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7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Agenda Review and Introductions
8:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Investment Strategies - Building a Portfolio
What are we doing today that we weren't doing five or more years
ago? We will discuss overall strategies for building a portfolio
such as the following:
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Industry specialization. Are we becoming more or less
focused by industry; and if more focused, where?
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Stage of investment. Given the fund-raising challenges
for seed and early stage funds, are more seed and early stage
funds doing "later" stage deals to provide for early
distributions? Are these done earlier or later in the fund's
life? Is there a conscious asset allocation by stage of investment?
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Diversification. How many companies are needed for adequate
diversification? What are the maximum and targeted average investments
as a percentage of available capital to invest?
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Rate of deployment. Does it take care of itself or is
there a conscious target of dollars or companies invested in
per year?
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Syndication - more or less? Who does a deal without
an initial syndicate? For those who do, what strategies do you
use to manage the burn rate and how much will you invest until
a syndicate is formed?
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Due diligence - more or less? Are you spending more
or less time on the market, technology, and management than
you did before? Are we encountering more time pressure in the
current market?
10:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Managing the Portfolio
We all know how it's supposed to work . . . cut losses early, spend
more time and money on the winners, gain team approval for follow-on
investments, etc.How does it really work?We
will discuss philosophies and methods we have each developed to
deal with the more challenging situations in our portfolios.
11:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Deal Flow Development - Silicon Valley
Capital Network
Dennis Laudermilch will discuss a new computer matching service
to bring entrepreneurs and venture capital together.
Speaker: Dennis Laudermilch
Director
Silicon Valley Capital Network
155A Moffett Park Drive,
Suite 104
Sunnyvale, California 94089
12:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Lunch
1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Internet: Cashing in on Cyberspace -
a Fad or Reality?
Greg Curhan will discuss the growth of Internet and will review
investment opportunities for early stage funds. He will cover:
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How big is Internet and how fast is it growing?
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What is driving its growth?
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What are the commercial opportunities . . . how can business
and venture capital funds take advantage of Internet to make
money?
Speaker: Gregory S. Curhan
Research Analyst
Volpe, Welty & Company
One Maritime Plaza
San Francisco, California 94111
2:15 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Seed and Early Stage Partnerships Rate
of Return
Jesse Reyes will provide us with current IRRs for seed and early
stage venture funds. We will discuss what is and is not included
in the data base and the challenges of reporting IRRs for early
stage partnerships.
Speaker: Jesse Reyes
Director
Venture Economics Information Services
11 Farnsworth Street
Fifth Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02210
3:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Current Terms and Conditions for Venture
Partnerships
We will get an update on what terms and conditions limited partners
are really getting in new partnerships and hear some of the arguments
we can make for preserving terms that are important to us. In addition,
we will discuss the pros and cons of limited liability companies
(LLC’s).
Speaker: Richard J. Testa
Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault
Attorneys At Law
Exchange Place, 53 State Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02109-2809
4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The New SBIC Program
We will receive an update on the status of the current SBIC Program.
Speaker: Walt Cunningham
Genesis Fund, Ltd.
520 Post Oak Boulevard
Suite 130
Houston, Texas 77027
4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Potential Issues for Additional Discussion
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Investment strategies - building a portfolio. Continuation
of morning session
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Winding down a partnership. What are the challenges
of closing a partnership and what solutions have we learned
over the past several years.
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Down rounds. To what extent are they happening today?
How can they be mitigated or avoided? What are the implications
for syndicate formation?
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Pricing issues. What are we currently seeing?
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Alternative sources of financing. Should we use intermediaries,
and if so how and when?
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Portfolio company organization. When and how should
a new chief executive officer be brought in? What efforts should
be made to keep the original founders? What are the trade offs
between bringing in a senior team early versus keeping the burn
rates down?
6:00 p.m. Reception
Venture Investing 1995
Stanford Court Hotel
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