Tennant Consulting

Wall Street Meltdown - Impacts on VC Funding? October 20, 2008, 7-9PM at UC Berkeley Extension

I am hosting a VC panel discussion on Wall Street's impact on the Venture Capital industry - here's the session description.

Wall Street Meltdown - Impacts on VC Funding?

If you’re an entrepreneur seeking venture capital, how do today’s financial headlines impact your business? Looking ahead, does the investment banking industry collapse, mortgage industry bailout, and a softened dollar have a direct connection to investment dollars? If so, what can entrepreneurs expect in the coming year?

Before the recent demise of Lehman, Merrill, and other investment banks, the venture capital industry was already having a challenging year. For the first time in 30 years, no VC-funded company went public in the second quarter. The IPO drought ties up capital and extends investment timeframes, lowering returns. Now with the Wall Street meltdown, there are fewer firms to support M&A deals and IPOs. How are VC firms planning to navigate the coming years, and what does this mean to an entrepreneur seeking capital? What sectors are gaining momentum, and which are falling out of favor?

Join us Monday, October 20, 2008 for the EBIG Startups/Venture Capital Special Interest Group Meeting in Berkeley. Learn from a panel of VC investors who will discuss:

- What is the impact of the economy on venture capital and entrepreneurs?
- What sectors are gaining investor momentum?
- Where is the smart money going in the rest of 2008?
- How can entrepreneurs make the most of these trends?
- How to avoid common pitfalls when approaching investors

Confirmed panelists include:

• Peter Gardner, Wavepoint Ventures bio
• Shomit Ghose, Onset Ventures bio
• Lars Leckie, Hummer Winblad bio
• John Steuart, Claremont Creek Ventures bio (scroll down to John)
• Spencer Tall, Allegis Capital bio

The meeting will be held:

Monday, October 20, from 7-9PM
University of California Berkeley Extension, Golden Bear Building
1995 University Avenue
Berkeley, California

(Two blocks from Downtown Berkeley BART)

I hope you can join us for what promises to be a lively and interactive session.

Who should attend?  Founders, CEOs of early stage technology companies seeking equity investment and others interested in the implications on high tech for the current economy.

Thank you to our sponsors, Siemens TTB, for hosting us at the UC Berkeley Extension.

To register, please visit www.ebig.org. We look forward to seeing you October 20!

Update 10/16:  Here's a draft of questions for the panel - what would you add?

Download panel questions (MS Word)

Leadership Development in San Francisco Bay Area: the Avista Leadership Learning Group

For many company leaders, finding time to reflect on their leadership concurrently with running a company is a huge challenge.  Companies' ability to take their business to the next level is highly correlated with the company's leadership ability.  The best companies I ever worked with had great leaders.  When investors evaluate the factors they use to evaluate companies, the management team rates in the top 2 or 3.

So just how are executives to develop these skills?  By being good leaders and taking on expanded responsibilities, many executives now feel unprepared for the work situations they find themselves in.  Some leaders report, “I just don’t have enough time”.  Others feel they don’t have the right team to be successful, and struggle with how to manage or improve it.  To these career pressures, most add the additional pressures for family and community responsibilities (for example, just this week, I have two "back to school nights", signed up to help with the school fundraising committee and to coach my son's Little League team).  Some leaders report they are approaching an inflection point where something needs to change.  The need for leadership effectiveness has never been greater.

Dr. Keith Merron at Avista Consulting has a different approach to develop leaders -- a monthly leadership learning group that meets via WebEx and video conference with a small group of CEO peers, and a quarterly in-person meeting.  I have known Keith for years, and recommend him highly.  The group provides a chance to address what's on your mind, get feedback and be accountable for what you did in the past month, as well as what you intend to complete in the coming month.  The first session is September 12, and folks can join after that as well, or join the next group that starts.

If you're interested, click here to download the flyer, TheAvistaLeadershipLearningGroup.pdf and if you're interested, contact Keith.

UPDATE 9/12:  I attended the first of these sessions with Keith today, and found it extremely valuable.

Best of luck as you pursue your leadership endeavors!