Making The Most Of The Venture Capital Conference Experience

Five Important Tips For Every Entrepreneur On The Rise 

By Jon Kraft - Chairman, Software Council of Southern California

Serving as chairman of the Software Council of Southern California, I've been privileged with the opportunity to play a leading role in our annual VentureNet event, Southern California's premier software and information technology capital conference. The event serves as a forum where the region's most promising companies have the opportunity to meet and present to prospective investors and strategic partners from around the country.

Based on my own experience as an entrepreneur and as a leader of the region's leading trade organization, I'm often approached for advice by enterepreneurs who are looking to make the most of their venture capital conference experience. While there is no magic answer, there are five key tips I often share that can help entrepreneurs put their best foot forward and build inroads for future success. These include:

•  Know Your Goals – Before stepping foot into the conference, it's helpful to have a clear objective in mind. Are you attending the event to raise money, meet partners, find customers, recruit team members, or a combination of these? By having a clear understanding of your goals, it's easier to stay focused and spend your time working to achieve them without getting sidetracked.
•  Send the Right Team – More strategic goals call for higher-level team members. If strategic customers or investors are in attendance, it's important that the CEO is present to represent the company and answer the most important questions. It's also a good idea to have at least two team members in attendance so if critical meetings come up, there is enough coverage present on behalf of your company. In essence, don't let yourself get caught short-handed.
•  Bring a Laptop with Your Demonstration Loaded – Investors and prospective partners will be impressed when you are ready to present your demonstration at a moment's notice. In addition to showing that you actually have a working product and demonstrating the strengths of that product, it shows that you are prepared and serious about the success of your business. Equally important, by taking investors through the demonstration at the conference, you are setting the stage for a meaningful follow-up meeting that involves more than just presenting your ideas.
•  Bring Plenty of Materials and Don't Run Out – Being prepared alleviates anxiety and helps paint you and your business in the best light possible. Plan ahead and be sure to have plenty of executive summaries, business plans, marketing collateral and business cards on hand. You never know who you will run into throughout the day so it's always better to have too many items than not enough.
•  Be Productive – Productivity is key to making the most of your venture conference experience. Network aggressively and never spend more than five minutes in a discussion that is not critical for your business. Have several polite excuses prepared in order to move on from these types of discussions or else your day could be filled with pleasant but, in the end, unproductive small talk. Be sure to collect information from every company related to yours and always ask for a business card following an interesting conversation. Finally, be sure to follow up with key contacts within 24 hours after the event – this demonstrates interest and good follow-through.

Following these five simple steps is sure to put you ahead of the game and on your way to success at venture capital venues. Enjoy the process of bringing your passion and vision to life.

About the Author

Jon Kraft is a serial entrepreneur in software and new media. As chairman of the Software Council of Southern California, Jon is dedicated to making the region's software and information technology companies more successful. He has founded and raised capital for several technology companies. His most recent venture-backed company, Pandora Media (originally named Savage Beast Technologies), has raised over $20 million in venture capital, and is currently a leading provider of music navigation and recommendation systems, with a new consumer-focused custom radio offering, as well as online and in-store deployments at many consumer-facing companies including AOL, Best Buy, Borders, and Tower Records. His first company, Stanford Technology Group, was funded by Sequoia and Hummer Winblad, and sold to Informix in 1995. Jon remains active with early stage companies, currently incubating two start-ups: an online community for motor enthusiasts ( www.motorpride.com ) and a family-oriented multimedia product development organization focusing on substance abuse prevention.  Jon graduated from Stanford University in 1988.