Venture Lab for entrepreneurs seeking Venture Capital in London : 10th June 2010

Following the success of Venture Lab I, Genius Incubator in association with Cass Business School invites early-stage and growth-stage entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, CASS students and alumni to Venture Lab II.

Genius Incubator has an extensive network of the brightest minds and offers the following paid-for services to Start-ups and Small & Medium enterprises:

Mentoring

Fund Raising

Event Agenda:

10th June 2010, Thursday

Registration: 6:15pm

Talks & Q&A : 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

4 VCs and distinguished entrepreneurs will explain the mechanics of raising venture capital and speak on topics relevant to entrepreneurs on their journey to success.

Watch the video of our last event Venture Lab on Getting Investment Ready at LBS : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBsiY04lIXI

Confirmed Speakers:

Susan Payne, Chief Executive Officer, Emergent Asset Management

Susan has had a distinguished career spanning over 2 decades in the financial industry on both the sell side and the buy side, as an emerging markets trader at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and later as a distinguished entrepreneur.

Susan was listed by Financial News as one of the Top 100 Women in Finance in Europe in both 2007 and 2008. Susan was awarded one of eight Shell UK Women of the Future Awards 2006.

Susan was appointed a Merrill Lynch/Shell UK Women of Achievement Ambassador in 2008.

In 1997, Susan founded Emergent Asset Management Limited, an award –winning, alternative investment firm based in the UK, where she is a Principal. In addition to its stable of hedge funds, Emergent manages the largest agricultural fund in Africa, where its local office is based in South Africa.

Susan is on the Board of MyC4, a microfinance business focused on ending poverty in Africa, and is a Patron of the Africa-focused charity Medical Aid Films.

Susan is also Head of the London Chapter of 85 Broads, the largest professional women’s network in the world.

Alan Barrell, Managing Partner, Cambridge Gateway Fund, Early stage biotechnology & lifesciences investor and mentor

Dr Alan Barrell is a reknowned angel investor and advisor to numerous international early stage companies, as a member of Cambridge Angels and Sophia Business Angels ( France ). He was instrumental in launching the Cambridge Gateway Fund, a 70 millions Euros fund, to support early stage technology businesses in the region and was the fund’s Managing Partner. Alan is the Chairman of Eagle Genomics Ltd, and Pneumacare Ltd, and a Director of Probe Scientific Ltd, early stage Life Science Companies. He is a Director of two Chinese Companies – Golden Bough Intellectual Property Company and Oriental Investments Ltd.

He is also the Chairman of the External Advisory Board of NACUE – the National Consortium of University Enterprise Associations. Alan was CEO of Willett International Group, an industrial electronics company, and built its global business into a major success. He has also chaired the Cambridge Enterprise Conference and works closely with a number of Science Parks and Innovation Centres in Cambridge, elsewhere in the UK and overseas.Alan is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Cambridge Judge Business School.

Alan has been involved with a number of charities including the Papworth Trust, the Royal Society of Arts, the Centre for Tomorrow’s Company and The Prince’s Trust. He received The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2006. Access his lecture on Finding funding for your entrepreneurial business here.

James Dimitrios Constantine Seferis, Founder of Glocal Venture Capital, early stage investor and distinguished innovator

Dr. James Seferis is an early stage investor and a distinguished educator in chemical engineering, management science, environmental health and technology. His research comprises polymeric composites, materials and processes, clean energy. Read his ideas on “Catalytic entrepreneurship with social and venture capital” here

Since 2005, he also invests in his areas of longstanding expertise incorporating organizations that have a social mission while allowing for a profit potential. With a team of full-time professionals in seven countries and a network of over five hundred collaborators and former students in over one hundred organizations, Prof. Seferis can harness unprecedented resources for the benefit of his investments. Among his many Honors and Awards are First White House Presidential Young Investigator Award (1984) and Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of Germany Awards (1987 and 1996).

Read his full profile here.

Hussein Kanji, early stage technology investor, Ex- Accel Partners

Hussein

Hussein, a self-confessed believer in serendipity and a high risk venture addict spent four years with Accel Partners in Europe, where he invested in Playfish, United Mobile, BountyJobs, Dapper, Netvibes and a still-in-stealth-mode open source risk management startup. A background in Silicon Valley and in enterprise software and consumer internet products influences his venture capital work.

He was involved with the Accel’s investments in Dapper, Netvibes, Njini and The Cloud, and was an observer on the boards of The Cloud and Njini . Prior to joining Accel, Hussein held several roles at Microsoft Corporation, where he was involved in a leadership program won for his work on its speech recognition business, Sun Microsystems and a bevy of startups. He has an MBA from London Business School and a BS from Stanford University in Symbolic Systems. Hussein is currently a board member of Byhiras and Nivio, two startups in Europe, and spends his time between London and San Francisco. He is an avid blogger http://hkanji.com/

Topics:

“The Good, the Bad, The Ugly – stories of Real Life Entrepreneurship and Business Development” – Alan Barrell

Synopsis: Alan Barrell will speak from experience – as both entrepreneur and investor of real life business cases – illustrating some key points and principles through stories of four companies, three of which still exist, one being a FTSE star with a market capitalisation of £500m. The fortunes of the others have been mixed and one didn’t make it – and Alan will discuss the reasons why he feels it failed. He was the Chairman of the company and an investor at the time.

The talk will touch on some of the key points entrepreneurs may want to take note of, not only in seeking ££££ but finding the kind of investors who bring much more than the ££££. It will also show how when funding businesses – private equity / VC is not the only way to finance fast growth companies – and he has an example of one he ran as CEO to illustrate the point. This will NOT be a theoretical – “how to present to investors” talk or a set of bullet point slides to tell the audience “what I look for as a VC” – rather a ‘warts and all’ account of the blood and guts which were the reality of four companies struggling to find finance and make it on the World stage.

The companies are all technology / engineering based, but the talk will NOT be about technology per se. It will be about ‘The Good, The Bad and the Ugly’ experiences from the life of an entrepreneur / VC / business Angel”

“How do smart entrepreneurs play on VC greed and fear, to get the bucks they are after? The inside scoop – What incentives do entrepreneurs offer VCs : Participating shares, Warrants, Board seats etc” – Hussein Kanji

Valuation methodology and metrics that VCs use to value early stage businesses. Examples and Case Studies.

The 10 must dos and must haves for entrepreneurs looking to be the BIG Google or facebook of tomorrow?

The tale of a successful startup – from idea stage to dating the VCs, beauty parade, term sheet negotiations, building the company, and exit . What role do VCs play at each stage through Board participation etc?

Networking & Drinks Reception:

9:00 pm onwards

Venue:

Cass Business School

106 Bunhill Row

London, EC1Y 8TZ