| |
 Bay Area Entrepreneurs Workshop is a personalized, interactive program for new to serial entrepreneurs, designed to improve your chances of getting funded and improve your odds of success, post-financing. Not a seminar series, not a boot camp, it is a workshop with learn-by-doing tasks, based on presentations from investors and seasoned experts. Create materials investors want to see, and receive individualized feedback before presenting to potential investors. At BAE Workshop you will learn what Bay Area investors want you to know – from a spelled-out business model to reasons that investors funded the companies they did – and what recently-funded entrepreneurs and other experts think you should know — from negotiating term sheets to founders' compensation.
BAE Workshop is open to serious entrepreneurs who have a viable business concept. We will select attendees from the business summaries that are sent in. To submit yours, e-mail it to apply@baeworkshop.com. Include only non-proprietary information.
Description
BAE Workshop is a series of eight weekly sessions offered in two prime Bay Area locations – the Peninsula and the East Bay -- and on-line. Each session begins with personalized feedback on work the participants have completed during the preceding week, followed by a presentation on a new topic critical to fundraising, followed in turn by a task that will be evaluated at the beginning of the next session. At the conclusion of the Workshop, participants will have a set of documents and plans that they can use to improve their chances of obtaining funds from VCs or angels. The final session will involve presenting your best case to VCs and angels and getting personalized feedback from them.
Each session runs from 9:00 AM until noon. East Bay and on-line Workshops take place on Wednesdays and Peninsula Workshops on Thursdays.
Who Should Apply
BAE Workshop is aimed at serious entrepreneurs with viable business concepts who
- Want to improve their odds of getting funded
- Are not getting traction with investors
- Simply want help navigating the labyrinth of fundraising
- Want information on legal or financial issues, or how to negotiate a term sheet
Areas of focus for the workshop are all those that appeal to technology investors, including enterprise software, SaaS, clean and green tech, video game hardware and software, medical devices, bio-tech, electronics and similar fields.
To apply for all eight session of BAE Workshop, send your business summary to apply@baeworkshop.com. We will evaluate the submissions and notify those accepted into the program and provide them their registration information.
Please do not include any proprietary information.
Costs
NEW! The cost of BAE Workshop is $500 per participant, a savings of $500 from our previous price. Discounts are provided for multiple participants from the same start-up, for members of an incubator, and for those attending BAE Workshop in Pleasanton.
NEW! An Early Bird discount of $100 for a rate of $400 is available for Workshop registrations before September 22, 2010.
NEW! On-line registration is now possible for entrepreneurs who want Silicon Valley quality materials for their company but live outside the area.
NEW! The first session is open to everyone for the low price of $50, both in person and online. Not sure if BAE Workshop is for you? Think you may be too advanced, or too early? Would it be a waste of your time or over your head? Come to this session and find out.
Content
| Sessions |
Presenters |
Session 1: Overview
What do Bay Area investors look for? Why do recently funded entrepreneurs think they got funded? Learn from VCs and angels why they invest in the companies they do. Ask them your hardest questions. What will BAE Workshop do for you? |
Venture capitalists, angels and recently funded entrepreneurs |
Session 2: Executive Summary
See your executive summary through the eyes of an investor. What will you learn? |
Start-up consultant |
Session 3: Go-to-Market Strategy
How do you get your first customers? How do you overcome the stigma of a "start-up"? |
Go-to-market consultant |
Session 4: Marketing Plan
How do you grow your company quickly? How big should you grow? How fast? How much competitive analysis is too much? |
Marketing consultant |
Session 5: Financial Plan
What’s important? How do you create it? What do you show investors? How much detail goes into the executive summary? How much into the presentation? How much do you not show? When do you show everything? |
Angel investor |
Session 6: Business Plan
Why bother? What’s important? What is it good for? How long should it be? What is the process? |
Start-up consultant |
Session 7: Investor Presentation
What’s the difference between an angel and a VC presentation? What goes in? What stays out? Why? What goes in the first slide? The last slide? The ones in between? |
Angel investor |
Session 8: Pitching to Investors
Pitch VCs and angels and receive their individualized feedback. |
VCs and angels |
NEW! Bonus: Seminars on other topics of interest:
Term sheet negotiations, HR pitfalls, founders’ compensation, etc.
Selected by vote of participants |
Domain expert presenters (depending on topics selected) |
|
