Get Investor Ready - an Angel Venture Capital overview
Poor preparation is #2 reason why investors reject entrepreneurs

Full-day seminar comprised of a balance of expert presentations, panel discussions and small group case studies, it is designed to be highly interactive. A faculty of experienced local angel investors, serial entrepreneurs and expert service providers, delivers the content. The seminar is segmented with several opportunities to encourage networking between participants and the faculty. .

First 15 registrations -  20% off - $275 for this Angel Venture Capital workshop on January 26 in downtown Vancouver.

Why attend? If you are planning to invest or raise private equity in the next 6 to 12 months, ask yourself:
1    With public equity markets down 35+ %, how do you correctly value a private company?
2    Do you have a good overview of the language and ramifications of a term sheet?
3    Are you familiar with how to conduct due diligence?
4    What post investment activities (Board of Directors, Mentoring, Communication) is required?
5    Almost mandatory for pre-revenue companies wanting to present at the next Angel Forum

Content by the US Angel Capital Association with help by angel experts, these workshops are ranked 4.5 or better out of 5.0. 100+ people attended the first two workshops in this region. No comparable content offered in Canada. “Great info, must have to complete a deal”

Seminar Leader is Bill Payne who is an active private investor, board member and advisor to entrepreneurs. He is an involved member of San Diego’s Tech Coast Angels, Vegas Valley Angels and Aztec Venture Network and has successfully founded or invested in 41 start-up companies. “Bill Payne has a particular knack of delivering his great knowledge of angel capital, worth the price of admission.”

Who should attend: High net-worth individuals with senior business experience and interested in investing in early stage companies, Entrepreneurs wanting to learn about the angel capital process to raise money for their company and Service Providers who work with entrepreneurs.

Bring a friend - 10% less for 2nd person on same registration. For info and registration, click on Workshop page at www.ANGELforum.org

Our friend and sponsor Webnames.ca will soon be launching .TEL names.They’ve provided some information below for all interested:

In an age where there are more ways to communicate than ever before, many of us struggle to maintain contact with friends and colleagues. .TEL is a welcome, new technology that provides a single point of contact for your life. More than a domain, .TEL is a powerful online directory that makes businesses and individuals easier to reach and easier to find.

.TEL allows you to securely store and exchange all of your contact information with a single name - like johnsmith.tel for an individual, or smithelectrical.tel for a business. Instead of exchanging discrete pieces of information such as your phone number, e-mail, cell number, work number, websites, and so on, you just share your .TEL name with contacts.

It takes seconds to tell someone your .TEL name; afterwards, they only need to enter the .TEL once in their address book. All of the contact information is conveniently attached and available. Because the information is ‘live’, contacts never have to update their address books – no matter how often the contact information might change.

It’s such a simple way to exchange contact information that advocates of .TEL believe it could revolutionize the way people and businesses connect and maintain contact.

Webnames.ca is now taking risk-free pre-bookings of .TEL names for all three registration periods: Sunrise (trademarks only), Landrush (advanced registration at a premium price) and General Registration (first come, first served).
Webnames.ca will submit pre-booking requests the moment each registration period opens, increasing the odds of success. Webnames.ca will charge only for successful registrations and pricing for .TEL starts at 19.99 US/year.

To learn more or pre-book .TEL names, go to www.webnames.ca/tel or call Webnames.ca at (604) 633-1142.

Enterprize Canada is a partner of NVBC and Canada’s largest student-run business plan competition and entrepreneurship conference.

Information Video: Enterprize 2009

From February 6-8, 2009, join over 450 students from across the nation in experiencing innovation and entrepreneurship through Enterprize Canada 2009, Canada’s largest student-run business plan competition and entrepreneurship conference.

With an unparalleled prize pool worth over $100,000, the 2009 National Business Plan Competition will showcase some of the best and brightest business plans from across Canada. Transform your ideas into reality as you compete against over 100 teams for a chance at cash prizes, mentorship opportunities, or even an opportunity to audition in front of a panel of venture capitalist investors on CBC’s Dragons’ Den!

Important details:
Date: February 6-8, 2009
Location: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Downtown Vancouver
Business Plan Deadline: November 30 (business plan submissions)
Conference Tickets: Available October 29

Visit http://enterprizecanada.org for more details and to register.

New Ventures BC is pleased to partner with The Art of Productions Inc. on the upcoming sales conference targetting to technology companies - The Art of Sales. Details below.

The Art of Sales, The World’s Premier Live Sales Event is coming to Vancouver on November 28th, 2008.This incredible one day event presents sales, marketing and business development professionals with an exceptional day of learning, featuring today’s most sought after visionaries and speakers. This event is designed to give your team the tools they need to develop stronger customer relationships, negotiate better deals, increase productivity, and ultimately increase sales in today’s challenging economy.

Topics Include:

Sales & Customer Service
SPIN Selling & Sales Strategy
Negotiations
Presenting & Persuading
Surprise Marketing

Complete your registration in one of 3 easy ways;
PHONE – Call toll free 1.866.99.ART.OF (27863) and ask for Scott at Ext. 23.
FAX – Fax in your registration page to 905.266.9860
EMAIL – scott@theartofproductions.com
ONLINE: http://www.theartofproductions.com/events-salesVancouver.html

Please inquire about our VIP pass which includes;
- Premium reserved seating in the first five rows and a separate VIP entrance
- A copy of The Little Black Book of Connections, Spin Selling and You Can Negotiate Anything
- Networking reception facilitated by Jeffrey Gitomer; includes gourmet hors d’oeuvres & refreshments
$399.00 ea.

The Art of Productions Inc. has arranged for subscribers of New Ventures BC to receive the lowest available rate of $249, a savings of $150 off the regular rate of $399 - $249 + GST ea.

Via BCTIA’s opportunities section, the Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco is inviting companies to the first Plug and Play Tech Centre Workshop at their Sunnyvale campus in Silicon Valley on October 20th. Plug and Play is a successful high-tech incubator in the heart of Silicon Valley where over 150 technology start-ups from over 20 countries work closely together to build innovative companies.

The focus of the workshop will be to exchange best practices between top technology centres and incubators from around the world and explore opportunities for collaboration. It may also provide an opportunity for start-up companies to meet with potential partners and investors. Plug and Play’s ultimate goal is to help 1,000 start-ups from around the world secure funding and go from idea to reality in the coming years.

If you’re interested, let The Consulate General know at your earliest convenience as they are providing financial support to selected Canadian start-up companies attending this workshop.

For more information and registration, please contact:

Guillaume Parent
Trade Commissioner
Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco l Silicon Valley
Tel.: 415-652-8650
Guillaume.Parent@international.gc.ca

We’ve linked to the NVBC presenter Mike Volker before, whose site has some good resources for entrepreneurs. Angie pointed me to a great list Mike has compiled of ~80 links to different funding sources with a western Canadian focus. The Money Links list has a clever colouring scheme:

Money comes in three basic colors: GREEN, GOLD and RED. Green money comes from patient, equity-oriented investors including private, institutional and even public investors. It is green because it allows companies to grow and prosper without being impeded by repayment obligations. Gold money is as good as gold. It comes from government and quasi-government organizations that are part of the infra-structure support system paid for by our tax dollars. Usually this money is in the form of grants, interest-free loans, and other forms of assistance. Red money comes from debt-oriented lenders. This includes banks, factoring houses, leasing companies, and other lenders. It is red because this is the color lenders see when the debt is not serviced — and because you should see this as a red warning light!

VEF Momentum is a new program of the Vancouver Enterprise Forum to “connect, mentor and inspire young and aspiring entrepreneurs”. They’re running their first event September 30 at Tunnel Lounge (622 West Pender St) featuring Geordie Rose, CTO of D-Wave, the UBC spinoff that has created the world’s first commercial quantum computer.

The night will begin with icebreakers and introductions, followed by an invigorating presentation by Geordie Rose, the founder and Chief Technology Officer of D-Wave Systems. Geordie founded D-Wave out of UBC in 1999 and has been instrumental in building D-Wave into a successful Quantum Computing company. He will be offering his experience in starting his business, getting financing and navigating his way through Vancouver’s entrepreneurship scene. He’ll close with his insights on how Vancouver has transitioned over the last several years into a technology entrepreneurship hub. The night will conclude with a question-answer period followed by networking and drinks. Refreshments will be served.

Who You Can Expect to See: 

• Student entrepreneurs from universities and colleges across the Lower Mainland
• Young aspiring entrepreneurs representing 15 entrepreneurial organizations across the city
• First-time entrepreneurs representing their start-ups from across Vancouver
• Established technology entrepeneurs
• Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors
• Professional Mentors

Some free early bird tickets are still available. Register at the VEF Momentum site.

Angel Forum will be running a workshop on Company Valuation and Equity Term Sheets - October 27 at SFU Harbour Centre.

How to value your company and understand the investment conditions of an equity investor

Why attend? If you are planning to raise serious private equity in the next 12 months, ask yourself:

1) With US and International public equity markets down 15+ %, how do you correctly value your private company?

2) Do you have a good overview of the language and ramifications of a term sheet that will be offered by an investor?

3) Are you familiar with how angel and VC investors value companies, dilution impact and valuation negotiations?

4) Network with local investor panelists; Basil Peters, Paul Geyer and Geoff Catherwood during breaks, lunch and reception.

Content by the US Angel Capital Association with help by angel experts, these workshops are ranked 4.5 or better out of 5.0. 200+ people attended first four workshops. No comparable content offered in Canada. “Great info, must have to complete a deal”

Seminar Leader is Bill Payne who is an active private investor, board member and advisor to entrepreneurs. He is an involved member of San Diego’s Tech Coast Angels, Vegas Valley Angels and Aztec Venture Network and has successfully founded or invested in 41 start-up companies. “Bill Payne has a particular knack of delivering his great knowledge of angel investing, worth the price of admission.”

Who should attend: Only experienced CEOs or CFOs of investor centered companies that are growing quickly and are seriously looking for multiple angel or VC investors.  You should already have a basic understanding of venture capital finance having raised some equity before or through attending our Investor Ready™ or similar seminars. 

New Ventures BC contacts can get 10% off registration, and you can save $50 by registering before Sept 20. Space is limited, you can register at Angel Forum.

The New Ventures BC seminars may be done for another year, but SFU is running another seminar series aimed at people on any side of a small or medium enterprise.

Early-stage? Need capital to finance your growth? This seminar is for you. It will provide you with a step-by-step approach to building a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) that will appeal to seasoned early-stage investors and magnetize their capital.

This seminar describes the qualities that make an SME attractive to seasoned early-stage investors and a strategy for building this compelling SME. The seminar’s core principle is that an SME’s appeal to seasoned early-stage investors is boosted enormously when it:

• targets certain early-stage milestones that are known to foretell commercial success
• targets these milestones in a specific sequence, and
• executes this SME-building strategy with sound project-management practices to achieve these milestones effectively.

This all-day seminar happens Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at the SFU Vancouver Campus for $99 (student discount available). The seminar will be lead by Roger Killen, who has 25 years of experience working with SMEs, and include sizeable takeaway materials. For more information or to register, visit the SFU Time Centre site.

New Ventures BC presenter Basil Peters recently posted a meaty article titled “Startups - The Essential To Do List”.

My most recent post is dedicated to a team of promising young
entrepreneurs who asked me recently if they could all just “put some money
in a bank account” to launch their startup.

I wanted to say ‘yes’ because I know how much other work they have to do
to build a successful company. But instead I had to warn them that there
were several essential elements of their corporate structure they had to
get right now to maximize their probability of success.

This question comes up frequently, so I started a list to help other
entrepreneurs ensure they don’t miss one of the essential structural
components.

This is a must read for entrepreneurs; Basil really covers all the bases. The list is 52 items long and additions are solicited.