Today, I ran back and forth between the University Private Equity Summit and the dress rehearsals next door for the February 9, 2006 Investors Choice Conference, a venture capital conference organized by the Wayne Brown Institute. By serendipity, the two meetings were occuring in two adjacent downtown office towers so I could run back and forth.
At the dress rehearsal, I got a sneak peak at some of the companies that will be presenting at the Investors Choice Conference--along with other venture professionals, my role was to coach the entrepreneurs who are scheduled to present so that they are ready to make it happen next month at the Conference.
Today's companies included a drug discovery company that is developing a non-addictive pain killer as powerful as morphine, a wireless encryption company that can jam wireless communications so as to prevent remote detonation of roadside bombs at the same time a frequency is secured for effective communications, a VOIP telecom company rapidly deploying in Mexico, an internet software company that provides apartment rental tools to landlords, a technology company that can dramatically improve container tracking in commercial ports and, finally, a company developing next generation batteries.
With a table of venture experts commenting on each of the presentations, it is interesting to get those insights. There is always someone around the table who can add important, relevant ideas to the conversation. It is interesting to note that the entreprenuers all have greater domain expertise than the venture types, but they vary meaningfully in how well they take the input. Some are wise enough to politely thank the group for every suggestion, recognizing that they don't have to take the advice, but it is wise to express appreciation anyway. Others want to argue, hoping that somehow they can convince the experts that they are mistaken. It will be interesting to see how much of the feedback is incorporated and who will successfully raise money at this conference.
Tomorrow, more dress rehearsals. I'll let you know what I see!
» Forth and Back from MidMarketMaven
Today, I continued my footrace between neighboring venture events--the University Private Equity Summit (UPES) and the dress rehearsal for the Investors Choice Conference hosted by the Wayne Brown Institute. Tim and Easton have covered the UPES event c... [Read More]
Tracked on: January 20, 2006 9:44 PM | Permalink to Trackback