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Wednesday, March 25
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    VC Taskforce - Building teh Perfect Company Presentation
    6:00PM to 8:30PM ~ Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
    2 Palo Alto Square Palo Alto, CA, 94306

    Your company presentation is the single most important
    fundraising document. Delivered at a VC partner meeting or
    shared over email, your company overview defines who you are,
    what you do and the extent to which your firm sounds like an
    attractive investment opportunity for angels, VCs or strategic
    investor.

    The VC Taskforce is pleased to offer a Company Presentation
    workshop for CEOs and other executives responsible for crafting
    and delivering the company's core presentation. Learn what the
    key 'must have' elements are in a 'perfect pitch.' Learn what
    the most serious red flags are that lead to early
    disqualification. What makes a great story? How do VCs
    distinguish a great technology from a great company and a great
    company from a great investment? Do you have a 'winner's circle'
    or a 'San Quentin' management team? How do you mitigate early
    stage risk and build credibility? How do you deal with VC
    Attention Deficit Disorder? What are the five key elements that
    tip the scales during your pitch from fear of failure to VC
    greed?

    Dr. Ronald Weissman, our session leader, has been an active
    Silicon Valley VC (Apax Partners) and angel investor (Band of
    Angels) and has trained many companies in the art of successful
    pitching. As a VC, he has critiqued hundreds of pitches and has
    read thousands of presentations. As a former executive, he has
    delivered hundreds of pitches himself in Silicon Valley and on
    Wall Street. Ron will share the lessons he has learned in
    developing the story that investors want to hear. He will be
    joined by several VC colleagues who will share their experiences
    in listening to some of the best as well as some of the worst
    pitches on the planet.



    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Thursday, March 26
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Entrepreneurial Marketing Panel presented by SVAMA
    5:30PM to 9:00PM ~ Network Meeting Center at Techmart, Santa Clara
    5201 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara, CA 95054

    The Silicon Valley is the center of the world when it comes to entrepreneurship, venture capital, and brands that have started in basements and reached the stratosphere. But still, with such a hotbed of activity, experience, and knowledge some brands never see the light of day. With many people finding themselves "between jobs", and an economic recession, now is the time to reposition or start a new business and SVAMA is here to help with our "Entrepreneurial Marketing" panel: Networking, Food, and Cocktails - 5:30 to 7pm: Rub elbows and wet your whistle with fellow Silicon Valley marketers and entrepreneurs. Keynote Speaker: Donna Wells, CMO, Mint.com - 7 to 7:30pm: Donna Wells is the CMO of Mint.com, a highly successful startup launched in late 2007 that provides a free web-based personal financial management software. Donna will share her experiences with Mint.com, and some of the strategies and tactics that Mint.com has employed to go from Beta to over half a million users in less than 18 months.

    http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=178506


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Thursday, March 26
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    BigSuccess Business Pitch Contest - Round One
    6:15PM to 9:00PM ~ Westin Market Street
    50 3rd St., San Francisco, CA 94103

    The Big Success Business Pitch Contest is the ultimate business pitch competition for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The contest is created to encourage entrepreneurs to broadcast their business, passion and ideas on the internet (Facebook), in person (March 26) and on traditional media (CBS 5)! This live event will be very similar to American Idol, except that the contestants will be entrepreneurs and instead of singing, it will be business pitches. Here is how it works? Upload Pitch Join Contest Get Votes

    http://www.meetup.com/changemakers/calendar/9840869/


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Friday, April 4
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Bay Area Game Jam
    9:00AM to 4:00PM ~ Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus
    1065 La Avenida, Mountain View, CA 94043

    The Bay Area Game Jam will take place at Microsoft's Silicon Valley Campus on April 4th and 5th. It is a place for developers to come together and compete to see who can create the best game in a 24 hour period using the new free Wild Pockets 3D web-based game engine. The grand prize is $2,500 and publication, distribution and promotion of the winning game on Crispy Gamer's website. There will be also be free food, a stage rock band tournament, industry speakers, recruiters from top companies, giveaways, PR coverage and much more! If you are interested in attending or learning more please visit - http://wildpockets-fc.eventbrite.com or http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=51878762156

    http://wildpockets-fc.eventbrite.com

  • 4. Acknowledgements & Event Submission

    Have an event you'd like us to include in our next Digest? Please use our simple online form located at http://bases.stanford.edu/about-us/digest/submit-event/. Please note that we reserve the right to publish only events we feel will best benefit our entrepreneurial community. Thank you!

    BASES is made possible through the generous sponsorship of leading venture capitalists, law firms, banks and corporations. BASES Platinum Sponsor: Lightspeed Venture Partners. Gold Sponsors: Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates. Silver Sponsors: Mohr Davidow Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Philips, Norwest Venture Partners, and PlugandPlay TechCenter. The grand prize sponsor for the E-Challenge business plan competition is Morgenthaler Ventures.

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