Beyond Blogs: Guy Kawasaki and Michael Arrington Go One-on-One on Web 2.0
TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington will join Garage Technology Ventures’ Managing Director and fellow uber blogger Guy Kawasaki for a lively discussion on the state of startups during the upcoming edition of Garage’s The Art of the Start, its signature event for entrepreneurs. The November 8 event is presented in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE) and the first “Launch: Silicon Valley” event to showcase new companies and products. The back-to-back events will take place at the Microsoft campus in Mountain View, and are expected to draw hundreds of early-stage companies, leading venture capitalists, angel investors and entrepreneurs.
“Venture capital is in search of the next big thing. The IPO market is still virtually closed, but mega bucks are being paid to snap up Web 2.0 ventures,” said Kawasaki. “It’s a great time to step back and reflect on what’s going on, what we’ve learned, the best practices for starting up, and ways for entrepreneurs to succeed – bubble, or no bubble.”
The “Art of the Start” is designed for entrepreneurs – whether they are starting their first company, or their fifth. The conference offers entrepreneurs fundamental business insights, strategies, skills and tips from experts and seasoned entrepreneurs, as well as the opportunity to network with potential investors. Conference attendees will learn:
- How things have changed on the investment scene
- What it takes to get funded today
- How to build a successful business
- What it takes to sustain a great company
In addition to the fireside chat with Michael Arrington and presentations on starting, funding and growing high technology companies, the conference will feature two panels of high tech venture experts:
- An entrepreneur’s panel, made up of successful entrepreneurs, including Gautam Godhwani (co-founder of AtWeb and more recently of SimplyHired), Elisa Camahort (a pioneer in the blogging world and co-founder of the women’s blogging community Blogher), Dave Pearce (Silicon Valley disk drive veteran now running the solar company Miasole), and Mary Hodder (CEO of social search site Dabble), will talk about the ups and downs of building successful companies.
- In the afternoon, a venture capital panel, including Warren Packard of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Susan Mason of Onset Ventures, Daniel Ahn of Woodside Fund, and Ian Sobieski of the Band of Angels, will talk about what it takes to get funded in today’s venture environment, and what it takes to succeed after you’ve raised it.
For a detailed agenda, and registration information, go to:
http://artofthestart.garage.com/
Launch: Silicon Valley – The Next Generation
The Art of the Start will be followed by the debut of “Launch: Silicon Valley.” This event provides an opportunity for selected startups to make their public debut in front of an audience of influential Silicon Valley venture capitalists and angel investors, prospective corporate partners, press and the blogging community.
Participating companies are in the process of being selected from proposals submitted to SVASE. Just under 150 companies have submitted proposals for 30 available slots to participate. From this group, 15 select companies will have the opportunity to present and to display at the conference. Another 15 companies will also have the opportunity to display.
To add to the excitement of the event, the audience will be asked to vote on each company via cell phone text message at the end of each presentation. (Note: Conference organizers are unclear whether audience members over 40 will be able to handle this.)
Both events will take place at Microsoft Building 1, located at 1065 La Avenida Street in Mountain View, CA. For each event, early bird registration for SVASE members is $125 and $145 for non-members and is available until October 27, 2006. Thereafter, the cost for registration will be $195.
The day is sponsored by an impressive group of well-known companies, including Fenwick & West, Microsoft and Garage as co-hosts.
For more information or to register for the event, please visithttp://www.launchsiliconvalley.org, http://www.svase.org or .
About Garage Technology Ventures
Garage Technology Ventures is a seed-stage and early-stage venture capital fund headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with investors that include Thomas Weisel Partners and CalPERS, the California Public Employees Retirement System. Garage is focused on investing in information technology and materials science startups in the Western U.S. “Art of the Start” is Garage’s signature conference for entrepreneur education. For more information about Garage, visit www.garage.com.
About SVASE
Founded in 1995 by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, The Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE) is the largest and fastest growing nonprofit in Northern California dedicated exclusively to helping technology and life science entrepreneurs start and grow successful businesses.
SVASE accomplishes this mission through key programs such as the weekly VC Breakfast Club, which introduces entrepreneurs to venture capitalists; the Forum lunches for startup CEOs, CFOs and CTOs; on line 24 Hour Networking; the online Startup Reference Guide; and much, much more. For more information about SVASE, please visit www.svase.org.
Media Contact:
Betty Taylor
Krause Taylor Associates – for Garage Technology Ventures
bettyt@krause-taylor.com
408-918-9082
